tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62964863286607058532024-03-13T02:47:03.836+00:00Ancient HeritageThoughts on ancient artefacts, their collection and ethical issuesDavid Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-91027268428984156542020-10-27T11:12:00.038+00:002021-06-14T15:25:05.364+00:00Ancient Greek Lamps: The Genius of the Central Tube<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bY2g3EZ6SjE/X5f0Km3KiRI/AAAAAAAAAy4/UP75qDsYIv04WxyXkuI6tAjArtoiWbNugCLcBGAsYHQ/s471/getty-5.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="471" height="199" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bY2g3EZ6SjE/X5f0Km3KiRI/AAAAAAAAAy4/UP75qDsYIv04WxyXkuI6tAjArtoiWbNugCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h199/getty-5.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Athens, 5th century BC<br />(<a href="https://www.getty.edu/publications/ancientlamps/catalogue/5/" target="_blank">Getty Museum</a>)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="margin-left: 160px; text-align: left;">A distinctive feature of ancient Greek pottery lamps is the conical tube that began appearing in the centre of many of them towards the end of the 7th century BC. Its use has intrigued scholars for many years and various theories have been proposed. </p><p>At first, it seemed obvious that the lamps were designed to "fit on a peg" <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span> or were mounted on the tapered spike of a stand. However, it was pointed out that such an arrangement would be "unstable" <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span>, some of the tubes are too angled or narrower at the bottom than at the top, and, crucially, examples of the tubes did not show any traces of the wear that would be expected on the inside. In short, although the tube may have sometimes allowed lamps to be mounted on a spike, that is unlikely to have been its <i>primary</i> function. </p><p>Perhaps the lit lamp was held aloft by a cord passing through the tube and knotted at its end? But it was noted that while that scenario could apply to lit lamps with evenly-spaced multiple nozzles, it would clearly unbalance lamps with a single one <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[3]</span>. </p><p>Another theory - that both the tubes and the closed cones found in contemporaneous lamps were intended as a method of reducing the amount of fuel the lamp could contain - strikes me as counter-intuitive and unlikely. </p><p><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Masterpiece</b></span> </p><p>In fact, the central tube is likely to be a masterpiece of design ingenuity, a blend of form and function that any modern designer would be revered for. The clue to its probable true purpose lies not in what is present but in what is missing. Almost no lamps of this tubed type have a handle. </p><p>Handles on wheel-made lamps must be separately fashioned by hand and luted onto the body. The shallow depth of early lamps dictated a narrow point of contact. Their projecting nature made conventional handles vulnerable and, as evidence shows, they were easily broken. A fragile and unreliable handle was clearly an unwelcome risk while carrying a lit lamp and a more dependable method of holding it was needed. </p><p>The solution was to incorporate the method actually into the body. The central tube, typically with a fairly wide cavity under the base, is "simply a convenient finger hole to aid in grasping firmly and carrying safely a slippery lighted lamp" <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[4]</span>. Indeed, placing the index finger under the base cavity and the thumb over the shoulder or the top of the tube provides a good grasp. The concept is much like that of the grip provided by the hollow indentation in the underside of mesomphalic phialai. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r1myCM9REAE/X5f-XdQmQOI/AAAAAAAAAzE/qtki2wPSovInArbLvMS38Vi6LvYEG4PhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/20200215_134923f3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="504" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r1myCM9REAE/X5f-XdQmQOI/AAAAAAAAAzE/qtki2wPSovInArbLvMS38Vi6LvYEG4PhgCLcBGAsYHQ/w168-h200/20200215_134923f3.jpg" width="168" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LaeAMTPkZds/X5f-XZohtUI/AAAAAAAAAzI/dojU1GrS3HEVthYiMtL5RwU9zF2S1OngACLcBGAsYHQ/s776/20200217_160629f4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="632" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LaeAMTPkZds/X5f-XZohtUI/AAAAAAAAAzI/dojU1GrS3HEVthYiMtL5RwU9zF2S1OngACLcBGAsYHQ/w163-h200/20200217_160629f4.jpg" width="163" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sicily, 5th century BC<br />(<a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/database/lamp.php?193" target="_blank">RomQ Reference Collection</a>)</span><br /></div><div><p></p><p>Not only did the tube provide the holding ability of conventional handles, it also offered another important part of their function. The same author suggested that the open tube would allow lamps to be hung on a cord <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[5]</span>, but not in the way previously suggested. This would not be while the lamps were lit and being used but while they were empty, perhaps when displayed for sale, in transit or in storage. </p><p><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Spanner in the works?</b></span> </p><p>At first glance, the fact that similar tubes occur on contemporaneous lamps having a fixed pedestal would seem to make all those proposals redundant and it has been suggested instead that the tube may have "provided an anchor for tying or wrapping the end of the wick" <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[6]</span>. However, lamps on fixed pedestals are unusual and it may well be that they merely replicated the accepted standard design of lamps without them, regardless of whether the tube was fully functional - much like the relatively pointless solid lugs on pottery factory lamps replicated the pierced ones on metal lamps. </p><p>I believe some of the proposals advanced as an explanation of the central tube are still perfectly valid for common lamps: a means of improving the grip when carrying lamps that typically lacked a conventional handle, while also offering the options of hanging them on a cord when not in use or, indeed, perhaps occasionally mounting them on the tapered spike of a stand if desired. </p><p>In addition, I suggest another advantage, regardless of whether the lamp has a fixed pedestal or not. A wick inserted into the nozzle of a circular lamp with a flat floor will merely hit the back wall. A wick inserted into the nozzle of a circular lamp with a central tube (or a substantial cone) will be deflected to one side and is more likely to coil neatly inside the perimeter. </p><p><span style="color: #990000;"><b>New times</b></span> </p><p style="text-align: left;">Whatever advantages central tubes may have had, they were less suited to lamps that were evolving with deeper bodies and smaller filling-holes, and they gradually fell out of fashion. Nevertheless, the problem posed by conventional handles remained. As lamps generally became deeper and thus heavier, the typically horizontal handles of the period proved even less equal to the task <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[7]</span>. The increased body height made handles that were attached vertically more viable but they too were vulnerable and a large proportion of lamps simply omitted handles altogether. <br /><br />Lamps were being provided with a side lug by the end of the 4th century BC and although early examples are normally pierced and are likely to have been primarily intended to allow the lamp to be hung on a cord, unpierced asymmetrical lugs survived as a vestigial feature for over two hundred years. That seems to suggest that the protrusion may not have been always purely a hanging device on early lamps or always merely decorative on later ones but may also have been valued as a basic means of helping to improve the grip when carrying lamps that lacked a handle.<br /><br />However, neither conventional handles nor lugs equal the classic elegance of the integral and symmetrical tube. The simple beauty of Athenian lamps of the Periclean period, with their fine black glaze and stylish design, is striking even today. </p><p style="text-align: center;">---------------- <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1] Broneer, O. 1930, <i>Corinth, Vol.IV.2: Terracotta Lamps</i>, p.33<br />[2] Thompson, H.A. 1933, <i>Hesperia, Vol.2.2: Terracotta Lamps</i>, p.198 (n.1)<br />[3] Howland, R. H. 1958, <i>The Athenian Agora, Vol.IV: Greek Lamps and their Survivals</i>, p.24<br />[4] Ibid.<br />[5] Ibid.<br />[6] Bookidis, N. & Pemberton, E.G. 2015, <i>Corinth, Vol.XVIII.7: The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore: The Greek Lamps and Offering Trays</i>, p.104<br />[7] Howland, p.68</span><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-67199259282847223202020-08-17T17:11:00.000+00:002020-08-17T22:20:54.537+00:00Reply to Twitter feedback<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kevy1X20oKs/XzF_9JTX88I/AAAAAAAAAwo/2T1zBwvkrQ4zE0H3DDbALIZ42aJea0KFQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/seal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="264" height="161" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kevy1X20oKs/XzF_9JTX88I/AAAAAAAAAwo/2T1zBwvkrQ4zE0H3DDbALIZ42aJea0KFQCPcBGAYYCw/s200/seal.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Ben Westwood, Finds Liaison Officer for Durham, Darlington & Teesside, has <a href="https://twitter.com/FLODurhamFLO/status/1293914722941538304" target="_blank">responded on Twitter</a> to my earlier post about <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2020/08/pas-truth-be-damned-lets-just-be-topical.html" target="_blank">the silver seal from Shropshire</a>. I'm grateful for his willingness to discuss the issue and his points deserve a thoughtful answer but rather than be constrained by the 280-character-per-tweet limit on Twitter I'll answer them here.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I/we have no problem with debate or discussion, & don't always get things right. i'm very far from 'outraged' as your alternative interpretation, in fact i think it's very interesting." </blockquote>
Sorry if I misjudged your level of reaction but a series of no less than fourteen tweets which included the boast "Like it or not, we are experts in portable antiquities & artefacts" did give the impression that you were ever so slightly miffed.<br />
<br />
It's not an "alternative interpretation"; it's the only <i>sensible</i> interpretation - the interpretation your colleague should have reached.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"My problem, as i made clear was with the tone & offensive language used. describing a colleagues work as vacuous because you disagree with the way he has chosen to engage with current debate is a poor choice of words, especially given the context."</blockquote>
<i>vacuous: showing a lack of thought</i><br />
<br />
It was precisely "the <i>way</i> he has chosen to engage with current debate" that was vacuous. No matter how virtuous the cause, there is little excuse for a professional FLO to weave some wild fantasy around an artefact merely to fit topicality.<br />
<br />
It doesn't require a great deal of 'thought' to show a tiny bit of sense and do at least a minimum of basic homework. It's a silver seal. The typical motif on a silver seal is heraldry - so open a book about heraldry. It's not rocket science. What on earth did he think it was? Some sort of weird trophy?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"That was only part of my critique though, & it's telling you've chosen not comment the main issue here. You part-quote me in relation to these two tweets, but seem to miss that i was drawing attention to @PortantIssues [Paul Barford]"</blockquote>
Huh? Please try to stay focused. Paul and I are not joined at the hip. Paul has his blog, I have my blog. I am discussing the post on <i>my</i> blog. Whatever your "main issue" may be, it has no connection to <i>my</i> post on <i>my</i> blog.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"more worryingly, in your defence of @PortantIssues blog [...] you make no reference to the very offensive language used ['negroid'] ..."</blockquote>
See my comment above. That word makes me uneasy and I personally avoid any terminology that may be insensitive but the term is still used by other people. Indeed, before going ballistic on Twitter, you might want to have a word with your own colleagues at the British Museum (e.g. see Curator's Comments: <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-6504" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-12855" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA922" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"However, you seem sadly to have missed the point of my thread. We encourage, welcome, debate & discussion, but hyperbole and polemicism are not helpful, neither is accusing a heritage colleague of 'pseudo-archaeology', which I really think is unwarranted, & below you."</blockquote>
Please point to a genuine example of 'hyperbole' in my post. 'Polemicism'? I'm not sure you quite understand the difference between polemicism and justifiably strong criticism. Perhaps I expect a higher standard from a professional FLO associated with the nation's most prestigious museum than to cobble together a piece of unresearched rubbish and publish it on an academic website that the public would expect to be reliable. My post about it may have revealed a little of my exasperation but it was in fact very restrained (this current post may be somewhat less so!).<br />
<br />
My comment about pseudo-archaeology was intended as a plea. Archaeology starts with evidence and then draws tentative conclusions; pseudo-archaeology starts with a conclusion and then selectively misinterprets evidence to suit it. The Reavill article came dangerously close to the latter.<br />
<br />
There's no need for "debate". The article is demonstrably crap. It's also very unfair to those of his colleagues who are more knowledgeable. If your friend wants to write about the slave trade, I suggest he does his colleagues (and the public) a favour, engages in some basic homework, and finds an artefact that actually has something to do with it.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-73619631902230668652020-08-13T12:31:00.002+00:002022-02-13T21:30:06.361+00:00PAS: Truth be damned, let's just be topical!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kevy1X20oKs/XzF_9JTX88I/AAAAAAAAAwk/FRmxaaj1O_cfoHif6eZV7uzOncryFzg2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/seal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="264" height="161" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kevy1X20oKs/XzF_9JTX88I/AAAAAAAAAwk/FRmxaaj1O_cfoHif6eZV7uzOncryFzg2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/seal.png" width="200" /></a></div>
On Friday (7 August) Peter Reavill, a Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) for the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), posted <a href="https://finds.org.uk/counties/shropshire/the-sheriffhales-seal-matrix/" target="_blank">a long article</a> which misinterpreted a silver seal found in Shropshire in 2013 (<a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/590595" target="_blank">HESH-0A2407</a>). Apparently in a misguided attempt to be topical, the author gave his article the subtitle "<a href="https://finds.org.uk/counties/shropshire/the-sheriffhales-seal-matrix/" target="_blank">How a single artefact can shed light on the transatlantic slave trade</a>" and tagged it as 'Atlantic Slave Trade, Black Lives Matter, Enslaved Person'. Excited by that theme, the author then went on to make wild assumptions in the text - "... design depicting a Black man – most probably an enslaved person", "the depiction of an enslaved person on this seal" - while desperately trying to link the seal to "the enslavement of African people".<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GDuloUCYM_8/XzGAjBFAacI/AAAAAAAAAws/iL-DfMkk6S0rXJ3X_gKR04-JPOQqpK34QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Bgt%25C5%2582u.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="512" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GDuloUCYM_8/XzGAjBFAacI/AAAAAAAAAws/iL-DfMkk6S0rXJ3X_gKR04-JPOQqpK34QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Bgt%25C5%2582u.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
