Without the presence of metal detectorists, archaeologists may have never found several ancient burial sites or artifacts. Just recently, two men found several rare artifacts in Lancashire; these artifacts led to an untouched Bronze Age burial site.
The two lucky men, Matthew Hepworth, and David Kierzek, had unearthed artifacts such as a chisel and a dagger. From there, an ancient wheelbarrow was located at the site. If it hadn’t been for those men, the thousand-year-old site would have remained undiscovered.
Hepworth said that before they found the site, it had remained untouched, which is very rare. He added that he had been on the site five times over the last 20 years, but hadn’t found anything. However, he explained that metal items tend to move about on the ground over a certain period of time.
Hepworth believed he was a very lucky guy that day. The first thing he found was a chisel, which was rare in itself. There haven’t been too many chisels found in Britain; only a mere handful. Then, the men ended up finding a dagger and other bronze pieces nearby.
The most exciting part about finding those pieces was that people can now learn a lot from the site. He added that it is part of their heritage as well as providing knowledge for the future generations to come. Hepworth is originally a community nurse but does metal detecting in his free time. Before discovering this site, he found a stash of Viking silver in the area. That stash is now on display at Lancaster City Museum.
He said that finding the burial monument that dates to around 1,500 years ago, from the late Neolithic Period to the Middle or Late Bronze Age, is as good as it gets. Coming this July, Hepworth and Kierzek will be taking part in the dig which is being funded with 49,500 pounds from Heritage Lottery Fund. Dig Ventures is actually inviting the public out to the field to join in the excavation process.
One of the archaeologists on the project, Brendon Wilkins, said that this burial site will be the best window they have on the lives and deaths of the Bronze Age Britons.