It was the find of a lifetime.
Eleven rings and two medallions, up for sale in a Chilliwack thrift shop for $30, are believed to be medieval or Roman artifacts, dating back potentially thousands of years.
The collection is now in the care of SFU’s Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
The university said that a customer with an archaeology background was browsing at the Thrifty Boutique when they alerted the store’s volunteers to the potential significance of the items.
The items will form part of a new archaeology course, where students will get to analyze the designs and materials and help determine when and where they came from.
“This is an incredibly exciting donation and an amazing opportunity for students here at SFU,” Sabrina Higgins, associate professor, Global Humanities and Archaeology, said in a statement.
“It will take at least a semester — if not longer — to piece together the origins of these artifacts. We’re fortunate to have access to cutting-edge research technologies within our department to properly study these objects, so it promises to be a rewarding journey for students.”
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Higgins said she believes the artifacts likely date from the medieval period.
“I think they most likely originate from somewhere within the boundaries of what was once the Western Roman Empire,” she said.
“The shapes, designs and construction make me think that these are medieval, as the Romans typically used slightly different materials and techniques.”
Without knowing where these artifacts came from, who owned them or how they acquired them, museum staff and SFU experts had to confront a number of ethical questions before accepting them.
Cara Tremain, assistant professor at the Department of Archaeology, explained that the ethics will be central to the new archaeology course that will begin in fall 2026.
“Opportunities like this are incredibly rare,” she said.
“Students will get the chance to directly confront some of the ethical questions that the museum faced in accepting this collection under these circumstances.”
The SFU course will culminate in an exhibition at the museum.
Sue Knott, executive director of the Chilliwack Hospice Society, said the story of these items is a reminder of how every donation carries “meaningful history and unknown potential.”
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