When Mr Reavill publicised his article on <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterReavill/status/1291695889355091968" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, Paul Barford noted the trite narrativisation on his <a href="http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2020/08/woke-narrativisation-from-pas-lockdown.html" target="_blank">blog</a> and I added a <a href="http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2020/08/woke-narrativisation-from-pas-lockdown.html?showComment=1596856692652#c6786042009643649700" target="_blank">comment underneath</a> to point out the <i>real</i> interpretation of the seal.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xbCxie6-b0s/XzGBTtthWbI/AAAAAAAAAw4/bRcio7Rl0jkyQFpbibichA0oKLgM2bBYACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/knell-comment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="840" height="169" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xbCxie6-b0s/XzGBTtthWbI/AAAAAAAAAw4/bRcio7Rl0jkyQFpbibichA0oKLgM2bBYACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/knell-comment.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I thought no more of it but I now see Ben Westwood, another FLO, is apparently outraged that anyone dared to challenge the nonsense in the PAS article. Let's have a look at <a href="https://twitter.com/FLODurhamFLO/status/1292794755391291398" target="_blank">his points</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I’ve thought long & hard over whether to reply to this, but seeing comments describing Peter’s article as ‘vacuously jumping on the BLM bandwagon['] ..., I think it’s important to respond. Firstly there’s nothing vacuous about what @findsorguk are trying to do in terms of the objects we record ..."</blockquote>
What is 'vacuous' is the warping of what should be a detached and impartial assessment of an artefact into an unlikely fantasy merely to fit topical agenda. Perhaps my standard for drawing a line between fact and wild flights of uninformed imagination is somewhat stricter than that of the PAS.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"[David Knell] argues that rather than Slave Trade, the device is a heraldic 'Moor's head', & of course such debate is welcome."</blockquote>
Any chance of an intelligent "debate" requires the immediate ditching of that "Slave Trade" narrative; it's
a false accretion founded on an ignorance of armorial art. Instead of forcefully foisting topicality onto the artefact, we'll start from scratch.<br />
<br />
Post-medieval seals could feature a wide range of motifs - ordinary copper-alloy examples tend to be generic (initials, sailing ships, classical busts, anchors, hatching, and so on) - but by far the most typical device on a personal silver seal <i>of this quality</i> was either a monogram or a 'family crest' (either literally the device displayed on a helm above the heraldic achievement, the main device ('charge') displayed on the shield, or the entire achievement). Regardless of whether the 'crest' was properly granted or merely assumed, it was nevertheless heraldic.<br />
<br />
It shouldn't need me to point that out. There are more than two dozen examples on the PAS website, including one identified by Mr Westwood (<a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/906997" target="_blank">DUR-A53171</a>). Here's just one example (<a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/984806" target="_blank">NLM-0D2C6D</a>) that is fairly close to, though not quite as fine as, the one under discussion:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nu_K5hMxQrk/XzQ2cvLxumI/AAAAAAAAAxk/u4goOkrpwKU3L1wtqcypqdBwU6ja0SlBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NLM44474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="500" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nu_K5hMxQrk/XzQ2cvLxumI/AAAAAAAAAxk/u4goOkrpwKU3L1wtqcypqdBwU6ja0SlBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/NLM44474.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
A variety of human heads occur as devices in heraldry: the 'wild man', the 'Saxon', the 'Englishman', the 'Saracen', the 'old man', the 'woman', the 'child', and so on. As I explained in my comment underneath Paul's blog post, the example on the seal is known as a 'Maure' ('Moor's head'). Although the device is by no means as common as a lion rampant, it is not exactly rare either (appearing on the arms of Corsica, Sardinia and Coburg among many others) and it's rather surprising that it threw the PAS team into a shocked wobbly. The use of human heads of any type is not to my taste - they run the risk of being insensitive - but that on the seal is very familiar to anyone with a passing interest in heraldry and, despite Mr Reavill's strenuous effort to make it topical, the device is most unlikely to have even the remotest connection with the "transatlantic slave trade".<br />
<br />
As the name implies, the heraldic device of a 'Moor's head' was loosely based on Christian perceptions of the mainly Muslim population of northern Africa (the inhabitants of <i>Sub-Saharan</i> Africa, such as those used as heraldic supporters in the arms of the Royal African Company, were typically depicted wearing headdresses, not as bare-headed 'Moors') and is medieval in origin. Those examples proudly displayed by Corsica and Sardinia, for instance, date back to the 14th and 13th centuries respectively and probably allude to the defeat of Moorish rule during the Middle Ages; that displayed by Coburg honours the town's patron saint (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Maurice" target="_blank">Saint Maurice</a> of Egypt) and was granted in 1493.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fUdD4K_ggW8/XzGDSBDbgiI/AAAAAAAAAxI/bw8A18jfCpsDbiPdznfOB3SjMjDTpfISQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/stmaurice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fUdD4K_ggW8/XzGDSBDbgiI/AAAAAAAAAxI/bw8A18jfCpsDbiPdznfOB3SjMjDTpfISQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/stmaurice.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Saint Maurice</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The 'Moor's head' featured in the arms of Freising wears a crown, since it represents one of the Magi, a saint or simply a king. Closer to home, legend has it that the device of the Moir family stemmed from fighting the Moors in Spain; more likely it is simply a pun on their surname - much like that granted to the Blackmore family and confirmed in 1620.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPs6nAylq7k/Xzxyw8W-_WI/AAAAAAAAAyI/MGSbR2pdUmgnZboM7JpNPfL6QBU2jlgNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/blakemore-arms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="350" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kPs6nAylq7k/Xzxyw8W-_WI/AAAAAAAAAyI/MGSbR2pdUmgnZboM7JpNPfL6QBU2jlgNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/blakemore-arms.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<br />
During the 18th century the main branch of the latter family (now using the variant spelling Blakemore but still bearing the same arms) was based at Darlaston <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span>. Since Darlaston is less than twenty miles from Sheriffhales, it seems quite likely that the seal belonged to that family and was lost during a local visit. At any rate, still not much evidence of a connection to an "enslaved person", let alone to the "transatlantic slave trade".<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Either way, stereotypical African depictions, with the usual artistic tropes, are very problematic & must be acknowledged."</blockquote>
Absolutely agreed, it's long past time that stereotypical caricatures were consigned to oblivion. If the medieval legacy of heraldry is to be preserved, a modern heraldic depiction of any human being should be utterly free from any racist exaggerations or overtones. However, agreeing that I loathe stereotypical caricatures as much as Mr Westwood has nothing to do with a PAS article that favours sensationalist speculation over sound scholarly objectivity.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The seal was found close to 2 wealthy C18th estates with Slave Trade connections"</blockquote>
That may well be - a disconcerting number of rich 18th-century families had invested in schemes such as the Royal African Company or benefitted in some way from the sugar, cotton or tobacco industries - but neither the company nor the Leveson-Gower family used that device as their emblem. And the Blakemore family made their money through the iron industry.<br />
<br />
Or perhaps it is being seriously proposed that rather than following family tradition, a member of the English landed gentry crassly commissioned the seal as a one-off to gloat over the source of their wealth and advertise that they were <i>nouveau riche</i>? Really?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Sadly, I gather the topic is closed and my input counts for nothing:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This record is published/green flagged, meaning that it has been written by the FLO, examined by the Treasure Registrar, & at least 1 (poss more) specialist British Museum curators. In addition, the article written by Peter has been checked/examined by specialists/experts in advance of publication. Like it or not, we are experts in portable antiquities & artefacts, & see more Treasure than anybody, thus well placed identify archaeological objects."</blockquote>
Well, that's that then. The PAS and the BM have spoken. But as much as I'd love to doff my cap in subservient awe, forgive me if I don't have undiluted faith in a PAS that described a common Syrian artefact as "<a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2018/11/how-reliable-is-pas-database-part-2.html" target="_blank">Romano-British</a>" and a BM that describes a depiction of Dionysus (1913,1021.2) as "<a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1913-1021-2" target="_blank">a tragic mask of a woman</a>" <span style="font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span>. We all make mistakes (including in my own books and articles); the trick is to accept a blow to our ego sometimes and correct them.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3I-C9884OvM/XzHrIf0ssyI/AAAAAAAAAxY/smDgz03le7UpDtywVkD9mA_5iwbMrEV-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/westwood9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="412" height="173" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3I-C9884OvM/XzHrIf0ssyI/AAAAAAAAAxY/smDgz03le7UpDtywVkD9mA_5iwbMrEV-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/westwood9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In the meantime, I dare say the PAS team feel better for pointlessly letting us know they sympathise with the aims of BLM as if everyone somehow thought they were an isolated pack of Neanderthals. It's just a pity that they ignored the aim of their employment, threw any semblance of detached objectivity out the window and thoughtlessly distorted the reality of an artefact to do so. The phrase "context of diversity" normally refers to accepting different kinds of people, not inventing different versions of the truth.<br />
<br />
Despite the misleading subtitle of the Reavill article, the artefact has not shed an iota of light on the transatlantic slave trade (hardly surprising since the artefact has nothing to do with it); the article merely illustrates the validity of Paul Barford's warning about narrativisation. It is a reckless reversal of archaeological practice: instead of dispassionately allowing an artefact to speak for itself and learning <i>from</i> it, a largely irrelevant sermon based on misinformed guesswork and irrational assumption has been clumsily piggybacked <i>onto</i> it.<br />
<br />
There is already more than enough pseudo-archaeology in the world, please don't add to it.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
----------------<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5WeXS2BnXXc/XzSIb2PSRjI/AAAAAAAAAxw/RR8jAY1KK2wta3UM-NRaHQXy1K64CnqAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/seals-portraits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="1600" height="66" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5WeXS2BnXXc/XzSIb2PSRjI/AAAAAAAAAxw/RR8jAY1KK2wta3UM-NRaHQXy1K64CnqAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/seals-portraits.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
By the way, hopefully Peter Reavill already knows the "Royal portraiture similar to that seen on coinage" is Queen Anne but seems unsure of the others. The "armoured male ‘adventurer’ in cuirassed armour [tautology epidemic?]" is Hannibal, the "classical revival imagery" is Hermes or a Greek hero, and the "18th century male gentleman [is there such a thing as a <i>female</i> one?] in a frock coat" is George III.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While Mr Reavill's failure to recognise common 18th-century iconography is understandable (his strength appears to be the Bronze Age), he was clearly far out of his depth in trying to guess that on an 18th-century seal. It is therefore alarming that despite that inexperience and hyped up almost exclusively on a huge diet of irrelevant slave trade literature rather than proper research (see his 'References') he decided to publish an article about it anyway. And it is even more alarming that his deeply flawed article was apparently "checked/examined by specialists/experts in advance of publication".</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Is this the sloppy standard of academic rigour (or indeed copy editing) we should expect from a team of professional "experts in portable antiquities & artefacts"?</div>
<br />
----------------</div>
<br />
<i>Date:</i><br />
<br />
By their very nature, seals have a traditional character and their designs often tend to be deliberately conservative. Thus, they can be difficult to date precisely. I noticed that many PAS entries refer to previous entries of similar items as a means of determining the date but there is a danger of simply perpetuating an error if the previous entry was itself based on unsound attribution. The dates given in a few entries strike me as somewhat earlier than is likely.<br />
<br />
I'm not entirely convinced that the PAS date of "late 17th or very early 18th century (pre-1713)", though conveniently classifying the seal as Treasure when found in 2013, is correct for the item in question. The octagonal shape with beaded border is a common Neoclassical theme which, together with the artistic style of the head, might suggest a later date, perhaps around 1750-1800.<br />
<br />
It would be useful to test the standard of the silver. The Britannia standard (95.8%) was in use between 1697 and 1720, after which the Sterling standard (92.5%) was revived. It is not a completely reliable method of dating since there are many exceptions (small items did not always adhere to the law and the Britannia standard has continued alongside Sterling in some cases up to the present day) but it might provide a reasonable clue.<br />
<br />
The letter <i>B</i> stamped on the seal is likely to be one of the maker's initials, not a date letter, but tracking him down would be difficult.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
----------------<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[1] Burke, Sir Bernard, <i>Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry</i>, London 1852, pp.106-7.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[2] see Green, J.R., 'Roman bronze lamps with masks', HEROM 2012, p.32</span>.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-13761632788606759382020-05-14T00:00:00.000+00:002020-05-15T12:10:03.581+00:00Reinventing the wheel (or hook)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I547BAv98nc/Xrv1y3Q8cqI/AAAAAAAAAt8/6iKd9Z-ZtB44VtKYU4i59kyB-A6reMx_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/pas1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="904" height="145" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I547BAv98nc/Xrv1y3Q8cqI/AAAAAAAAAt8/6iKd9Z-ZtB44VtKYU4i59kyB-A6reMx_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/pas1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Back in November 2019, I noticed a somewhat awkward description of a Roman object on the PAS database (<a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/963115" target="_blank">SOM-EFC2F3</a>). Although the object was correctly identified as a 'lamp hook', there seemed to be some doubt and some sort of medical implement was offered as an alternative.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"The finder has suggested that the artefact may instead have been a medical implement. The small diameter of the hooks, their position, with one curving up and one down, and the small suspension loop, all suggest it would be hard to securely suspend a lamp calling in to doubt the existing interpretation."</i></blockquote>
