Let's face it, we all have dreamt of becoming an archeologist at least once in our lifetime. And the wish to become one famous treasure hunter became intense after we watched the movies like Indiana Jones and The Mummy. The suspense and the mystery is something that makes everybody sit on their chairs almost fainting. That day would be so amazing where you are just walking in the park and suddenly you stumble upon an ancient hidden treasure which was meant to be only found by you. If you feel like that's going happen then believe us when we say it. Yes. It can. This guy here found the most amazing treasure that changed his life forever. But what follows after he found this amazing treasure is the core of the story. You would be surprised to see how things worked out for him and the farmer.
Though Eric Lawes made this tremendous discovery on November 16, 1992. Still, this story has a very interesting turn of events that made it come out on the internet. People read about it and were astonished to see how things worked out for him one after another. It was a usual day and Eric made the discovery of the lifetime. But the amazing part is that his story is not something you are expecting it would be. You'll see why?
Eric Lawes has always been interested in history and especially if it has some treasure stories involved with it. But what is that one thing that every treasure hunter is required? Interest yes, but there is one thing that he requires the most. He didn't have that but when he did, things started to change and he discovered the most astonishing treasure of the century.
On his retirement day, Eric got that one thing every treasure hunter needs the most. It was a metal detector that he always thought of buying which he received as a gift on his retirement. Who could have thought that his retirement would be so fruitful and things would end up in a most unexpected way for him? Now he had a metal detector but where to use it. The opportunity was given to him but it wasn't meant for finding a treasure.
One day, a farmer asked Eric to use his metal detector on his farm because he lost his hammer on his field in Hoxne village, Suffolk. He told him that even trying several times he couldn't find it and the hammer was very close to his heart and he really want to find it. Eric couldn't ignore this farmer's request and he agreed to use his metal detector on his farm. Instead of a hammer, he found something great that changed his and farmer's lives forever.
The next day Eric was in Hoxne village, Suffolk. A metal detector in his one hand he made his way on the field. The farmer kept his distance and was looking at Eric who was enjoying the exploration thought it was to find the hammer. Still, he seemed very excited like a child who gets a new toy and who play with all day. The field was big and Eric asked about the last spot where farmer think he used his hammer. Beep!Beep!Beep! Now, what's that?
Eric was really amazed by the beep sound that felt to him like Christmas bells on Christmas Eve. When people love something, they just can't express the feeling of living the moment. Eric heard the sound was just excited to hear it beep for the first time. It wasn't the hammer but something else when they started digging the spot on which the detector beeped. He kept his metal detector aside and the shovel was on work. He could see that something great was on the way.
Bock and forth, the shovel was digging the earth to unearth something of which Eric and the farmer had no idea would change their lives forever. While he was digging the spot a sudden thud sound stopped the process. He realized that he hit something concrete. Being a history enthusiast he knew that if ignored he could easily spoil it. So before proceeding further, he knew what he has to do. Call the experts.
Eric knew that this wasn't his area of expertise and he shouldn't interfere as it could be something really special. He contacted a local archeological society and told them everything. They asked Eric if he was even sure about it, to which he replied yes he was though he wasn't sure himself. But still, in his heart, he knew that he was doing the right thing. The people from the archeological society could sense the seriousness in Eric's tone and decided to help him.
The experts reached the site and met Eric and the farmer. Eric showed them the spot where he was digging. Eric did the right thing when called up the experts as they had all the required instruments that helped them in uncovering the hidden treasure. Soon, the team was ready to work and with instruments in hand started the exploration that would soon make their time worth.
The team couldn't believe their eyes. Their hard work, at last, paid off when they found the first thing from the treasure. "There is more," one of the team members shouted. Literally, the treasure was too much for the team. Like there was no stop to it. They kept digging and they stumbled upon something or the other. Their eyes were literally shinning. But then the process came to still as they needed a more experienced hand to bring that thing out.
