This is one of the nicest things I have seen. It was found recently by a friend of mine, a fellow metal detectorist living in the same area.
It is made of pewter and weighs 22.9 grammes.
4 cm X 2cm X 3mm
The loop at the top is leather.
I can only assume it is some kind of religious pendant to ward off
evil spirits.
If anybody in Flickrland is a student of ancient magic or religious
rites I would love to know its meaning. At this moment I cannot even
guess how old it might be.
Here is the link to my Buried Treasure set:
www.flickr.com/photos/hiddenhistory/sets/72157604628000117/
artpropelled, jacob albablank, EKingDesign, marinarios, and 2 other people added this photo to their favorites.
KipikArt 25 months ago | reply
Oh! I love a good mystery!
Ubique Ulf 23 months ago | reply
That is absolutely stunning.
lunatik fringe 14 months ago | reply
i would take it to an archaeologist at a university w/in 50 miles or so of where it was found. I do hope that your friend has a good description of the location, including lats and longs.
Dave Caplan 14 months ago | reply
Hi L.F.
We do work closely with our local archaeologists and usually supply either 5 or 8 digit lats and longs. The problem we have here is the sheer amount of finds, particularly in this part of England. To be honest one archaeologist once admitted to me that even if their staff doubled in number it would still leave them with approx a 10 year backlog. He showed me a large scale map riddled with Xs marking find spots yet to be investigated. A lot of reported finds disappear into the system; like many others I tend not to bother them unless I find something I consider of importance. Even then the wait for any kind of response can be years.
As far as this Pewter Talisman is concerned it would be of no interest whatsoever to them.
When I said I couldn't guess how old it might be, that's not strictly true. I know it was found on arable land, not in a silt deposit or under water, therefore the remains of a leather suspension thong would rot within a predictable time of say not more than 150/200 years if it was in clay, and certainly much less in the highly acid soil of our county. Anything less than 300 years of age is classed as modern over here, and that is official.
I've just posted a picture of a circa 14th / 15th century Medieval horseshoe I found a few days ago. Even though it falls within the time frame to be reported I would be laughed out of the building if I wasted their time with a piece of old iron. Sad but true.
Brigid's_fire 6 days ago | reply
How do you think it was made? Is it inscribed or cast?
Dave Caplan 5 days ago | reply
Hi Brigid
It is almost certainly a one-off.
I can't be sure if the blank was cast from a hand-carved original, or if it was filed down from a scrap piece of pewter, but I would say the design has been engraved by hand, mainly because the subject matter would have been either of limited interest or illegal at the time !
Brigid's_fire 5 days ago | reply
Wow thank you for sharing your knowledge with me, even though you have trouble having your finds verified you have no idea how lucky you are to have such rich history beneath your feet and all around you.
Dave Caplan 4 days ago | reply
Thanks Brigid, you are right about being fortunate enough to be in one of the best places. The only really frustrating time I had was when my detecting friend retired several years before me; we had permission on the same farms, and he was out detecting almost everyday for several hours at a time! You can imagine how I felt. He unearthed literally hundreds of Medieval silver coins, several stunning Celtic and Medieval gold coins and of course thousands of buckles, buttons and other interesting old finds like Roman silver etc. He also found several spectacular Medieval gold rings. Needless to say finds are now fewer and far between, but the thrill of the unknown still remains.