700 B.C. Man Hid Treasure

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31225, 24 November 1966, Page 17

700 B.C. Man Hid Treasure

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) LONDON, Nov. 23.

The story of how a bronzesnrith hid his hoard from an impending raid 2700 years ago was told at an inquest yesterday, “The Times” reported.

The bronzesmith lived in the Ribble valley area of Lancashire. The moment of fear ar-

rived when the threat of attack by robbers came about 800 to 700 B.U. So he buried his hoard of metal implements with two of his gold possessions in a meadow near where he lived. The raiders missed the hoard, the bronzesmith never retrieved them and they were I untouched until recently, [when two labourers working ! on a pipeline unearthed them. I Today the find was spread -on the table before the East I Lancashire Coroner, Mr 'George Graham.

He had to decide whether it should go to the finders or, as “treasure trove," become the property of the Queen. The nine-man jury decided that the gold implements believed to have come from the Wicklow mountains in Ireland were “cached by a frightened man who hoped to recover them later” and were therefore treasure trove. Mr Graham seized the hoard on behalf of the Queen and said it would probably go to the British Museum.