Detectorists locate huge Bronze Age hoard

All the papers seem to be making a big deal over the finders occupation, as if somehow being a bus driver makes the find more incredible.

From the Dorset Echo

A BUS driver is in for a bumper pay day after unearthing one of the largest ever hoards of Bronze Age axe heads with his metal detector.

Tom Peirce, an amateur treasure hunter from Ringwood, started combing a field after dropping off a school coach party at Putlake Adventure Farm, near Swanage.

Within a few minutes the device began beeping and the 60-year-old dug 10 inches into the ground to find a partial axe head.

He realised he had struck it lucky when he dug deeper and found dozens more.

Over the next two days he and colleague Les Keith uncovered nearly 500 bronze artefacts dating back 3,000 years.

The hoard, which included 268 complete axe heads, is one of the biggest of its kind found in Britain and is thought to be worth about £80,000.

Full story here.