Good day everyone. For many people, treasure is gold, silver and precious stones in chests, buried in secret places, or lying under a pile of shipwrecks on the seabed. But treasure is not necessarily gold or precious stones. Any item that is now very valuable can become a treasure. The search items are very rare and old things of great historical value, or unique items, some of which cannot be restored (paintings, sculptures or clothing).
In this blog I will tell you about some interesting treasures.
1. money pit.
Piracy is one of those topics that very often involves treasure. Oak Island is no exception.
Oak Island, located off the West Coast of Canada, has become very popular thanks to the legend of treasures buried there.
In 1763, near the coast, on the uninhabited Oak Island, flickering lights were seen. Pirates have long haunted the inhabitants of the continent, and this event has led to the idea that the robbers are hiding loot on this island.
32 years have passed since those events. Daniel McGinnis, having heard the story of will-o’-the-wisps, sailed to this island for treasure. He found a large hill, under which it looked as if someone had dug a hole, and then filled it up and buried something valuable in it. Another find that confirms the legend of the hidden treasure was an oak tree, the lower branches of which were sawed off and the upper branches were worn away, as if a rope was being dragged along them, lifting or lowering heavy loads.
The next day, Daniel and two friends arrived in Oak, intending to dig up the treasure. While digging, they came across a slab, under which there were layers of logs. Having broken several layers, they realized that such a large hole had been dug for a reason, and something was definitely hidden in it.
Returning nine years later, in 1804, together with a group of men, they decided to get to the bottom of the pit. Digging, every three meters they found a layer of logs. In the evening they came across something that looked like a chest. They decided to check what they stumbled upon in the morning, but by dawn the mine was flooded. Later they dug another one, but it was also flooded. Afterwards, McGinnis stopped searching, but never stopped believing in the treasures of Oak Island.
Like Daniel’s team, many tried to find the hidden treasure, but they either ran out of money or enthusiasm.
In 1959, Bob Restal spent all his savings for the right to dig on the island. After a five-year search, he died at the bottom of the mine. Two workers and Bob’s son died mysteriously. They, like Restal, fell into a hole and died. As it turned out later, they were poisoned by methane.
Ten years later, in 1969, the Triton Alliance company began the largest excavations on Oak Island. Over the course of two years, Mexican scissors, two pairs of boots and a heart-shaped stone were found.
In 1971, Dan Blankenship, one of the owners of the Triton, looked through the inside of a flooded cave through a special camera and noticed several floating human hands. There were three chests nearby. But having dived there to get a better look, he was almost killed by the collapsing walls.
The Triton company continued excavations, but found nothing.
According to the latest data, in April 2006 the island was purchased by the Michigan group of deep drilling specialists. According to preliminary reports, the search for the treasure will continue.
Due to the complex, multi-tiered design of the pit, many were led to believe that something very valuable was hidden in its depths.
2. Edinburgh ship gold.
During World War II, one of the most dangerous and important sea routes was considered the route between Russia and England, around the Scandinavian Peninsula. It was vital for England to transport tanks by sea for the USSR. But any ship traveling along this route was at risk of attack by German ships or submarines.
In April 1942, the huge English warship Edinburgh set out on a dangerous journey from the Soviet port of Murmansk. The convoy of ships brought a shipment of weapons for the USSR, and Edinburgh was supposed to accompany them home and protect them from the Germans.
In addition, the warship carried valuable cargo. Sailors loaded 93 boxes of canned beans onto the Edinburgh. In fact, there were not beans, but 495 gold bars – payment to Russia for military supplies.
On April 30, 1942, German submarines spotted the ship and fired on it. Edinburgh’s steering gear was destroyed. On May 2, German ships and submarines surrounded the ship and poured artillery fire and bombarded it with torpedoes.
When the Edinburgh began to list, its crew was evacuated to two other ships.
The ship did not sink, and the British, fearing that the Germans would find out about the gold, decided to sink the Edinburgh.
In 1957, the British government recognized the Edinburgh shipwreck as a mass grave. This meant that you could not penetrate it. In the 70s of the 20th century, the British government returned to plans to raise military treasures from the bottom (t.Modern pirates or Russians could have taken the gold, because the USSR and England were in a state of Cold War).
The plan to recover the gold was proposed by diver Keith Jessop. He worked on oil rigs in the North Sea, using heavy underwater cutting equipment at great depths. Keith believed that this technology could be used on the Edinburgh. The government approved the plan.
