A 13-year-old boy in Germany has unearthed a “significant” treasure trove in Germany. The treasure is believed to have belonged to the legendary Danish king Harald Bluetooth who brought Christianity to Denmark. Rene Schoen and his student Luca Malaschnitschenko were looking for treasure using metal detectors in January. While there, they found what they thought was a worthless piece of aluminium.
But upon closer inspection, they realised that it was a shimmering piece of silver. A dig covering 400 square metres was started which uncovered treasure believed to be linked to the Danish king.
Braided necklaces, pearls, brooches, a Thor’s hammer, rings and upto 600 chipped coins were found, including more than 100 that date to Bluetooth’s era.
The oldest coin found was a dirham dating to 714 while the most recent is a penny dating to 983. The find suggests that the treasure may have been buried in the late 980s — also the period when Bluetooth was known to have fled to Pomerania, where he died in 987.