Runcorn dig uncovers medieval lion head: The head will be housed at Norton Priory Museum

BBC ^ | 27 May 2011 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

A bronze lion head dating from the 15th century has been found in Cheshire. The artefact, believed to have been a hat badge, is among 80 items discovered by archaeologists at a building site near Runcorn. Pottery dating back to the 13th century and footings of timber-framed houses have also been discovered at a site near Lodge Farm. Archaeologists believe the items would have been owned by people living in the medieval village of Norton. Jamie Quartermaine, from Oxford Archaeology North, who is leading the project, said: "This is almost the last surviving remains of the old medieval village of Norton on land that is beside the main thoroughfare of the village... "We have found evidence of buildings in the form of post holes, where vertical timbers were set into the ground, and also shreds of medieval pottery." Archaeologists have been excavating the site near Lodge Farm, Highgate Close, since April 2011 ahead of planned building work. Houses are due to be built on the land, which is adjacent to a site where prehistoric pottery was found in the 1970s... The items recovered from the site are being analysed at the Oxford Archaeology North Laboratory in Lancaster to help build a better picture of how the settlement has developed and will be donated to Norton Priory Museum in Runcorn.

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	The Cheshire Cat! To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·

[Verginius Rufus]

Who knew that the Cheshire cat was a “big cat”?

[null and void]

A smilodon?

[bunkerhill7]

The original Dr. Seuss’ ``The Cat in the Hat``

[RC51]

How is it that people in Britain in the 1400’s even knew about Lions? Or maybe they thought of them like they thought of dragons.

[Silentgypsy]

Thank heaven. I worried about what they did with the rest of the poor thing until I read the rest....

[Beowulf9]

“How is it that people in Britain in the 1400’s even knew about Lions? Or maybe they thought of them like they thought of dragons.”

I thought the same, after all, how would they know how to carve a creature they’d only heard legends of, and so well?

Were there lions in England? It’s the British symbol, too.?

[Pharmboy]

A few things: first, the natural range of lions 500 years ago was larger than today (making them more vulnerable for find and capture), and second, I believe that a captured lion displayed in Europe at that time would not be unusual. The Romans did it 2,000 years ago.

[JoeProBono]

[Verginius Rufus]

The medieval English would have known about lions from the Bible at least—Gen. 49.9 (”Judah is a lion’s whelp”), Judges 14.5-6 (Samson kills a young lion), Daniel in the lions’ den, etc. One of the medieval kings was known as Richard the Lion-heart.

[Verginius Rufus]

One of the labors of Herakles (Hercules) was to kill the Nemean lion--Nemea is in the northeastern part of the Peloponnesus in southern Greece. The Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae is famous for its Lion Gate (still standing, but the heads of the lionesses are long gone).

I remember a classmate in high school announcing that the Garden of Eden was in Africa because the Bible says that Adam named all the animals, so he would have had to be in Africa in order to have named the lion.

[ApplegateRanch]

Does this mean that we now have to “reintroduce” bronze lions to the British countryside?

Nice find; too bad they’re going to plant house seeds on the farm; those things should be declared noxious weeds, and be eradicated from the fields.

[Pharmboy]

Indeed...the Asiatic lion (slightly smaller then the African lion) was not uncommon in Israel during biblical times. Before climate change around 10,000 years ago, wiki says that lions were the most widespread mammal in the world, after humans.

[pabianice]

Question. No Europeans in the Middle Ages had been to Africa. How would they know from lions?

[KC Burke]

captive lions were brought to ship to Roman cities for sport and exhibition for well over 2500 years.

Not all knowledge of past times was lost with the general “fall” of the Roman Empire. Ships still sailed the middle sea as well.

[redhead]

That’s BEAUTIFUL!

[Rudder]

No Europeans in the Middle Ages had been to Africa

REALLY?!!

I don't believe this statement is accurate.

[Verginius Rufus]

St. Francis of Assisi was in Egypt--that's when he tried to convert the sultan.

St. Louis was in Africa on two crusades--the first one in Egypt, the second one (on which he died) in Tunisia. See Joinville's Life of St. Louis.

[colorado tanker]

The Royal Arms of England, dating from the time of Richard I ("Lionhearted").