January 29, 2015
Lasers help reveal clues behind King John’s lost treasure
BBC News, 29th January 2015
‘Legend has it that crown jewels, gold and money were lost in the medieval mud of the fens in 1216.
It was the year after the Magna Carta was sealed, the country was in revolt and King John was having to quell rebellion uprisings. He had been travelling from the port of King’s Lynn to Lincoln when, according to historical chronicles, the treasure was lost.
It has since become one of the most sought after hoards in the country.
Now, clues about the disappearance of King John’s treasure have been unearthed in a “game changing” archaeological survey, according to historian and archaeologist Ben Robinson.
“These images show in remarkable detail the way the landscape has changed radically since King John’s time,” says Mr Robinson, who has been investigating the route for the BBC’s The Journey of the Magna Carta King.
“Our view now of straight roads and rectangular fields in the fens is not reflective of the landscape the king had to travel through.”
These latest images have been created by a system called LIDAR – Light Detection and Ranging – which uses a combination of lasers and GPS data.’
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