A Little More Festive Fashion

Today's artefact is an ornate and amazing find...

Image taken from The British Museum

 

 

This golden cap was discovered in an ancient burial mound in 1833, by a group of workmen in Mold, Flinshire, Wales.  The cape is beautifully decorated and extremely delicate, it has been painstakingly restored after being crushed upon discovery.  It took many years for all the pieces to be reunited but the British Museum is confident that they now have it all.  The cape was not found alone, some 300 beads were included in the chamber placed around the body, along with a coarse blanket and an urn containing burnt human remains.  I am confident in saying that the cape was not everyday Bronze Age fashion, I am also confident that it was created for a woman due to its size.  The usage of the cape will remain unknown, however, its' form is likely to restrict the movement of the person wearing it.  This suggests that it has a formal and specific role within Bronze Age life, possibly in relation to religious and/or ceremonial activities.  It is the only example known, which makes interpretation increasingly more difficult.  Despite this I am sure like me, you are able to admire the work that has gone into its' creation and the wow factor that it produces.  The cape is currently on display in Gallery 51 of the British Museum.

Back to our Roots?

Today's artefact is a true taste of Prehistory, it's some 230,000 years old.....

Picture taken from www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld

 

 

It is of course a handaxe, this is a Paleolithic example and hails from a cave in Denbighshire, Wales know as Pontnewydd.  Pontnewydd is associated with Neanderthal activity and some 19 individuals were in part identified within the cave.  These are the oldest known inhabitants of Wales and are credited by many as being the first Welsh people.  Their lives were without doubt tough, they lived during a glacial period, food was scarce and the nature of their tools suggests that their technique required them to be within close proximity to the prey.  The presence of ice would have minimised vegitation and as such meat was essential to survival.  To us, in our modern world, this artefact can look simply like stone, often over looked in museums everyday, but to the Neanderthal community of Pontnewydd it was all that stood between them and death.  The range of individuals found alongside this hand axe are varied in age, there is a presence of young children and developed adults, suggesting that the cave was at least a temporary home for this community before a disaster struck.  The likelihood of this being their permenant dwelling is slim, the Neanderthals were nomadic peoples and during this period there was no English Channel, we were part of the Continent.  Where these people had come from or were looking to reach will never be known, but it is possible that they found themselves in Pontnewydd purely through the ongoing feat of seeking food.