When I was younger I loved anything that had to do with sailing, pirates or buried treasure. I must have read Robinson Crusoe four times. And now, on the same island that inspired Daniel Defoe’s masterpiece, a Chilean team has found real buried treasure.

From Guardian Unlimited:

A long quest for booty from the Spanish colonial era appears to be culminating in Chile with the announcement by a group of adventurers that they have found an estimated 600 barrels of gold coins and Incan jewels on the remote Pacific island.

“The biggest treasure in history has been located,” said Fernando Uribe-Etxeverria, a lawyer for Wagner, the Chilean company leading the search. Mr Uribe-Etxeverria estimated the value of the buried treasure at US$10bn (£5.6bn).

And who atually found it? A robot.

This most recent announcement, however, deserves greater credence because of the equipment used by the treasure hunters: a mini robot that can scan 50 metres deep into the earth. The robot, dubbed “Arturito”, was invented by Chileans and over the past year has grabbed headlines by breaking some of the country’s biggest criminal mysteries.

Link: 600 barrels of loot found on Crusoe island