Thought It Was a Bottle Cap... British Man Finds 'Treasure' with Metal Detector

"Engraved with Wolgyegwan and Doksuri... Characteristics of Roman Era Artifacts"

Roman-era earrings discovered in Norfolk, England. Photo by Facebook·Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] A man in the UK has attracted attention after discovering a pair of earrings made during the Roman era while searching for items with a metal detector as a hobby.

According to the British BBC on the 27th (local time), Nick Bateman (53), a British resident of Burston, Norfolk, found a pair of gold earrings with a metal detector in a field in Norfolk. It is reported that Bateman took up the hobby of excavating buried objects with a metal detector after the spread of the COVID-19 virus in 2020 limited his activities.

He explained the situation at the time, saying, "The metal detector signal went off, so I dug into the ground and found a pair of round golden objects about 2 cm in size."

At first glance, they looked like ordinary bottle caps, but Bateman sent them to an expert for examination just in case.

Adrian Marsden, who was in charge of the appraisal, said, "When I first started the appraisal, I thought it was a medieval item because of the small cross engraved on the top of the object."

He added, "Upon closer inspection, not only the cross but also a laurel wreath and an eagle were engraved, which are typical features found in Roman-era items."

After further appraisal, the earrings have been designated as treasure. It is also known that the earrings will be exhibited at the Diss Museum in Norfolk, near the place where they were found.

Bateman said, "Every time I see these earrings, I become curious about the life and face of the Roman woman who owned them," adding, "I also want to know how the earrings came to be lost in a field in Norfolk."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.