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Treasure-hunting

This extract from an information book about treasure-hunting, TreasureSeekers by Jane McIntosh, explains some of the different reasons why people become excited by the prospect of discovering hidden treasures.

Two emotions motivate the majority oftreasure-hunters. One is the desire to get

rich quick: the same feeling that drives peopleto bet on sporting events or buy lottery tickets,week after hopeless week. This is generally notgreed: more the fulfilment of dreams. Whodoes not wish to be rich? Treasure-hunterssometimes do strike lucky, just as some peoplewin the lottery, but often the time, effort andmoney invested are greater than the materialrewards. So why do it? Probably because ofthe excitement.

Treasure-hunting is an adventure, a searchingfor clues and a following of trails, along paths often richly littered with the earlieradventures of others. There is mystery: thesearch for something which is known to exist,or the existence of which is suspected. There is the mystique of the treasure, often based onthe stories that go with its original discovery or concealment – for example, the history ofthose whose burial chambers were filled withvaluables, such as the young Egyptian kingTutankhamun or the Chinese emperor ShiHuangdi, who was buried with life-sizedmodels of his complete army. The plight ofpeople caught up in natural disasters a longtime ago such as the victims of the eruption of

the volcano Vesuvius at Pompeii, or theunfortunate people who went down with theTitanic, adds to the mystique of lost valuables.

Another attraction is the mystery of treasurestashed away and never recovered, forexample, pirate gold. Stolen after years ofcareful planning or taken on the spur of themoment, the treasure had to be concealed and the pirates’ tracks covered before it could be retrieved and enjoyed. Oftenmisadventure overtook the pirate before hecould return, yet somehow the details of thetreasure were passed on, shrouded in ever-greater secrecy.

In Search of Treasure 3

Above: An old map may be the starting point for alifetime’s quest for lost or hidden treasures

Left: Metal-detecting– one of the morepopular forms oftreasure-hunting

But before the adventure comes thepreparation. There is more to treasure-hunting than going out with a metal-detector.Careful planning is essential: finding out whatto look for and where, obtaining appropriatelicences, gaining permission and researchingthe laws on different kinds of treasure – bothlooking for it and dealing with it if you strikelucky. Some people become so absorbed intheir hobby of treasure-hunting that they endup devoting their lives to it. For others itremains a pastime. But for all, there is theheady thrill of the quest.


QCA is grateful for permission to use the following copyright material:

Extracts from ‘Treasure Seekers’ by Dr Jane McIntosh, 2000.Reproduced by permission of Carlton Books Limited.

Extract from ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson.Reproduced by permission of The Harvill Press.

Extracts from Howard Carter’s diary describing the opening of PharaohTutankhamun’s tomb, 1922. Copyright © Griffith Institute, Oxford.Reproduced by permission of Griffith Institute, Oxford.

Tutankhamun image: Hisham F. Ibraham / Getty Images.

Treasure Chest image reproduced by permission of Treasured Chests,http://www.oldtrunks.com

Map image reproduced courtesy of Alabama Maps,http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/

Image of ‘Eye of Horus’ reproduced by permission of Guardian’s Egypt.http://www.guardians.net/egypt/

The remaining images from ‘Into the Tomb of Tutankhamun’ arereproduced by permission of Griffith Institute, Oxford.

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders.If there are any outstanding copyright issues of which we are unaware,please contact QCA.

QCA/03/990


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