The History Blog

Firemen in Prague have discovered a massive illegal collection of antiquities in a burnt-out apartment. The owner/looter, most likely a metal detecting type, died in the fire.

The collection comprises some 1,900 bronze objects and 1,400 iron objects. Ceramic and objects made of other material appear only marginally in it.

Only several objects represent the beginnings of metallurgy in Central Europe in the late Neolithic (about 4,000 B.C.), while more objects date back to the Bronze era (about 2,000-700 B.C.), Iron era (the last seven centuries B.C.), the ancient Roman era and the Migration Period (until 568 A.D.)

In addition, the collection includes medieval objects and those originating in the early modern times.

Unfortunately, the scientific value of these rare and magnificent artifacts is significantly reduced by the lack of provenance. That’s the things about looters: they don’t often keep detailed records of the location and condition of their thefts.

On another note, can you believe this is a pendant?

As if it weren’t awesome enough that Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog, he had to go and make him some LOLpilgrims.

No thyng hath plesed me moore, or moore esed myn wery brayne than thes joili and gentil peyntures ycleped “Cat Macroes” or “LOL Cattes .” Thes wondirful peintures aren depicciouns of animals, many of them of gret weight and girth, the which proclayme humorous messages in sum queynte dialect of Englysshe (peraventure from the North?). Many of thes cattes (and squirreles) do desiren to haue a “cheezburger,” or sum tyme thei are in yower sum thinge doinge sum thinge to yt.

Children’s author Alan Garner has put his medieval house in trust rather than see it fall into the laquered and beclawed hands of footballer’s wives.

Garner said: “Despite denying children and grandchildren their inheritance, neither I nor my wife could bear the thought of the house falling into the hands of some footballer’s wife, who might destroy 10,000 years of heritage for the sake of building a swimming pool and a tennis court.”

Bummer for his kids, but I support his choice a hundred percent. The house seems amazing.

Garner said his home was a site of archaeological importance dating back 10,000 years and the thought of it being bulldozed to make way for a modern mansion horrifies both him and his wife.

He added: “We are continually finding artefacts from as far back as 10,000 years, the end of the last Ice Age.

“We also know that the house is built on a Bronze Age burial mound, one of several, and that beneath the house there are the remains of two further older houses and probably more dwelling places before then. It is a rare site and must be preserved.”

First, I apologize up front and without reservations for the cheap Calgon shot in the title. I just couldn’t help myself.

Having said that, Chinese archaeologist raised a 100 foot 13th century shipwreck packed with porcelain and other goodies from the South China Sea last Saturday. It was delivered to its new watery home, a seawater pool in the Crystal Palace at the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang, yesterday.

As many as 6,000 artefacts have already been retrieved from the 13th Century vessel, mostly bluish white porcelain, as well as personal items from crew members, including gold belt buckles and silver rings.

A further 70,000 artefacts are believed to be still on board, many still in their original packing cases.

This is a major deal not only because the find is extraordinary, but also because this is China’s first major foray into underwater archaeology and preservation, and they’re going full guns.

The salvage team began building a massive steel cage around the 30m (98ft)-long vessel in May in order to raise it and the surrounding silt.

The cage was made up of 36 steel beams, each weighing around 5 tons. Together with its contents, the cage weighed more than 3,000 tons. [...]

The ship will be stored underwater in a massive tank, in which the water temperature, pressure and other conditions will be identical to where it lay on the seabed, allowing visitors to watch as archaeologists uncover its secrets.

China has invested about $40m in this project, in the hope of reclaiming a part of the country’s history, and this time ensuring it stays in Chinese hands.

The Royal Armoury at Leeds has an exhibit about the Hundred Years’ War prominently featuring The Chronicles of Agincourt surviror, John Froissart.

Not only is there a rare and beautifully illuminated original manuscript of Froissart’s Chronicles on exhibit, but they have cutting-edge high-resolution photographs of six of the surviving manuscripts. This is a big deal because it allows people everywhere to view the details of works that are extremely fragile and therefore kept in careful seclusion accessible to few experts.

There are a lot of other great features too, like a calligraphy expert doing demonstrations of medieval manuscripting, weapons that match ones Froissart describes, even a Capture the Castle videogame created from one of Froissart’s stories.

Entry is free, you lucky English bastards, so head to Leeds toot sweet.

Not all of it, mind you. No, no, no, that would be craaaazeh. But everything that is supposed to have happened over a thousand years ago is.

How do I know this? Anatoly Fomenko, one of the world’s greatest mathematicians, told me so in a rather fabulous series of videos promoting what I’m sure is a rather fabulous book.

