13-year-old finds Viking king’s massive treasure trove
13-year-old finds Viking king’s massive treasure trove
On the northern German island of Ruegen in the Baltic Sea, hundreds of 1,000 years-old silver coins, rings, pearls and bracelets linked to the era of Danish King Harald Gormsson were discovered.
Two amateur archaeologists, one of them a 13-year-old boy, found a single silver coin in a field near the village of Schaprode in January.
The Mecklenburg-West Pomerania state archaeology office said—The State Archaeology Office then participated, and the whole treasure was discovered by experts over the weekend.
“It’s the biggest trove of such coins in the south-eastern Baltic region,” the statement said.
The office said the two amateur archaeologists were asked to keep quiet about their discovery to give professionals time to plan the dig and were then invited to participate in the recovery.
“This was the biggest discovery of my life,” hobby archaeologist Rene Schoen told the German news agency DPA.
Mr Schoen said he and 13-year-old Luca Malaschnitschenko were using metal detectors on the field near Schaprode when Luca found a little piece that he initially thought was only aluminium garbage.
But when they cleaned it, they understood it was more precious.
Archaeologists said about 100 of the silver coins were probably from the reign of Harald Gormsson, better known as “Harald Bluetooth,” who lived in the 10th century and introduced Christianity to Denmark.
Who was ‘Bluetooth’?
He was one of the last Viking kings of what is now Denmark, northern Germany, southern Sweden and parts of Norway.
His nickname came from the fact he had a dead tooth that looked bluish, but it’s now best known for the wireless Bluetooth technology invented by Swedish telecom company Ericsson.
The company named the technology, developed to wirelessly unite computers with cellular devices, after him for his ability to unite ancient Scandinavia.
The technology logo carries the runic letters for his initials HB.