McCain or Obama? AOL Elections 2008. Get all your up to the minute results.

News Video

News Video
Find, view and share videos about news and entertainment from around the Web.
See Videos »

Blog Chatter

What are tags?
List

User-Submitted News

Top stories submitted and voted on from Propeller.

NEWS ALERTS

Get the latest updates sent straight to your inbox.

Sign up to receive AOL News alerts by e-mail.

Viking Treasure Hoard Found in England

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER,
AP
Posted: 2007-07-21 13:08:09
Filed Under: World News, Science News
LONDON (July 21) - One of the biggest Viking treasures ever found has been discovered on an English farm by a father-son team of treasure hunters, the British Museum announced Thursday.

The trove of coins and jewelry was buried more than 1,000 years ago, a collection of items from Ireland, France, Russia and Scandinavia that testified to the raiders' international reach.

"It's a fascinating find, it's the largest find of its type of over 150 years," said Gareth Williams, an expert at the British Museum who examined the items.

He said it was the largest such find in Britain since the 1840 discovery of the Cuerdale Hoard, a mass of 8,500 silver coins, chains, and amulets.

The BBC reported that the treasure could be worth as much as $2 million. "This is a discovery that isn't just once a generation, but once a century," said Jonathan Williams of the British Museum.

David Whelan, 60, and his 35-year-old son Andrew were trawling a through a farmer's field near Harrogate, in northern England, on Jan. 6 when their metal detector squealed. The pair began digging, finding a silver bowl more than a foot beneath the soil. Under British law, such finds must be reported to authorities.

The pair turned the bowl over to archaeological experts, who discovered it was packed with coins and jewelry. The bowl, a 9th century gilt silver container probably seized by Vikings from a monastery, had been used as an improvised treasure chest before being buried.

"We thought it was marvelous," David Whelan told The Associated Press. "But we didn't know for nearly a month what was in it."

In all, more than 600 coins and dozens of other objects, including a gold arm band, silver ingots and fragments of silver were found in and around the container.

Some of the coins mixed Christian and pagan imagery, shedding light on the beliefs of newly Christianized Vikings, said Gareth Williams, a curator of early medieval coins at the British Museum.

The booty was likely accumulated through a combination of commerce and warfare, Williams said. Its quantity indicated that at least some of it was taken by force, perhaps in raids on northern Europe or Scandinavia, he added.

The items were manufactured as far afield as Afghanistan, Russia and Scandinavia.

The Vikings raids were chronicled as early as the eighth century by Christian monks on the coasts of northern Europe. The raids spread throughout Europe, from modern day Spain to Turkey.

In some places, the raids grew into full-fledged invasions, and Viking kingdoms were established in Britain, Ireland, and Normandy, France, among other places.

The British Museum said the loot was hidden sometime after the fall of the Viking Kingdom of Northumbria in 927. Vikings often buried their wealth in times of trouble.

The museum said it hoped to buy at least some of the hoard from the Whelan family once its value was determined.

Whelan, for his part, said he and his son enjoyed their walks through the countryside and would keep hunting together on the weekends.

"If we hadn't found it we would've still been going," he said. "We just keep going, we enjoy it."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-07-21 10:36:03
Bookmark

Recent Comments

Post Your Own  
1 - 10 of 893
893 comments

andywhitmire 12:19:00 AM Jul 30 2007

Report This!

you have gotta be kidding me OceanBoater2000

OceanBoater2000 07:49:09 PM Jul 23 2007

Report This!

www.emarital.com to find more treasures! Post up a free profile and let the fun begin!

teresascat 02:45:30 PM Jul 23 2007

Report This!