When it became too much for the team to handle they called in more experts and the police too. This treasure was something which they haven't thought it would be. Filled with everything one desires it was the complete package that had the power to change everybody's lives. The team couldn't believe that Eric who was just an amateur was able to discover something this big and that too at his first try!
They had to call the police as the treasure became something that one person can't keep with it all his life. The treasure had to be known to the police authorities to make sure that they are safe from the future inquiries that follow after such discoveries. Eric who didn't blink for a second was mesmerized by the sight of the treasure.
When they started the digging they weren't aware of the fact that deep inside there was something else. The archeologists who came to the site weren't expecting anything in the first place as it was some amateur who called them up about the discovery he has made. Obviously, they get calls like this every day where people tell them about finding this or that. There have been times where it was nothing but some people joking around. This time it was different. They came unprepared.
Because the team came unprepared they didn't have the instruments that could tell them the depth of the treasure which was hidden deep inside the earth. So, they made some calls and an hour later they got that particular instruments that could tell them the exact location of the treasure. But why do they need that instrument? They had a very good reason for that.
The team wanted to know the exact location of the treasure as they didn't want to destroy it. There have been times when the archeologists have spoiled the discovery because they weren't aware of the location. The police surrounded the place and made it impossible for the public to enter the site. The team of experts was investigating the whole field to search for the location of the treasure. And there it was. Eric didn't move an inch and kept his eyes on the field as if he knew where the treasure was.
Eric who was standing in silence didn't speak a word since the team arrived. The team who was busy in their work didn't notice that fact that it was Eric who made the discovery. They should have asked him about that one location in which his metal detector made the loudest beep. Though the team was finding the items from the treasure which were everywhere on the field. It was getting very difficult for the team to search the box which actually held the artifacts when it was buried in the past. You would be surprised to know who hid the treasure?
Eric who was watching everything, couldn't take it any longer as the team was searching everywhere except that one spot on which he was standing. Eric didn't want to lose the spot so he kept standing there and waited for the team. But the team who thought knew everything didn't care to ask for the spot. Eric called one of the members of the team and told him, "you are looking in the wrong spot." Eric stepped aside and told him, "this is the spot you should be looking." And he was right!
The team who now had the spot started the excavation carefully, and took out a chunk of earth and sent it to the lab for the examination. They wanted to examine the objects so that they could know about its age and to which period it belonged to once. This way they would be able to learn about the treasure and who it was that hid it in the first place. Can you guess how huge the treasure was?
The whole treasure which the team found underground was filled with 15,234 Roman coins, dozens of silver spoons, and 200 objects of gold. The whole treasure weighed almost 60 pounds! Eric who wasn't expecting anything from it in the first place was rewarded for his efforts. And he didn't touch the discovery and left it for the experts to handle, he received £1.75 million! But if you think this is the end of the story then you are wrong because it was just a start.
We can all agree to the fact, if that farmer wouldn't have asked Eric to locate his missing hammer he wouldn't have found the treasure in the first place. And Eric kept his promise and made sure he finds the hammer this time. He went back to the site and located the hammer. He kept his promise and found that one thing farmer loved the most.
Eric also split the reward he received from the government with the farmer. Eric believed that it was all destiny that brought him and the farmer together that led to this discovery that changed their lives forever. But did you know that the hammer didn't go back to the owner? Then where did it go? It was put up on display beside the treasure. Amazing right? But what did they find out about the treasure?
According to Rachel Wilkinson who was the British Museum's project curator for the Romano-British collections, this treasure was given a name and it was called as the "Hoxne Hoard" and was "the largest and latest ever found in Britain." The artifacts found inside the treasure are now on display at the British Museum, and still, after 27 years of the discovery, these scientists keep finding new information about its history and origin.
The Hoxne Hoard belonged to 410 A.D when the separation between the Roman Empire and Britain took place, made several historians really interested in this particular discovery. Peter Guest even wrote a book about this Hoxne treasure and in his book he wrote, “The years from the later fourth century to 450, the period including the British hoarding peak, witnessed numerous invasions into the Empire by Germanic and Hunnic groups often followed by largescale devastation and disruption.”
