When a dental assistant joined a group of metal detector aficionado’s, she was excited to get down and dirty to find some crazy things. When they went to a remote island off the coast of Denmark, she found something that she never thought she’d ever see… It was something that no one was expecting.
Usual Walk
Terese Frydensberg Refsgaard went out for a walk one day not suspecting that she would be lead on the journey of a lifetime…
Ordinary Gal
Terese worked as a dental assistant as her day job. In her free time, she loved going out on walks and going about her day as an amateur archaeologist.
Lifelong Affair
She had always been obsessed with archaeology. Of course, it started with dinosaurs and soared from there.
Metal Detecting Skills
Terese had a passion for archaeology and loved spending her free time with her metal detector. She would go on her usual walks after work and try to find any lost or mysterious items…
It Was Just For Fun!
Whipping out the metal detector was something that she liked to do. She never planned on going any bigger with her hobby, it was just a relaxing, after-work activity…
Thankfully, Nothing Scary Has Happened Yet
Terese has heard of horror stories from people around the world using metal detectors. Luckily, she hasn’t had any problems or scary experiences… Yet.
Horror Stories
Some folks have said they found weapons, like guns or knives, buried in the woods or remote areas… Others have said they come across groups hostile groups in the woods and have almost gotten killed…
Dane Metal Detecting Groups
Luckily, for Terese, she was able to find a large group on Facebook and even some friends to go out in. Going anywhere alone is almost never a good idea these days…
Gaining Momentum
Terese would share her findings with other local archaeologists. They would start talking in Facebook groups about their findings and other interesting facts. Weirdly enough, there was a pretty big amateur community out there!
Joining A Group
Eventually, she was invited to join a group of hobbyists to explore with them. They rarely found something of value, but it was still fun to get together! They had no idea what was ahead…
Island of Hijarnø
The group was going to make their way to the island of Hjarnø right off the coast of Denmark. It’s a small island, but explorers always find something interesting…
Uninhabited
Hjarnø is uninhabited, meaning that they were positive that they weren’t really going to find anything that was of this century… Unless it was illegal!
A Huge Find
Back in 2008, archaeologists found a stone structure in the ground. After some investigation, it was determined that these stones dated back to 5200 B.C. A true Stone Age settlement!
Let’s Explore!
The group wanted to find something just like that. They knew it was out there, they just had to find it. They had a large group, so they could cover more ground…
They Wanted To Find Something
They didn’t want to get their hopes up, but everyone secretly wanted to come across something. They were hoping that they had a big enough group that it would be easy to find something.
Slow-Moving Process
Terese was taking her time with her metal detector. Since this island was uninhabited, she knew that any beep would be something substantial. Still, she was careful… It could just be a penny!
A Slow Search
After using her metal detector for a short amount of time, Terese got a hit. She didn’t let herself get too excited… Remember, it could just be a penny… Still, she got to digging…
Slowly Digging
Each time she dug into the dirt, she had to sift through it all. She didn’t want to miss anything. She had no idea what she was about to unearth…
Anxiety-Inducing
So far, she wasn’t finding anything. She was afraid that what went off was much deeper than she originally thought… And that was troubling.
She Saw Something
Right before she tossed the dirt, something shiny caught her eye. It was something metal! She couldn’t tell if it was gold or not, but something told her to just keep digging…
Quite Literally Struck Gold!
She continued to dig until she found something… That’s when she found what looked like gold buttons! Of course, they needed to make sure it was real gold, but things were looking good so far…
All Of This Jewelry
Terese knew that she found something substantial. There had been talks of finding ancient jewelry in the community… And, she thinks that she found it.
Everyone Was Astonished
After investigating the metal, they were able to confirm that it was, in fact, gold. One detail they found was something that went against the known history of Hjarnø…
The 6th Century?
These objects dated back to the 6th Century, which means that it wasn’t related to the Stone Age, like those large stones they found in 2008. This also predated the Viking Era, so this wasn’t just some stashed loot…
Bringing In The Professionals
Mads Ravn, a researcher from the Velje Museum, thinks that they were Roman artifacts traded with early Danes. Now the question is: Why were they hidden?
Cursed Pieces?
Historical records show that the gold pieces were created on the same days of horrific disasters, including a volcanic eruption that killed over 100,000 people… And it wasn’t even in Europe.
El Salvador
The volcano erupted all the way in El Salvador, but it was so violent that the ash made its way to Europe and destroyed the harvest season.
Punishment
The Europeans had no idea about the volcano in El Salvador, so they could only assume that they were being punished by the gods. The Danes must have buried them as a peace offering to the gods…
Featured In A Museum!
This was such an amazing find that the treasures were spread out in two different museums. She’s even trying to help them dig up more of the mysteries…
Treasure Hunter
Terese is still a dental assistant, although most don’t call her an amateur archaeologist anymore! She’s still digging, of course.