The Swiss metal detectorist who helped find a Roman military camp

At the end of August Swiss archaeologists discovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman military camp at an altitude of 2,200 metres in eastern Switzerland. Romano Agola, a volunteer detectorist involved in the research, talks about his work and the “treasure hunter” phenomenon in Switzerland. Romano Agola’s eyes shine like those of a young child. He has just found a bronze Roman coin. “It's been two thousand years since anyone held it in their hands. Each discovery always arouses strong emotions in me,” he says. The 60-year-old looks a little like Indiana Jones in his wide-brimmed hat, but he doesn’t like being called a “treasure hunter”. “It’s more than a passion; I would call it an illness,” he explains, smiling. “I have injured myself several times on my legs and arms, and I almost gouged out an eye while searching for metal objects hidden underground.” The art of searching for buried treasure With his metal detector, the self-taught archaeologist scans the ground of a ...