This Viking Treasure is Over 1000 Years Old

Amateur metal detector enthusiast and retired businessman Derek McLennan was pursuing his favorite hobby in a field in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, back in September when he made a surprising discovery – over 100 silver and gold Viking coins, plus other 1000-year-old artifacts such as a silver cross, an armband and a pot. All told, it’s believed to be among the most significant Viking archaeological finds in Scottish history.

Experts think that the treasure trove was first buried in the 9th or 10th Century, and some of the artifacts found, including an intact silver Carolingian pot, may have been over 100 years old when they were buried.

The trove appears to have been some kind of collection of rarities from around the European continent at the time, with pieces of Irish, Scandinavian and even Central European origin.

McLennan told reporters he did not initially realize the value of what he had found, and went into shock upon making the discovery: “Then my senses exploded, I went into shock, endorphins flooded my system and away I went stumbling towards my colleagues waving it in the air.”

This was actually McLennan’s second important discovery in the past year. In 2013, around the same area of Scotland, he discovered 300 coins from the Medieval era.