Metal detectorist unearths ‘one-of-a-kind’ gold treasure from 1,400 years ago. See it
Dressed in a red windbreaker and brown beanie, Lars Nielsen was out for a walk on a crisp spring day. As he went, he swept his metal detector over the rocky soil of Emmerlev, a small town in southern Denmark.
The device beeped. Nielsen knelt down and dug.
Buried in the dirt, he found a gold ring.
“I was so excited and overwhelmed that I could hardly say anything, and that’s not usually something that characterizes me, but it is without a doubt my best find so far,” Nielsen told the National Museum of Denmark.
Nielsen had stumbled upon a rare gold ring from over 1,400 years ago, museum officials said in a Feb. 19 news release.
The large ring had a red semi-precious stone in the center surrounded by a delicate braid-like design, a photo shows. Underneath, the centerpiece was attached with four looping spirals. On each side, the band had a trio of knob-like dots.
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The ring dated to the fifth or sixth centuries and matched a style worn by the Merovingian elite, the museum said. The Merovingians were a royal family who ruled modern-day France, Belgium and Germany under what was then known as the Frankish Kingdom.
The gold artifact suggests that a powerful — but forgotten — family once ruled Emmerlev and had an alliance with the Merovingians, museum officials said.
The quality, material and design of the ring suggested it belonged to the ancient elite. Additionally, other artifacts found around Emmerlev provided evidence that the area had contact with the Merovingians, the museum said.
“To make such a unique and one-of-a-kind find is completely surreal. I am very proud and honored to be able to contribute a piece to our shared history both locally and nationally,” Nielsen said in the release, according to an English translation provided to McClatchy News by the museum.
The ring is being held at the National Museum of Denmark.
Emmerlev is near the Denmark-Germany border in southern Jutland, a peninsula that forms continental Denmark, and about 150 miles southwest of Copenhagen.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the National Museum of Denmark.
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