A treasure trove has been found at an ancient Celtic settlement site in the Czech Republic, and archeologists are thrilled.
The discovery of gold and silver coins, amber, metal objects, pieces of ceramic vessels, the remains of dwellings, and jewelry were discovered near the city called Hradec Králové, Fox News reported Tuesday.
The city’s Museum of Eastern Bohemia recently announced the find at the settlement where a highway will be constructed.
Aerial video footage shows the city of Hradec Králové:
The ancient site is from the La Tène period.
According to the British Museum’s website:
The term La Tène is used to describe the material culture of the latter half of the Iron Age across much of northern and western Europe, from 450BC to the Roman conquest. The name is derived from a site of the same name, on Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where the first ‘La Tène’ type objects were excavated in the late 19thC.
The settlement was a center for trade and production, and the treasure researchers found amounted to an astounding haul of 22,000 bags of artifacts.
Images show the site and researchers handling some of the finds:
“The haul, according to officials, represents ‘one of the largest assemblages of artifacts ever discovered in the Czech Republic,’ the museum said in a statement translated from Czech to English,” the Fox article noted.
Per Smithsonian Magazine, “Established in the fourth century B.C.E. [B.C.], the settlement spans about 62 acres,” reaching its peak in the second century B.C.E.
“Historians think the Celts who once occupied Bohemia were part of the Boii tribe. However, the researchers say they can’t know whether this tribe lived at the recently discovered settlement,” the article read.
The Fox article noted that months ago the museum said someone hiking in the Czech Republic had found a treasure trove buried in a field.
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