‘Toothbrush pot’ is Bronze Age treasure

POT OF CASH The old jar A POT picked up at a car boot sale and used as a toothbrush holder turned out to be a 4,000-year-old relic from the Bronze Age.

Antiques valuer Karl Martin, 49, said he had “suspected it might be very old” when he snapped it up for £4 five years ago.

But he thought little more of it and kept the pottery jar in the bathroom until a few weeks ago, when he saw a similar one for sale at the auctioneers where he works.

Experts said his pot dated back to 1900BC, from the Indus Valley Harappan civilisation in what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Dad-of-one Karl, from Derby, said: “I feel a bit guilty about keeping my toothbrush in it now.” It went for £80 at auction.