http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/8272058.stm

- I know some here on the board enjoy a bit of history, so anyone who has been to the British museum, or knows anything about Anglo-Saxon history, knows how important the Sutton Hoo find was (most known visually for the striking gold warrior mask). It appears a bigger and more interesting find, has just been unearthed in Staffordshire. This is big, I mean in terms of its contribution to understanding Anglo-Saxon England. More importantly, the Sutton Hoo burial was ambiguous as it was dated to mid-7th century, and contained both pagan and christian burial objects, not really helping to indicate whether England had been christianised by that period. This find, however, is being dated to roughly the same period, and biblical inscriptions seems to suggest that actually christianity had spread to such an extent by the seventh century. That's just one among a hundred new perspectives historians will now have to play around with due to this find. Going to be a very exciting time the next few years as the hoard is analysed and the findings/theories published. Even more fun that it's composition is strictly military, not like the ceremonial nancy stuff of Sutton Hoo.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8272370.stm

- Some early pictures.

Thought a few of you might share the excitment, if you are so inclined that way :D

Thought a few of you might share the excitement, if you are so inclined that way :D


I have been inclined to being excited for a long time! :D



Neat find tho'!

That stuff is in amazingly good shape for its age, particularly given a horde like that couldn't have escaped the notice of contemporaries to its burial.

I always like reading about archeological finds when i get a chance. Anything that helps us expand our knowledge is a good thing imho.
I generally like naval or underwater archeological finds for the most part though.
What's interesting is the furor the british had when they heard a rumor that the HMS Victory might be sold to private citizens to help keep it funded. (More liker an uproar actually, but it was false tho)
Hopefully they'll keep us updated on this find. It's interesting. :)

Aye Malse, the guy was just brushing it up out of the soil - amazing, especially as the area was farmed for so many centuries!

Crystana, I got a glimpse of Henry VIIIs flagship, The Mary Rose, 3 weeks ago. It's going under the restorer's hammer now and won't be viewed by the public for a good few years, but I can tell you that it was postively overwhelming, almost speechless to see it in the flesh and bones, so to speak.

Very nice Halo....I'll need to look that up and see if they will post the restoration on the net. (Sort of like they do with the Hunley and the monitor's turret and parts)
I remember reading awhile back about a guy here in florida that was walking along the beach in the shallows and found a bunch of gold from one of the wrecked spanish treasure ships just lying there. Stuff gets buried and reburied all the times with the storms over the years.

Yep, you can see the appeal of the metal-detector nuts, especially considering the find above is worth several million, and he gets a cut.

Afterall, history is not just buried in books, its buried beneath us. Imagine what we would find in the ocean with more funding and better technology, with the thousands and thousands of ships that have been sunk over the centuries. Especially the gold in the Carribean and Gulf of Mexico from Spanish bullion fleets - $$$! *puts on his goggles and flippers*

I did read, somewhere, that a lot of the larger underwater treasure finds in the world required at least million dollars to invest in the proper equipment to salvage. Nice to see someone make good on a hobby.

When I was in Germany, there was a civilian there that used to run his metal detector on the base on the weekends. While he found a lot of WWII stuff related to the Nazis, etc, he also found a lot of older coins too. I think he found a pfennig that was minted back in 1300 or so.

Excellent find indeed!