The Romano-British citizens who didn't come under the shade of the Roman Empire started burying their valuable treasure in the nearby areas. The wanted to save their possessions from the regular loot by the Saxons, Angles, and others. An Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dictates the era of the 9th century, “the Romans collected all the treasures which were in Britain and hid some in the earth.”
Though this wasn't the first hoard that has been discovered in Britain as we said it was the largest ever found. But the question was how did these treasure end up in Britain when we know Romano-British feared the barbarians. The historians even think about another theory of why these elite families chose to bury the treasure. Looking at the age of these coins and the text on the golden statues have taught a lot about the Hoxne Hoard.
As it was metal hoard, scientists weren't able to date it with radiocarbon. The Hoxne hoard was covered with materials like wood, bone, ivory, and wood boxes that suggested that the treasure could have been centuries old. But then the archeologists saw something on one of the coins. It was the face of the ruler...
In an interview with Smithsonian.com, Guest said, “perspective is that actually we’ve been misdating these hoards. If you look at them a little more carefully, then they should be dated to the period after the separation of Britain from the Roman Empire.” The Hoxne hoard was buried in 408 or 409 if go by Guest's words.
A guest even added that the Roman Emperor stopped the supply of new coins and the people used the same old coins for a very long period. The ancient people used the precious metals they had back then that produced that same old coin for years. But the treasure was more than its worth, it was the sentimental value that these artifacts hold.
The treasure was holding lots of gold coins and jewelry, silver plates, and small objects that were also made up of gold. These artifacts have been kept in the hoard because of the sentimental value they hold in people's heart back then. Other than that, archeologist Catherine John's analyzed the hoard burial condition and procedure. She found some interesting things about the way it was buried.
The analysis showed that the objects were packed with straw and in wooden boxes because they found several nails, locks, hinges, and scraps of wood buried in the ground beside the treasure. Some of the artifacts were, in fact, a bit older than others, for example, the tiger-shaped silver handle and the pots that must have been used for holding the pepper.
The researchers also found that the stash has been buried with a lot of care and whosoever was responsible for burying it wasn't in a hurry at all. He did his job and took a great amount of time and because of that the treasure was still intact and some of the artifacts could be seen as new. The archeologists also discovered some silver spoons inside the hoard that tells them about the family which was rich. Some of the items even showed signs of repairment and others were just marked with words.
The pepper pot which archeologists found in the treasure was formed in the shape of a woman and had holes in the base of the pot which allowed the pepper to be shaken out. There was some residue of the pepper too in the pot which was traded from India telling them about the family who owned the pot, the family was wealthy and must have been involved in the trade.
According to Johns, the hairstyle of the pepper pot lady also had some beautifying pins that looked like a tiara which seemed to hold a thick long hair. The jewelry which was found inside the hoard was believed to be of women in the family. Including thick chains and rings with beautiful gemstones, one bracelet, in particular, caught everybody's attention, which had a text written over it saying, “utere felix domina Iuliane” —“use this and be happy, Lady Juliane.”
The inscriptions "Aurelius Ursicinus" and Silvicola" could be seen written on several of the objects. And many objects had a Latin phrase written, "vivas in deo." The experts also found the text written on most of the spoons that were easy to read and was written from the right-handed position. One of the spoons was made for a leftie. Not only the spoons but there were several other artifacts that caught these researcher's attention. But who was the owner of this treasure, scientists have a theory that could be true?
These researchers believe Aurelius and Juliane were the owners of this beautiful treasure. But nothing could be said for sure as they could also belong to one of their ancestors. The Hoxne treasure being the largest ever found is still surrounded by mystery. There is a story behind it, unfortunately, the experts have no idea what that story could be but we believe when it would be out thing won't remain the same and the mystery would finally be solved.