I used the 'Report a mistake' button at the bottom of the PAS page. I pointed out that the object was indeed undoubtedly a lamp hook and that the confusion may have been due to the fact that the hook was depicted upside down.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bxWgrC_AmKQ/Xrv2SsG_pjI/AAAAAAAAAuE/9FZNSq-pRzIZM535XiFze2A3hgQaCB1MQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/SOMEFC2F3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bxWgrC_AmKQ/Xrv2SsG_pjI/AAAAAAAAAuE/9FZNSq-pRzIZM535XiFze2A3hgQaCB1MQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/SOMEFC2F3.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>
<br />
It's not a fish hook - designed to dangle in a river. It's a suspension hook - much like that on a coat hanger - designed to hang something from a peg or whatever. The object is much easier to understand when it's the right way up.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S0LzQan-N4I/Xrv2fcLMXpI/AAAAAAAAAuI/v9DjoXFK3gsCc2WZY-Edm3e-PToYARAOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/SOMEFC2F3-invert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S0LzQan-N4I/Xrv2fcLMXpI/AAAAAAAAAuI/v9DjoXFK3gsCc2WZY-Edm3e-PToYARAOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/SOMEFC2F3-invert.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>
<br />
The object was not hung from the "suspension loop" (the hole is at the <i>bottom</i> of the object, not "at its top"); it was hung from the large hook near the top and a lamp would have been attached by chains to the hole at the bottom. An <a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/database/lamp.php?100" target="_blank">example on my website</a> explains their use in more detail.<br />
<br />
And as proof of their use, there are many lamps where the hook is still attached. Here are two museum examples.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAJy0_uxWdA/XrxcUTZmcCI/AAAAAAAAAug/kxklI0HSwHQr5Lj_j3IY50Ax7G8CE32_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/museum-comp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1158" height="202" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAJy0_uxWdA/XrxcUTZmcCI/AAAAAAAAAug/kxklI0HSwHQr5Lj_j3IY50Ax7G8CE32_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/museum-comp2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I received a cordial reply from the FLO. She thanked me and stated she would amend the PAS record. That was back in November but I imagine both the backlog of other work and the disruption of COVID-19 have since delayed that intention.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I have posted this as a reminder to anyone else who is puzzled by such objects. There's no need to reinvent the wheel; the research has already been done long ago and the hooks get a chapter all to themselves in D.M. Bailey, <i>A Catalogue of Lamps in the British Museum</i>, Vol. IV, 1996.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-26031181887313369992020-04-03T10:00:00.000+00:002020-04-05T15:26:08.154+00:00Leather books from Turkey: more thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R-PMgof_ahU/XoX1-DgRLQI/AAAAAAAAAtU/XZLbm7T4Zasu6Ln-gUrzoO1CnZSZDs_6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/26937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R-PMgof_ahU/XoX1-DgRLQI/AAAAAAAAAtU/XZLbm7T4Zasu6Ln-gUrzoO1CnZSZDs_6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/26937.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Further to <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2019/03/leather-books-from-turkey.html" target="_blank">my earlier post</a> on the phenomenon of a constant stream of 'Golden Brownies' (GBs) emerging in Turkey, I note that yet another "Torah" (curious that almost all of these fake manuscripts are from religious minorities in that region) has been trumpeted in the Turkish press (<i>Daily Sabah</i>, '<a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/investigations/turkish-police-nab-3-suspects-trying-to-sell-ancient-torah-for-125m" target="_blank">Turkish police nab 3 suspects trying to sell ancient Torah for $1.25M</a>', 25 March 2020; <i>Hurriyet Daily News</i>, '<a href="https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/photo-gendarmerie-seizes-historical-torah-in-turkeys-mus-153268" target="_blank">Gendarmerie seizes historical Torah in Turkey’s Mus</a>', undated). Not only is the object not even remotely a Torah (the first five books of Moses typically in scroll form), it is so obviously a modern piece of tat that <a href="http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2020/03/torah-and-ring-seized-by-turkish.html" target="_blank">a mere moggy</a> can spot it as farcical.<br />
<br />
Pages from another so-called "Torah", announced by the <i>Daily Sabah</i> in 2018 ...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3VUO03E0P4/XoZ7OEMX7CI/AAAAAAAAAtg/xP5u45QEriUzsAGiaxznL1q7cbH54oLCgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/t-imagery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="1000" height="135" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3VUO03E0P4/XoZ7OEMX7CI/AAAAAAAAAtg/xP5u45QEriUzsAGiaxznL1q7cbH54oLCgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/t-imagery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Of particular concern is that the spurious imagery and concocted provenances of these GBs have been eagerly picked up by far-right conspiracy websites (such as <a href="https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-european-union-times/" target="_blank"><i>The European Union Times</i></a>) and heralded as confirmation that "Judaism is Satanism". Dr Sam Hardy has provided some interesting insights into the situation (<i><a href="https://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/2020/04/02/syria-antiquities-rescue-by-purchase-conflict-antiquities-trafficking-propaganda/" target="_blank">Conflict Antiquities</a></i>, 2 April 2020). (A link to the <i>EU Times</i> rant is included under Dr Hardy's blog post.)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I had initially assumed that the Satanic and Illuminati symbolism in these fake Turkish/Syrian manuscripts merely reflected the 'Jewish conspiracy' mythology endemic in that part of the world and accepted as fact by their ignorant non-Jewish authors. And thus, almost incidental to the main goal of making money from selling them.<br />
<br />
However, I am now beginning to see that symbolism not as merely incidental but as at least one of the prime motivations for their manufacture in the first place - to present these supposedly ancient manuscripts as proof that the mythology is true.<br />
<br />
Perhaps even more worrying than the fact that the GBs are being produced is the thought that the Turkish police and media are happily complicit in validating and publicising them. I have an uneasy feeling that their widespread publicity in that country is not so much a way of praising the police force.<br />
<br />
Have <i>any</i> of these insanely-priced GBs <i>ever</i> actually been sold at all or were they intended to serve another purpose? It's strangely convenient that their purported "sellers" are constantly being caught, it's strangely unnatural that they are seldom found with anything else of remotely comparable value, and I sense a possibility that the whole operation may have been deliberately engineered as a sickening political tool - a devious way of covertly promulgating antisemitic propaganda in broad daylight. Any other artefacts supposedly "recovered" <i>with</i> the GBs would be merely 'smoke and mirrors'.<br />
<br />
What better way to ensure support for an authoritarian regime than to stimulate mass fear of a 'hidden enemy'? It matters nothing that a few scholars recognise the fakery; the target is the general public and neither Turkey nor Syria will be the first country to fall for that fear tactic and endorse a tyrant.<br />
<div>
<br />
Is apparently busting the illegal antiquities trade in Turkey really only a front for performing something far more sinister? Just a thought ...</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-82167673712789213752020-03-25T16:53:00.001+00:002020-03-25T17:03:30.235+00:00Lesson from Croatia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1KqRFqa4kck/XnuKWaGL-EI/AAAAAAAAAtI/WwGcSuwi9aQTD3aezChS--V0HLRq9xMxACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/European-Seismic-Hazard-Map-25-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="82" data-original-width="100" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1KqRFqa4kck/XnuKWaGL-EI/AAAAAAAAAtI/WwGcSuwi9aQTD3aezChS--V0HLRq9xMxACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/European-Seismic-Hazard-Map-25-100.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seismic Map</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Zagreb is located in a <a href="https://hr.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/earthquake/" target="_blank">zone of high seismic activity</a> and a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck a wide area around the city on Sunday, 22 March. Fortunately, there were few human casualties but the earthquake caused some heartbreaking damage to its cathedral and <a href="http://www.amz.hr/hr/amz-obavijesti/obavijest-ostecenjma/" target="_blank">museums</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aovHygf2pQI/XnuJ11pmIaI/AAAAAAAAAtA/4LuAVI1RpmITk-Sv4F_uMQLSyW31yXHlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/zagreb1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aovHygf2pQI/XnuJ11pmIaI/AAAAAAAAAtA/4LuAVI1RpmITk-Sv4F_uMQLSyW31yXHlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/zagreb1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Moral:</b> If you live in a <i>known</i> earthquake zone, make sure any antiquities in a display case are securely mounted.<br />
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-14845069197444114932020-03-24T02:08:00.000+00:002020-04-15T15:11:44.820+00:00An enduring tradition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QgLQ2CEBWaM/XnlqmZX-2VI/AAAAAAAAAsg/6r0YwcnoURUlOiMK05kDStTxsZyuin9ugCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/AIAD-sm3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="76" data-original-width="70" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QgLQ2CEBWaM/XnlqmZX-2VI/AAAAAAAAAsg/6r0YwcnoURUlOiMK05kDStTxsZyuin9ugCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/AIAD-sm3.jpg" /></a></div>
I noted a <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2015/02/now-thats-what-i-call-mark-up.html" target="_blank">truly amazing supply of bronze lamps</a> offered by Artemission, a dealer based in London, over five years ago. Far from being exhausted, that supply continues to this day. And, true to tradition, this <a href="https://www.artemission.com/viewitemdetails.aspx?ItemNumber=29.35434&page=1" target="_blank">example</a> below bears an uncanny resemblance to a series of very obvious fakes ...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RtmF3cybkyU/XnlmGyorVeI/AAAAAAAAAr0/k4z6-DYwKpI3MrWfCI69219CQhkiGD-igCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/arte-comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="1040" height="144" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RtmF3cybkyU/XnlmGyorVeI/AAAAAAAAAr0/k4z6-DYwKpI3MrWfCI69219CQhkiGD-igCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/arte-comp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
It can be yours for a mere $900 ...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSx-XgZKFos/XnlmTRV-18I/AAAAAAAAAr4/gQEnNk3LvksGr-7tKfCF0hOp1dBmk22XQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/arte2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="777" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSx-XgZKFos/XnlmTRV-18I/AAAAAAAAAr4/gQEnNk3LvksGr-7tKfCF0hOp1dBmk22XQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/arte2020.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This <a href="https://www.artemission.com/viewitemdetails.aspx?ItemNumber=29.35701&page=1" target="_blank">version</a> below - with not only two nozzles at ridiculous angles but also a head plunked on top - may be even more tempting. Just stump up $2,200 for this one ...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b7xRbd_7TSg/Xnlmcel1RjI/AAAAAAAAAsA/aCIqa5n_W3ECd66vWehx-vZxmVyht3_swCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/arte2020-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="783" height="259" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b7xRbd_7TSg/Xnlmcel1RjI/AAAAAAAAAsA/aCIqa5n_W3ECd66vWehx-vZxmVyht3_swCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/arte2020-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In these times of a pandemic crisis it's heart-warming to see that some old customs remain unchanged. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.<br />
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-7040609131101143552019-12-26T15:06:00.000+00:002019-12-26T18:30:35.992+00:00PAS: Just nod meekly or you're blocked<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mffj7aFoGVI/U47yQdesqsI/AAAAAAAAAMk/RAa9__8e6Y4ZzwlUzBj2zCyqjjwG79ANACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/pas-logo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="113" data-original-width="211" height="107" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mffj7aFoGVI/U47yQdesqsI/AAAAAAAAAMk/RAa9__8e6Y4ZzwlUzBj2zCyqjjwG79ANACPcBGAYYCw/s200/pas-logo2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Ha! That was an interesting outcome. Paul Barford, an archaeologist, <a href="http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2019/12/no-skills-required-jus-say-they-done.html" target="_blank">highlighted</a> a recent Twitter announcement by Jo Ahmet, the <a href="https://twitter.com/Kent_finds" target="_blank">Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) for Kent</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: red;">Kent FLO:</span></b><br />
Heard about this fantastic #AngloSaxon #Treasure #Donation to @MaidstoneMuseum ? Before It goes on display, get a sneak peak now and hear the finder talk about its' discovery.<br />
kentonline.co.uk video/maidstone-museum receives<br />
find more info below:
finds.org.uk database record 917780<br />
#ResponsibleDetecting #Thanks </blockquote>
<br />
Barford let the insane superfluity of hashtags (#Thanks - seriously?!) pass without comment but he did rib Ahmet about his apostrophe abuse in the phrase "its' discovery". When David Petts, a Durham academic, leapt to the FLO's defence, the FLO tweeted his gratitude:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: red;">Kent FLO:</span></b><br />
Thank you David. Also, for once despite my specific learning difficulty I believe ” its’ “, in this context is correct. Being as the sentence is possessive....”it is discovery” is not what I had intended to say </blockquote>
<br />
He then followed that with a GIF of Obama shrugging, as if to ask why the fuss since he was perfectly right anyway.<br />
<br />
----------<br />
<br />
Okay, it's a small point but having worked as a copy editor myself, I thought I'd just set the record straight. Without making any comment whatsoever on the FLO's content or anything else, I simply posted a single tweet to point out the correct grammar:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sMvsaRSntAY/XgOQcbIHUuI/AAAAAAAAArQ/oSc1dnprJs4IqabRj6BZHrb21F-DMVK3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/knell-tweet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="462" height="92" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sMvsaRSntAY/XgOQcbIHUuI/AAAAAAAAArQ/oSc1dnprJs4IqabRj6BZHrb21F-DMVK3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/knell-tweet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I thought no more about it but a couple of days later I idly wondered if he had thanked, or at least acknowledged, me. Here's what I found:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nrZCuRkiWVQ/XgOQixU82mI/AAAAAAAAArU/V3HTKGNOwakOskgfyZopeSIsaNw4pp92gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/blocked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="464" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nrZCuRkiWVQ/XgOQixU82mI/AAAAAAAAArU/V3HTKGNOwakOskgfyZopeSIsaNw4pp92gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/blocked.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Whoa! A trifle touchy? If the representative of an organisation seeking 'outreach' to the public is so averse even to someone politely trying to settle a minor point about grammar, I can only imagine what the reaction would be if another member of the public had the audacity to question his attribution of a find. Something like this perhaps?<br />
