Historical Artifacts
Irish bog yields 1,000-year-old treasure
Fragments of an ancient manuscript, possibly more than 1,000 years old, have been uncovered in a bog in Ireland.
The discovery of the psalter in the south Midlands area has already been hailed by experts as the greatest find from a European bog.
It is said to be one of the most significant discoveries in European and world archaeology in decades.
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In search of Blackbeard’s flagship
This month’s issue of “National Geographic”:http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0607/feature6/ magazine has a great story about the excavation of a shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina that researches believe to be _The Queen Anne’s Revenge_, the flagship of the notorious Blackbeard the pirate.
The 300 ton merchantman, if indeed this is the right wreck, carried upwards of 40 guns, and was probably the most heavily armed pirate ship of its day. Ran aground in 1718, the wreck was discovered in 20 foot of water in 1996.
The “North Carolina Maritime Museum”:http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/maritime/Blackbeard/wreck.htm has a lot of detail about the wreck, as well as Blackbeard himself. Furthermore, check out the official “project website”:http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/qar/default.htm.
No substantial treasure, apart from the canon and other archaeological relics, has yet been found on the wreck.
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Treasure hunters plunder ancient kingdom of Dacia
Treasure hunting gangs have been pludering gold and other treasures from “Dacia”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia, an ancient kingdom that lies in what is now Romania.
Much of the gold the lotters are after was hidden away by King Decebalus in 106 AD, while the Roman invaders were at his heels. Apparently, the Romans didn’t find the bulk of the gold, but international smugglers armed with modern equipment are having better luck.
Since 1990, more than 20,000 Dacian gold coins dug up have been smuggled out of Romania and sold on the Western coin black market for more than 20 million euros. A further 7,845 ancient gold coins, 190 gold works of art and plates smuggled out of the country have been recovered.
Via the Sunday Herald
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Students excavate Fort of Pensacola
Archaeology students from the University of West Florida have been excavating the site of the Fort of Pensacola, unearthing some interesting finds including this military button, and less interesting treasure like a cat skeleton. This is apparently a follow up to an “earlier dig”:http://www.uwf.edu/anthropology/research/fort.cfm conducted by the school.
The Fort of Pensacola has a long history, originally being built by the Spanish in 1756, it was transferred to the British in 1763 after the Seven Years War and then recaptured by the Spanish in 1781.
The button pictured is believed to be from the U.S territorial period under Andrew Jackson, circa 1814-1821.
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