CROWDS of new, intrigued visitors have flocked to see previously unseen items from the Staffordshire Hoard in Birmingham.
They spoke about their fascination with the hoard as part of it returned to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
A selection of about 60 items has gone on display including helmet fragments, a crumpled gold cross and parts of animal ornaments.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, 15 March 2010
Archaeological finds at The Meads, Sittingbourne
Archaeologists are puzzled over a mystery object uncovered at The Meads, Sittingbourne.
The item, which was found during a dig of the site in 2008, was put on public display along with several other items including swords and shield bosses at the Forum Shopping Centre on Friday.
It could take months of research before the team working on the project discover what the item is.
Read the rest of this article...
The item, which was found during a dig of the site in 2008, was put on public display along with several other items including swords and shield bosses at the Forum Shopping Centre on Friday.
It could take months of research before the team working on the project discover what the item is.
Read the rest of this article...
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Decapitated Viking Skeletons found near Weymouth
The archaeological news recently has been full of articles concerning the decapitated skeletons found during the excavations for the Weymouth Relief Road.
With so many news reports it is often difficult to separate the journalistic hyperbole from the facts, and one often has to look at several reports even to begin to get the full picture.
This website draws together the important facts and gives links to informative press releases. The last page contains links to a video and collections of pictures of the excavations.
You can find the website here…
With so many news reports it is often difficult to separate the journalistic hyperbole from the facts, and one often has to look at several reports even to begin to get the full picture.
This website draws together the important facts and gives links to informative press releases. The last page contains links to a video and collections of pictures of the excavations.
You can find the website here…
The long battle for the Staffordshire treasure hoard
For 1,400 years, a stash of Anglo-Saxon artefacts remained buried — until it was found last year by a man with a metal detector. It throws fascinating new light on clashes in the Dark Ages, but now we must win the fight to keep this precious hoard in Britain
It’s a misty dawn in Middle England, some time in the 7th century. A small band of armed men struggle up a wooded hill. At the summit they pause. While one keeps watch, the others tip their loot on to the ground. They divide up the jewels and coins, then they turn to the rest of the booty: swords, crosses, saddle fittings, which are mostly gold and exquisitely made. They hammer at them with stones and the hilts of their knives, they rip the pommels from the swords and stuff the blades into their jerkins, smash the helmets and bend the arms of the crosses until they look like nothing more than twisted pieces of metal. They stuff the small gold and bejewelled fragments into leather pouches, grub out a hole in the earth, and bury their cache. Then they disappear over the hill as swiftly as they came.
Read the rest of this article...
It’s a misty dawn in Middle England, some time in the 7th century. A small band of armed men struggle up a wooded hill. At the summit they pause. While one keeps watch, the others tip their loot on to the ground. They divide up the jewels and coins, then they turn to the rest of the booty: swords, crosses, saddle fittings, which are mostly gold and exquisitely made. They hammer at them with stones and the hilts of their knives, they rip the pommels from the swords and stuff the blades into their jerkins, smash the helmets and bend the arms of the crosses until they look like nothing more than twisted pieces of metal. They stuff the small gold and bejewelled fragments into leather pouches, grub out a hole in the earth, and bury their cache. Then they disappear over the hill as swiftly as they came.
Read the rest of this article...
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Ridgeway Viking grave: Historian's hope
HISTORIAN Stuart Morris is hoping the bones will shed more light on when Vikings were first believed to have arrived on the British Isles at Portland in 787.
He said Anglo Saxon chronicles have shown that on their arrival the Shire Reeve, or sheriff of Dorchester, travelled to Portland to meet and trade with the Vikings but was killed.
And Mr Morris is hoping the discovery of the bones on the Ridgeway might reveal what happened when the Shire Reeve met them.
Read the rest of this article...
He said Anglo Saxon chronicles have shown that on their arrival the Shire Reeve, or sheriff of Dorchester, travelled to Portland to meet and trade with the Vikings but was killed.
And Mr Morris is hoping the discovery of the bones on the Ridgeway might reveal what happened when the Shire Reeve met them.
Read the rest of this article...
Ridgeway Viking grave: Finds to go on display
FINDS from the Viking grave and other archaeological sites unearthed along the route of the Weymouth Relief Road are going on display later this month.
The Pavilion Ocean Room will be turning into an Aladdin’s cave of archaeological treasure as exhibits are laid out.
During the free event, ancient bones, Iron Age pottery, shale jewellery and many other finds will be on display.
Read the rest of this article...
The Pavilion Ocean Room will be turning into an Aladdin’s cave of archaeological treasure as exhibits are laid out.
During the free event, ancient bones, Iron Age pottery, shale jewellery and many other finds will be on display.
Read the rest of this article...
