Amateur metal detectorists have unearthed Norway’s largest gold treasure this century, dating back about 1,500 years.
Gold antiques discovered by Erlend Bore using a metal detector. Photo: Museum of Archeology/UiS
Erlend Bore, a 51-year-old Norwegian man, discovered a trove of gold antiques, including 9 pendants with rare symbols, 3 gold rings and 10 gold tablets, while exploring Rennesoy, a private island off the coast. off the southwestern coast of Norway, Live Science reported on September 8. Bore uses a newly purchased metal detector that beeps as it scans the ground. After digging down, he discovered a treasure trove of gold and quickly contacted local authorities.
The gold trove weighed about 3.5 ounces (100 grams), authorities said. They also contacted the museum, where experts determined they existed from around the year 500, during the Migration period (also known as the Barbarian Invasion), when no Roman emperor ruled the West. Europe. Considering the location of the Rennesoy treasure and comparing it with similar discoveries, associate professor Hakon Reiersen at the University of Stavanger Archaeological Museum believes that the gold treasure could have been hidden for safety or to be offered to the gods. god when needed.
“This is the discovery of the century for gold in Norway. Finding so much gold at once is extremely unusual,” said Ole Madsen, director of the Archaeological Museum of the University of Stavanger.
Simulating the previous shape of the necklace consisting of 9 gold pendants. Photo: Eli Gil Bell/Museum of Archeology/UiS
Although the pendants look like gold coins, they are actually called “bracteates”, used as decorations. In many previous discoveries, bracteates often have different patterns. But this time, all 9 bracteates depict the same image.
They each make an eye-catching necklace, according to Reiersen. “This jewelry was made by skilled goldsmiths and was worn by the most powerful people in society. Finding so many bracteates is very rare. We do not have any findings that can be compared to this discovery since the 19th century,” Riersen added.