<br />
<b>Kent FLO:</b>
Heard about this fantastic #AngloSaxon #Treasure?<br />
<br />
<b>Fred Bloggs:</b>
I believe the artefact actually dates from the Roman period.<br />
<br />
<b>Kent FLO:</b>
You're BLOCKED! You can't follow or see my Tweets any longer!<br />
<br />
----------<br />
<br />
I'm pretty casual with spelling and grammar in private emails to friends or even in posts on my personal page on Facebook. No big deal. However, perhaps the era of Political Correctness has changed everything but when I was at college we were told that <i>public announcements</i> are a different thing (Ahmet tweeted under the official '<b>Kent FLO</b>' banner).<br />
<br />
It was instilled into us that poor spelling and grammar not only diminish your own credibility, they reflect on the image and standards of the whole institution on whose behalf you are writing. Time to take EXTRA care - especially if you know you have a "specific learning difficulty". After all, finding correct spelling and grammar nowadays is only a <a href="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/its-vs-its/" target="_blank"><span id="goog_1411465461"></span>mouse-click away<span id="goog_1411465462"></span></a>.<br />
<br />
I suppose you can take the other route - not give a flying fig about the image of <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/our-work/national/treasure-and-portable-antiquities-scheme" target="_blank">the PAS or the British Museum</a> - and I doubt an errant apostrophe is a capital offence even in the leafy suburbs of Kent but crudely blocking someone who merely confirms correct usage seems a bizarre overreaction. I've always had a fond respect for the institution behind the PAS and I'm not sure that somewhat paranoid response is the message its official representative should be sending out to members of the public.<br />
<br />
Surely, a simple thanks (or even #Thanks) would have done the trick.<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-80253180996352662202019-08-16T13:57:00.000+00:002019-08-29T18:05:54.408+00:00Please Do NOT Wash<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xoEh1DpTPQ/XVazwKJVudI/AAAAAAAAAqg/_rZpNW9CAMIVuchkMrdq569rrm5_FbK8ACLcBGAs/s1600/orangelamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xoEh1DpTPQ/XVazwKJVudI/AAAAAAAAAqg/_rZpNW9CAMIVuchkMrdq569rrm5_FbK8ACLcBGAs/s200/orangelamp.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
An eBay seller based in East Sussex states "<a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/312730006204" target="_blank">Here for Sale</a> is a Very High Quality Roman Bronze Double Spouted, Double Busted Oil Lamp. Dating From Around 200 - 400 AD" and makes an earnest plea to the successful buyer:<br />
<br />
<b>"Please Do NOT Wash as This May Cause Damage to The Item."</b><br />
<br />
I can totally understand his worry. It must have taken ages to put all that fake orange crap on the item in the first place. It would be tragic to wash it off and reveal the brand new shiny metal underneath.<br />
<br />
(A genuine patina would of course be unaffected by soap and water - and does not wash off.)<br />
<br />
But perhaps more worryingly, the fact that the item doesn't even remotely resemble any real Roman lamp (or is even a decent replica) appears to be lost on the people bidding for it.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
----------------------------------</div>
<br />
UPDATE: Sold for £118.<br />
<br />
It's a trifle disconcerting to see how readily some people are parted from their money. I could understand someone willing to pay, say, £50 or even £60 for a really good-quality accurate replica of a Roman bronze lamp to use in an historical re-enactment - but that thing is nothing even remotely like a real Roman lamp. If they turned up with it in front of knowledgeable people, it would just be a laughing stock.<br />
<br />
But then, perhaps I'm being too much of a purist. I watched a bit of the 2014 movie <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus:_Gods_and_Kings" target="_blank">Exodus: Gods and Kings</a></i> on TV last night and winced as I noticed the pharaoh was happily using Hellenistic lamps that hadn't even been invented until over a thousand years after the supposed events in the movie. I'm guessing Ridley Scott wasn't overly bothered by anachronisms.<br />
<br />
The most disconcerting thought is the niggling suspicion that at least some of the people bidding for that eBay monstrosity were under the impression that it was actually <i>genuine</i> - despite clearly not having the vaguest idea of what a genuine example looks like. At that level of brainlessness, I imagine they would still be none the wiser even if they DID wash it and saw the brand new shiny metal underneath.<br />
<br />
Sigh, I give up hope in humanity!<br />
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-40638195359484048402019-07-19T15:55:00.000+00:002019-10-08T16:38:26.202+00:00Gaza Apollo - the story continues<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1aYT9h2Gwbo/Ux5KqPlPSvI/AAAAAAAAAEs/wC1ISl47mrQMxviOpkR8eCnsBnzpATssACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/gaza-apollo-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1195" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1aYT9h2Gwbo/Ux5KqPlPSvI/AAAAAAAAAEs/wC1ISl47mrQMxviOpkR8eCnsBnzpATssACPcBGAYYCw/s200/gaza-apollo-2.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
Ever since a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_of_Gaza" target="_blank">bronze statue</a> of Apollo <a href="https://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2014/03/gaza-apollo-patchy-history.html" target="_blank">surfaced</a> - and then promptly disappeared - in Gaza over five years ago, historians, curators, collectors, political groups and just about everyone have been yearning to either possess it or at least get a better look and know more about it. Currently, it appears to be in the custody of Hamas - and perhaps not likely to re-emerge any time soon.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, a documentary by Nicolas Wadimoff was released last year and Al Jazeera have announced an abridged version. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2019/07/apollo-gaza-190714100536528.html" target="_blank">See it here while it lasts</a> (until 14 August 2019). Frankly, I could do without the cheesy philosophical interludes but the film does offer a few excellent insights into some of the context and characters involved.<br />
<br />
My personal thoughts? I suspect the statue is authentic (ancient Greek or a Roman copy) but its condition does not seem to suggest that it was lying under the sea for centuries. I tend to think it was originally found on dry land and perhaps, as one of the people in the film speculates, dropped overboard for some reason while being transported in modern times. It's quite possible it was being smuggled by boat between two other countries and jettisoned or lost off the Gazan coast when the venture was inconveniently interrupted. Who knows?<br />
<br />
At any rate, whatever its origin, my two greatest concerns - assuming the statue really is authentic - are that it is likely to be in urgent need of conservation and that it eventually ends up properly curated on public display.<br />
<div>
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">My thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelDPress/status/1152191139442843648" target="_blank">Michael Press</a> for publicising this news.</span></i></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-73144701577975934192019-07-16T15:25:00.001+00:002019-08-21T23:14:56.826+00:00Latest find at Vindolanda<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSPukE5u7i4/XS3qljuvWhI/AAAAAAAAAqI/VpRcRDsM8Uc5W5MoAMP0Kllnf-ieYUEbACLcBGAs/s1600/Vindolanda-lamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSPukE5u7i4/XS3qljuvWhI/AAAAAAAAAqI/VpRcRDsM8Uc5W5MoAMP0Kllnf-ieYUEbACLcBGAs/s200/Vindolanda-lamp.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Loving this latest find <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheVindolandaTrust/photos/a.586916168056196/2303039536443842/" target="_blank">announced</a> yesterday (15 July 2019) by the Vindolanda Trust. The artefact was merely described as a "beautiful little oil lamp that was uncovered from the Antonine excavation" but I'll flesh that out a bit with my own analysis. The object is a <i>Firmalampe</i> (factory lamp), a late form of Loeschcke Type X, and was made in the Rhineland during the 2nd century AD. Although Trier was the prime production centre, the style and fabric here suggest it was possibly made in Cologne. Many examples bear a maker's mark in raised letters on the base, sometimes of an Italian maker with a branch workshop(?) in the Rhineland, but the marks are less common on this later style.<br />
<br />
Oil lamps never really caught on to a large extent in Britain. British-made examples tend to be relatively crude and typically mica-dusted. A large proportion of the oil lamps found in Britain were imported, normally from Gaul, Germany or Italy. They are found mainly in urban or military contexts, and are very rarely found in any context at all after the 2nd or 3rd century.<br />
<br />
The likely reasons for their comparative rarity in Britain are the cost of importing olive oil and their unfamiliarity outside urban or military environments. The preferred lighting in most of Britain consisted of open lamps (e.g. Loeschcke Type XI) burning animal fat, or possibly tallow candles.<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-86304924742012471952019-04-05T10:54:00.000+00:002019-04-13T20:39:27.525+00:00Puzzle jug solution? The mystery of an ancient Egyptian lamp.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6eyUNqQnZs/XKQMaMFVneI/AAAAAAAAAjc/OlDlphghBJQsXIdB8C7CKZvyR9Fsp0F2ACLcBGAs/s1600/jug-getty510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="443" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6eyUNqQnZs/XKQMaMFVneI/AAAAAAAAAjc/OlDlphghBJQsXIdB8C7CKZvyR9Fsp0F2ACLcBGAs/s200/jug-getty510.jpg" width="171" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.getty.edu/publications/ancientlamps/catalogue/510/" target="_blank">Getty Museum</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A "curious" type of lamp produced in Ptolemaic Egypt has caused even <a href="https://www.getty.edu/publications/ancientlamps/catalogue/510/" target="_blank">leading scholars in lychnology to scratch their heads</a> over the years. The lamps are made of pottery, some examples on a wheel and some in a mould, they date from around the 3rd to 1st centuries BC and are said to be quite common at excavations in the Alexandria area.<br />
<br />
Popularly known as 'jug' lamps, they do indeed resemble that type of object but what would be a spout is located near the bottom rather than at the top. The frequent presence of carbon residue around the 'spout' confirms that it is actually a nozzle for a wick and the object is a lamp.<br />
<br />
But here's the conundrum that has puzzled scholars: Not only does a chamber that rises far higher than the fuel level dictated by the lowly placed nozzle seem completely pointless, the upper part of the chamber is riddled with holes. What on earth is the point of adding an apparently useless perforated extension above the fuel chamber of a lamp?<br />
<br />
<i><b>Could the object have been used as a burner to produce smoke (e.g. as insect repellent)?</b></i><br />
<br />
No, the function I propose may have helped to discourage insects but not through the application of smoke. While carbon residue around the nozzle proves use of a flame there, that around the holes above it is merely secondary and there are no burn marks inside the vessel itself. In addition, that scenario would not explain why all the holes are concentrated in only one place.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Could the object have doubled as some kind of filter or sprinkler?</b></i><br />
<br />
No, but it is likely that the object <i>did</i> perform two roles and it is those holes that give the best clue to the object's true probable purpose. While the bottom part of the chamber would have contained liquid fuel (such as olive oil) for the lamp to function, the part above the nozzle clearly did not. The contents of the upper part would need to be a relatively dry and solid substance.<br />
<br />
That substance was almost certainly incense. Incense was used not only for religious and other formal occasions at public locations in the ancient world, it also played a traditional role in the domestic environment where it was commonly heated at household shrines, valued for its supposed medicinal properties or simply employed as an aromatic amenity.<br />
<br />
<i><b>If the upper part of the chamber was intended to hold incense, why are there no burn marks inside it?</b></i><br />
<br />
Incense does not always need to be literally burnt to be effective. Merely heating it is sometimes a preferable alternative. Slow, gentle heating not only avoids the smell of charring and the discomfort of smoke, it releases the fragrance of the incense over a much longer period. The concept is still practised <a href="http://incensemaking.com/burning-stove.htm" target="_blank">today</a>.<br />
<br />
<i><b>How did the fuel and incense stay separate if they shared the same chamber?</b></i><br />
<br />
It is important to bear in mind that these lamps tend to be very small (typically only 4 to 6 centimetres in diameter) and it was apparently not thought necessary - or even desirable - to create a physical barrier between the fuel and the incense. The liquid fuel would naturally sink to the bottom of the chamber and, as found in modern practice, lumps or pellets of incense heated on top of a bed of olive oil produce a harmonious aromatic blend.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Okay, so why the holes when any aroma would have vented perfectly well through the open top of the chamber anyway?</b></i><br />
<br />
As I said, it is the holes that give the best clue to the object's probable purpose. But it is easy to misunderstand the reason for them. Confusion can be caused by incorrect assumptions about the direction of flow. I suspect the holes were not created primarily to let aroma <i>out</i>; they were created to let heat <i>in</i>.<br />
<br />
Pottery is a poor conductor. The body of a pottery lamp does not become warm enough to have much effect on any incense placed inside it. The heat would be provided by the <i>flame</i> on the <i>outside</i> of the lamp - which is why all the holes are concentrated in only one place, directly above a scoop-sided wick-hole deliberately located as close to them as possible. The holes allowed the heat from the flame to reach the incense.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Conclusion:</b></i> The objects would thus serve as both lamps and censers. Though not always immediately obvious to the modern eye, ancient technology could be quite ingenious.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MKjL8jRCLwc/XKQOSQUmEAI/AAAAAAAAAjs/KWSxiqXXbHI0q_H_H6sPsxH73CrlzBzMwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/romq-hw8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MKjL8jRCLwc/XKQOSQUmEAI/AAAAAAAAAjs/KWSxiqXXbHI0q_H_H6sPsxH73CrlzBzMwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/romq-hw8.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/database/lamp.php?182" target="_blank">RomQ Reference Collection</a></span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I was not around when the lamps were made and used, and of course my solution to their unusual form is only a hypothesis. Not quite as dramatic as solving murder mysteries perhaps but I personally find that trying to interpret the more intriguing artefacts from the past can be just as satisfying - even if my simple deductions may sometimes strike other sleuths as "elementary".<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-85822307093258985322019-03-13T15:34:00.000+00:002020-04-03T10:49:48.780+00:00Leather books from Turkey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZgpteXTzbY/XIkf2rUusDI/AAAAAAAAAjI/Bz_MZIykvSYnntpwzL2zTQqfi_qk_VpWQCLcBGAs/s1600/golden-comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="598" height="162" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZgpteXTzbY/XIkf2rUusDI/AAAAAAAAAjI/Bz_MZIykvSYnntpwzL2zTQqfi_qk_VpWQCLcBGAs/s320/golden-comp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I see that yet another dubious artefact has been seized from 'smugglers' in Turkey ('<a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/investigations/2019/03/12/hebrew-manuscript-recovered-from-smugglers-in-central-turkey" target="_blank">Hebrew manuscript recovered from smugglers in central Turkey</a>', <i>Daily Sabah</i>, 12 March 2019). Turkish authorities love to publicise their leading role in 'recovering' truckloads of antiquities supposedly stolen from war-torn Syria - but there's a slight hitch. Pretty much all of the 'recovered' objects proudly displayed in their photos appear to be tourist-grade fakes (just one <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2015/01/hermes-who-is-being-mugged.html" target="_blank">example</a>).<br />
