Discovery of a 750-year-old seal of medieval pope in Shropshire brings the number of items found by the public in Britain to 1.5million.
According to The Daily Mail, the number of archaeological objects officially unearthed in Britain has reached the 1.5million mark, with the discovery of a seal belonging to a 13th-century pope.
The medieval find was a seal of Pope Innocent IV and may have links to an English monarch. Born Sinibaldo Fieschi, Pope Innocent IV, whose papacy began in 1243, used the lead coin-like object to confer political and religious favors.
Experts believe the seal, which was discovered by a metal detectorist in Shropshire, may have ended up there because the Pope was trying to obtain Henry III's support in his claim for Sicily.
Peter Reavill, head of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, said another explanation was that it may have been given as an 'indulgence' to a rich, powerful individual who gave money to the church in exchange order to keep him out of purgatory. "We don't know who the Pope sent the letter to. All we know is the lead seal has dropped off," Reavill said.
While the seal, which would have been kept as a talisman, does not have a huge value, the archaeology of the region is definitely richer for its find.
