Latest news with #LateIronAge
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Found a Viking Amulet That's Over 1,000 Years Old
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Archaeologists working outside of Stockholm discovered silver treasure buried in a pot in an area that used to be farmland. Experts believe the burial may have been connected to a ritual and coincided with the closing of the farm. Part of the silver stash included a coin-adorned necklace with coins from across Europe. Archaeologists excavating the land of a former farm in Sweden struck gold—well, silver actually—when they found a buried pot filled with Viking-era silver. Archaeologists from Arkeologerna, a division of the Swedish History Museum, announced the discovery of not only the silver treasure, but also 34 buildings, a burial ground, and 1,450 total artifacts from the Late Iron Age, about 500 to 1050 A.D., in Täby. But it's the 'unique buried silver treasure containing exclusive silver arm and neck rings, a silver amulet, pearls, and coin pendants' that has created the most buzz. 'The find is exceptional not just due to the variety of the silver objects,' John Hamilton, project manager at the Swedish History Museum, said in a translated statement, 'but also due to the direct connection to the remains of the farmstead burial site.' Experts believe the buried treasure was part of a ritual experience and that the burial may have coincided with the closing of the farm. Located under a hollow block near an older home, the silver was found in a pot, with the stash containing silver necklaces and bracelets, a bag made of linen and silk, pearls, and a coin pendant. Hamilton said the fact that the fabric on the bag was preserved was unique and likely due to silver ions interacting with the textile. The bag included a 12-coin pendant made from European and Islamic coins dating from 904-997 A.D. The coins were minted in Persia, Bavaria, Bohemia, Normandy, and England. There was also pollen on the bag like grains and medicinal plants that were from the Viking age. 'The treasure may have been buried as the conclusion of a long and grand ceremony to honor a high-ranking deceased woman,' Hamilton said, adding the farm may have closed down at the same time. 'The linen bag also had silk details of a very exclusive kind that must have been imported from outside,' Hamilton said. 'It was probably a special bag that may have been used for something else from the beginning, for example in a ritual context.' The site's 34 buildings include up to 15 associated with ritual acts thanks to nearby burials. The team examined the five graves, three with coffins and two with cremations. While DNA testing wasn't highly conclusive, it did show there were relatives and non-relatives buried on the site. The farm on a small hill close to a forest northeast of Stockholm featured about 1,300 farm-related artifacts and another 150 tied to the adjacent burial ground. The team discovered pottery made with domestic clay that resembled a style common on the other side of the Baltic Sea. Hamilton said this indicates the pieces were made by someone who came from outside the area and settled in Täby. It's unknown if the same person with the world-traveled pottery also owned the silver treasure with coins collected from across the continent. If they did, what a life they must have led. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
First known triplets are among museums' treasures
The world's first recorded case of triplets and a Roman-era king are among the remains of more than 1,500 people held by Northamptonshire museums. The triplets and their mother, who died in childbirth, were featured in a BBC documentary in 2011. They are held at North Hertfordshire Museum, in Hitchin. Curator Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews said remains held by the museum were used to study the history of disease, while DNA helped experts learn about human migration. The skeletons and cremated burials were discovered during archaeological excavations. Mr Fitzpatrick-Matthews said: "The vast majority of our collection comes from Baldock, which has the largest number of cemeteries known of any Late Iron Age and Roman town in Britain." The town was where the bones of the woman and her children were found in 1989. Analysis revealed the mother was about 40, and they died in about AD70, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. She had been pregnant with triplets. One had been born, one had been a breach birth and the third was unborn. The museum also holds remains found during excavations at a cemetery in Pirton, which was used during the Seventh to Ninth Centuries – a period that is otherwise "poorly represented" in its collection of about a million items, added Mr Fitzpatrick-Matthews. St Albans Museum holds the remains of the possible king, who was unearthed at the city's Folly Lane. He was "probably one of the local kings of the Catuvellauni tribe, conceivably the king known as Adminius, who was on friendly terms with the Romans", said curator David Thorold. "Whoever it was, he was cremated in a funeral pyre alongside cavalry equipment, armour, a chariot, exotic ivory-decorated furniture and silver goods." Much of the museum's collection dates to the Roman era (AD43 to about AD410), with some dating to the Iron Age (about 750BC to AD43). Mr Thorold said the collection was used to help curators "discover how burial customs have changed over time". Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Museum asks if we are classier than the Romans Women who helped unearth Roman town celebrated Digital 3D model could help preserve Roman baths North Hertfordshire Museum St Albans Museum Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC News
01-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
First known triplets are among Hertfordshire museums' treasures
The world's first recorded case of triplets and a Roman-era king are among the remains of more than 1,500 people held by Northamptonshire triplets and their mother, who died in childbirth, were featured in a BBC documentary in 2011. They are held at North Hertfordshire Museum, in Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews said remains held by the museum were used to study the history of disease, while DNA helped experts learn about human skeletons and cremated burials were discovered during archaeological excavations. Mr Fitzpatrick-Matthews said: "The vast majority of our collection comes from Baldock, which has the largest number of cemeteries known of any Late Iron Age and Roman town in Britain."The town was where the bones of the woman and her children were found in 1989. Analysis revealed the mother was about 40, and they died in about AD70, according to the Local Democracy Reporting had been pregnant with triplets. One had been born, one had been a breach birth and the third was museum also holds remains found during excavations at a cemetery in Pirton, which was used during the Seventh to Ninth Centuries – a period that is otherwise "poorly represented" in its collection of about a million items, added Mr Fitzpatrick-Matthews. St Albans Museum holds the remains of the possible king, who was unearthed at the city's Folly was "probably one of the local kings of the Catuvellauni tribe, conceivably the king known as Adminius, who was on friendly terms with the Romans", said curator David Thorold."Whoever it was, he was cremated in a funeral pyre alongside cavalry equipment, armour, a chariot, exotic ivory-decorated furniture and silver goods."Much of the museum's collection dates to the Roman era (AD43 to about AD410), with some dating to the Iron Age (about 750BC to AD43).Mr Thorold said the collection was used to help curators "discover how burial customs have changed over time". Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
29-03-2025
- BBC News
Mendip Hills' historic importance highlighted in new report
A new report says Somerset's Mendip Hills nature reserve is of international importance due to its archaeology and more than half a million years of occupation, settlement and land State of Heritage report, produced by the South West Heritage Trust (SWHT), examines nine key periods from the Palaeolithic to the present day. Caves, particularly at Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole, provide some of the best evidence for early human activity in Britain with connections across Europe, according to the report - the first of its kind on the area. Bob Croft, from the SWHT, said: "Archaeology is not only the archive of the human life, but also the natural world." In the latter part of the prehistoric period, important ceremonial sites like the Priddy Circles were made, the report the Bronze Age, the landscape was dominated by round barrows. Recent studies of the early Bronze Age uncovered evidence of extreme violence and cannibalism at Charterhouse Warren Swallet, where some of the earliest evidence of the plague in Britain was also found. In the Late Iron Age, the lead mining industry began and farms, whose remains can still be seen today, were established. Mining continued into the 19th Century, but the area then reverted to farming as the main industry, with occasional military activities. Jim Hardcastle, from the National Landscape Team, said: "The area contains evidence of human activity which is of both regional and national added that the threats to the sites - such as ploughing, visitor erosion, recreational activities and the effects of climate change - remain a "significant concern"."Monitoring and protection should be highlighted as a priority," said Mr Hardcastle."This needs to run alongside making people aware of the incredible heritage value of the Mendip and involving people in its protection."
