Cache Hunting - Discovering A Hoard of Silver Hammered Coins (Story 14)
Brief History of the Area in Focus
Any area which lies in close proximity to the border, either between the counties of the state or between two countries, can be rightfully considered "hot" for cache hunting. Whether it was smugglers' activity or numerous wars in the medieval times, many coin hoards or other treasures were buried by people for various reasons on both sides of the border.
My treasure hunting buddy Misha and I focused on the area within 20 miles of the city of Narva that was founded by the Danes on the Narova river, the natural border between Estonia (formerly Livonia) and Russia (formerly Novgorodian Republic, Muscovia, Ingria, Ingermanland), in 1256. This area saw five centuries of war hostilities that started back in the 13th century during the tense relationship between the Teutonic Knights of Livonian Order and Novgorodian Republic.
The subsequent wars, such as the Russo-Swedish War of 1495–1497, the Muscovite–Lithuanian War of 1534-1537, the Russo-Swedish War of 1554–1557, the Livonian War (the First Northern War) of 1558–1583, the Swedish-Muscovite War of 1590-1595, the Ingrian War of 1610-1617 and finally the Great Northern War (1700-1721) that ended the Swedish 100-year-long occupation of Ingria, brought a lot of havoc to the area.
Fragment of 1645 Map Showing Parts of Livonia (Modern Estonia and Latvia), Ingria and Moscovia
During those wars, the major fortified cities of Livonia and Ingria were sieged, seized and recaptured by fighting armies many times, but eventually survived the warfare. The small settlements and villages had a different fate - they were destroyed, and their inhabitants were killed or taken away during the military skirmishes, raids and invasions.
The villages were rebuilt, sometimes at different locations, in between the wars. That is why the best choice for the cache hunting site would be an area where the village once stood during the Medieval times and disappeared later, preferably by the mid-18th century; the buried treasures remaining underground.
Fragment of Same Map Showing Alentakia (Modern Virumaa Region)
It is not easy to find the site described above as many potential locations have been overbuilt with modern infrastructure. But sometimes we get lucky and stumble across the ideal site - a field, either farmed or abandoned long ago.
This time, we chose the field that was adjacent to the former location of the Lutheran Kirk (church) built in the late Medieval times and destroyed during the World War II in 1944. I received a hint from someone that the 16th century bronze ring had been recently found at that field.
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