Two treasures with almost 300 thousand-year-old silver coins, some of which were
Arab and Germanic
, were discovered near the remains of
a Viking fortress in northwest Denmark
, the museum that will keep them said Thursday.
The finding is the work of a young woman, who found the two treasures -separated by a few meters- while walking last autumn through a corn field with a metal detector, as part of a group expedition.
"A treasure like this is very rare," Lars Christian Nørbach, director of the Nordjyske Museer in North Jutland, told AFP.
The silver coins
were found about 8 km from the Fyrkat ring fort,
near the town of Hobro.
They would date from the 980s, according to their inscriptions.
A young woman, who found the two Viking treasures -separated by a few meters- while walking.
/ AFP
In addition to Danish coins, there are also Arab and Germanic coins in the loot, as well as
pieces of a 500-gram jewel from Scotland or Ireland
, according to archaeologists.
"The surprise is that the treasure dates from the same period as this Viking fortress, built by
King Harald 'Blue Tooth'
, who is, in a way, the founder of Denmark," Lars Christian Nørbach said.
According to him, these treasures - which the Vikings buried during wars - could be related to the fortress, which burned in the same period.
King Harald minted a limited number of coins, the expert explained.
Private initiatives for archaeological purposes are legal in Denmark, as long as the landowner agrees and
the finds are handed over to museums.
As soon as the harvest is over, next autumn, the searches will resume, said the archaeologists, who hope to find tombs and the houses of the former owners of the treasures.
The Vikings believed that
if they buried their jewelry they could get it back after they died
.
As of July 1, the treasures will be exhibited at the Aalborg Historical Museum (north).
And the young woman who found them will receive a reward, the amount of which was not specified.
AFP
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