Posted on 01/02/2024 8:42:07 AM PST by Red Badger
An object uncovered by archaeologists in Norfolk, England, is “completely unlike” anything else ever discovered, experts said Monday.
The tiny 19.4 mm (o.7 inch) object is a gilded silver relic, adorned with intricate designs appearing to show an animal looking over its shoulder, according to The Telegraph. The piece is believed to be at least 1,200 years old and archaeologists reportedly can’t determine the purpose of the mysterious object.
Detectorists found the piece in a crumpled condition, but it appears to be a round object with shallow sides, making it somewhat dish-shaped. “It was made by someone with a real eye for loveliness,” Dr. Helen Geake, an expert on the television show “Time Team,” told the BBC. “It’s so tiny and yet it was created just as carefully as something like a Bible or piece of jewelry.”
It’s easy to agree with Geake’s assumption. I think it’s always best to go for the Occam’s Razor approach in situations like this: The piece was probably a piece of decorative jewelry used at the time. But the coolest thing is that archaeologists believe the design and development of the piece required gold and mercury imported from Spain at the time, which probably incurred a huge expense.
Just over a thousand years later, no one remembers the object or the person who owned it. And no one will remember the stuff you once owned during your time on Earth either, so stop buying things you don’t need.
Bill Cosby once said “No matter what you started out to make, it always turns out to be an ashtray”; so maybe that’s it?
What’s a Detectorist?
I think it’s the foil you peel off the top of a champagne cork
Candle snuffer...
The “expert” in the article manages to be unnecessarily befuddled. The object is said to be at least 1,200 years old. Ok, that takes us to 800 AD. Charlemagne is doing his thing on the continent. Byzantium is under pressure from the A-rabs, Bulgars and assorted barbarians, but it is still holding its own in Anatolia and across scattered coastal areas in Greece and Italy. In England, the Anglo Saxon kingdoms were consolidating and beginning the recovery from the Dark Ages. The Danes will show up shortly and set things back; Alfred the Great is still nearly a century in the future.
So: we have here an usual object, but people were getting around. Is this object unique in a broader European context, or is it unique only in terms of finds in England?
“it was created just as carefully as something like a Bible... “
Bull honkey
I think it is unusual because of it’s workmanship for that time period, if it is dated properly..................
Metal Detector hobbyist. I am one. All I find is old beer pulltabs and lost change...........
“I’m puzzled by the last paragraph. Is the author trying to lecture us?”
Most definitely:
“Just over a thousand years later, no one remembers the object or the person who owned it. And no one will remember the stuff you once owned during your time on Earth either, so stop buying things you don’t need.”
IOW: “Don’t be such a materialistic ingrate. Our Leader is doing the best he can. You don’t need all those material things you used to spend money on anyways. So what if all your disposable income now goes towards necessities?. So stop charging on your credit cards cuz it’ll make you upset by election time running out of credit and having to choose between eating or paying the electric bill. We can’t have that in an election year. Hush little children”
‘bout that.
It’s a bobby dazzler
Bobby or booby?...................
Yup dragon was my guess. But it has to be a bird bc dragons and dinosaurs were “millions” of yrs ago ya see
a bobby dazzler is a “quaint coloquial term” from Britain used to describe something that’s a sight to see
And no one will remember the stuff you once owned during your time on Earth either, so stop buying things you don't need.
Start with your internet 'news' subscriptions. What a whiny whiny whiner.
Thanks Red Badger.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danelaw
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/England_878.svg
I think you’re right, it seems like something that could be used to make an impression on wax
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.