Awesome Viking hoard in Scotland -- one of the best ever found

[Pingo]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-29582866

 

A haul of Viking treasure has been unearthed from a field in south west Scotland by an amateur using a metal detector.

 

Derek McLennan, a retired businessman from Ayrshire, made the find in Dumfriesshire in September.

 

In total, more than 100 items were recovered, including armbands, a cross and brooches.

 

Experts have said the discovery is one of the most important Viking hoards ever found in Scotland.

 

...

 

Among the objects within the hoard is an early Christian cross thought to date from the 9th or 10th Century.

 

The solid silver cross has enamelled decorations which experts consider to be highly unusual.

 

The haul also includes possibly the largest silver Carolingian pot ever discovered, with its lid still in place.

 

The pot is likely to have been around 100 years old when the hoard was buried in the mid 9th or 10th Centuries.

 

Stuart Campbell, National Museum of Scotland's head of Scotland's treasure trove unit, said: "This is a hugely significant find, nothing like this has been found in Scotland before in terms of the range of material this hoard represents.

[Qwyksilver]

Elsewhere, sales of personal metal detectors have skyrocketed in Scotland.

[smokingwreckage]

Hard to imagine lost pennies staying lost in Scotland, but there you go... if a Scot had found it, he'd only have buried it again anyway...

[Heisler]

Hey, that stuff could be mine!

[Pingo]

Ethnic humor, not cool, sheesh.

[TGP]

Does the government of Scotland or the local council or the National Heritage Commission or something automatically lay claim to such finds?

 

Does the finder get any compensation ($£$£) other than a bit of fame?

[ShadowRaven]

A good question. I imagine they will get some compensation, as might the person who's land it is, but I am not sure where to look to find out

[smokingwreckage]

I'm Scottish. (By ethnicity.)

Edited October 13, 2014 by smokingwreckage

[Orlando_the_Technicoloured]

TGP,

 

If the find is classified as Treasure (http://finds.org.uk/treasure/advice/summary) then the finder is meant to notify the authorities

 

They will then either decide the finder can keep it or if it's significant enough for a museum to want it will place an independent valuation on it. The Treasure is then offered to museums who have to find the money to 'buy' it (for stuff like this a museum would probably set up a public charity appeal to raise the money if they did not have it to hand)

 

After a fixed period of time (a year?) or if no museum wants it the treasure would be returned to the finder

 

If the Treasure is found on land owned by somebody else the money or treasure is split equally between the land owner and the finder

[smokingwreckage]

That's actually a very cool system. I wish more stuff worked like that.

[Dontfear]

This is the dream of every metal detector hobbyist in the world.  They all think that someday they are going to have an amazing find.

 

In reality, most of them just wander around fields looking strange. 

 

Not claiming any superiority.  I paint tiny lumps of metal and plastic.  Just stating how ridiculously lucky this guy got.  He could wander around fields for the rest of his life finding nothing and nobody can ever give him crap again.

[Nocturne]

Conveniently coincides with the new BBC Four series Detectorists written by and starring Mackenzie Crook as a metal detector enthusiast. Between those I predict a surge in sales of metal detetors for Christmas... three maybe even four.

[Pingo]

This is the dream of every metal detector hobbyist in the world.  They all think that someday they are going to have an amazing find.

 

In reality, most of them just wander around fields looking strange. 

 

Not claiming any superiority.  I paint tiny lumps of metal and plastic.  Just stating how ridiculously lucky this guy got.  He could wander around fields for the rest of his life finding nothing and nobody can ever give him crap again.

Last year the same guy found Scotland's largest hoard yet found of medieval silver coins.

[smokingwreckage]

Honestly, all that fresh air and exercise has to mean it's a better bet than the lottery!

[ShadowRaven]

And Europe is full of neat stuff to find. From the ancient to far more modern, as a continent it has been covered by people doing interesting things, from the before the Romans, up through two world wars. Good exercise, fresh air, and things everywhere, it's a good hobby for anyone with a bit of an interest in history. Sure, most of what you're likely to dig up isn't of any real value, but that doesn't make most of it any less 'neat and cool'