Finland's largest Viking Age silver hoard discovered by metal detectorist — and it has thousands of coins and pieces of jewelry

The largest hoard of Viking Age silver ever found in Finland — which contains almost 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of coins and jewelry — has been unearthed by a metal detectorist about 95 miles (150 kilometers) north of Helsinki.

The hoard had been divided into two deposits and buried in birch-bark containers. Although the coins and jewelry likely date to between A.D. 1000 and 1050, it's unknown exactly when they were buried, Esko Tikkala , an archaeologist at the Lahti Historical Museum who excavated the hoard, told Live Science in an email.

The hoard has not yet been fully cleaned, separated and counted yet, but there are thousands of pieces, Tikkala said. "There are quite a lot of coins in this hoard," he said. "I have not had time to go through them."

Metal detectorist Kalle Lappinen found the two deposits Sept. 3 and immediately contacted the museum. Archaeologists inspected and properly excavated the finds the next day, according to a translated statement .

Tikkala described the hoard site as beside a rock outcrop in a forest near the town of Sysmä. Several other buried hoards had been found in the same region of Finland over the past 10 years, Tikkala said.

Although it's challenging to determine why specific hoards were buried, a recent study of more than 15,000 Roman-era (the eighth century B.C. to the fifth century A.D.) hoards found that they were hidden for multiple reasons, including for tax evasion, votive offerings, and safe storage in times of uncertainty.

Tikkala said the two deposits of the silver hoard were buried between two stones about 18 inches (45 centimeters) below ground and about 39 feet (12 meters) apart. There were no signs of any burials nearby, but the surrounding area had not been properly studied, he said.

Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.