A massive haul of Bronze Age treasures has been unearthed by astonished experts who had been looking for remains at a Roman battle site.
Archaeologists had been scouring the site of the 15 BC battlefield with metal detectors when they stumbled across the haul.
The bronze artefacts – including jewellery, axes and sickles – predate the Roman battlefield in Grisons, Switzerland, by about a thousand years.
Bafflingly, many of the 80 Bronze Age artefacts had been deliberately broken and wrapped in leather before being placed in a wooden box and apparently buried.
Newsflash obtained a statement from the Canton of Grisons on 27th June hailing the “outstanding archaeological discovery.”
The statement went on: “The Archaeological Service of Grisons documented and recovered a collection of 80 objects from the Late Bronze Age at the foot of the prehistoric settlement of Motta Vallac near Salouf.”
The 80 bronze objects – weighing approximately 20 kilogrammes (64 lbs) – date back to around the 12th or 11th Century BC.
The statement also said: “The majority of the objects consist of so-called casting cakes or raw copper metal pieces, which are typically associated with intra-Alpine metal production.
“Preliminary analysis suggests that all the objects, some intentionally rendered unusable, were deposited in the ground inside a wooden box and wrapped in leather.”
Thomas Reitmaier, an archaeologist with the Grisons canton, said: “The comprehensive scientific investigation of this unique find, which holds far-reaching potential for understanding the Late Bronze Age culture, economy, and landscape history of our region, will undoubtedly provide profound insights.”
He added: “Furthermore, it highlights the potential of large-scale archaeological surveys and the collaboration with volunteer metal detectorists, who facilitated the detection, professional excavation, and recovery of this archaeological treasure.”
