Metal detectorist stumbles on ‘beautiful’ item — and finds unique Viking artifact

Description

On a farm in the Netherlands, a metal detectorist stumbled on an intricately shaped item. His small find turned out to be an “extraordinary” fragment of a unique Viking weapon.

“This beautiful pommel cap is the first of its kind to be found in the Netherlands (and) it enriches our understanding,” Nelleke IJssennagger-van der Pluijm, director of the Fryske Akademy, said in the release. “This extraordinary find shows that there is still a lot to discover about the Viking Age in Frisia.”