Bronze Age gold belt with 'cosmological' designs unearthed in Czech beet field

Live Science ^ | By Kristina Killgrove

[BenLurkin]

The ornate object was covered in dirt but well preserved, inspiring the farmer, who wishes to remain anonymous, to send photos to archaeologists at the nearby Silesian Museum in Opava.

Jiří Juchelka(opens in new tab), head of the Silesian Museum's archaeology department, told Radio Prague International(opens in new tab) (RPI) that the 20-inch-long (51 centimeters) object — made out of gold with inclusions of silver, copper and iron — was likely the front of a leather belt. "It is decorated with raised concentric circles and topped with rose-shaped clasps at the end,"

Based on the style of the decoration, she estimated that the gold belt dates to the middle to late Bronze Age, around the 14th century B.C.

Central Europe during this time (2000 B.C. to 1200 B.C(opens in new tab).) was an amalgamation of different cultures connected by a vast exchange network. Supported by subsistence farmers who grew wheat and barley and kept domesticated livestock, society became more complex, with a hierarchy forming between the poor farmers and the wealthy political and economic elite. Archaeological evidence points to people living in timber-frame houses early in the Bronze Age and transitioning to larger settlements by the middle of the time period.

While the Bronze Age is known for its abundance of bronze artifacts, raw materials such as gold were also traded and made into prestigious items for the elite. Archaeologists have found gold objects in high-status graves in Bronze Age Central Europe. But gold items also have been discovered in hoards in special, isolated locations, suggesting a kind of gift exchange between the cultural elite and the supernatural.

[BenLurkin]

ping

[Tax-chick]

Cool.

[mairdie]

Really nice! The image isn’t showing but it’s worth a trip to the link to see it. Lovely. Thanks, Ben.

[GaltAdonis]

Remnant of professional wrestling in the Bronze Age.

Who knew?

/sarc

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Click here for a large photo, then click the Plus-Sign cursor to make even bigger. Wow.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It really is breathtaking when you consider the primitive tools the goldsmith had, the scarcity of steel tools, and the absence of optical loupes or microscopes. Look at the perfectly concentric circles -- how could the goldsmith have done that? If it was a single punch, how did he get the circles on the punch so perfectly uniform and concentric? Look at the very fine "tail" at the end. How was that formed? And how something so delicate remain attached for so long?

Simply astonishing. I wouldn't even know where to begin to make such an object today.

[moovova]

"Bronze Age gold belt with 'cosmological' designs unearthed in Czech beet field"

It's funny, isn't it? How does a belt like that wind up in a beet field? I can understand if it's found within the perimeter of an ancient building or even a settlement. I can hear it now...

Husband: "Honey...have you seen my gold belt? The one with the cosmological signs on it?"

Wife: "Were you wearing it when you were plowing the beet field yesterday?"

Husband: "Don't be silly. I world never wear it to plow. You know I only wear it on Sunday when we go to worship Morg, the Barley God."

Who knows...maybe it was a gravesite as mentioned in the article. Maybe the beet field WAS a settlement. I hope they follow thru on digging deeper.

[P.O.E.]

IIRC, structures built with those shapes were called “spiral castles”

[BenLurkin]

eXACTLY

[Aevery_Freeman]

Ages of Man
• Stone Age
• Bronze Age
• Iron Age
• Industrial Age
• Information Age
• Dumb Age

[BenLurkin]

[gundog]

Does that make it a borscht belt?

[MikelTackNailer]

Husband: "Don't be silly. I would never wear it to plow. You know I only wear it on Sunday when we go to worship Morg, the Barley God."

[moovova]

The ONLY way to consume barley!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

• Scottish museum acquires 8th c. gold sword pommel [10/25/2022]

[Albion Wilde]

Look at the perfectly concentric circles -- how could the goldsmith have done that? If it was a single punch, how did he get the circles on the punch so perfectly uniform and concentric? Look at the very fine "tail" at the end. How was that formed? And how something so delicate remain attached for so long?

[ComputerGuy]

What beets me is how those curly ques could have survived.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

See?? Even those advanced civilization aliens couldn’t get their circles concentric!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Lettuce think about that for a minute..