My favorite video from the series is the one about the Shroud of Turin, which is a shining star of excluded middles and circular reasoning. Here’s the rundown:

1. The Shroud of Turin is supposed to date from the 1st century AD
2. Radiocarbon dating indicates the shroud is from 1050-1350 AD which conflicts with the “consensual chronology” of historical Jesus.

Therefore, either

1. Rc dating is not accurate and the shroud is actually from the 1st century when Jesus lived
2. Rc dating is accurate and the shroud is actually a medieval relic, the “consensual chronology” is wrong and Jesus lived in the Middle Ages which OMG is exactly what Fomenko says!11
3. Except that of course Fomenko strongly refutes the use of rc dating for historical artifacts, but that only UNDERSCORES HOW RIGHT HE IS CAN’T YOU SEE THAT?!

I’m so getting this book. Meanwhile, here’s the Shroud of Turin video for your viewing pleasure. The robot voice is the product of translation software, I suspect, but it really ties it all together.

An old find is giving us new information about the lifestyles of the rich and clerical in medieval Scotland. The bones of six bishops were excavated at Whithorn Priory in Galloway in the late 50’s and 60’s, but there wasn’t much in the way of clues to their identities.

New radiocarbon dating has identified the bishops by their date of death, and new dietary analysis has determined that they supped richly on fine meats and large fish.

Mind you, even ordinary Scots ate better in the middle ages than modern ones. I blame the McDonald clan.

^{~ Thanks to Lees for the story tip. ~}

English Heritage is opening the doors of one its main storage centers to the public. It’s a treasure trove of 3000 years of English history, and will only be available for public viewing on two more days.

“We’ve got a few pre-historic finds and then we have items from Roman sites like Beadlam Roman villa, through to fortifications like Helmsley Castle, Pickering Castle, Clifford’s Tower and abbeys and priories such as Rievaulx, Byland and Whitby.” [...]

“We’ve got examples of Roman padlocks which are instantly recognisable and the Beadlam collection includes rings, bracelets, coins and even Roman tweezers,” she said.

“The villa was occupied by successive generations during the height of Roman rule and gives an insight into how the wealthy classes lived.”

As well as ancient weapons such as arrow-heads and canon balls, the Helmsley store houses old-fashioned tourism signs that once adorned many Northern castles and abbeys and which escaped the scrap-heap.

The warehouse also contains Europe’s most extensive collection of carved medieval stone from sites like Rievaulx Abbey and Kirkham Priory.

Oh, and entry is free.

Anyone within reasonable distance of Helmsley in North Yorkshire really needs to find their way there on August 23rd and September 20th. Be sure to call ahead and make an appointment (Helmsley Castle visitor center, tel: 01439 770173) or they won’t let you in.

Prince Charles and Hamid Karzai are joining forces to rebuild the war-ravaged Murad Khane neighborhood of Kabul. Afghanistan has been at war with one power or another pretty much forever — the British even burned Kabul down once — so Murad Khane is the only remaining glimpse of medieval Kabul, and it’s in seriously dire straights.

… most of the buildings are derelict, the area is piled high with rubbish and a green trickle of sewage runs along the streets of the city of 3.5m with no sewers or running water. Stewart chose Murad Khane partly because it was difficult. “I wanted to do something bold and urgent,” he said.

Amid the rubble, Stewart discovered old merchants’ houses that retained the carved wooden jalis or lattice frames and movable shutters but are nowadays inhabited mostly by pigeons.

In a sweet seller’s former home, a collapsed staircase leads unexpectedly to an enchanting room of carved wood flowers and peacocks, moulded plaster niches and coloured glass.

The Turquoise Mountain Foundation, named after the medieval capital of Afghanistan, will also focus on reviving moribund traditional local crafts like woodcarving and calligraphy, and they’ve rented an 18th century mud fortress to serve as training grounds.

For a more impassioned rhetorical perspective and some more details on the project, see this opinion piece in an United Arab Emirates newspaper. Or you could just get it all from the horse’s mouth here.

Like, oh, say, an engraved gold ring with a black diamond given by Edward III to a Flemish supporter in the 14th century.

After a bit of spit and polish, it was clear that this was no ordinary ring. It was certainly gold and crowned with a black diamond. It also carried the inscription “loyaute sans fin”, French for “loyalty without end”.

Elsewhere, it appeared to carry the letter “E” three times, each one followed by three stars. And either side of the “bezel” - the diamond centrepiece - sat two gold initials: “V” and “A”.

Read the whole swashbuckling tale here.