1,000-Year-Old Massacre Uncovered in England
A macabre and forgotten episode from the Dark Ages has been uncovered by British researchers after they examined dozens of beheaded skeletons.
Mystery surrounded the identity of the victims since they were discovered by accident last June near Weymouth, Dorset, England, when workers at a 2012 building site, stumbled across a burial pit.
The grave contained a mass of bones and 51 skulls neatly stacked in a pile.
Read the rest of this article...
Mystery surrounded the identity of the victims since they were discovered by accident last June near Weymouth, Dorset, England, when workers at a 2012 building site, stumbled across a burial pit.
The grave contained a mass of bones and 51 skulls neatly stacked in a pile.
Read the rest of this article...
Beheaded Vikings found at Olympic site
They were 51 young men who met a grisly death far from home, their heads chopped off and their bodies thrown into a mass grave.
Their resting place was unknown until last year, when workers excavating for a road near the London 2012 Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth, England, unearthed the grave. But questions remained about who the men were, how long they had been there and why they had been decapitated.
On Friday, officials revealed that analysis of the men's teeth shows they were Vikings, executed with sharp blows to the head around a thousand years ago. They were killed during the Dark Ages, when Vikings frequently invaded the region.
Read the rest of this article...
Their resting place was unknown until last year, when workers excavating for a road near the London 2012 Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth, England, unearthed the grave. But questions remained about who the men were, how long they had been there and why they had been decapitated.
On Friday, officials revealed that analysis of the men's teeth shows they were Vikings, executed with sharp blows to the head around a thousand years ago. They were killed during the Dark Ages, when Vikings frequently invaded the region.
Read the rest of this article...
Unseen Staffordshire Hoard treasure back on display in Birmingham
Helmet fragments previously unseen in Birmingham will go on display when items from the world’s largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure returns to the city tomorrow (Saturday).
A selection of 59 items will be on display including helmet fragments with animal decorations and warriors. Other artefacts to be displayed include
fragments of decoration of eagles and ducks, a crumpled gold cross and a red garnet stud.
Read the rest of this article...
A selection of 59 items will be on display including helmet fragments with animal decorations and warriors. Other artefacts to be displayed include
fragments of decoration of eagles and ducks, a crumpled gold cross and a red garnet stud.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, 12 March 2010
University of Oxford Online Courses in Archaeology
Exploring Roman Britain (starts April 2010)
Origins of Human Behaviour (starts April 2010)
Pompeii and the Cities of the Roman World (starts May 2010)
Ritual and Religion in Prehistory (starts April 2010)
Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers (starts May 2010)
Click on the course title for further details.
Origins of Human Behaviour (starts April 2010)
Pompeii and the Cities of the Roman World (starts May 2010)
Ritual and Religion in Prehistory (starts April 2010)
Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers (starts May 2010)
Click on the course title for further details.
Decapitated bodies found in Dorset burial pit were executed Vikings
Fifty beheaded young men found in a burial pit last year were probably executed Vikings, archaeologists revealed today.
Teeth samples from 10 of the decapitated warriors discovered in Weymouth, in Dorset, show that they were Scandinavian invaders who fell into the hands of Anglo Saxons.
Dating back to between AD910 and AD1030, the mass war grave is among the largest examples ever found of executed foreigners buried in one spot.
Read the rest of this article...
Teeth samples from 10 of the decapitated warriors discovered in Weymouth, in Dorset, show that they were Scandinavian invaders who fell into the hands of Anglo Saxons.
Dating back to between AD910 and AD1030, the mass war grave is among the largest examples ever found of executed foreigners buried in one spot.
Read the rest of this article...
Weymouth ridgeway skeletons 'Scandinavian Vikings'
Fifty-one decapitated skeletons found in a burial pit in Dorset were those of Scandinavian Vikings, scientists say.
Mystery has surrounded the identity of the group since they were discovered at Ridgeway Hill, near Weymouth, in June.
Analysis of teeth from 10 of the men revealed they had grown up in countries with a colder climate than Britain's.
Read the rest of this article...
See also In pictures: Burial pit (BBC)
Mystery has surrounded the identity of the group since they were discovered at Ridgeway Hill, near Weymouth, in June.
Analysis of teeth from 10 of the men revealed they had grown up in countries with a colder climate than Britain's.
Read the rest of this article...
See also In pictures: Burial pit (BBC)
Archaeologists uncover headless corpses of 51 Vikings executed by Saxons in Dorset killing field
They knelt and cowered together - a once proud and fearless band of raiders stripped and humiliated by their Saxon captors.
One by one, their executioners stepped forward, uttered a prayer and brought their axes and swords crashing down on the necks of the Viking prisoners.
The axes fell until the roadside was sticky with blood from the decapitated corpses of the 51 men, most barely in their twenties.