<br />
The latest seizure is no exception. Lots of these peculiar leather books (aptly dubbed 'Golden Brownies') have been turning up over the past few years (none from reliable sources). Despite the self-congratulatory smugness of the Turkish police at having brilliantly cracked a Syrian smuggling ring, most <a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/162528-171212-ancient-torah-uncovered-in-turkey-actually-a-crude-fake-experts" target="_blank">scholars</a> regard these garish items as no more than modern fake tat aimed at gullible buyers.<br />
<br />
What's more, it seems quite likely that they are being produced in Turkey itself rather than in Syria - so actually not 'smuggled' at all. One has to wonder whether the part in the suspects' statement about the object having been "stolen from a museum [unnamed] in Syria" was naively believed by the suspects themselves or conveniently inserted by those who pressured them into signing it. After all, what self-respecting museum would curate such rubbish?<br />
<br />
Paul Barford has compiled <a href="http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-golden-brownies-turkish-fake.html" target="_blank">a list of the characteristics</a> of these 'Golden Brownies' and his note of their sources suggests that most of them appear to be originating from western Anatolia (and quite possibly manufactured there or transported from a centre further east).<br />
<br />
It would seem that far from helping to thwart the looting of Syria's cultural heritage, all the Turkish authorities have really done is expose a thriving fake industry in their own country.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
-----------------</div>
<br />
UPDATE: <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2020/04/leather-books-from-turkey-more-thoughts.html" target="_blank">A more sinister dimension?</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-78289690979603444382018-11-16T12:58:00.000+00:002018-11-19T11:48:08.061+00:00How reliable is the PAS database? (Part 2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
While idly exploring the database of the UK's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) I came across <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/154722" target="_blank">this entry for a pottery lamp</a> supposedly found in Norfolk in 1986 (record created 11 years ago, updated 2 years ago):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u3HOSxJwkI4/W-4pjo9babI/AAAAAAAAAiY/6_FE3vaXCLYEyERO49lpwqOxYm6H5KpNgCLcBGAs/s1600/pas-entry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="918" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u3HOSxJwkI4/W-4pjo9babI/AAAAAAAAAiY/6_FE3vaXCLYEyERO49lpwqOxYm6H5KpNgCLcBGAs/s320/pas-entry.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is the PAS identification (with my comments below):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #990000;">"Romano-British"</span><br />
It has nothing to do with Romano-British culture.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"known as a 'factory lamp' or firmalampe"</span><br />
It does not even remotely resemble that type of lamp.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"Probably made in Gaul or Germany."</span><br />
It was made in northern Syria, at the opposite end of the Roman Empire.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"2nd or 3rd century."</span><br />
It is not earlier than the 5th to 6th centuries AD.</blockquote>
I appreciate that PAS staff have a large workload and I hate to nitpick but artefacts of this type are very well known (<a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/database/lamp.php?185" target="_blank">Kennedy Type 20</a>) and extensively recorded in the literature. More worryingly, although they are common on the modern antiquities market, it is extremely unlikely that they ever formed part of Britain's ancient archaeology.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FzB2w_IHbGs/W-4pU-iJ4SI/AAAAAAAAAic/TudOP4JvmXIYzhhZ5dtRynYza-g6gTe-wCEwYBhgL/s1600/pas-NMS-7EF821-7EF821_RB_Lamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1109" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FzB2w_IHbGs/W-4pU-iJ4SI/AAAAAAAAAic/TudOP4JvmXIYzhhZ5dtRynYza-g6gTe-wCEwYBhgL/s320/pas-NMS-7EF821-7EF821_RB_Lamp.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>
<br />
The PAS identification (a 'factory lamp' made in Gaul during the 2nd century) fits plausibly into Romano-British archaeology. The reality is far more doubtful.<br />
<br />
The difficulty here seems to be that the identification of the object was an unwarranted assumption, guided by the narrow confines of what would be expected within a <i>supposed</i> British context and tailoring it to fit, rather than accepting that the discovery of the object was very different to that of a documented excavation and that the object could not safely be treated in the same way. Familiarity with a much wider <i>international</i> typology than that of Wheeler's localised (and long outdated!) <i>London in Roman Times</i> was called for. The episode highlights the importance of recognising that PAS recording is not a substitute for traditional archaeology.<br />
<br />
I <a href="https://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2014/06/how-reliable-is-pas-database.html" target="_blank">once mentioned that PAS records are inherently open to abuse</a> and are thus unreliable. A careless and incorrect identification compounds the problem. It is misleading and potentially distorts our perception of the British past. Moreover, it lends credibility to <a href="https://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2014/09/british-history-revamped-by-london-road.html" target="_blank">nonsense</a> invented to exploit that misperception.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-8865741631778435182018-09-18T11:00:00.000+00:002019-06-20T14:24:28.448+00:00How to Spot Fake Roman Lamps<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KONDBgQu27M/W5wNapeD9XI/AAAAAAAAAf0/CMfh5PC1kdA5A0mwqlI7scT0-OqGmyTPgCLcBGAs/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KONDBgQu27M/W5wNapeD9XI/AAAAAAAAAf0/CMfh5PC1kdA5A0mwqlI7scT0-OqGmyTPgCLcBGAs/s200/fig1.jpg" width="159" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 1</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Inspired by a recent <a href="http://www.asor.org/anetoday/2018/06/Spot-Fake-Cueiform-Tablets" target="_blank">article</a> on 'How to Spot Fake Cuneiform Tablets', I've decided to do the same for fake ancient lamps. Well no, that's actually a bit of a porky. The article on cuneiform tablets is quite long and I have no intention of trying to cram even a general introduction to spotting fake ancient lamps (history, motivation, case studies, manufacture, regional variation, analysis, repercussions and so on) into a mere blog post. I'll leave that for a chapter in the proverbial 'future book'. My post will be more in the nature of making a couple of very quick observations.<br />
<br />
The finest fake lamps can be quite difficult to detect and to cover that end of the topic in the depth necessary would require a thesis rather than a blog post so I'll lower the tone and, without going into detail for fear of alerting fakers to amend their future products, simply confine most of my post to a few brief comments on some of the commonest duds (though, despite my title, not only those purporting to be 'Roman').<br />
<br />
Although detecting fake Roman lamps is not always as easy as knowing the difference between a Roman gladiator and Robin Hood (Fig.1, top left), recognising a great deal of the rubbish churned out to flog to gullible tourists or eBay punters needs little more than common sense.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Army uniform</span></b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f2aVWyu1LUQ/W5wNn0mu8gI/AAAAAAAAAf4/Cs0w5cLNl30nc6V1_BQG-phIeDROqFNgACLcBGAs/s1600/fig2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="558" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f2aVWyu1LUQ/W5wNn0mu8gI/AAAAAAAAAf4/Cs0w5cLNl30nc6V1_BQG-phIeDROqFNgACLcBGAs/s320/fig2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 2</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Lamps were produced in huge numbers in ancient times but, despite what some sellers would like you to believe, lamps that were made in different workshops in different areas at different periods were not all made from identical clay with identical colour and did not acquire identical patination. That observation applies to this sample of well-known fakes from the 'Syrian Series', offered, among a plethora of other spurious nonsense, by a notorious dealer in New York City (Fig.2, above).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v2M38J9VyCU/W5wN6HDDfzI/AAAAAAAAAgE/ywY4cGyRIAA1esGJoEZmNEXxRQdhQBBFQCLcBGAs/s1600/fig3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1600" height="254" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v2M38J9VyCU/W5wN6HDDfzI/AAAAAAAAAgE/ywY4cGyRIAA1esGJoEZmNEXxRQdhQBBFQCLcBGAs/s320/fig3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 3</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The same applies to this selection of blatant fakes from the 'Bulgarian Volute Series', offered for prices ranging from $396 to $1,596 by an American dealer on both eBay and VCoins (Fig.3, above). Noting the huge variety of <i>real</i> Roman volute lamps (plus the plastic and factory types included here) is only a <a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/lampcat/lampcat2.shtml" target="_blank">mouse-click</a> away.<br />
<br />
Sensing the dubious nature of a single presentation of lamps that all have almost identical fabric despite purporting to have different origins is of course child's play. The task becomes more difficult when, instead of being shown together, those same lamps enter circulation and are unwittingly mingled with authentic ones by inexperienced collectors or uninformed dealers. At least three of the lamps in this publicity shot for the sales catalogue of an upmarket business in Chicago (Fig.4, below) are also likely to be modern fakes from the 'Bulgarian Volute Series' but picking them out from the other items requires a sharper eye. While most products of that series should be clear enough, a few of them can be quite deceptive when isolated from their siblings and their detection may involve an analysis that is outside the cursory scope of my blog post.<br />
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QsZvfKNx6Yk/W7Dy5bzyFxI/AAAAAAAAAhc/aCFxdvzuQrEaYSXFh5Es-YuIwm3q_fXRgCLcBGAs/s1600/fig4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="911" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QsZvfKNx6Yk/W7Dy5bzyFxI/AAAAAAAAAhc/aCFxdvzuQrEaYSXFh5Es-YuIwm3q_fXRgCLcBGAs/s320/fig4.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 4</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Variations on a theme</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5CuDfwHs58k/W7DzK85KjDI/AAAAAAAAAhk/tKHuhON2lVsEfZBKsMJn7aKm5cmk9OUdQCLcBGAs/s1600/fig5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="600" height="176" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5CuDfwHs58k/W7DzK85KjDI/AAAAAAAAAhk/tKHuhON2lVsEfZBKsMJn7aKm5cmk9OUdQCLcBGAs/s320/fig5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 5</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The uniformity of the modern items mentioned in the previous section is probably due to their production in only one or two workshops in very recent times. The situation changes when a style of fake lamp has been made over a long period. Workshops alter their methods over time and, inspired by their success, other workshops copy the style, perhaps adding a few idiosyncrasies of their own to the basic design. The clay and finish then also begin to vary quite dramatically over the years, as can be seen in such hackneyed classics as the infamous 'Hathor Type' (Fig.5, above), a fantasy produced in vast quantities to dupe credulous tourists in Egypt since Victorian days.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2o7e0sDb2TE/W7DzecMuseI/AAAAAAAAAhs/wLorQD6fI_oxJr3RdCMX20ojKRJkZV0jQCLcBGAs/s1600/fig6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="1156" height="164" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2o7e0sDb2TE/W7DzecMuseI/AAAAAAAAAhs/wLorQD6fI_oxJr3RdCMX20ojKRJkZV0jQCLcBGAs/s320/fig6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 6</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Much like the Egyptian makers of the 'Hathor Type' with its enigmatic face, a few enterprising citizens of Tunisia have also long ago recognised the irrepressible urge of tourists to buy the improbable but exotic and have been busily fulfilling that demand with items from the 'La Marsa Group' since the 1950s. This group, likewise with a variety of clay, finish and detail, includes a lamp in the form of a head with no less than three nozzles, backed up by one depicting an archer and another displaying a disproportionately huge Christian symbol (Fig.6, above).<br />
<br />
Far from putting tourists off, their childlike crudity, artificially time-worn condition and frequently dark and dirty surface are calculated to win over a species of clientele who very often fail to appreciate that real ancient lamps were largely intended for discerning adults and typically spent most of their existence sealed from the wear and grease of human handling by being buried underground.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Swimming with the tide</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ugaQEpCTtnY/W7DztJTf8hI/AAAAAAAAAhw/pgmyy_HZ9XQaGOuhXy8vix6QzCwIcCE0wCLcBGAs/s1600/fig7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="756" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ugaQEpCTtnY/W7DztJTf8hI/AAAAAAAAAhw/pgmyy_HZ9XQaGOuhXy8vix6QzCwIcCE0wCLcBGAs/s320/fig7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 7</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Never one to neglect an orphan merely because its origin is obscure, I feel another quirky lamp is due for consideration. The 'Dolphin Type' (Fig.7, above) appears to be based on genuine Hellenistic lamps found in Asia Minor but the feature of an offset handle is strikingly exaggerated into an obvious fishtail shape and its body often bloats out on the opposite side so that the whole thing resembles a classical dolphin. Differences in clay and finish suggest the type was made by different makers over a long period yet, contrary to the other variations normally found in such cases, the same crude pattern of slapdash ridges adorns the upper surface of every example encountered, almost as if the manufacturers were terrified of updating, modifying or refining the moulds for fear of making the product look too sophisticated and alienating a clientele who expected it to look primitive.<br />
<br />
Although examples of this boldly unconventional type are very common on the commercial market, where their zoomorphic design appeals to buyers, I am not aware of any example from a documented archaeological excavation, their curiously arrested development beyond an endlessly repeated basic concept gives pause for thought, and I have long been doubtful of their authenticity. They share some aspects with the 'La Marsa Group' and I suspect they <i>may</i> be related. Like members of that family, lamps of the 'Dolphin Type' are a crudely executed exotic form circulating for many decades and show the consequent variations in clay, finish and detail that prolonged manufacture tends to entail but the fabric of some examples is remarkably similar to that of examples belonging to the Tunisian series (Fig.8, below).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2rlpZuzZS5c/W7Dz4sAHlcI/AAAAAAAAAh4/hcymgDMEpO4uEwMvUhk6koshFe8SeyLtwCLcBGAs/s1600/fig8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2rlpZuzZS5c/W7Dz4sAHlcI/AAAAAAAAAh4/hcymgDMEpO4uEwMvUhk6koshFe8SeyLtwCLcBGAs/s320/fig8.jpg" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 8</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
