The buckle and ring come from an ancient grave magnifier, originally belonging to the top of society from the second half of the 5th century.

Representatives of the region and the Tomáš G. Masaryk Museum in Rakovník today also showed another remarkable discovery from this year – a silver decorative halter.

“While prospecting the old road in the Rakovník region, the museum’s collaborators came across a suspicious object that was examined by metal detectors,” said Magdalena Elznicová Mikesková, director of the TGM Museum in Rakovník, about the circumstances of the discovery.

Given the circumstances, she did not want to identify the location of the find. Similar artifacts such as this one can be found in Tournai, Belgium, for example.

The price of the treasure cannot be quantified, according to experts, the insurance value is probably in the tens of millions of crowns.

Although it is a finding of extraordinary historical and artistic value, it should remain in the Rakovník Museum. “We would like to tell the story of the depot and the circumstances of its finding, even in multimedia form,” said Václav Švenda (Allies-TOP 09), Central Bohemian councilor for culture, monument care and tourism, about the future of the treasure.

The found set contains more than 150 grams of gold, which is complemented by a number of cut Czech garnets, almandines and pieces of green glass.

“We have before us the oldest use of Czech grenades,” said Kateřina Blažková, an archaeologist at the Rakovník Museum.

A unique cultural blend

The valuables represent a 1,500-year-old unique blend of several cultural areas. They were probably made by a goldsmith in the Mediterranean, perhaps in Ravenna, Italy, or the Byzantine metropolis of Constantinople (now Istanbul). The grenades came from Bohemia, the Almandines from India and Sri Lanka, and the glass from the Mediterranean.

The jewelry belonged to the top of society, probably not directly to the French King Childerich, who died in the 1980s, but probably to one of his courtiers.

Other destinies of valuables are also interesting. One and a half years ago, thieves stole them from graves, probably in the west of present-day Prague, and then they divided them, breaking it into three pieces.

The mentioned silver halter from the 6th century represents another unique feature, it is decorated with two masks in the form of helmets. Researchers associate similar gems with England and southern Scandinavia.