Fantastic find! I love when bits and pieces of our Global history are discovered. The Vikings and their exploits provide us with so many stories, so many images of brave, adventurous men and women who braved the raging North Seas . . . .what a planet! Imagine the sense of "going where no one has gone before" and just plain old discovery. What a gift it is when we find these tempting clues as to what happens when one well-developed culture clashes, or merges, with another group. Mayhaps we humans can finally one day realize the beauty of all that is before us. Treasures of illumination like these are vital parts of any future harmony Earthlings dream of experiencing . . . . let's work, enjoy learning about each other, and finally . . . finally, understanding how closely related we all are . . . .congratulations to the finders!! I cannot wait to see closeups of the individual pieces . ..

martyb3655 08:52:50 PM Jul 22 2007

Report This!

I was fascinated by the article - and find that no one actually read it! Ass sex? Military matters? What the hell are you people doing? A valuable historic treasure has been uncovered! Whoops - that was my mistake - assuming anyone responding to this article actually had the intelligence to appreciate history! Yes the farmer will be compensated. No, they probably won't have ass sex as a result. And I'm reasonably sure that reporting the find to the British authorities won't require them to volunteer for the military where they will have to pay for their own meals! Peop;e, people, people - sometimes I think we may have increased our national IQ by allowing illiterate Mexicans to become citizens. You people scare me!

BLACKHIV 05:36:36 PM Jul 22 2007

Report This!

Alice,
The few times I have tried ass sex, i get a horrible case of the farts afterwards lasting hours. I do not have the ability to hold it and it's very embarassing. Is there anything i can do ahead of time or after to stop this??
During ass sex, the ass, sphincter, and rectum are stretched, and air may be introduced from the movements. After a penis, rod, or something else has been removed, the air inside has to go somewhere, for your body to return to its unexpanded state. The air that no longer fits needs to be expelled ? hence, farts!
Your post-ass sex flatulence could also be related to your sphincter, the muscles that control the anus's opening. During ass sex, the sphincter muscles loosen, allowing for penetration. Any gas you have afterwards flows more freely as your sphincter may not be tight enough at that moment to control the farts

art1027frank 05:25:16 PM Jul 22 2007

Report This!

.

art1027frank 05:25:14 PM Jul 22 2007

Report This!

.

BLACKHIV 05:17:40 PM Jul 22 2007

Report This!

Let you partner relax and get comfortable with you exploring their posterior before you bury your tongue in their ass. Massage their back and buttocks, kiss and caress their thighs and ass cheeks. Spread their cheeks and blow warm breaths over their hole. Lick, suck, and nibble their butt, perineum (the area of skin between the assand genitals), and the skin around their pucker. Get everything warm, wet, and lubricated with saliva. Ass usually contract when stimulated, and then expand. Lick gently or tap the tip of your tongue against their ass, and wait for a response. After a bit of gentle probing, the sphincter muscles should start to relax and welcome deeper exploration

BLACKHIV 05:17:35 PM Jul 22 2007

Report This!

Let you partner relax and get comfortable with you exploring their posterior before you bury your tongue in their ass. Massage their back and buttocks, kiss and caress their thighs and ass cheeks. Spread their cheeks and blow warm breaths over their hole. Lick, suck, and nibble their butt, perineum (the area of skin between the assand genitals), and the skin around their pucker. Get everything warm, wet, and lubricated with saliva. Ass usually contract when stimulated, and then expand. Lick gently or tap the tip of your tongue against their ass, and wait for a response. After a bit of gentle probing, the sphincter muscles should start to relax and welcome deeper exploration

asg1936 04:59:36 PM Jul 22 2007

Report This!

Also Hollywood used to play Vikings as guys who wore horned helmets

1 - 10 of 893
893 comments

Add your own Comments

Clear
Add

CNN.com

More Stories

Top Videos

News Bloggers

Ada Calhoun
  • Ada Calhoun
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Ada Calhoun
Dinesh D'Souza
  • Dinesh D'Souza
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Dinesh D'Souza
Mo Rocca
  • Mo Rocca
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Mo Rocca
Ben Greenman
  • Ben Greenman
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Ben Greenman
The Young Turks
  • The Young Turks
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by The Young Turks