– After a quick image search on Google, the heart rate and adrenaline rose quite a bit. Suddenly I stood with a gold treasure in my hands, says 51-year-old Erlend Bore from Sola. In his hands, he had the largest gold treasure of its kind that has been found in Norway in over 100 years. And that this discovery was made is all about coincidence. Erlend Bore with the gold treasure he found on Rennesøy in Stavanger. Photo: Erik Waage / news Was told to go on more trips Erlend Bore makes sure on a daily basis that the food Nortura sells is safe, through his job as head of food safety. But it’s a sedentary job, so his physiotherapist and GP gave him strong advice to get out and about more. – I wanted to be an archaeologist as a child, and found out that I should buy a metal detector, says Bore. As late as June 7, he had his first day out on a walk with the metal detector. And one day at the end of August he went to Rennesøy. Bore had been looking for treasure with a metal detector for just over a month before he made the discovery of the century. Photo: ALEKSANDRA A. WIERCINSKA / Archaeological Museum, UiS After searching for hours, and only finding an old 10-øring, he was about to pack up for the day. He looked out over the landscape, and thought: “if this was a long time ago, where would I have been?” – Then I saw a rock crag, which I would have climbed on if I were to walk from the sea and into the countryside on Rennesøy, he says. At the place he was only supposed to quickly search over, a huge signal suddenly went off from the detector. The gold treasure is well preserved, and has several small details. Photo: Erik Waage / news From the Migration Period After lifting the earth above, he saw something yellow. He was absolutely certain that it was old chocolate paper he had found. He picked it up in his hands to take a closer look at what looked like a lump. – Then the lump burst, and I was suddenly sitting with a gold treasure in my hands. There were lots of little gold pearls. Here it was important to get everything and not lose anything, he says, laughing. Care must be taken when digging up 1,500-year-old gold. Photo: ALEKSANDRA A. WIERCINSKA / Archaeological Museum, UiS Bore quickly went up to the farmer, and burst out: – I think I have found a gold treasure! He secured the find, and quickly contacted the archaeologists. – This was a Sunday. I contacted the county archaeologist and sent a photo of the find. Shortly afterwards, he called and said it was a gold treasure from the migration era, says Bore. After the discovery, he was full of adrenaline, and did not sleep well for several days. – It happened that I woke up at three in the morning and said out loud to myself: I found a gold treasure. It’s an absurd feeling. – Gold find of the century The find is now on display at the Archaeological Museum in Stavanger. – This is the gold find of the century in Norway. To find so much gold at the same time is extremely unusual, says director Ole Madsen at the Archaeological Museum at the University of Stavanger. Bore’s find consists of nine gold pendants with a round, coin-like object in the middle. All with a horse engraved in the middle. In addition, he found ten gold beads and three gold rings. Among the finds were three rings. Photo: ALEKSANDRA A. WIERCINSKA / Archaeological Museum, UiS One of the gold pendants found by Bore. Photo: ALEKSANDRA A. WIERCINSKA / Archaeological Museum, UiS This is what the gold beads look like. Photo: ALEKSANDRA A. WIERCINSKA / Archaeological Museum, UiS These have, according to associate professor at the archaeological museum, Håkon Reiersen, been closed down already in the 6th century. – It is very special that so many pieces of gold jewelery lie together. It is a discovery that no one has experienced for generations, and has led to great ecstasy among us and the county council, says Reiersen. Erlend Bore’s gold find collected. Photo: ALEKSANDRA A. WIERCINSKA / ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, UIS Reiersen says that similar discoveries have previously been made in Norway. – But it was a long time ago. In the 6th century there was a great crisis in Scandinavia. It was climate deterioration and presumably plague, which has caused large parts of the population to die. Either these are hidden valuables during a troubled period, or an offering to the gods. He is very happy that Bore did everything right and reported the find to the county council. Get finder’s pay The find will now be cleaned by the conservators at the museum. – We want to get it on display in connection with a new exhibition on 15 September, says museum director Madsen. The gold treasure is well looked after at the Archaeological Museum. Photo: Erik Waage / news And Bore can probably expect a finder’s salary. – All finds that are older than the year 1537 belong to the state, but it is common to give a finder’s fee for precious metal, says Reiersen. And although Bore has found the golden treasure of the century in the country, he does not want to give up his new hobby just yet. – I haven’t found a silver coin. There’s a lot I can still tick off.
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Erlend Bore found the gold treasure of the century in Norway – with a metal detector – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
