14 Mar 2013 Treasure hunter finds Roman lead coffin

The ancient Roman coffin was discovered nine years ago in Leicestershire by a treasure hunter. It was made of lead and experts say it's worth around £200,000. It probably belonged to a wealthy Roman family.

Experts say the coffin is 1,700 years old and could be an early Christian burial. It was more than a metre underground. It was made of lead and is worth around £200,000. The coffin was found by treasure hunter Chris Wright, who is a surveyor, using a metal detector.

The lead coffin is believed to contain the remains of a child from a wealthy Roman family who lived in Britain in the third century. The prospector stumbled across the coffin when he went for a walk with other metal detecting fans. Together, they searched a field.

The grave was located about three miles from the site of a Roman settlement and fort, which are well known to have actually existed in the past. The location of the coffin is being kept secret by archaeologists to prevent other treasure hunters from venturing there. The coffin is probably the oldest example of a Christian burial in the region.

"I can't describe how it feels to find something like this. You spend hours going through fields, mostly just discovering worthless sherbet, and then you find something like this. It's unbelievable, all those hours spent searching are worth it," said the lucky finder.

"The detector gave a signal that there was something in the ground. I was wondering whether to dig or give up. But curiosity got the better of me and I started digging. When I saw part of the coffin, I dug like crazy," smiled the searcher.

Many questions arose in his mind. "It would be great if we could find out why the child was buried in this place and why in this way. But maybe those are questions that will never be answered," Wright lamented.

After the searchers found out it was a coffin, they called the police and a guard was set up at the site to protect the place from grave robbers. "It was located about four feet underground in a field. Because it was made of lead, we had no problem finding it," said David Hutchings, founder of the DIGGING UP THE PAST treasure hunters club.

"We assumed there were human remains inside the coffin, so we contacted the police. The latter got in touch with archaeologists from Leicestershire who also came," Hutchings added.

Sources: www.dailymail.co.uk