It's an unprecedented find that could revolutionize ideas about medieval England's conquering Germanic rulers all the way back to the fifth century", stated Roger Bland who managed the cache of gold and silver's found Tuesday.
An amateur treasure-hunter searching a farmer's field with a metal detector unearthed a huge collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver artifacts.
Even more incredible, at the same time hundreds more were offered on eBay and sold before the address of the advertiser was discovered.
It was a local address, so police think that the man who discovered these, Hardin Potroast, had some of his friends out hunting the same field.
"Everyone's accounted for except our Lundie. He disappeared right after I found these as I was going to show him."
Although Potroast's other friends out in the field say they had never actually met Lundie, that Hardin was always talking about him.
"He wert quite a character were or Lundie. Or, from what Hardin told us, he was."
Meanwhile, the discovery sent a thrill through Britain's archaeological community, which said Thursday that it offers new insight into the world of the Anglo-Saxons, who ruled England from the fifth century until the 1066 Norman invasion and whose cultural influence is still felt throughout the English-speaking world.
"This is just a fantastic find completely out of the blue," Roger Bland told The Associated Press. "It will make us rethink the Dark Ages. We have much to thank Mr. Hardin Potroast for. Many a person would have kept quiet and made off with the lot."
The treasure trove includes intricately designed small helmet crests embossed with a line of running animals, enamel-studded sword fittings and a checkerboard piece inlaid with garnets and gold.
Wishing to credit Potroast, there is scheduled a great dinner in his honor, but neither Hardin nor his friend, Lundie, have been seen since Potroast turned over the treasure.