Tunisia was a French colony for over seventy years, the French language is still widely spoken there and, with the exception of those from neighbouring countries, people from France form by far the largest number of foreign tourists today. Small wonder then that fakes from the 'La Marsa Group' crop up on the French market far more often than elsewhere in Europe. The fact that the same applies to lamps of the 'Dolphin Type' seems unlikely to be mere coincidence.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;">A touch of class</span></b><br />
<br />
I'm nearing the limit for a blog post but in case any readers are complacent in the thought that spotting fake ancient lamps is simply a matter of avoiding those that come in identical batches and those in improbable styles, I'll end with an example of the better class I mentioned earlier. The lamp shown here (Fig.9, below) is an accurate style with a very convincing clay, finish and patination, a type that can easily fool many curators and dealers into accepting it as an ancient artefact from Imperial Rome.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PAlbdi3HMuA/W7D0aQIa5uI/AAAAAAAAAiI/a2Q5R4yuBb4diFvIbIVA5MQA5sokHIcLQCLcBGAs/s1600/fig9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="772" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PAlbdi3HMuA/W7D0aQIa5uI/AAAAAAAAAiI/a2Q5R4yuBb4diFvIbIVA5MQA5sokHIcLQCLcBGAs/s320/fig9.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 9</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The lamp is indeed Italian and it is indeed old - but not nearly as old as you might think. Closer examination reveals that it is a 19th-century fake belonging to the 'Naples Group', a series named after the city where they were made from about 1870 up to the First World War. Some of the most convincing fakes are those made many decades ago and the older they are, very often the more plausible they become. Time and time again I find undoubtedly old but nevertheless fake lamps proudly displayed in provincial museums or advertised in the catalogues of reputable dealers and auction houses. Thus, they can even acquire an impressive provenance over the years.<br />
<br />
As to the gladiatorial scene shown on the discus: although an accurate copy of a genuine motif, it is always wise to be extra cautious with any lamp depicting gladiators or bawdy sex scenes. Lamps with those themes were produced in large numbers in ancient times since Romans apparently loved them but fakers are well aware that modern people love them too and pay high prices for them.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
----------------</div>
A pictorial summary of over 30 fake ancient lamps is included on <a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/fakes/fakes1.shtml" target="_blank">my website</a>. An example of one of the items shown in Figure 4 is listed as FB5.<br />
<br />
A useful series of observations and case studies is also included on the <a href="http://www.collector-antiquities.com/real-or-fake/fake-oil-lamps.html" target="_blank">website</a> of a prominent ADA member.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-57364699711538935272018-08-17T14:00:00.000+00:002018-08-18T02:11:47.671+00:00Ancient Lamps updated ... finally!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lh3TESxMxdo/W0y2DqmBP1I/AAAAAAAAAfo/3IKBBbp5BNMmteuSMo_ah22elApUjtjZACLcBGAs/s1600/francken-detail-300-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lh3TESxMxdo/W0y2DqmBP1I/AAAAAAAAAfo/3IKBBbp5BNMmteuSMo_ah22elApUjtjZACLcBGAs/s200/francken-detail-300-2.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Many years ago, when more than half of the UK was still on dial-up internet access, my specialist interest in Classical lychnology became known online and I found I was being bombarded with questions about ancient lamps. It was very often necessary to use images of artefacts to answer the questions properly but in those days there were very few images of ancient lamps already online to use as a reference and constantly sending scans of them illustrated in specific books or papers was taxing.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Eventually, in May 2006, I decided to compile the photographs I had taken of the lamps in my own modest collection and arrange them on a website to use as a ready-made reference (the name 'RomQ' came from a domain I intended to migrate to at the time). The website was basic but it was gratifying to note that it was being consulted by both scholars in the academic community and people who were otherwise unfamiliar with ancient history. I then occasionally updated the resource over the next four years but due to personal circumstances it remained untouched beyond 2010. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">After a hiatus of almost eight years, I have finally spent the last few weeks <a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/lampcat/update.shtml" target="_blank">updating the catalogue portion</a>. As with many other fields, eight years is a long time in the world of lychnology. Fresh research moves at a rapid pace. Old books soon become outdated in the light of new information and I have taken the liberty of writing identifications that may sometimes differ from those in established catalogues, even those of the British Museum. I therefore offer the caution that my own conclusions may also be subject to revision or correction. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">The internet has likewise moved on since I created the website. A plethora of museums and other institutions have now made details and images of their collections available online. However, although that is an excellent development, some of those resources are clearly composed without specialist knowledge of ancient lamps and the fact that care needs to be taken is perhaps illustrated by texts such as this on the archaeological museum website of a very prestigious university (name withheld to avoid embarrassment):</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">"The lamps in this collection, dated between the second century BCE and the second century CE, represent a common type. In these examples, a central discus contains the main decoration and the filling hole, where a wick would have been inserted to create a small flame. Lamps had one or more nozzles through which oxygen flowed, allowing the wick to burn for continued illumination."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">I would have thought the terms "filling hole" and "nozzles" would offer a clue as to how an oil lamp actually functions. Nevertheless, the publication of collections is a very welcome step in the right direction and I am also deeply grateful to people who have shared information about those in private hands.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Above all, I am particularly indebted to those people who have published papers, articles, excavation reports and other material which give detailed information about the discovery of ancient lamps <i>in situ</i>. The place where an artefact is found is of course by no means necessarily the region where it was made (quantitative statistics, fabric analysis, workshop remains, wasters and moulds give a clearer indication of that) but it provides equally important information about its area of distribution, its potential relation to trade networks, its date of currency, its status and the role such objects played in the society that used them. By extension, such data can aid the interpretation of a range of similar artefacts where the context is unknown.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">No ancient artefact is an island. In that regard, it is vital to appreciate that the ideal key to exploiting them as a learning tool stems from discovering not only what the context tells us about the object but, often more importantly, from discovering what the object can tell us about its <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.com/2010/05/object-based-universe-danger-of.html" target="_blank">context</a>. Thus, divorced artefacts can be anathema to archaeologists and historians alike (my own policy is given <a href="http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/lampcat/lampcatintro.shtml#policy" target="_blank">here</a>). Nevertheless, there is a huge number of such artefacts already stored in institutions or other collections and they are still an invaluable source of information. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">To mangle a hackneyed metaphor yet again, lamps can indeed help to shed light </span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">on the ancient world.</span><br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-23805602936819499622018-06-17T00:15:00.000+00:002018-06-17T03:12:11.046+00:00Donald Bailey (1931-2014)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-67zY-vDiQwo/WyWhpcD-7tI/AAAAAAAAAfY/OtQg9kxKbPoh5D8zJy_Xgl4ee8tg_2NWACLcBGAs/s1600/Donald-Bailey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="460" height="120" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-67zY-vDiQwo/WyWhpcD-7tI/AAAAAAAAAfY/OtQg9kxKbPoh5D8zJy_Xgl4ee8tg_2NWACLcBGAs/s200/Donald-Bailey.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Donald Michael Bailey, a major force in the field of lychnology, was one of my heroes when I was a kid. I would buy Roman lamps in antiques markets and I regularly took my latest purchase to the British Museum for his opinion. You'd think he would get sick of seeing this pestering nuisance but instead he always gave me a warm welcome. Perhaps he was glad to see my youthful enthusiasm. He was gentle and modest but seemed delighted to impart some of his encyclopedic knowledge when eagerly questioned.<br />
<br />
We were last in touch about ten years ago. I realised he was getting on and may have passed away since then. But it was still a sad shock to come across <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/15/donald-bailey-obituary" target="_blank">the obituary in the Guardian</a> by sheer chance and see his death confirmed.<br />
<br />
It gives me pleasure that I still have all the lamps that he examined for me - all apart that is from the occasional dud that he good-naturedly chided me for, saying I should have known better with a twinkle in his eye. I soon learned to discriminate and I consider myself extremely lucky to have had him as a mentor in a pursuit that has given me enormous enjoyment in my life.<br />
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-79847635958809443912018-05-02T12:35:00.000+00:002018-05-11T12:16:43.602+00:00Antiquarian book sale - Beverly Hills style<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4nMB86cV3vA/WumnyYAc_yI/AAAAAAAAAe4/kb2kTyBv85kqu3KkvZ8e9FuHmx-riuBvACLcBGAs/s1600/1123heading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="557" height="172" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4nMB86cV3vA/WumnyYAc_yI/AAAAAAAAAe4/kb2kTyBv85kqu3KkvZ8e9FuHmx-riuBvACLcBGAs/s200/1123heading.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
This prayer book is <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152159059474" target="_blank">being auctioned</a> by Ambiance Arts and Antiques, a flashy shop in Beverly Hills, on eBay. Although the book is undoubtedly valuable, both the sales pitch and the venue caused some amusement. It seems to be Beverly Hills at its finest. The price of $3,500,000 may seem a trifle steep. But we are advised that the book is not only "unique", it's also "rare" as well!<br />
<br />
(I do wish people would realise that the word "unique" means 'the only one of its kind' - which makes the tautologous word "rare" a bit of a superfluous understatement.)<br />
<br />
The description falls somewhat short of what might be expected of a normal dealer in antiquarian books but note the warning: "QUALIFIED BUYERS ONLY". In order to qualify, perhaps any potential customer must first prove: <i>a</i>) that he has more money than the entire economy of Switzerland and <i>b</i>) that he has had a full frontal lobotomy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FiDuypMA4fk/Wumn8pv3JuI/AAAAAAAAAe8/auLw75ja0b8OqjjG9MnJ0-S7fH9yukC4wCLcBGAs/s1600/1123text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="641" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FiDuypMA4fk/Wumn8pv3JuI/AAAAAAAAAe8/auLw75ja0b8OqjjG9MnJ0-S7fH9yukC4wCLcBGAs/s320/1123text.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<br />
Although the "last page of this book shows the date", the seller seems to have trouble understanding it. The Persian year 1123 equates to 1744 in the Gregorian calendar and the Islamic year 1123 equates to 1711 in the Gregorian calendar, neither of which is "circa 1706".<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rNnmDaUOG4I/WumrBfbtoaI/AAAAAAAAAfI/eo7DgpWFheEAmbrwxmE2m8_vUfaFGXphQCLcBGAs/s1600/1123binding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="417" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rNnmDaUOG4I/WumrBfbtoaI/AAAAAAAAAfI/eo7DgpWFheEAmbrwxmE2m8_vUfaFGXphQCLcBGAs/s200/1123binding.jpg" width="166" /></a></div>
<br />
The book boasts a "beautiful gold hard cover". That sounds extremely impressive but I suspect it actually means the binding is gilt morocco, which is not quite the same thing. And "70 pages" presumably means 70 leaves (in bibliographic collation a page is only one side of a leaf). And I'm guessing the baby phrases "hand writer" and "hand writing" are pitched at a semi-literate clientele who might have difficulty with the adult words "calligrapher" and "manuscript".<br />
<br />
Curiously for an item offered for such a large sum of money, there is not the slightest hint of its condition (whether the binding is loose, whether any leaves are missing, torn, dog-eared, etc.) or, apart from its original owner, of its provenance (later inscriptions, library stamps, auction records, <a href="http://www.artloss.com/en" target="_blank">ALR check</a>, etc.). A <a href="https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/ambiance-art-and-antiques-los-angeles" target="_blank">comment on Daum glassware</a> offered by the same seller suggests an attitude to condition may be somewhat cavalier and a publicised spate of book thefts from libraries in the <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/out-of-fire-and-into-frying-pan.html" target="_blank">Middle East</a> and <a href="https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/200902/crimes-1.phtml" target="_blank">elsewhere</a> indicates that a mention of provenance would be wise. I'm not entirely sure that the generous offer of free postage offsets concerns that the seller states "NO RETURN" in big red letters.<br />
<br />
Sadly, if "Sultan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Husayn" target="_blank">Hussain Safavi</a> [...] used it every day for praying and keeping himself out of sickness and trouble", it didn't work very well. Eleven of his twelve sons were slaughtered and his dynasty was nearing its end when he was himself beheaded. Perhaps a bad omen ...<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-65239320319944958582017-11-20T21:00:00.000+00:002018-02-20T09:27:30.849+00:00ACCG own goal: With 'friends' like these ...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yRXm8zZv7jk/WhMa1oEkCcI/AAAAAAAAAeI/DO5N7DxDTW4Qcm2VRopizf937jh6EoNkACLcBGAs/s1600/wiki-accg-comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1271" data-original-width="569" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yRXm8zZv7jk/WhMa1oEkCcI/AAAAAAAAAeI/DO5N7DxDTW4Qcm2VRopizf937jh6EoNkACLcBGAs/s200/wiki-accg-comp.jpg" width="89" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original research - ACCG style</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
An American coin dealer recently called my attention to an old paper that he helped to compose on behalf of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG) and challenged me to examine it on my blog, apparently under the impression that the paper was pretty much unassailable. He confidently assured me that it "was received with respect and interest by the Council for British Archaeology". I have now had time to read through it and my first comment is that the Brits can be disarmingly polite.<br />
<br />
I note that this American "<a href="http://www.accg.us/Libraries/Documents/NewcastlePaper.sflb.ashx" target="_blank">Newcastle Paper</a>" was presented by the ACCG at a UK conference hosted by the Council for British Archaeology in March 2010 and has been reviewed <a href="http://paul-barford.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/accg-newcastle-paper-us-collectors.html" target="_blank">previously</a>. Even before slogging through its excessively exhaustive (and exhausting!) text, my first impression was not good. Its very title ("Coin Collectors and Cultural Property Nationalism") was ominous. The subsequent text deviously conflates two largely separate issues: a worthy struggle to seek a sensible and balanced solution in the sharing of international culture on the one hand, and a campaign to prolong a cavalier attitude to the destructive exploitation of foreign archaeological resources for commercial gain on the other. Disingenuously using the former to excuse the latter is not a great start.<br />
