What are the finds that will alter the history of the Australian’s history? Five copper coins and a 70 year old map with an “X”. Professor of Anthropology and Australian scientist Ian McIntosh plans to revisit the location where the five coins were found, opening the possibility that seafarers from distant countries might have landed in Australia much earlier than believed! The copper coins are proven to be 1,000 years old.The items were discovered by Australian soldier Maurie Isenberg who was fishing on the beach. He was sitting in the sand when he found a handful of coins in the sand and at the time, he had no idea where they came from.
After sending his treasure to be identified in 1979, the coins turned out to be 1,000 years old! The “X” on the map was made by Isenberg to remember the exact spot of where he found them. When I read about a map with an “X”, I can’t help but think of Indiana Jones in his teaching days at the University. The classic line that he gave his class, “The ‘X’ does not mark the spot”. Somehow, I think he thought the opposite. This story is one of the reasons why I advocate the hobby of metal detecting.What if you or someone you know finds something that will change how we think of our history? Who knows what else is hidden!
The big question that the coins raise is “How did 1,000 year old coins end up on a remote beach off the island of Australia?” Is it possible that there were others on the island before James Cook claimed it in the British throne in 1770? What we do know is thatCaptain Cook was not the first explorer to step on the shores of Australia and Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon reached the Cape York peninsula in Queensland followed by Dutch seafarer Dirk Hartog. The neat thing is that these coins are African coins from Kilwa sultanate, now a World Heritage ruin on an island of Tanzania. The town was one of the most influential of the time because of the trade with Persian ceramics, gold, silver, pearls, etc. These coins were the first coins ever produced in sub-Saharan Africa and they are priceless according to archaeologists. This gives evidence to the idea that archaeologists have about early maritime trading routes that linked East Africa, Arabia, India and the Spice Islands.