Saxon / Anglo-Saxon Archaeology & Artefacts

[ramonmercado]

Some interesting artefacts also found.

An Anglo-Saxon burial ground with 138 graves found along the route of HS2 is one of the largest ever uncovered in the UK, experts have said.

A skeleton with a weapon embedded in it, jewellery and weapons were among the finds in Wendover, Buckinghamshire. Evidence of Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman activity was also found.

Archaeologist Rachel Wood said the site's significance for the "historical and archaeological understanding" of Anglo-Saxon Britain was "huge".

The site contained 141 regular burials and five cremation burials. The male skeleton was found with a sharp iron object embedded into its spine, which experts believe may have caused or factored into his death.

Other items unearthed in the excavation last year include 89 brooches, more than 2,000 amber beads, 51 knives, 40 buckles and 15 spearheads.

A number of objects likely to have been used for grooming were also found, including toiletry sets with ear wax removers and toothpicks, tweezers, combs and even a cosmetic tube that might have been used as eyeliner or similar.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-61810503

 

[ramonmercado]

Roman jewel recycled.

A Roman jewel engraved with a chariot and four running horses was found set in a silver Anglo-Saxon pendant by a metal detectorist.

The small piece of jewellery was found in a field near Kingsey, Buckinghamshire, in May 2019.

Historian Edwin Wood said its "high-status" Sutton Hoo-era owner was someone who would have wanted "a direct link with Rome's power and authority".

It was declared treasure by Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-61764960

 

[hunck]

Medieval necklace found near Northampton 'internationally important’​

Archaeologists have found a "once-in-a-lifetime" gold necklace dating back to 630-670 AD and described as the richest of its type ever uncovered in Britain.

The jewellery, found near Northampton, has at least 30 pendants and beads made of Roman coins, gold, garnets, glass and semi-precious stones.

The 1,300-year-old object was spotted in a grave thought to be of a woman of high status, such as royalty.

Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) found the necklace during excavations ahead of a housing development in Harpole, west of Northampton.

The rectangular pendant with a cross motif forms the centrepiece of the necklace and is the largest and most intricate element.
Made of red garnets set in gold, Mola specialists believe it was originally half of a hinged clasp before it was re-used.

X-rays taken on blocks of soil lifted from the grave also revealed an elaborately decorated cross, featuring highly unusual depictions of human faces cast in silver.

Mola conservators said the large and ornate piece suggests the woman may have been an early Christian leader.

Experts said the skeleton had fully decomposed apart from tiny fragments of tooth enamel. However, the combination of grave finds suggested it was of a very devout high-status woman such as an abbess, royalty, or perhaps both.

A handful of similar necklaces from this time have previously been discovered in other regions of England, but none are as ornate as the "Harpole treasure”

The discoveries will be featured on BBC Two's Digging for Britain in January, with Prof Alice Roberts getting an exclusive look at the objects and delving deeper into the ongoing conservation and analysis.

 

[Kondoru]

That is class.

 

[maximus otter]

Woman’s Name and Doodles Found Hidden in 1,200-Year-Old Religious Manuscript​

Historians have discovered a woman’s name scratched into the pages of a 1,200-year-old religious document, which offers new insights into the role women played in medieval book culture.

Jessica Hodgkinson, a historian at the University of Leicester, made the find while inspecting a manuscript from the eighth century. Using specialized 3-D photography and digital imaging techniques, Hodgkinson and collaborators discovered the word “Eadburg” 15 times throughout the pages of the MS Selden Supra 30, a version of the New Testament’s Acts of the Apostles written in Latin.

[She] also found a series of mysterious human-like figures scribbled throughout the manuscript. Two figures appear to have mouths, eyes and noses, while another has hands and arms.

In their quest to uncover the Eadburg’s identity, researchers found nine women who went by that name living in England between the seventh and tenth centuries. They suspect the name may refer to an abbess who lived in Kent during the eighth century, as one particular Eadburg—the abbess of Minster-in-Thanet—likely had access to religious texts.

That theory also aligns with what researchers have learned about the manuscript’s historical locations. They think an unknown author wrote the manuscript in Kent sometime between 700 and 750, and that it was later transferred to the monastery of St. Augustine’s in nearby Canterbury.

The technology the researchers used, called photometric stereo workflow, analyzes 2-D images for 3-D information, such as the height of the paper’s surface. Then, it produces renderings that reveal any 3-D characteristics on the page.

With MS Selden Supra 30, the process showed markings that were 15 to 20 microns deep, “equivalent to less than a fifth of the width of a human hair,” per the University of Leicester. This discovery led researchers to surmise that whoever made the inscriptions likely used a drypoint knife or stylus without any ink. The person may have chosen to make the marks stealthily for several reasons, such as a reverence for the text or a lack of access to ink.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...1200-year-old-religious-manuscript-180981240/

maximus otter

 

[Who me]

Nice one max

 

[Kondoru]

Does that look like kids writing/drawing to you?

 

[staticgirl]

Does that look like kids writing/drawing to you?

I thought it did a little. And I remember drawing in my mum's books and getting into trouble for it when I was a kid. Also I used to compulsively write my name in all of them as I was absolutely terrible at crime....

 

[Kondoru]

Here's an example of a thirteenth century boy's notes, homework and doodles:

Onfim (Old Novgorodian: онѳиме, Onfime; also Anthemius of Novgorod) was a Novgorodian boy who lived in Novgorod (present-day Russia) in the 13th century, some time around 1220 or 1260. He left his notes and homework exercises scratched in soft birch bark which was preserved in the clay soil of Novgorod. Onfim, who was most likely six or seven at the time, wrote in the Old Novgorodian dialect of Old East Slavic. Besides letters and syllables, he drew "battle scenes and drawings of himself and his teacher".

Full Article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onfim

 

[Yithian]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onfim

Do not post links without labels, descriptions or flavour quotations.

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