Asterix and Obelix, had they existed, might have paid for their mead and other magic potions with gold-silver-copper coins stamped with elaborate images of men and horses.

The largest treasure trove of pre-Roman, Gaulish money ever to be found has been discovered in central Brittany.

The 545 coins – each worth thousands of euros to collectors but priceless to historians and archaeologists – could overturn much of the received wisdom about the complexity, and wealth, of pre-Roman Celtic society in France. Why was such enormous wealth, a king’s ransom at the time, buried in the grounds of a large Gaulish farm 40 miles south of Saint-Brieuc in the first century BC? Why was the hoard never recovered? (more…)

Some 1,650 years ago someone was so comprehensively fed up with the state of the Roman empire that they committed an act of treason, blasphemy and probably criminal defacing of the coinage. They cursed the emperor Valens by hammering a coin with his image into lead, then folding the lead over his face.

The battered scraps of metal discovered by Tom Redmayne, an amateur metal detector, in a muddy field in Lincolnshire are a unique find.

The mid-fourth century was a time of turmoil in Roman Britain. A Roman aristocrat, Valentinus, had been exiled to Britain where he was stirring up trouble. (more…)

By Andrew Colin Renfrew for the Guardian

One of the unsung successes of this government is the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which records archaeological objects found by members of the public and makes that information available for all on its online database. The scheme recently recorded its 300,000th find. But all that is now under threat, an unintended consequence of this year’s comprehensive spending review by which the government fixes its funding for the next three years.

Although the spending review proved to be much better for museums and the heritage than was feared - a tribute to the negotiating ability of James Purnell, the new secretary of state - the Portable Antiquities Scheme comes under the aegis of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the one organization that was singled out for cuts in the spending review, as its grant is being reduced by 25% in real terms over the next three years. (more…)

HATFIELD — Deep in the woods near Brushy Creek stands an old beech tree, its smooth bark etched with dozens of carvings, including biblical references, a heart and a legless horse.

Bob Brewer was 10 when his great-uncle, W.D. “Grandpa” Ashcraft, pointed it out on a logging trip 57 years ago.

“He said, ‘Boy, you see that tree? That’s a treasure tree,’” Brewer recalled on a recent visit to the site. “‘You see that writing? If you can figure out what that is, you’ll find some gold.’”

The old man didn’t elaborate, but his words stuck with Brewer through childhood and two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Navy helicopter crewman. So did memories of Grandpa’s frequent, unexplained horseback rides into the nearby Ouachita Mountains. Read Full Article

The galleon San Jose sank off Colombia in 1708 carrying treasure said to be worth $2 billion today. But disputes over who gets the loot have prevented its recovery.

CARTAGENA, Colombia — For nearly 300 years, the wreck of the Spanish galleon San Jose has tantalized archaeologists and salvagers alike. When it sank in 800-foot-deep waters off this fortified Spanish colonial city, it was carrying gold, silver and precious jewels that a group of treasure hunters believes are now worth $2 billion.

But a quarter of a century after the U.S. group, which originally included a Hollywood actor, a professional golfer and a convicted Watergate felon, staked its claim, exploration and retrieval of the wreck seem as distant as the sinking sun at dusk over this historic walled city.

The stalemate over the claim by Seattle-based Sea Search Armada is partly the result of sweeping changes in international marine law and judicial interpretations during the last two decades that have made business more difficult for shipwreck salvagers. Colombia is loath to give a private foreign group access to a valuable historical site, though exploration permits it issued nearly 30 years ago seemed to do just that. Read Full Story