Posted on 11/26/2013 9:33:20 AM PST by Renfield
The discovery of one of the world's oldest shipwrecks shows that European trade was thriving even in the Bronze Age, according to experts.
The vessel, carrying copper and tin ingots used to make weapons and jewellery, sank off the coast near Salcombe in Devon and is thought to date from 900BC.
But it was only last year that the South West Maritime Archaeological Group, a team of amateur archaeologists, brought its cargo to the surface.
The discovery was not announced until this month's International Shipwreck Conference, in Plymouth, Devon.
It is thought that the goods - 259 copper ingots and 27 of tin - were destined for Britain but collected from several different sources in Europe.
The discovery reveals the high level of sophistication maritime trade in Europe had reached, even in ancient times....
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Ping
Weren`t the best tin mines in England?
Carry coals to Newcastle?
Men were created ... NEVER in a cave and certainly never in a tree or the sea.
Yes, but in Cornwall. The tin might have come from (for instance) Cornwall, carried to a European port and then possibly trans-shipped to another part of England.
It would still have been faster, cheaper and safer than walking across Bronze Age England. I don't think we had much in the way of roads until the Romans.
Not so fast, Partner-
viz
“The Ancient Roads of Britain were pre-Roman
By John Chaple
Britain, especially England, is renowned for its quaint medieval villages, towns and cities. It is also known for its medieval winding roads and lanes.
But, are these roads really medieval? It is a deceptively simple question but one that is rarely asked, so how can you tell how old one of these distinctive roads is? The answer is as simple as the question by looking at what came first. In modern times we have canals, railways and motorways and these when built had to cut through any existing roads just as you would expect. What happens if you do the same thing but instead look at the Roman road system?
Roman roads are well documented and are characterised by their straightness so it is very easy to check which came first the Roman road system or the medieval system, simply by observing which cuts though which.
The somewhat surprising answer is that the Roman road system cuts through the medieval network in a very convincing way, proving that medieval roads are at least
two millennia old or earlier. This really ought not to be surprising as we know from chariot burials and the war chariots that greeted Julius Caesar during his invasion at least four thousand of them that the ancient British had chariots, so it is almost impossible to see how they could have not have had roads. The problem is that on the TV and in the media we are continually told that before the Romans arrived in Britain there were no roads at all and that the Ancient British were ignorant savages, but this really could not be further from the truth as they already had a very substantial road network,
the so-called medieval network....”
http://www.thenationalcv.org.uk/More%207%20The%20Ancient%20Roads%20of%20Britain%20were%20Pre-Roman%20(2).pdf
I think there was tin related trade between Cornwall and Brittany.
Britannia needs no Boulevards,
No spaces wide and gay:
Her march was through the crooked streets
Along the narrow way.
Surely that horde belonged to my ancestors and therefore should pass to ME! At least 1 coin should.
A lot of the copper that was combined with the European/Cornwall tin apparently came from the Great Lakes area in North America. All ancient copper ingots and bronze are traceable to their origins by the impurities. Most of the copper in ancient Europe is “untraceable” except that it has been traced to North America which is unacceptable. Don’t ask me for citations. It’s been along time. It is on the web somewhere and in books. Barry Fell wrote about it.
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