warrington-worldwide
...fellow Rotarain and local archaeologist and metal detecting enthusiast James Balme.
Posted on 04/12/2005 3:53:47 PM PDT by blam
Search for lost ring leads to hoard of ancient treasure
Apr 12 2005
By Gary Skentelbery Daily Post Correspondent
A QUEST for a missing wedding ring has helped uncover a collection of ancient treasures dating back up to 4,000 years.
Thought to be from tombs on the holiday island of Cyprus, the pricesless collection had been collecting dust in a Cheshire attic for nearly 40 years, with the belief they were old holiday trinkets.
Their historic value was discovered when Neville Davies enlisted the help of archaeologist and metal detecting enthusiast James Balme, to help track down his son-in-law's missing wedding ring.
The £500 gold ring had been lost on his land during snowy weather and was recovered in less than 30 minutes!
James, who met Neville at a Rotary Club meeting, said:"After finding the ring Neville asked me if I knew anything about identifying pottery as he had a box of pots in his loft that had been there for many years.
"He thought that they were tourist souvenirs and probably fairly modern. I agreed to take a look at what was in the box and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw ancient artefacts, some dating back up to 4000 years."
The collection consisted of 13 items, including wine flagons, a small bowl, a wine cup and an unusual clay effigy of a face, believed to be a Roman character, as well as several painted Greek vases.
Many of them still contained traces of soil indicating they may have come from a tomb or several tombs.
"It is highly likely that these vessels were deposited at the time of burial. There was a belief some 4000 years ago that they served the deceased on his or her journey to the afterlife," added James..
After discovering their historic interest Neville, who lives in Lymm, near Warrington,
remembered that another box was stored away in the attic.
He recovered the box containing a further twenty four artefacts and took it to James who immediately identified many of the objects as being Cypriot vessels from the Bronze age with a date range of approximately 2500 - 1650BC.
James said: "To say that I was amazed at what I was seeing would be an understatement to say the least.
"As well as the ancient pottery, most of which is in pristine condition, I also identified a Bronze Age spear some 14 inches in length and a unique Bronze oil lamp that I believe to be very ancient dating back to the late Bronze Ago, or early Roman period occupation of the island."
Another artefact is a huge painted flagon with the head of a bull cast into the neck of the vessel.
With Egypt being only a short boat trip away there is the possibility that some of the material could have be influenced by the ancient Egyptians.
The age of the finds has been verified by Professor John Prag of Manchester Museum.
The items ended up in Neville's loft after they were given to him by his late father, Sir Ossie Davies.
Back in 1958 a Cypriot gave them as a gift to someone who brought them back to Britain. Shortly afterwards they were given to Neville's father who in turn passed them on to Neville.
Check your attic.
I found a 1939 Life magazine with a picture of the Graf Spre(sp) on the cover in my moms attic. I passed it on to my son.
GGG Ping.
Dang, all I ever find in my attic is squirrel poop.
Also, if you live in England, tell no one, as the government will probably take at least half.
Just quietly move to the USA.
They've rewritten the law. I think everyone is happy now.
THE TIMES SATURDAY AUGUST 22, 1998
"...ARCHAEOLOGlSTS are reaping a golden harvest following a truce in their war with Britain's army of metal detectorists. After logging detectorists' finds in six trial areas for just under a year, they have recorded thousands of objects which previously would have vanished into private collections. These include artefacts which have rewritten the history of the British Isles, as well as mundane objects which reveal more about ordinary lives than any number of history hooks.
I have three words for this man: Antique Road Show
I found a Leg-o, a Pyrex top, and an old cardboard box marked "Compaq". All that ought to get me enough to buy 1/2 a cup of really bad, cold coffee.
I don't have an attic. :-(
If I recall correctly, the 1998 law says that the government must pay finders market value on items declared Treasure Trove.
I don't know the tax status of such payments, though.
warrington-worldwide
...fellow Rotarain and local archaeologist and metal detecting enthusiast James Balme.
Excellent, thanks.
If you are really into that kind of stuff, I can recommend a place, if you ever get to Medford, Oregon. Don't ask me about the food, though; I can't say anything about it.
By the time the cold, grey "coffee" arrived, the smell of burning grease emminating from the kitchen was quickly quelling our appetites.
We didn't stick around to see if the dinner would live up to this advance billing.
The shame of it was, the same family was still running it; we had eaten there in the past. We didn't know 'grandpa', the honcho & chef, had died since we had last been there; found that out later.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
The mask is kinda cool. I've seen something like it before, in a book around here. If I weren't so lazy, and didn't have to finish doing my taxes (I e-filed the fed return a half hour or so ago) I'd try to track it down.
STYPPPAX
http://www.uwm.edu/~dbc/
moderately related:
The Linear B Tablets and Mycenaean Social, Political, and Economic Organization
Lesson 25, The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean
Revised: Friday, March 18, 2000 | Trustees of Dartmouth College
Posted on 08/29/2004 8:19:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1202723/posts
So Grandpa was being recycled along with the grounds...?
My children were visiting over Christmas several years back, and my two sons and their father disappeared into the driveway one snowy night while my new daughter in law went upstairs to read a book.
The men didn't come back for the longest time. When they finally came in, I asked what the problem was. It seems that my oldest son was shooting baskets and his wedding ring flew off his finger. The three of them crawled around in the snow for at least an hour looking for the ring. I was sworn to secrecy about the incident (because the bride upstairs might have killed him on the spot, thus depriving me of 2 lovely future grandchildren.) and am only telling the story now.
Unfortunately, there was no treasure trove of ancient pottery in my attic. :(
That pottery is lovely! Much prettier that I would have expected. I can see how it was mistaken for modern reproductions. It almost has a Belleek look to it.
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