One of the largest Viking treasure hauls ever has recently been unearthed in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. According to BBC News, Derek McLennan, a retired businessman from Aryshire, made the find this past September with the use of a metal detector.

In total, more than 100 objects - including solid gold jewelry, armbands, an early Christian solid silver cross, brooches, and silver ingots - were located on church land. The items are currently thought to be worth a six-figure sum, and the cross has been found to date back to the 9^th or 10^th century.

McLennan said he had originally been feeling unwell on the day he unearthed the treasure. He stated, "I dragged myself out of my sickbed because I had two friends who wanted to detect, and I'm a bit of an obsessive," further conveying his enthusiasm for treasure hunting.

He also revealed that he wasn't able to immediately recognize the significance of the objects when he happened upon the find, stating, "I unearthed the first piece; initially I didn't understand what I had found because I thought it was a silver spoon and then I turned it over and wiped my thumb across it and I saw the saltire-type of design and knew instantly it was Viking. Then my senses exploded, endorphins flooded my system, and away I went stumbling towards my colleagues waving it in the air."

BBC reports that Stuart Campbell - National Museum of Scotland's head of Scotland's treasure trove unit - divulged, "This is a hugely significant find; nothing like this has been found in Scotland before in terms of the range of material this hoard represents. There's material from Ireland, from Scandinavia, from various places in central Europe and perhaps ranging over a couple of centuries... So this has taken some effort for individuals to collect together."

Cabinet Secretary for Cultural and External affairs Fiona Hyslop said, "It's clear that these artifacts are of great value in themselves, but their greatest value will be in what they can contribute to our understanding of life in early medieval Scotland, and what they tell us about the interaction between the different peoples in these islands at that time."