Farmer looks for hammer, finds gold and silver in Hoxne, Suffolk

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In 1992, Eric Lawes, a retired farmer from Suffolk, utilized a metal detector gifted to him upon retirement to search for a misplaced hammer. Instead, he uncovered the Hoxne Hoard, which consisted of nearly 60 pounds of valuable items, including over 15,000 Roman coins, 200 gold objects, and several silver spoons. This significant discovery highlights the historical richness of the Hoxne area, which was also the site of John Frere's earlier findings of paleolithic flint tools, marking the first modern recognition of an ancient society lacking metal tools. The Hoxne Hoard and similar discoveries, such as the Mildenhall Treasure, underscore the importance of archaeological finds in understanding past civilizations.
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In 1992, Suffolk-resident Eric Lawes and retired farmer, went looking for a missing/misplaced hammer.
Eric Lawes had been previously gifted a metal detector upon his retirement as a parting token. He decided to put his retirement gift to good use in order to locate the hammer which he had had some trouble finding.
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/04/16/hoxne-hoard/

Lawes discovered what became known as the Hoxne Hoard, "close to 60 pounds of items made from silver and gold were found on the site. These included more than 15,000 Roman coins, 200 gold objects, and several silver spoons."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoxne_Hoard
 
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A funny story with a happy ending. I wonder what he'd find if he went looking for his saw.
 
Think that's remarkable? Almost 200 years earlier, John Frere was the first person in the modern world to conclude that there was an ancient human society which did not have metal tools or weapons after discovering 12 feet below modern ground level, below what appeared to be a sea bed, a cache of paleolithic flint tools in the same village, Hoxne, with population less than 1,000!
 
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Historian seeks recognition for first English king https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d07w50e15o Somewhere I have a list of Anglo-Saxon, Wessex and English kings. Well there is nothing new there. Parts of Britain experienced tribal rivalries/conflicts as well as invasions by the Romans, Vikings/Norsemen, Angles, Saxons and Jutes, then Normans, and various monarchs/emperors declared war on other monarchs/emperors. Seems that behavior has not ceased.
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