artifacts

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Arm rings such as these, which are usually found in Ireland and date to between A.D. 880 and 930, were worn around the wrist and were also used as currency.

Full article can be found here: https://archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2022/features/scotland-galloway-viking-age-hoard/

"This is very rare. The sword was the greatest status symbol in the Viking Age, and it was a privilege to be allowed to carry a sword. It is not often that we, as archaeologists, get to experience something like this," says Lars Søgaard Sørensen in the county council's section for cultural heritage.

To the Vikings, a sword was much more than just a weapon. Sword production was complex and labor-intensive, making them scarce and costly. Consequently, they were not widely accessible or prevalent. They were primarily utilized by individuals of high status and rank, such as kings and elite Vikings.

It is probably the first time such a sword has been found in Rogaland. With the help of X-ray photography, conservator Hege Hollund has discovered the contours of inscriptions with a cross pattern and perhaps letters on the blade.

Full article can be found here: https://www.ancientpages.com/2024/05/31/rare-ulfberht-viking-sword-discovered-in-suldal-norway/

Aleksandr Podushkin of Ozbekali Zhanibekov University said that the recovered artifacts are thought to have been made during the period of the Kangju state, which was made up of groups of Sarmatian, Xiongnu, and Saki peoples who lived along the Great Silk Road between the fifth century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. The Kangju state is known to have traded with Rome, China, and the Kushan Empire to the south, he added. The objects include two gold crescent-shaped earrings, which have been dated to the first century B.C. and are inlaid with jewels and decorated with clusters of grapes, and a large, circular bronze mirror resembling those made in China during the Han Dynasty, which ruled from 206 B.C. to A.D. 220.

Full article can be found here: https://www.archaeology.org/news/12434-240603-kazakhstan-burial-mound

Ogham is a unique writing system consisting of parallel lines in groups of 1-5, making it highly unusual among world writing systems. These stones provide valuable insights into the Irish language before the adoption of the Latin insular script.

The earliest known ogham inscriptions date back to the 4th and 6th centuries AD, and over 400 ogham stones and fragments have been found, predominantly in Ireland and along the Welsh coast. While the main function of these stones is still uncertain, some historians believe they were used for legal purposes in land disputes, as they are often found on or near the boundaries of kin and bearing the names of ancestors.

More info can be found here: https://www.ancientpages.com/2024/05/18/coventry-mysterious-ogham-stone/

The image of a medieval knight moving slowly and stiffly under the tremendous weight of his costly armor as he readies for battle or a joust is firmly fixed in people’s imagination. But, according to art historian Matthias Goll, much of this vision is a myth. “It’s an old fairy tale that medieval armor was incredibly heavy,” he says. It was, in fact, relatively light and flexible. A remarkable example is this right-hand gauntlet recently discovered near Kyburg Castle in northern Switzerland in the cellar of a medieval building that burned around the middle of the fourteenth century.

More info can be found here: https://www.archaeology.org/issues/555-2405/artifact/12313-artifact-switzerland-medieval-iron-gauntlet

When experts examined the artifacts, they determined these were bronze miniature portraits of Alexander the Great. It is a truly unique discovery of great historical significance, says Freerk Oldenburger, an archaeologist at Museum Vestsjælland.

Oldenburger explained the artifacts were produced around 200 A.D., an age called the Roman Iron Age. They were most likely ornaments attached to war shields.

More info can be found here: https://www.ancientpages.com/2024/04/11/bronze-miniature-alexander-the-great-ringsted/

A shoe buckle thought to have belonged to a Jacobite clan chief wounded in battle at Culloden has been discovered by archaeologists among other artefacts. Among the discovered artefacts are a large number of musket balls and grapeshot which were uncovered in a 60 square-metre area close to what was the British government frontline at Culloden Battlefield.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) have revealed the findings ahead of the 278th anniversary of the battle on April 16, 1746.

More info can be found here: https://www.thenational.scot/news/24249505.scottish-archaeologist-find-potential-buckle-culloden-clan-chief/

Experts have identified the object discovered by Rowan as a Roman armilla bracelet dating back 2,000 years. In the Roman Empire, bracelets were typically worn by women as an indication of their social status. Men generally did not wear bracelets due to their association with femininity. However, there were exceptions for soldiers with exceptional bravery or merit. A Roman general would publicly award these individuals armilla bracelets; the soldiers wore them as badges of honor.

More info here: https://www.ancientpages.com/2024/04/15/young-boy-rare-ancient-roman-treasure-sussex-uk/

The Triskelion is an ancient symbol that has endured for thousands of years. Its presence can be traced back to Neolithic art, demonstrating its deep historical roots. The oldest known artifact bearing this traditional symbol was found in Malta and is estimated to date back to 4400-3600 B.C.

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Alsengemmer refers to diminutive glass setting stones found in both religious and secular environments. These are thought to have served as amulets for pilgrims. The term 'Alsengemmer' originates from the Danish island of Als - the location where these artifacts were first discovered. An alsengem dating back to the 13th-14th centuries, featuring three carved figures, was unearthed in Kalmar by archaeologists.

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TAOYUAN CITY, TAIWAN—A snake-shaped handle to a pottery vessel has been uncovered in northwestern Taiwan, at a site where a large-scale stone tool processing center has also been found, according to a Newsweek report. Researchers led by Hung-Lin Chiu of National Tsing Hua University found the artifact in a sand dune. It has been radiocarbon dated to some 4,000 years ago. Chiu said the snake handle resembles a cobra, with its head raised and bulging skin folds on its head and neck. “Snakes are often regarded as symbolic animals in religion, mythology, and literature, and are considered to be the bridge between heaven and man,” due to their ability to shed their skin, he added. To read about an Egyptian tomb at Abusir whose entrance wall was carved with magical spells intended to ward off serpents, go to "Spells Against Snakes."

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Archaeologists believe the rows of shallow pits drilled into the rock may have been used to play a version of the two-player strategy board game now known as Mancala.

A team of researchers led by Emrah Kirdök of Mersin University has analyzed three pieces of 10,000-year-old birch pitch, a sticky substance made by heating birch bark to form a glue-like substance. These pieces of birch pitch were recovered from Huseby Klev, a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer site in western Sweden. The researchers compared the ancient chewed birch pitch with modern samples, ancient human dental plaque, and a 6,000-year-old sample of chewed tar. They found higher levels of bacteria associated with poor dental health in the 10,000-year-old samples, even though chewing birch pitch may have provided some antiseptic and medicinal benefits. Using their teeth for gripping, cutting, and tearing may have exposed the hunter-gatherers to a wide variety of damaging microorganisms, the researchers suggest. DNA from hazelnut, apple, mistletoe, red fox, grey wolf, mallard, limpet, and brown trout were also identified. These materials, in the form of food, furs, and bone tools, may have been chewed by the people before they chewed the birch pitch. Article referenced here

No one knows what they were used for! Relative link found here

https://www.ancientpages.com/2023/12/12/rare-byzantine-gold-coin-norway/

Archaeologist Jorrit Kelder of the University of Hamburg believes that artists in the Hittite Empire, which ruled over Anatolia (modern Turkey) from about 1600 to 1200 B.C. from its capital at Hattusha, also created statues of deities out of both wood and precious materials that have since disappeared. He suggests that this silver fist, which for decades archaeologists have identified as a rhyton, a type of ritual vessel used for libations, may actually have been part of a life-size statue of the Hittite weather god, Tarhuna. “I’m very interested in challenging certitudes in our field that have been repeated so often and have never really been questioned since they were first proposed, and have since become facts in the archaeological narrative,” says Kelder. “The identification of the fist as a vessel struck me this way.”