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.
Who is he kidding? Even the valuable stuff we got for free will be remembered by everybody!
It’s a status thimble...
I agree with what reed13k wrote. I added the Danelaw to the keywords because it could be from the era of Danish rule of East Anglia et al (links above).
If the dating turns out to be at least a couple hundred years earlier, it becomes extremely interesting.
Meanwhile, check out Dark ages Danish art [Brave search]
"a dog breed that wasn’t developed until the 1700’s"
Imagine what future archaeologists will say when the discover a pet rock.
I need a Mental Detector....
A ‘booby dazzler’ is something ‘completely different’............... 😉😁......................
I think it’s a Doctor Directory List; they’re tricky to find st times.
Been looking into buying an APEX detector....I'm open to other idea's
Interesting. And let us not forget the Phoenicians, who were obviously not responsible for this object, but who inhabited much of Spain and traded in these metals. The same was true of their successors, the Romans, who were the mining kings of Spain, and of course traded with everybody, often through the large Jewish communities in the trading areas.
And finally we have the fact that the Celts (the design looks a little Celtic) swept through Northern Spain and are thought to have gotten to Ireland by setting off from Galicia to Ireland, the closest point of the British Isles they could reach.
The Irish Celts were conquered by the Danes.
So the metal itself could tell an interesting story.
Just something purchased at World Market 700 years ago
This looks like it could have capped a cloak pin or even a kilt pin.
I think it’s the top part of a signet ring.
The owner got into a fight and that’s why it’s smashed.
It broke off and fell into the grass and was not found or the owner was killed in the fight..............
That sounds about right.
Yes, I can see the ‘horse’ now. If you look at the ‘legs’ they extend downward and backward but aren’t black because of age or corrosion. Mentally filling in the color then you see the horse plainly..................
I understand what she is saying.
It’s not an order, just a thought. My thoughts, at 62, run about the same. Mom and Dad getting old. What am I gonna do with all the stuff they have. Wife has tons of stuff from her mother, she can’t stand to part with. We have a houseful of stuff. Me personally I don’t have a lot of stuff. Never had the money for “stuff”.
But yeah, you die, nobody cares about your stuff!
But if material things are what make you happy then go ahead!
Nobody’s ordering you not to buy more things. But maybe just think about it?
The historian/archeologist is commenting about the intricate workmanship and artistry that sometimes went into copying out a bible in that time period.
If you turn it the other way I see a swan.
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