<br />
Is the paper actually on behalf of "coin collectors" or is that term basically a euphemism for something else? Certainly, despite laboured assertions that the ACCG "is a collector organization, not a trade lobby" (p.44), its aims seem far more geared towards the mass acquisition of stock than the concerns of ethical individuals buying one or two coins. This is the organisation that declares its members "will not knowingly purchase coins illegally removed from scheduled archaeological sites" (p.45) while failing to admit the irony of simultaneously fighting against any measures (even self-regulatory ones) that would help ensure the stock of the dealers who supply them was not.<br />
<br />
An early unwitting admission by contributor John Hooker that he hasn't got the vaguest clue what the full extent of "cultural heritage" actually is (p.5)<sup><small><b>1</b></small></sup> sets the tone for much of the paper. It includes some valid and significant points but any overall case it tries to make to a naively miscalculated demographic is so compromised by a litany of schoolboy flaws - ranging from verbosity, waffle, repetition and tedious irrelevancies to shallow blame-shifting, inadequate denial (p.15), arrogant presumption (p.32), cringeworthy unawareness and stunning miscomprehension resulting from <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/object-based-universe-danger-of.html" target="_blank">object-centric myopia</a>, no conception of moral responsibility beyond the bare legal minimum, a long unsourced<sup><small><b>2</b></small></sup> section plagiarised verbatim (!) from Wikipedia (pp.49-50), manipulated conflation, selective sycophancy and a plethora of glaring logical fallacies - that it tends to greatly diminish rather than enhance any perception of the trade as a worthwhile contributor in serious academic discussion.<br />
<br />
A statement that "The <strike>collectors</strike> [<i>read: US coin dealers</i>] rights movement does not seek a confrontation, it seeks a solution" on the final page (p.61) begs a question: the "rights" to do what? To henceforth acquire stock responsibly by ensuring it does not conflict with archaeological concerns or to continue to acquire stock in the same cavalier way dealers did in the past and carry on encouraging looting until every last archaeological resource on the planet has been obliterated? The paper gives every indication that "rights" means the latter.<br />
<br />
The paper includes not the slightest hint of compromise, not the vaguest trace of a realistic proposal to meet anyone halfway. Characteristically, it attempts to <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/reply-to-peter-tompa.html" target="_blank">shift responsibility</a>. An eager but wildly autoschediastic suggestion that a PAS-like scheme is a "viable model" (p.49) in countries that are incredibly rich in ancient sites reveals a simplistic object-centric approach oblivious to any potential for an archaeological catastrophe. Crucially, the paper includes not even, despite lip service (perhaps also cribbed from Wikipedia?), a real sign that the root problem is properly understood. Quite the contrary ...<br />
<br />
The American coin dealer who brought the paper to my attention pointed out that "it was a statement of the pro-collecting point of view of the collectors' rights advocacy movement, rather than a completely impartial academic survey paper".<br />
<br />
Fair enough, but it's one thing to display a certain amount of partiality. It's quite another to come out with daft nonsense such as holding <a href="http://savingantiquities.org/why-coins-matter-trafficking-in-undocumented-and-illegally-exported-ancient-coins-in-the-north-american-marketplace/" target="_blank">an archaeologist</a> up to ridicule for comparing ancient coins to "an endangered species" and then wordily pointing out how common they are (p.16) when it was blatantly obvious even from the quotation that he was talking only about coins that remained undisturbed in their context. Such silliness has a tendency to backfire - especially to an audience containing informed academics - and, instead of having the intended effect, implies that the person giving the presentation is either too thick to understand simple English or too ignorant to grasp even the most basic principle of archaeology. That impression is hardly helpful in promoting "the pro-collecting point of view".<br />
<br />
And that's just one example of countless other faux pas in a long-winded but essentially slapdash paper that utterly drowns any valid points in a garrulous sea of uninformed blunders, contrived deceptions, plagiarised waffle and entrenched ignorance. Predictably, the end result paints an overwhelmingly negative picture of those engaged in the US coin trade.<br />
<br />
I could very easily dismantle the "Newcastle Paper" through detailed analysis in another post but I post very seldom on my blog these days and I've already dealt with the ACCG <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=accg" target="_blank">earlier</a>. Calling further attention to their inept propaganda merely highlights the worst aspects of a hobby I wholeheartedly support if carried out responsibly. In the interest of a balanced '<a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/false-dichotomy-youre-either-with-us-or.html" target="_blank">middle ground</a>', if I post anything at all nowadays it is more likely to focus on some of the views expressed by those who oppose it. In the meantime, here's a gentle plea to the ACCG: either get your act together next time or do the collecting world a favour and give it a miss.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
------------</div>
<sup><small><b>1</b></small></sup> <i>In this alarming paradigm of tunnel vision, "cultural heritage" applies to objects that can be "distributed" but not to the once intact archaeological sites they are "distributed" from.
</i><br />
<sup><small><b>2</b></small></sup> <i><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20130722124039/http://www.worcestercitymuseums.org.uk/archaeo/pant/tact.htm" target="_blank">Wayback Machine</a> reveals that the footnote given is just a deceptive red herring and not the real source. Perhaps the authors hoped no one would ever bother to check. Should we place a similar trust in any provenance they may give for a coin?</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-13631813508897075152017-11-10T20:08:00.000+00:002017-11-24T13:32:15.742+00:00Understanding the 1970 UNESCO Convention<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tq_8nNchBho/WgX6B--ZgJI/AAAAAAAAAd4/1PAnqUPNkXMepeioO2hCbRLaWw6LZDk_gCLcBGAs/s1600/unesco-conference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tq_8nNchBho/WgX6B--ZgJI/AAAAAAAAAd4/1PAnqUPNkXMepeioO2hCbRLaWw6LZDk_gCLcBGAs/s200/unesco-conference.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
There appear to be common misconceptions about a <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13039&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html" target="_blank">Convention</a> adopted at the 16th General Conference of UNESCO on 14 November 1970 in Paris. Its full - and somewhat unwieldy - title is 'Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property'. (I'm hoping to propose a 'Convention on the Benefits of Not Trying to Cram an Entire Synopsis into a Title' at the next General Conference.) Its purpose was to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property (including of course ancient artefacts).<br />
<br />
The Convention came into force on 24 April 1972 but it is important to bear in mind that it was just an agreement and was not in itself a law. It was left up to individual nations to implement the Convention in their <i>own</i> laws upon ratifying or accepting it. Since laws are not usually retroactive, compliance with them typically dates from the year each of those laws was passed, not that of the Convention. A <a href="http://www.unesco.org/eri/la/convention.asp?KO=13039&language=E" target="_blank">chronological list</a> of the years that nations ratified or accepted the Convention is published on the UNESCO website.<br />
<br />
Although many museums and other institutions have adopted the year 1970 as a cut-off point in the acquisition of antiquities, that year is purely voluntary - based on ethical rather than legal considerations. The Convention itself (<i>Article 7a</i>) advises that they should be prevented from acquiring cultural property which has been illegally exported after the date that both the country of origin and the country of the institution ratified or accepted the Convention. In the case of the UK acquiring an object from Turkey, for instance, that date would be 1 August 2002 (although Turkey ratified the Convention in 1981, it was not accepted by the UK until 21 years later). It is of course up to the institution to determine if an object is likely to contravene that rule and, as said, most set a much earlier date for ethical reasons.<br />
<br />
A similar responsibility (and ethical awareness) is placed on dealers and collectors to ensure they do not acquire illicit cultural property (<i>Article 5e</i>). Although nations are exhorted to keep an up-to-date inventory of their national heritage (<i>Article 5b</i>), that cannot of course include individual objects as yet unknown in archaeological sites (<i>Article 1c</i>) and it is therefore incumbent on dealers and collectors to establish that an archaeological object was legally exported.<br />
<br />
If a nation declares that its archaeological material is under threat of pillage, other signatories undertake to control international trade in the relevant material (<i>Article 9</i>). In the US, such measures are normally effected by means of a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) under its implementation of the Convention (Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act 1983). A <a href="https://eca.state.gov/cultural-heritage-center/cultural-property-protection/process-and-purpose/background" target="_blank">summary of that Act</a> is published by the US government.<br />
<br />
The Convention also seeks to prohibit the import of cultural property stolen from a museum or similar institution or from a public monument (<i>Article 7b</i>), and return the property to its country of origin providing that it was documented and that compensation is paid where appropriate (the latter provision subject to certain conditions in the US). The UK stipulated that, in its own case, return was subject to its rules on limitation to claims (typically six years under the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/pdfs/ukpga_19800058_en.pdf" target="_blank">Limitation Act 1980</a>).
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Misconceptions</span></b><br />
<br />
As said, there appear to be common misconceptions about what the 1970 UNESCO Convention is and what it is not. This was recently highlighted by the comment submitted by an archaeologist to an <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/38187-real-life-tomb-raider-joan-howard-thief-not-hero" target="_blank">online article</a> regarding the questionable collecting habits of an elderly Australian digging up artefacts in the Middle East:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The short answer is, yes, it was illegal [...] International law sets the deadline at 1970 — the date of the 1970 UNESCO Convention — for the removal of artifacts from the ground for collection. So if she began in 1967 and continued for 11 years (as the article states), then she was breaking the law.”</blockquote>
The archaeologist was right to be outraged but, in fact, he was wrong about the 1970 UNESCO Convention. It is not "international law". Nor is there any "deadline at 1970". Australia did not accept it until 1989. Neither of course does the Convention have anything to do <i>directly</i> with "the removal of artifacts from the ground for collection". As its full title suggests, it concerns import, export and transactions.<br />
<br />
The laws that the elderly Australian was probably breaking were those of the countries she was digging in. Her blatant disregard of those laws is reprehensible but it is important to employ the correct framework to condemn its illegality. In the case of Australia, the pertinent legislation is the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014C00597" target="_blank">Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986</a>, which sets no time limit for "unlawful imports".<br />
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-24337517283085042252017-09-19T16:17:00.000+00:002017-09-20T01:06:18.792+00:00Hawass to write opera about Tutankhamen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mky8MitTcMM/WcFCKjJJWeI/AAAAAAAAAdg/Pv2LtmI5AX4VgHOJFdlUxmiYE6IE0qEzQCLcBGAs/s1600/tutank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="181" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mky8MitTcMM/WcFCKjJJWeI/AAAAAAAAAdg/Pv2LtmI5AX4VgHOJFdlUxmiYE6IE0qEzQCLcBGAs/s200/tutank.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
"<a href="http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/22398/Hawass-to-write-opera-about-Tutankhamen" target="_blank">Hawass to write opera about Tutankhamen</a>" (<i>Egypt Today</i>, 12 September 2017).<br />
<br />
It seems fitting that Hawass will "write" an opera about Tutankhamun. After all, only his profound modesty has so far curbed him from revealing that it was actually he, not Howard Carter, who found the tomb.<br />
<br />
* <i>The quotation marks around "write" suggest the potential use of a <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/11/16/the-pharaoh" target="_blank">traditional MO</a>: one person takes credit while another does the work</i>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-32151231394151773132017-08-24T12:06:00.000+00:002017-08-28T15:05:48.209+00:00Ancient Egyptian antiquity: real or fake?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtzgQkNrqgw/WZ69brxfDmI/AAAAAAAAAc8/ODO49qX_c4ASbhpsVH50yWOpf-999ZTnACLcBGAs/s1600/marketbust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="379" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtzgQkNrqgw/WZ69brxfDmI/AAAAAAAAAc8/ODO49qX_c4ASbhpsVH50yWOpf-999ZTnACLcBGAs/s200/marketbust.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>
A member of an online antiquities forum recently posted images of a bust that had just appeared on the market (see Update below). It seemed to be Ancient Egyptian. The seller of the artefact gave the usual story: old estate, in the family since about the 1920s, no details known. In other words, it had zero real provenance. But the bust itself did look convincingly authentic. Was it real?<br />
<br />
Some members of the forum noted a similarity to the famous Nefertiti bust in Berlin. Was it contemporary?<br />
<br />
Well, the bust does have an Amarna look ... but it is neither Nefertiti nor even female. I noticed it bore a startling resemblance to another bust at the Neues Museum in Berlin, that of a young pharaoh (perhaps Smenkhkare, Akhenaton or Tutankhamun) and <a href="http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=607476&viewType=detailView" target="_blank">registered as Ident.Nr. ÄM 20496</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C-2ZAvyVEC0/WZ699APgPLI/AAAAAAAAAdE/wjtEdZTvi24tyZUCGutPu7L2fJ8cUJoMwCLcBGAs/s1600/comparison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1000" height="243" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C-2ZAvyVEC0/WZ699APgPLI/AAAAAAAAAdE/wjtEdZTvi24tyZUCGutPu7L2fJ8cUJoMwCLcBGAs/s320/comparison.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In fact, the resemblance was rather <i>too</i> close. The breakage and fractures on the right side of the subject's face and neck (left side of the image) of the bust on the market were an uncanny match to those on the bust in Berlin. It was a little too coincidental and it was glaringly obvious that the bust on the market was a fake copy.<br />
<br />
Taken in isolation, the market bust looks remarkably convincing. But of course the lack of real provenance was an immediate warning. Not only from a legal or ethical point of view. It is extremely unlikely that an artefact of that significance would not have been recorded and documented somewhere at some time.