Started work in 1981. Using high-precision equipment to scan the seabed, the wreckage of the Edinburgh was found.
After the remains of the ship were found, Operation Greyhound began. The ship “Stephaniturm” was used to load the gold.
All actions were carried out in the strictest confidence (i.e.If the mission is successful, then upon returning the Stefaniturm could be attacked). Therefore, it was decided to encrypt messages and document all stages.
On August 30, 1981, the team went to sea. September 4 – first dive made. But when the divers reached the depths, they were shocked. They were not ready for such strong overloads. Even the simplest movement was exhausting. Eventually they got used to the difficulties and were able to work normally.
On September 16, the first gold bar https://ladyaidacasino.co.uk/bonus/ was found. In three weeks, divers recovered 431 ingots.
The catch was estimated at 65 million dollars (in our time the amount would be more than 700 million. dollars). The gold was divided as follows: 37.22% – Russia, 40.5% – the Financing Party, 17.78% – England, Keith got 4.5%. Each diver was paid $45,000.
But due to the approaching winter and the fact that the team was very tired, they decided to leave 34 gold bars at the bottom of the sea so that they could return for them someday.
3. Tomb of Prince Lu-sheng.
In 1968, soldiers patrolling Lingshan Mountain in Hebei Province found a strange underground tunnel. They squeezed inside and saw rows of glittering pots, statues and vases. Experts soon determined that this was the long-lost tomb of Prince Lu-sheng, who reigned in Beijing (Beijing) from 154 to 113 BC.uh.
The burial chamber of the prince’s wife, Du-wan, was found near the tomb. In the interior rooms, archaeologists found precious stones, fine silks and jewelry carved from jade. In addition, there were chariots and horse skeletons.
The bodies of the prince and wife were not found in the tombs themselves. On the tables where the bodies should have been, there were shards of jade and pieces of wire.
The ancient Chinese believed that jade had the property of preserving the body. To prevent their bodies from decaying even after death, Lu-sheng and his wife were tightly wrapped in clothes made from pieces of jade, which were sewn together with gold thread. These clothes are called yu-xiya.
Over time they crumbled, but most of the pieces remained intact, and archaeologists hoped to restore the unusual clothes.
A three-dimensional model was created using a computer.
Scientists have found that each costume took about ten years to make. And although the clothes are more than two thousand years old, they have not disappeared completely, while only a few teeth remain from the prince himself.
4. Drawings in the caves of Lascaux.
As I said at the beginning, treasures are not only gold, silver or precious stones, but also objects of historical importance or unique, irreplaceable things. This is the kind of treasure we will talk about.
A cave system dotted with 20,000-year-old paintings was discovered on September 12, 1940 in Lascaux, near Montignac, France.
Jacques Marsal’s dog, Robot, fell into a deep hole. Jacques had several friends with him who agreed to wait while he went down to get the dog. Suddenly, in the place where the Robot fell, the ground began to settle. A torrent of earth and stones fell on Jacques. When he got up, he saw that he was in a cave. Soon his friends joined him. The boys set fire to a piece of rag and saw that there were animals depicted on the walls – bulls, deer, cows..
The next day they explore this place again. They had flashlights, which allowed them to explore the caves better. During the night they found two caves with similar designs.
The boys told their teacher, Monsieur Leval, about the discovery. Leval told local authorities, and history experts soon arrived. It turned out that the pictures are two hundred centuries old and they are unique and priceless.
The drawings were probably drawn on the walls in almost complete darkness. Artists used natural colors. In addition to their rare artistic value, the drawings can also tell historians something about the lives of the prehistoric people who drew them.
The news about the caves quickly spread around the world, and a pilgrimage of tourists began. In 1948, the caves were opened to tourists. By 1962, more than 1,500 people came every day to look at the ancient drawings. But due to the endless streams of people, the atmosphere in the caves changed, and the paintings began to disappear. In 1963 the caves were closed to the public. Only scientists could visit, and Jacques Marsal was the man who discovered them.
5. California Gold Rush.
“In a dark and ancient mine
Together with his daughter Clementine,
Like a hermit for a long time
Once upon a time there was a miner”.
Song about prospectors. 1849.
In the 19th century, poor Europeans came to America for a better life. But by the middle of the 19th century, gold was found on the west coast of California.
About 100,000 people undertook a dangerous journey for riches across an unexplored continent.