Read the rest of this article...
One by one, their executioners stepped forward, uttered a prayer and brought their axes and swords crashing down on the necks of the Viking prisoners.
The axes fell until the roadside was sticky with blood from the decapitated corpses of the 51 men, most barely in their twenties.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Staffordshire Hoard returning to Birmingham with unseen items
UNSEEN relics that form part of the Staffordshire Hoard will be added to a display returning to Birmingham this Saturday.
Helmet fragments will be featured alongside 59 items from the world’s largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure.
Huge crowds are again expected as the city is hit by a second ‘gold rush’.
And the new display announcement comes as it was revealed that the appeal to raise enough funds to bring it permanently to the Midlands has hit £1.5 million.
Read the rest of this article...
Helmet fragments will be featured alongside 59 items from the world’s largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure.
Huge crowds are again expected as the city is hit by a second ‘gold rush’.
And the new display announcement comes as it was revealed that the appeal to raise enough funds to bring it permanently to the Midlands has hit £1.5 million.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Saxon pottery at Wisbech playground site
Archaeologists have unearthed Saxon pottery at the site of a new adventure playground in Cambridgeshire.
Further excavations will now take place at the site in Waterlees, Wisbech.
A dig took place ahead of the £800,000 project, which will not be delayed by the discovery, Cambridgeshire County Council said.
Archaeologists are expected to carry out more digs in the Roman Bank end of the site, the opposite end to where construction is due to begin.
Read the rest of this article...
Further excavations will now take place at the site in Waterlees, Wisbech.
A dig took place ahead of the £800,000 project, which will not be delayed by the discovery, Cambridgeshire County Council said.
Archaeologists are expected to carry out more digs in the Roman Bank end of the site, the opposite end to where construction is due to begin.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, 8 March 2010
Staffordshire Hoard display in Stoke-on-Trent closes
A temporary public display of the Staffordshire Hoard has now closed.
A selection of 118 gold items have been on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent for the past three weeks.
The Museum said it had welcomed its 50,000th visitor to see the treasure on its final day of exhibition on Sunday.
Read the rest of this article...
A selection of 118 gold items have been on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent for the past three weeks.
The Museum said it had welcomed its 50,000th visitor to see the treasure on its final day of exhibition on Sunday.
Read the rest of this article...
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Change in Blog Address
As you will have noticed, the address for this blog has changed.
This is because Blogger are phasing out their FTP service.
If you have been using an RSS feed for this blog, then you will need to change the address. Simply click on the “Subscribe to Posts [Atom]” at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.
Similarly, if you have been receiving email notifications, you will have to register again using the form in the right-hand sidebar.
Sorry for the inconvenience,
David Beard
This is because Blogger are phasing out their FTP service.
If you have been using an RSS feed for this blog, then you will need to change the address. Simply click on the “Subscribe to Posts [Atom]” at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.
Similarly, if you have been receiving email notifications, you will have to register again using the form in the right-hand sidebar.
Sorry for the inconvenience,
David Beard
Friday, 5 March 2010
Staffordshire Hoard gets crowds, award
Over forty thousand people have visited the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent, England, to see a fraction of the famous Staffordshire Hoard. It is another sign that discovery of Anglo-Saxon treasure is still drawing in massive interest.
A total of 1,852 people passed through the doors on Wednesday, taking the total number of people who have queued to see the Hoard to 41,447 over 19 days. Over 3700 people visited the collection on its opening day in mid-February.
Read the rest of this article...
A total of 1,852 people passed through the doors on Wednesday, taking the total number of people who have queued to see the Hoard to 41,447 over 19 days. Over 3700 people visited the collection on its opening day in mid-February.
Read the rest of this article...
This blog has moved
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Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Staffordshire Hoard team wins award
Birmingham City Council Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Sport, Cllr Martin Mullaney, today congratulated the Staffordshire Hoard team after it scooped a top archaeology award.
The team that recovered the Anglo-Saxon treasure, including staff from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, have won the Current Archaeology award for ‘The Best Rescue Dig of the Year, 2010’.
And Cllr Mullaney believes it is a richly deserved accolade. He said: “This was a team effort from day one and everyone involved deserves credit. A number of organisations have played a part and things have run smoothly – from the excavation right the way through to the fundraising campaign.”
Read the rest of this article...
The team that recovered the Anglo-Saxon treasure, including staff from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, have won the Current Archaeology award for ‘The Best Rescue Dig of the Year, 2010’.
And Cllr Mullaney believes it is a richly deserved accolade. He said: “This was a team effort from day one and everyone involved deserves credit. A number of organisations have played a part and things have run smoothly – from the excavation right the way through to the fundraising campaign.”
Read the rest of this article...
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