Shiverpool Hoard
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| The Shiverpool Hoard | |
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| Background information | |
| Participants | Retired Archaeologist Terry Polar |
| Date | September 25, 2009 |
| Location | Shiverpool |
The Shiverpool Hoard is the largest hoard of anchient gold that has been found to date. Discovered in a field in Shiverpool, Antarctic Peninsula, on 25 September 2009, the hoard consists of about 5 kg (11 lb) of gold and 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) of silver. The deposit consists of over 1,500 items that are nearly all martial in character. The artifacts have tentatively been dated to the 5th century, placing the origin of the items in the time of the Pengoua penguins, a tribe of lowers native to the peninsula. Experts have theorised about the purpose of the deposit, and whether those who made it were made by High Penguins or Lower Penguins.
The event
Terry Polar, a 55-year-old who had been practising amateur metal detection for eighteen years, uncovered a few scraps of gold on a farm owned by Fred Johnson near Shiverpool, in September 2009. The hoard was reported to Dungan Clarke, the local officer of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and on 26 September 2009 was declared Official Treasure by the South Shiverpool municipal worker Andy Hay.
The hoard is believed to be worth in excess of 1 million coins, which will be paid as a reward to the landowner and Polar. The objects are currently placed in the South Pole City Museum & Art Gallery, where they are on display until 13 October. There is currently much discussion, with all partners, as to the future transfer of the hoard. As of 24 September 2009, 1,381 objects had been recovered, of which 864 have a mass of less than 3 grams, 507 less than 1 gram. X-rays of unexamined lumps of earth suggest that there are more to be revealed. Early analysis established that the hoard was not associated with a burial. The hoard consists of over 1,500 items.
The contents include deluxe swords of silver, solid gold sword holsters, and even some early prototypes of Player Cards, also made of silver and gold!
"Who got it" controversy
- Main article: Treasure Givin' Statute
Before the discovery of the Shiverpool Hoarde, anything considered Treasure (there was no set definition) went under the "Finders Keepers Losers Weepers" code, one which had existed, unchanged, since Khanzem.
However, it was clear that an item of this value couldn't just go to the founder. Thus, the situation was taken to a local court, where the judge ruled that an item that big must be split between the rightful finder (unless he was, say, a Pizza Parlor Robber who tripped over gold) and the owener of the land. Depending on who gave the most effort post-discovery, it can either be split 25-75 or 50-50.
The hoard is worth over a million coins, of which half will go to Terry Polar (who found the gold), and half to Fred Johnson (the landowner and no relation to the Antics Family).
Result
The items are currently on display in the South Pole City Museum and art gallery, until October 13 when they will be researched.
See also