<br />
<br />
Caveat emptor!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>-- UPDATE --</b></div>
<br />
I have now tracked the item down. It is being sold by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries of Maine, USA, on <a href="https://www.invaluable.co.uk/auction-lot/ancient-egyptian-stone-bust-695-c-a484def9e9" target="_blank">an online auction website</a> and bidding is due to end on 26 August 2017.<br />
<br />
Auction description:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lot 695: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STONE BUST</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Head of Amun, New Kingdom, post-Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, reign of Tutankhamen, ca. 1336–1327 B.C. (in our opinion). Probably from Upper Egypt, Thebes. Sandstone with remnants of pigment, having refined features, portion of flat top cap and indication of beard, now missing. The features resemble those of Tutankhamen, indicate this was probably his commission, as part of the reconstruction of the temples. 8 1/2" tall. Loss to nose, scratches and chips, nice age patina.</span></blockquote>
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>-- SECOND UPDATE --</b></div>
<br />
The item is now shown as having sold for $15,000.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-3768650513320770292017-08-18T18:06:00.002+00:002021-06-17T16:32:20.537+00:00The trauma of authenticating antiquities<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H_DFiOZHaP0/WZcOXBco_QI/AAAAAAAAAcs/T07ZtkX87i0FkD8ALKRiyzMMBlH1889rwCLcBGAs/s1600/romanring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="724" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H_DFiOZHaP0/WZcOXBco_QI/AAAAAAAAAcs/T07ZtkX87i0FkD8ALKRiyzMMBlH1889rwCLcBGAs/s200/romanring.jpg" width="171" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">"Roman Ring" (Stage One reject)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>"How can you possibly tell it's fake just from a photograph? It needs to be handled in person under magnification!"</b><br />
<br />
I hear that protest from inexperienced buyers of antiques and antiquities all the time. They may have seen paintings being minutely examined under microscopes and X-rays by experts in a TV programme but they fail to realise that these procedures are <i>advanced</i> steps in a progressive process. <br />
<br />
Regardless of whether an old man-made object is a painting, an antique, an antiquity or anything else, the process of determining if it is authentic or not (i.e. if it is actually what it seems or purports to be) follows a graduated path.<br />
<br />
For the purpose of this blog post we'll focus on antiquities. As with paintings and other collectable items, an artefact's provenance (history of ownership) can play a vital part in helping to establish its legitimacy - in both the authentic and legal sense - but here we'll leave that aside and concentrate on the object itself.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Authentication Stages</b></span><br />
There are at least three basic stages in the expert authentication of an antiquity.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Stage One: Visual check.</b><br />
This initial stage can be conducted simply from an image (or series of images) of the object. The object can be identified and an assessment made of whether it is potentially an authentic example of its type. The majority of extraneous objects such as fantasy pieces with no ancient counterpart, obvious fakes, reproductions and other irrelevant distractions can be readily weeded out at this stage with no further action necessary. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Stage Two: Physical examination.</b><br />
If the object has passed Stage One (potentially an authentic example of its type), it then progresses to a physical examination. Ideally, this involves a meticulous analysis aided by any basic tools that may be appropriate, including magnification, lighting devices, scales, swabs, solvents, etc. Characteristics such as style, artistic details, epigraphy, construction, manufacture, fabric, patination and so on are closely compared with parallels (both those documented as genuine and those documented as forgeries). Any former repairs, alterations or restorations are detected. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Stage Three: Scientific analysis.</b><br />
If the results of the physical examination in Stage Two are inconclusive or need to be verified, the object may then be subjected to scientific analysis such as metal testing, thermoluminescence (TL) dating, radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology or whatever method may be applicable in order to gather more evidence.</blockquote>
What many people fail to understand when they are incredulous that an object can be condemned without going through Stage Two or Stage Three is that the object has already fallen at the first hurdle and failed Stage One. Too often, they are under the delusion that since <i>they</i> cannot tell if the object is fake from only an image, no one else can either.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Expertise</b></span><br />
I did say '<i>expert</i> authentication'. Expertise varies. New collectors frequently regard institutions such as museums or major auction houses as infallible oracles whose pronouncements can be treated as gospel. But it should be borne in mind that no matter how prestigious the institution, the opinion given is only as good as the individual giving it. While people employed by major institutions are typically screened, possess impressive academic qualifications and may have enormous knowledge in their own field, their competence in gauging objects that are less familiar to them may fall far below that of a small dealer or collector who specialises in objects of that type.<br />
<br />
By 'expertise' I mean not only a deep <i>knowledge</i> of the type of object being reviewed, it also entails a huge degree of <i>experience</i> in handling both genuine and false examples of them. Even someone with that background can make mistakes of course - hence the frequent need for subsequent stages before venturing an informed opinion - but more obvious fakes can be confidently rejected by merely glancing at an image of them during the first stage.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Broad Categories</b></span><br />
Objects that are offered as antiquities fall into four broad categories.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>1)</b> An object (complete, fragmentary or repaired) that is certainly ancient in its entirety. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>2)</b> An object that is obviously modern in its entirety. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>3)</b> A 'restored', 'enhanced', 'married' or altered object that is certainly ancient in part and obviously modern in part but in which the borders are clear. The judgement of such an object is clearly subjective but factors such as the degree of modern material or treatment and the extent to which the original integrity has been affected are taken into account. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>4)</b> An object that does not fit into the previous classifications due to uncertainty. This vast category requires at least Stage Two of the authentication process in order to reach a worthwhile conclusion. And in many cases doubt may still remain.</blockquote>
It is typically the objects in the second category that fail Stage One. It may also be wise to avoid many objects in the fourth category. The judgement of those in the third category is largely based on a consideration of intent and degree. While honest restoration may be perfectly acceptable, substantial alteration can be classed as a form of fakery. An ancient papyrus with a purely modern inscription, for instance, is undoubtedly regarded as fake.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Backlash</b></span><br />
Sometimes, an owner's refusal to acknowledge that their object is not what they want it to be is passionate and my own diplomacy in dealing with that situation was nurtured by bitter experience. I had to authenticate items brought in by members of the public when I worked at an auction house - and their reaction could be unpredictable if I had to inform them that the item was a fake or reproduction. It could be particularly hazardous when conversing face-to-face. Some would merely go into a stony state of denial and tell me how stupid I was while a few owners would launch into a plethora of expletives and threaten me as they slammed the door on their way out.<br />
<br />
None of us is fond of anything that may shatter our dream - and it is often wise to seek more than one opinion - but it needs to be realised that a huge proportion of objects purporting to be antiquities are so outrageously fake to anyone familiar with the real thing that they can be condemned outright - even from only an image. In those cases it's not the object that needs to be handled, it's the truth.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-66458251039035464482016-11-11T20:46:00.000+00:002016-11-13T03:28:49.485+00:00Is protecting the archaeological record simply "political correctness"?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t8nbE2g-pPM/U7Cep_1q7lI/AAAAAAAAANk/n4K75Rmdm5E2SeNIHtr9TghxSG-aKlgRgCPcB/s1600/coin-greed3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t8nbE2g-pPM/U7Cep_1q7lI/AAAAAAAAANk/n4K75Rmdm5E2SeNIHtr9TghxSG-aKlgRgCPcB/s200/coin-greed3.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>
<div>
Dave Welsh, an American dealer in ancient coins, has expressed his hope that the recent US election will lead to a relaxing of measures designed to protect cultural heritage. By regulating the international transport of ancient artefacts, those measures help to protect the archaeological record by making items looted from it more difficult to smuggle abroad, including those potentially traded by coin dealers who turn a blind eye to where their stock comes from. He sees those measures as "political correctness" ("<a href="http://classicalcoins.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/political-correctness-loses.html" target="_blank">Political Correctness Loses</a>", 9 November 2016).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
His blog post is rather long but the last sentence sums up the thrust: "<i>... their primary loyalty is not to the interests of the American people, but to the interests of archaeology</i>".</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's have a look at the "American people" ...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Welsh clearly loves ancient coins and I can easily understand that - ancient coins are fascinating - but let's get real, the vast majority of American people have zero interest in either dealing in ancient coins or collecting them (about 50,000 ancient coin collectors is a rather minute fraction of over 324,000,000 Americans).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Conversely, a large proportion of American people do have at least a passing interest in history and archaeology. That is reflected in the media. There are countless TV programmes devoted to that interest. But I'm scratching my head trying to remember the last TV programme I ever saw devoted to ancient coins.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since archaeology and its contribution to our knowledge of history are clearly of interest to so many people, it seems to me that protecting it from destruction (such as that <a href="http://ancient-heritage.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/ancient-coins-looted-as-if-on-cue.html" target="_blank">potentially encouraged</a> by tiny minorities fixated by coins) is not a matter of "political correctness"; it is simply common sense. It is respect not only for "the interests of the American people" but for people all over the world.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>--- UPDATE ---</b></div>
<br />
Dave Welsh has responded to my blog post by saying:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">"The 1983 CCPIA does not refer to or in any way seek to address the "archaeological record" or its protection. It instead describes the detailed steps required to process requests from foreign governments for import restrictions upon specific types and classes of artifacts."</span></i></blockquote>
<br />
The <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13039&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html" target="_blank">1970 UNESCO Convention</a> (and the 1983 CCPIA which implements it in the US) was designed to protect "cultural property" and the archaeological record of a nation is undeniably its cultural property. Protecting that archaeological record by seeking to prevent bits and pieces of it being smuggled out of that nation is well within its remit.*<br />
<br />
But I think Welsh is missing the point I was making in both the title and the content of my blog post. My post was about his use of the phrase "the interests of the American people".<br />
<br />
Far more American people are interested in archaeology and its contribution to our knowledge of history than they are about dealing in ancient coins. Regardless of Welsh's own opinion that more weight is given to academic pressure than that of the coin trade in implementing the law, the interests of the huge majority of American people are being given primary importance.<br />
<br />
That is NOT "political correctness". That is fairness.The law takes the interests of both the majority and the minority into account. It does not seek to ban the collecting of ancient coins; it merely seeks to stem the enormous flow of recently looted or otherwise illicit coins being illegally smuggled into the US by encouraging dealers to check and document the source of their stock.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
(* Which is why I pointed out the futility of trying to define <i>which</i> specific 'bits and pieces' of an archaeological record meet the criterion of "cultural property" in a <a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ancientartifacts/conversations/messages/89769" target="_blank">previous discussion</a>. They are <i>all</i> part of it.)<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6296486328660705853.post-48873976735945967042016-10-03T12:13:00.000+00:002016-10-05T13:04:12.094+00:00Who owns my land? Heritage as a shared resource<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3OiTCBYu5c/V_JGN9OWeII/AAAAAAAAAaw/Rh6E-qtf6EkmP-evFqMm61FnHm7OquY7wCLcB/s1600/land2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3OiTCBYu5c/V_JGN9OWeII/AAAAAAAAAaw/Rh6E-qtf6EkmP-evFqMm61FnHm7OquY7wCLcB/s200/land2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Since many people recoil in indignation that anyone can dare to tell them what to do on their private land, I thought it might be interesting to examine what "land" actually is. Leaving aside the niceties of legal semantics, I'll have a brief look at the issue from a broader perspective.<br />
<br />
For those who detest the very concept of communism, it may come as a nasty shock that a tiny element of it (common property) has already been almost universally accepted for a very long time. In Britain and most other countries under common law, land is regarded as a shared resource and, in the strict literal sense, there is seldom any such thing as a fully private land<i>owner</i>. Almost <b>all</b> land in the country - every square millimetre of it, no matter if built upon or empty - is ultimately owned by the government (aka the 'Crown' in Britain). With few exceptions, no other entity - no matter how rich or how poor - can truly <i>own</i> land in an absolute sense (unconditionally allodial). A clue to the true status of land lies in terms such as 'freehold' or 'leasehold'; in other words, we <i>hold</i> the land rather than actually own it.<br />
<br />
If you really think that no one has a superior claim on your land than you, try telling that to the government when they want to build a road through it.<br />
<br />
Generally, when we think we own land, what we <i>actually</i> own is an "estate in land", i.e. not the land itself but the right to use it. Moreover, even that right is subject to overriding powers (such as taxation, compulsory purchase, police power and escheat). There are also likely to be certain restrictions: not only on such things as form of usage (agricultural, residential, etc.), mineral rights and water rights but on whatever structures are built on the land. New buildings typically require planning permission and, in countries such as Britain, old buildings may be protected by 'listed' status. In other words, no matter who currently owns the old building, it is regarded as part of the shared heritage of the entire country.<br />
<br />
Thus, it should really come as no surprise that since the government owns the actual land, they may also lay claim to whatever lies buried beneath it. While some landowners (in the popular sense) may have contracted certain underground mineral or water rights and so on, in many countries with a rich archaeological heritage such rights seldom extend to buried archaeological remains. Much like listed old buildings, the remains are regarded as part of the shared heritage of the entire country.<br />
<br />
Any individual who assumes that anything found buried on <i>their</i> land automatically belongs to them, and bristles at the notion that the government should have any right to intervene, would do well to ponder what "<i>their</i> land" actually means. Assumptions can be very misleading.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />David Knellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13488678409144873954noreply@blogger.com0