But Juliane and Aurelius never did come back, and the buried treasure remained in the ground until 1,600 years later a farmer, Eric Lawes, went to look for a missing hammer. What he found, with the help of his metal detector, was this spectacular hoard. And he did find the hammer-which is now also part of the British Museum's collection.
但朱利安與奧列里烏斯沒能再回來,財寶一直深埋地底,直到1600多年后,一名叫埃里克勞斯的農夫丟了一把錘子,他帶著金屬探測器去找錘子,卻在無意中發現了這個寶庫。當然,錘子最后也找到了,它也成為大英博物館的藏品之一。
It's perhaps worth noting that many of the objects in this series we wouldn't know much about, were it not for the work of thousands of people-archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and many others. And we wouldn't even have found many of these objects without metal detectorists like Eric Lawes, who in recent years have been re-writing the history of Britain. When he found the first few objects, he alerted local archaeologists, so that they could record the detail of the site and lift the whole hoard out in blocks of earth.
如果沒有考古學家、人類學家、歷史學家等人的辛勤工作,許多歷史物品對我們來說都毫無意義。如果沒有像埃里克勞斯這樣的尋寶人,不知道它們的存在。他們的發現改寫了不列顛的歷史。埃里克發現了幾件文物之后,立刻通知了當地的考古學家。他們記錄了詳細的出土地點,并將寶物連同附近的泥土一起取出研究。
Weeks of careful micro-excavation in the laboratories of the British Museum revealed not only the objects, but the way in which they had been packed. Although their original container, a wooden chest about two feet (60 cm) wide, had largely perished, its contents remained in their original positions. Our pepper pot was buried alongside a stack of ladles, some small silver jugs and a beautiful silver handle in the shape of a prancing tigress. Right at the top, lovingly wrapped in cloth, were necklaces, rings and gold chains, placed there by people uncertain of when or whether they would ever wear them again. These are objects that bring us very close to the terrifying events that must have been overwhelming these peoples' lives.
工作人員用了數周的時間進行細致挖掘,取出了所有文物,并弄清了它們當年的擺放方式。用于存放寶物的寬約六十厘米的木箱已基本腐朽,但里面物品的位置沒有變動。我們的胡椒瓶與一堆長柄勺、幾個小銀罐和一把造型為躍起的母虎的漂亮銀把手擺在一起。在箱子頂層還有用布仔細包裹的一些首飾,如項鏈、戒指和金鏈條等,主人不知道是否還有一天能再次佩戴它們。通過這些物品, 我們仿佛能近距離地感受到讓這些人惶惶如驚弓之鳥的災禍。