She heard a knock on her door, but she couldn’t believe who the unexpected guest would be. He examined what she had found in the ground and explained what consequences finding it had.
Tilly couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she felt her stomach twist into a knot. This couldn’t be true, what had she done?
Tilly Jackson was an ordinary girl who lived near the English countryside. She was like most normal 13-year-old girls, except for one passion – her curiosity for finding things. She watched documentaries about century-old artifacts found in the ground.
But neither she nor her parents knew that this passion would change everything.
Tilly only wanted one thing for Christmas from her parents – a metal detector. She wanted to go out and look for anything interesting. She mostly wanted it for fun, imagining herself as one of the historians on her favorite channel – the History Channel.
But her parents never would have given in and bought it for her if they had known what it would cause.
Tilly was beyond happy when she unwrapped her somewhat large present under the Christmas tree to find exactly what she wanted – a metal detector. Her parents saved up for it and watched with satisfaction as their daughter squealed with delight.
But the metal detector would bring Tilly to something that would turn their lives upside down.
Tilly wasted no time and started using her new present just a few days after she unwrapped it. She would take long walks in the countryside sweeping the fields with her metal detector. She did it as a fun activity and never expected to find something.
But one morning, walking outside her house, she would hear a large beep from her metal detector – and right in her property too! But what did she find?
Tilly smiled and started to dig with the shovel she had brought with her. She smiled as she dug deeper into the soil, was it going to be coins? Or maybe rubbish. Either way, she was equally excited.
But when she finally uncovered what was hidden beneath the soil her eyes grew wide and her pulse started to race. She knew she had found something special.
She picked up the muddy clump in her hand, she could feel that it was made out of metal. It looked like nothing she had ever seen before. Despite her excitement, she still had no idea what it was.
She excitedly took it home and showed it to her parents. But she had no idea what kind of attention it would bring.
Tilly decided that she would post a picture of what she had found online. She was sure that someone would know what it was and she was right. She got numerous replies as to what it could be. Soon she understood that it was definitely from the bronze age, but still not sure what it was.
But she had no idea that it would get the attention of people she never expected.
Soon people online started to ask Tilly questions, like where she had dug up the old item. She excitedly told everyone that it was inside her own property!
But once it was out in the open that Tilly had found it in her own backyard, things would get more complicated. It wouldn’t only be normal people interested in the item. Soon she would get an unexpected surprise.
Soon there were comments like “Be careful if you found it in your backyard, you might get unwanted attention.” Tilly didn’t understand why the comments started to take a turn as soon as she mentioned where she had found it.
Who was going to see it? But then she knew it was too late the day she got an unexpected visit.
Tilly got a knock on her door a few days later. Her parents called her down to speak to the man standing in the hallway. He had seen her post and needed to see it in person.
Tilly excitedly showed it to the man. His eyes grew wide as he confirmed what he thought it was. But Tilly had no idea what it would cost her.
The man revealed that he was an archaeologist that had found similar artifacts before in an area not too far from where Tilly’s house. She was grinning from ear to ear as she explained what it was.
It turns out that it was an axehead from the Bronze Age. But what the man said next shocked not only Tilly but her parents as well.
He told Tilly and her parents that they were interested in excavating the site further to find more. But it came with a catch. Tilly and her parents would have to move out so they could fully search the property.
Tilly’s parents couldn’t believe what he was telling them. But he wasn’t finished.
The archaeologist further explained that they wouldn’t just be kicked out, they would be compensated for the value of their property. It still wasn’t ideal but thankfully the compensation was quite generous.
Tilly’s parents were happy to oblige on one condition: That Tilly could also keep the axehead.
With Tilly and her parents relocating to a property not too far from their old one, they were happy. And Tilly was extremely proud of her finding and glad that no one got into trouble over it.
This find sparked a passion and Tilly would keep searching for more artifacts – she just wouldn’t look for them in her yard anymore.