13-Year-Old Finds Hoard Of Ancient Axes On 3rd Metal-Detecting Trip

December 1, 2021

A 13-year-old girl in England uncovered a pile of Bronze Age axes on her third metal-detecting trip.

Milly / Photo: THEO CHIKOMBA/BBC

Milly had only recently taken up her father's favorite hobby of metal-detecting. While browsing a field near Royston, Hertfordshire, she found the first of 65 artifacts dating from about 1300 BC.

When her father dug out the first one, Milly said they joked it might be an axe - and it was.

"I got a signal and yelled at my dad and when he started digging he went 'this could be an axe', and he was joking around about it," Milly told the BBC.

Photo credit: COLIN HARDWICK

The father-daughter duo managed to unearth about 20 items before archaeologists came to excavate it professionally the following day.

By the time they finished, they had a hoard of 65 Bronze Age items.

Milly said if she is offered any money for her part of the find, it would be split equally with the landowner.