[HN Gopher] Ancient Dagger Up to 2.5k Years Old W Stars/Moons/Ge...
___________________________________________________________________
Ancient Dagger Up to 2.5k Years Old W Stars/Moons/Geometric
Patterns Unearthed
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 133 points
Date : 2025-04-07 21:04 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.smithsonianmag.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.smithsonianmag.com)
| thunkle wrote:
| How did they manage to pack so many video ads into a single
| article?
| bookofjoe wrote:
| What with their funding being slashed as we speak, look for way
| more!
| Galatians4_16 wrote:
| No ads here https://archive.is/aoqkl
| bawana wrote:
| All i see is an nginx welcome page
| jajko wrote:
| 0 ads on Firefox with ublock origin
| bb88 wrote:
| Reminds me of "Detectorists."
|
| https://www.amazon.com/Detectorists-BBC-Series/dp/B06XC4TPTN
|
| Here in the US, if you search along the roads, mostly you're just
| going to find trash.
| MyOutfitIsVague wrote:
| It's really a beautiful little show. Quaint, funny, and warm-
| hearted without being cloying or saccharine. Manages some mild
| drama and even melodrama without feeling forced or annoying.
|
| I still haven't watched the movie yet.
| seanhunter wrote:
| Wholeheartedly agree, and the two leads, Toby Jones and
| Mackenzie Crook (who also is the writer) are both exceptional
| (both in this and elsewhere). Really worth checking out. Also
| fun fact: Diana Rigg who played Andy's girlfriend's mother
| was her mother in real life.
| verisimi wrote:
| > Here in the US, if you search along the roads, mostly you're
| just going to find trash.
|
| You too could find something amazing, if you prepare the ground
| you intend to detect.
| numtel wrote:
| Good journalist not saying "metal detectors found..." :P
| n1b0m wrote:
| A real gem of a show and the theme song by Johnny Flynn is
| wonderful.
| tommica wrote:
| Simply an astonishing looking dagger.
| thedudeabides5 wrote:
| what metal is it made of?
| addaon wrote:
| Bronze.
|
| Hallstatt was bronze age, and if it was an outlier like
| meteoric iron (a) it would look like it (corrosion) and (b) it
| would have been called out.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| > Bronze.
|
| > if it was an outlier like meteoric iron (a) it would look
| like it (corrosion)
|
| It is corroded. That's why it's green.
|
| Which, yes, means it's bronze, but note that it's being
| described as an "iron age dagger" and they think it was
| manufactured in southern Europe and traded to the north. Iron
| wouldn't be surprising.
| marcusverus wrote:
| This article is the first I've ever heard of the Hallstatt
| culture, but wow were they awesome. Check out this amazing
| bronze bucket from ~600 BC. It has rivets!
|
| https://www.britannica.com/place/Hallstatt-archaeological-
| si...
| torlok wrote:
| Since the press in Poland wrote about this, I'll add a little
| context. According to the Muzeum Historii Ziemi Kamienskiej's
| spokesperson, the knife is actually up to 3-2,8. They used the
| X-ray fluorescence method to come up with that number. The dating
| is being disputed, as it was rushed out after the discovery, and
| it's not like you can use carbon dating on metal. There's still
| chemical analysis to be done, but that doesn't give accurate
| results either. Some scientists point to the XVIII-XIX CE.
| Apparently some experts had a look at it and say it's from the
| Middle East, and if made of brass it could mean it's from I BCE,
| and it's been stylized to look ancient.
| verisimi wrote:
| > the knife is actually up to 3-2,8
|
| I'd be surprised if it was 3-2.8 _years_ old.
|
| > The dagger isn't Ukowski's first big discovery. Last year, he
| found a broken papal bull--a pope's engraved lead seal--that
| may have been linked to Clement VI.
|
| As you also say:
|
| > it could mean it's from I BCE, and it's been stylized to look
| ancient.
| Zobat wrote:
| A while ago there was a necklace discovered in Sweden [1],
| thought to be about 2000 years old it made international
| headlines. Then it made headlines again when analysis revealed it
| was a fake.
|
| Not saying this knife will turn out to be a fake but seeing
| "Experts will soon conduct a metallurgical analysis" makes me
| just that little bit hesitant.
|
| 1) https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/unikt-
| jarnaldershalsb...
| unwind wrote:
| We also have "the moped ring" [1], an 800-gram gold+silver
| necklace from 500 AD that some kid clipped a piece off to fix
| their moped. :)
|
| This is on display at the Historical Museum in Stockholm, which
| has a fancy vault-like "Gold room" [2] showing off lots of
| found treasures. Recommended.
|
| [1]: https://historiska.se/upptack-historien/artikel/ostra-
| hoby-h...
|
| [2]: https://historiska.se/utstallningar/the-gold-room/
| relistan wrote:
| This guy already found another big deal find that was legit, a
| papal bull. They are part of a historical preservation group. I
| think you can bet on it being real.
| astennumero wrote:
| I have a question. Who gets to own the dagger? The museum? Or the
| people who found it? What the general law around finding things
| like this and ownership?
| zelo wrote:
| In Poland everything found in the ground belongs to the nation
| treasury (government) and performing excavation in order to
| look for things like this is illegal without specific permit.
| So if you find something you either stash it and don't talk
| about it or it goes to museums.
| agos wrote:
| it obviously depends on the laws of each country - in Italy,
| for example, if you happen to find underground an object of
| historical, artistic, or archeological value you have 24 hours
| to hand it to the authorities (cultural conservation
| institutions, municipal authorities or law enforcement). On the
| other hand, if you are using a metal detector you can't claim
| it's a random finding and you might incur in charges for
| abusive archaeological research. If the finding is indeed
| random you are entitled to a monetary prize by the state.
|
| In other countries I would expect similar legislation
| animal531 wrote:
| The laws are usually highly regional for things like this.
|
| In some places it belongs to the government, in others the
| nearest historical authority, in others to you and/or with
| conditions. In others like Ireland its illegal, so not too long
| ago someone found two bronze age axe heads and mailed them in
| anonymously, creating the problem that their National Museum
| needed to know where the items were found.
| butlike wrote:
| It belongs in a museum! "So do you!"
| mogrim wrote:
| In the UK you have to declare the item, and local museums are
| then allowed to bid a fair market price for it, which you have
| to accept. This money would then be split equally between the
| person who discovered the item and the landowner. It works
| pretty well - there's an incentive to legally declare what
| you've found, as you'll get paid for it, and by doing so the
| archaeology is often preserved and the item doesn't just
| disappear into a private collection.
|
| Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Act_1996
| lawlessone wrote:
| In a lot of places you'll get in trouble for digging things up
| because a huge part of the archeology is the objects location ,
| context etc.
| camjw wrote:
| Let's be real this is almost certainly cursed.
| khaki54 wrote:
| Imagine getting smoked by that thing! Pure class -- many worse
| ways to die.
| caradine wrote:
| Doesn't look very sharp. Pretty sure I've cut myself worse
| opening a can of soup. Call me when they find an ancient butter
| knife.
| max_ wrote:
| Its so beautiful.
|
| I wonder what alloy it was made of.
|
| I am surprised it looks in such a good condition after 2,500
| years buried in a lump of clay.
| brcmthrowaway wrote:
| Why do they never find ancient keys to houses?
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2025-04-08 23:01 UTC)