In 1992, a farmer named Eric Rouse went to look for a hammer with a metal detector, and when he searched for a long time and was about to give up, the metal detector suddenly made a "drip" sound!
Eric Rouse looked at the ground around him, there was nothing, he was wondering, the neighbor's hammer was lost when he helped himself repair the house, how did he run into the dirt, but the detector in his hand was clearly still ringing, was it really below?
Eric Rouse found a shovel to dig up, the more he dug down, the louder the detector sounded, just when the digging depth was close to 1.5 meters, the shovel in his hand seemed to touch something, Eric Rouss looked down, not a hammer at all, but a silver coin, whisked away the dirt, the silver coin faintly appeared similar to the head of the emperor of ancient Rome.
This really surprised Eric Rouse, who continued to dig hard, and with little effort, hundreds of ancient Roman coins shone dazzlingly before his eyes.
Mixed in with the coins, there are all kinds of exquisite works of art, including silver spoons, gold bottles, exquisitely carved jewelry, and high-end atmospheric lamps and candlesticks, etc., which exude an ancient atmosphere! The competition is dazzling.
Touchingly, in the face of this unprecedented wealth, Eric Rouss did not choose to hide it privately, but immediately got up and went to the local heritage management committee in Suffolk county to tell his amazing discovery. Heritage specialists from Suffolk county rushed to the village of Hoxson, and the police rushed to the scene to maintain order.
After a day of excavations, archaeologists unearthed more than 79 tablespoons, more than 20 silver candlesticks, 20 long-handled spoons and some gold jewelry, among others, as well as as as 15,000 gold and silver coins. The gold and silver coins bear portraits of 15 Roman monarchs, the most recent of whom is Constantine III, who ascended the throne in 407 AD.
On those finely crafted jewelry, the previously set gems were somehow pried off, and cultural relics experts speculated that the owner of the treasure may have found the gems valuable and easy to carry, so before burying the treasure, they pried off all the gems on the jewelry.
Even more surprising is that four silver jars resembling pepper bottles were also found inside the treasure. Among the 4 silver jars, the most striking is a pepper bottle of a bust of a Roman noblewoman, whose clothes are very ornate, she wears long earrings, her hair is exquisite and complex, and she is very fashionably dressed.
The lady's face was made of silver, but her eyes and lips were made of gold, and if it was used in the event of a candlelight flickering, the little pepper bottle seemed to move. There is an elaborate mechanism at the bottom of the pepper bottle, and even after 1600 years, the handle on the switch can be easily twisted.
At that time, the Roman nobles, as long as they gently twisted the handle on the pepper bottle, could choose to open, close or half open, so that the amount of pepper sprinkled could be precisely controlled.
Pepper was introduced to Europe thousands of years ago as a valuable spice of the East, when the closest origin of pepper to Rome was India. In 43 AD, the Roman Empire occupied the Island of Britain, and since then, as a province of the Roman Empire, Britain has been ruled by the Romans for more than 400 years.
During the reign of Rome, a large number of Roman culture and lifestyles were copied and studied by England, and pepper was a particularly precious item in these fashions.
At that time, only the rich and noble could eat pepper, and the exquisite design of the pepper bottle was nothing more than the nobles to increase the joy of life, and it can be speculated that perhaps before 1600, this pepper bottle was the focus of the banquet in Suffolk, England.
There is no doubt that the owners of this pepper bottle were once very rich, but when the Roman Empire fell apart, they had to flee in a hurry. When they left their homeland, they had no way to take all their property with them, but could only bury the hard-to-carry property deep in the ground in the hope that they would have the opportunity to dig it up again and enjoy it in the future.
Of course, with the disappearance of the Roman Empire, the owner of the treasure never returned, and the treasure was quietly hidden deep underground until it was discovered by Eric Rouss, who was looking for a hammer.
Thanks to the selflessness of Grand Duke Eric Rouse, this treasure was perfectly preserved, and since the treasure was found in the village of Hoxon, the treasure was named "Hawkson's Treasure", and the lifelike little pepper bottle was named "Hawkeson Pepper Bottle".
Today, the treasures are all in the British Museum. Finally, it should be noted that during the excavation, the hammer of farmer Eric Rouss was also found, and now it has become a special collection in the British Museum.
In 1993, the British Museum awarded Eric Rouse £1.4 million (£1.75 million). ）。 Obviously, no matter how many pounds sterling, it cannot be compared with the value of this treasure. But if Eric Rouse was a money lover, he wouldn't report it to the local authorities.
For himself to become a multi-millionaire due to an unexpected discovery, Eric Rouse has always said to the outside world: I am very satisfied, even if I don't have a penny, I will not regret my original decision!