[MR] History Blog: All Sorts of Curious Stuff

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

A pressing non-SCA project has kept me from posting about some very
interesting and rare medieval archeological finds that were reported in the
History Blog this week. So today I'm going to bring you up to date by
combining them into one post.

The first story was on the discovery of a gold and cloisonné earring in
Denmark. It is an extremely rare and fine piece (and just one, not a pair),
possibly of Egyptian origin. Similar finds have been associated with the
Byzantine Empire, and suggest that this could have belonged to one of the
many Viking warriors who took service under Byzantine Emperors. The story
is archived at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/62886 .

Our second entry concerns a small figurine of a man with a falcon found
during a salvage dig in Oslo. The figure's style suggests the 13th century,
and is the oldest evidence of falconry found in Norway. The piece is made
from bone or antler, and is probably a knife handle. Neat! The full story
is at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/62894 .

Finally, today we have a story about a dip pen found in the 11th century
context layer at Caherconnell ring fort in Ireland. The pen is made from a
hollow bird bone, and has a bronze nib. This is indeed a rare find, as
secular literacy was rare in Ireland at this time. This is the earliest pen
ever found in Ireland. You read all about this interesting piece at
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/62894 .

More about Caherconnell and its significance is found on Wikipedia at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caherconnell_Stone_Fort .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