One of these was Jacob Waltz, a poor mining engineer from Germany. He was unsuccessfully searching the California mines when news arrived that gold had been found in Arizona. This gold was on the sacred land of the Apaches.
Jacob, together with Miguel Peralta and Jacob Weiser, decided to infiltrate that very place and enrich themselves. Real luck awaited them there – a big gold mine. They started digging. Their hard work was worth it. According to some sources, in 1871, the gold he mined was worth about $60,000. Peralta decided not to mine gold anymore, but to go on vacation, while Waltz and Weiser decided not to stop there.
In 1879 they decided to visit the gold mine again. Arriving at the place, they noticed that two Mexicans were already digging. Waltz and his partner killed them. One day Jacob Waltz went to town and left Weiser alone in the mine. An Apache war party killed him. Soon gold made Jacob Waltz greedy and greedy. He was ready to silence forever anyone who revealed the secret of the gold mine. In 1880, two retired soldiers were found dead after boasting that they had found gold on the Haunted Mountain. Even Julius, Waltz’s nephew, who often accompanied his uncle on his trips, was killed.
Jacob Waltz died in 1891. Even on his deathbed he did not tell about the whereabouts of the gold. With his last breath, he reported it in a riddle:
It is located in the place where the shadow of the top of Weaver’s Needle falls at four o’clock in the afternoon.
Despite years of searching, the location of this mine remains a mystery.
6. Mary Rose.
In 1545, France planned to attack England by sea. The English navy was ready and waiting for the enemy off Portsmouth.
King Henry VIII dined on board the ship. But as soon as he noticed the French fleet and the English ships lined up in battle formation, the king went ashore.
On land, he saw the Mary Rose, the most luxurious ship in his fleet, list dangerously and begin to sink. A few minutes later the ship was under water. Of the 700 crew members, only 50 survived.
The French decided that the ship sank due to a direct hit from a cannonball, but the trouble was probably due to the incorrect design of the Mary Rose. The extra guns made the ship too heavy, and besides, the large crew (instead of 415 people, there were 700) did their job.
Four hundred years passed before the project to raise the Mary Rose came into being. Journalist Alexander McKee and archaeologist Margaret Rule formed the Mary Rose Committee in 1967. Their goal was to find the remains of the famous ship. They examined the seabed and came across a 16th-century cannon.
Later, the beams of the ship’s hull were found, which were measured for several years. Afterwards, they organized a trust, of which Prince Charles became the president. Money was raised for it all over the world.
In 1979, the operation to raise from the seabed began. All the insides of the hull – from guns to the most insignificant objects and internal structures – were brought piece by piece to the surface, where they were reassembled.
The case itself was badly damaged. So he was lifted onto a barge and towed to Portsut.
Since the logs lay under water for a long time, they could easily fall apart. The Mary Rose was rebuilt, restored and the entire structure was impregnated with preservative chemicals.
Soon a museum was opened, which is dedicated to the history of the flagship Mary Rose. It is built where the flagship itself was once built at the royal dockyard, which was later destined to sink. Nearby is another famous ship: “Victory”. He was also the flagship, and Admiral Nelson led the fleet on board.
7. Treasures of the Scythians.
Many treasures have been found in burial sites throughout Asia, and many have become valuable museum pieces. But in addition to their artistic value, the finds also have historical significance, helping to learn more about the people who lived in ancient times.
The Scythian people lived from Hungary to Kazakhstan. He was very rich and his people were civilized.
Later, these places were dotted with mounds (burial mounds of the Scythians). They contained various riches.
One day, in 1715, Peter I received amazingly beautiful gold jewelry. But when he learned that they had been found in a mound – a Scythian grave – he was outraged and ordered the plunder to be stopped. Despite this, Scythian treasures continued to appear from time to time in different places.
In 1862, almost 150 years after Peter the Great’s order, the Russian government sent archaeologist Ivan Zabelin to explore the mound at Chertomlyk on the Dnieper River.
The government wanted to know what was hidden in it. Zabelin made a narrow ditch to a depth of 6 meters, where he found 250 horse bridles. Many of them were covered with elegant designs and bound in gold. Two burial chambers were discovered in the depths of the mound. In the first lay two skeletons wearing gold necklaces, bracelets and rings. In the second there is a skeleton hung with precious jewelry made of silver, gold and electrum – an alloy of gold and silver. Nearby there was another skeleton, probably a maid who was supposed to accompany the owner to another life.