Nick Berry, a metal detectorist, stumbled upon the artifact in the village of Ashmansworth in England, calling it the “find of a lifetime”

NEED TO KNOW

• A metal detectorist found a 1,000-year-old hand-shaped pendant near a Downton Abbey filming location in the small U.K. village of Ashmansworth
• Experts believe the high-carat gold artifact, found by 58-year-old Nick Berry, may represent the “Hand of God” motif that has been popular in Christian and Jewish art for centuries
• The British Museum is examining the rare find, which could bring Berry and the landowner a substantial reward

A man found a 1,000-year-old gold pendant, which could represent the Christian “Hand of God” symbol, near a Downton Abbey filming location in a U.K. village.

Nick Berry, 58, was using his metal detector on farmland in the village of Ashmansworth in England, about 70 miles west of London, when he stumbled upon the find, according to Bournemouth News and Picture Service (BNPS), via Fox News.

The farmland is near Highclere Castle, a country house that was first built in 1679 and used as the filming location for several TV series and movies, including Downton Abbey.

Berry said the pendant was in great condition. “There were three of us searching, and I was in the middle,” the father of two recalled. “I got a really good signal. I dug down and looked into the hole and saw straight away the glint of gold.”

He said he had a “really strange feeling” and felt “emotional” as he lifted the pendant from the ground and brushed the mud away. “I just stared at it. I knew straight away it was something very different and could tell it was Anglo-Saxon,” he explained.

Berry, who has been metal detecting as a hobby for more than three decades, said he’d “never seen anything” like it. “Everyone I have spoken to about it has said the same,” he explained.

The pendant is hand-shaped, and there are a few small depressions on the surface, reminiscent of the “Hand of God,” which has long been a popular motif in Christian and Jewish art.

“The hand has always had a strong symbolic meaning, like when you shake hands to show the other person you haven’t got a weapon in your hand,” Berry told the BNPS.

“The hand has often been symbolically related to Christianity and features as the ‘Hand of God’ on several late Saxon/Viking period silver coins and later ecclesiastical artwork,” Julian Evan-Hart, the editor of Treasure Hunting magazine, told the agency.

“In this case, it would seem likely that this too represents a ‘Hand of God’ manufactured in the form of a gold pendant,” he added.

The origin of the pendant isn’t certain, but Evan-Hart thinks it belonged to someone of high status and would have been worn around the neck. Because no other artifacts were found in the area, it’s thought it may have been dropped accidentally.

Berry gave it to a local Finds Liaison Officer — people who record the discoveries of members of the public — and it was sent to the British Museum.

Both Berry and the landowner could be in line for a payment, potentially a five- or six-figure sum, if the pendant is sold to a museum or a similar institution.

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“I have no idea what it is worth. It weighs 1.6g [about 0.056 oz.] and is very high carat; you can tell by the color,” Berry explained, calling it the “find of a lifetime.”

“I will never find anything like it again,” he said.

PEOPLE reached out to the British Museum for comment but did not immediately hear back.

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