Archaeologists set out to a valley near Oberhalbstein, Switzerland, to uncover ancient Roman ruins. Their aim was to find some evidence left behind by the Roman military, a once powerful force in the world. However, instead of what these people wanted, they got something much older: a 3,000-year-old collection of buried treasure.
Around 80 artifacts were found in the treasure trove, and have been dated to be from 1200 B.C. to 1000 B.C., or the late Bronze Age. According to archaeologists from the Archaeological Service of Graubünden, these items were intentionally damaged to be unusable. They was then placed in a wooden box, wrapped in leather, and then buried in the valley.
This practice, according to these experts, is called selective dumping. It is a method that involves destroying and dumping valuable metal items. The artifacts did include some metal objects, such as raw copper, sickles, axes, and jewelry pieces.
Read more about the discovery here!
Image credit: The Archaeological Service of Graubünden