The Swan Jewel from Dunstable, medieval bronze from Barnard Castle, weird stone heads from Celtic Yorkshire... These treasures and many more, all acquired in the past year, are now, thanks to the efforts of the public from coal-miners to school-children, part of the national inheritance in our museums. Nicholas Thomas and Magnus Magnusson tell the story behind their discovery with the help of the finders, the curators, and the objects themselves.