1000-Year-Old King Bluetooth's Treasure Discovered By 13-Year-Old Boy

A 13-year-old boy and his teacher uncovered a rare treasure that dates back to the time of the Danish King Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, who lived more than a thousand years ago.

The ancient trove was found on the German island of Ruegen and includes hundreds of silver coins, braided necklaces, pearls, rings, brooches, bracelets and a Thor’s hammer. The find was made in January when the boy, Luca Malaschnitschenko, and hobby archaeologist Rene Schoen were using metal detectors in search of lost treasures, the Associated Press reported.

Luca saw a tiny piece of metal on the field and thought it was nothing more than aluminum garbage. But, soon a closer look revealed the object was a rare Viking-age silver coin.

Archaeologists from the State Office then got involved and planned a dig to uncover the complete treasure. Luca and his teacher were asked to keep the discovery confidential until the entire excavation is complete.

Now, three months since the initial find, they have unearthed more than 4,000 square feet of land, discovering many more artifacts. They have found nearly 600 silver coins, more than 100 of which come from King Bluetooth’s era.

“This trove is the biggest single discovery of Bluetooth coins in the southern Baltic Sea region and is therefore of great significance,” the lead archaeologist, Michael Schirren, told news agency DPA. According to the Guardian, the oldest of the coins comes from the year 714, while the most recent one dates back to the year 983.

Gormsson was one of the last Viking kings of Denmark and became popular for bringing Christianity to the country. He ruled between 958 and 986 and came to be known as Bluetooth because of his dead, blue-ish looking tooth.

In fact, the famous Bluetooth wireless technology which we use today to transfer files and connect our devices also gets its name from the king. This is because of his impeccable communication skills which helped him unite modern-day Norway, Germany, Sweden and Denmark. The logo of the tech has also been developed from the initials of his name, H and B.

Many think the treasure may have been buried sometime around the late 980s when Bluetooth had to flee to Pomerania — a region including parts of modern northeast Germany and western Poland — due to his son Sven Gabelbart, who rebelled against him and took over the throne. He died in 987, a few years after fleeing. “We have here the rare case of a discovery that appears to corroborate historical sources,” archaeologist Detlef Jantzen told the Guardian.

That said, it is worth noting this is not the first discovery from amateur treasure hunters, Live Science reported. Back in 2015, a man discovered Roman-era coins, mosaic glassware, and hobnails from a pair of shoes and last year, four 2,000 year gold torques were unearthed in England.