2000년전 철기시대 ‘금 목걸이’ 英서 공개

지난 19일 영국 박물관에서 2000년 된 철기시대의 금 목걸이 유물이 공개됐다.

이 목걸이는 지난 2006년 보물 탐험가 모리스 리차드슨(Maurice Richardson)에 의해 발굴됐으며 목걸이가 발견된 노퍽(Norfolk)주는 철기시대 유물이 자주 발견되는 지역인 것으로 알려졌다.

영국 박물관 측은 리차드슨이 발견한 목걸이의 검증을 거친 뒤 35만 파운드(약 7억 8000만원)에 사들여 대중에 공개했다.

이 박물관의 수석 연구가 제레미 힐(Jeremy Hill) 박사는 “이 목걸이는 지금까지 발견된 철기시대의 금 장신구 중 가장 의미있는 발견”이라면서 “근래에 발견된 유물 중 가장 비싼 가격에 책정됐다.”고 설명했다.

이어 “이것을 가졌던 사람은 엄청난 권력을 가진 사람이었을 것”이라며 “이 목걸이는 매우 높은 수준의 기술로 만들어졌으며 예술적 가치도 높은 귀중한 유물”이라고 덧붙였다. 

고고학자들은 목걸이가 발견된 노퍽 주에서는 이와 거의 동일한 모양의 장신구가 발견된 적이 있는 것으로 보아 예전 유물과 이번 목걸이를 만든 사람이 같을 것으로 추측하고 있다.

한편 유물을 발견한 리차드슨은 “처음 흙속에서 목걸이를 발견하고는 손으로 조심스럽게 꺼냈다.”면서 “마치 금방 만들어진 목걸이처럼 깨끗한 상태로 묻혀 있었다.”고 전했다.

U.K. Amateur Digger Hits Gold With Iron-Age Necklace (Update1) Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A gold-and-silver Iron Age necklace discovered by an amateur digger was displayed for a day by the British Museum, one of 749 found treasures reported as part of the annual Portable Antiquities Scheme. The necklace, or torc, was dug up in a field near Newark in Nottinghamshire, England, by a man using a metal detector where a World War II plane had crashed, the British Museum said. Dubbed the ``Newark Torc,'' it's valued at 360,000 pounds ($540,000), the priciest single find in the program's recent history, and now belongs to Newark Heritage Service. As a reward, the finder -- 59-year-old tree surgeon Maurice Richardson, who bought his first metal detector four decades ago -- got half of the necklace's value, or around 130,000 pounds, and the landowner got the other half. ``I couldn't really believe it. It was something that you dream of,'' said Richardson, in a long-sleeved navy polo shirt, as he held up a piece of the crashed warplane that led him to the necklace. ``Even if you find treasure in the Midlands, you don't expect to find something like that.'' The necklace -- a thick, finely chiseled choker in excellent condition and dated between 200 B.C. and 50 B.C. -- was briefly exhibited by the museum in one of its columned galleries. Beside it were recently found amulets and Roman coins. Finding Heritage Richardson said he immediately reported his find to a coroner. Why not hang onto it? ``Anyone who does that is on a road to nowhere,'' he said. ``It's not about taking things and keeping things: It's finding a heritage, and hopefully when you do find something like that, it ends up somewhere like this.'' Jeremy Hill, the British Museum's former Iron Age curator who is now its head of research, said he was initially ``deeply skeptical.'' ``It looks almost identical to another one which was found in Norfolk,'' said Hill. ``When it first came in, I thought someone had actually managed to make a good copy.'' Scientific tests proved otherwise, leading Hill to describe the find today as ``the best example of an Iron Age Celtic gold necklace found in this country for 50 years.'' The 749 discoveries for the year 2007 compare with 665 registered in 2006 -- 282 of which have now been acquired by museums across Britain, the release said. The program has recorded some 360,000 archaeological finds, most of them thanks to metal-detector users, and the rest by people who made chance discoveries as they walked, gardened, ploughed or did everyday work. The finds must be reported if they are ``treasure'' -- gold and silver pieces that are more than 300 years old, and groups of coins. Both the finder and the landowner are rewarded as an incentive for them to report. British Museum Director Neil MacGregor, hosting today's presentation, lauded the amateur diggers and said their work had generated dozens of doctoral theses and academic studies. ``We are really remaking the history of the country,'' he said.