ZODIAC DISH PAUL SIEVEKING
digs up the latest discoveries, including a zodiac dish and a mediæval snail man
The 13th century was one of the greatest eras for Islamic art, and Persia was at its centre; but alongside the prevailing Islamic culture, a counterculture of astrology thrived among the elite. Stunning evidence of the ruling classes’ zeal for the zodiac has surfaced in the form of a magnificent silverinlaid scalloped basin. Expected to fetch £1.5 million when auctioned by Sotheby’s on 31 March, it sparked a bidding war that saw the price soar to £3.1 million. The basin was acquired by a private collector in the middle of the last century and has never been exhibited. Crafted in the shape of the Sun, it features the 12 signs of the zodiac, solar symbols, planets, animal heads and anthropomorphic calligraphic scripts. It was probably made in Herat for a high-ranking individual or the ruler himself at the start of the 13th century, and used for ritual washing. It’s not the kind of thing that would ever be found in a sacred setting such as a mosque or a mausoleum. Observer, 21 Feb;thenationalnews.com, 31 Mar 2021.
MEDIÆVAL SATIRE?
This strange silver-gilt object, just over 2cm long, depicting a praying knight emerging from a snail shell on the back of a goat, is thought to date from AD 1200 to 1350, and might have been a form of mediæval ‘meme’. It was unearthed by a metal detectorist in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, in September 2020. While depictions of snail combat are a “mysterious mediæval phenomenon”, the “mount’s more comical fusion of snail and man remains unexplained”, according to Beverley Nenk, curator of later mediæval collections at the British Museum. “This unusual silver-gilt mount may once have been attached to a leather belt or strap, or perhaps worn as a badge. The image… implies an element of parody or satire. Snails are often depicted in the margins of mediæval illuminated decorated manuscripts and are thought to symbolise cowardice, and this may be the intended meaning. The mount may be a satirical reference to cowardly or nonchivalric behaviour of opponents in battle, or as a parody of the upper or knightly classes.” Nenk said satire was often found in mediæval material culture, with one of the most popular visual gags being a monkey, in place of a doctor, examining a flask of urine for its clarity and colour – the go-to method for diagnosing mediæval ailments. Guardian, 22 Mar; Yorkshire Post, 23 Mar 2021.
MEDIÆVAL LINKS WITH CHINA
For the second time in three years, an 11thcentury Chinese coin has been found in England, a possible indication that mediæval trade between England and the Far East was more widespread than previously thought. The first discovery of a Northern Song Dynasty coin was made in Cheshire in 2018. At the time, British Museum researchers wrote: “It is doubtful that this is a genuine mediæval find (i.e. present in the country due to trade and lost accidentally) but more likely a more recent loss from a curated collection.”
The second 11th century coin – 0.98in in diameter and made of copper-alloy – was recently discovered with a metal detector in a field in Hampshire. Cambridge historian Caitlin Green argues that the presence of two similar coins increases the likelihood of them being genuine mediæval finds. She points to documentary evidence that an Englishman served as an envoy from the Mongol emperor Ghengis Khan in the 1240s, which could explain the presence of the Chinese coins in England. Records also indicate that a Mongol envoy visited Edward II in 1313. Treasure hunters uncovered both 11th-century coins near areas that have produced similar medieval artefacts. The more recent coin was unearthed about 20 miles away from the only confirmed mediæval Chinese pottery in England, a fragment of blue and white porcelain from a small cup or bowl.
The 2018 discovery was part of a group of 24 finds, including two Roman coins; two late mediæval lead weights; and 15
post-mediæval artefacts. Green wrote that documentary sources “make reference to both the presence of people from Britain and Ireland in East Asia and the presence of people who have, or may have, travelled from these regions in Britain during the 13th and 14th centuries.”
According to Ancient History Encyclopedia’s Mark Cartwright, the Northern Song Dynasty controlled China from AD 960 to 1125. During this period, China’s economy was booming: cities like Kaifeng became known for their printing, paper, textile and porcelain industries. These goods were sold along the Silk Road. The Chinese exchanged a number of artefacts, such as a 14th-century vessel known as the ‘Marco Polo jar’, with Europeans during the mediæval era. The coins in England were likely minted during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song, who ruled from AD 1067 to 1085 and were in circulation after the dynasty ended in the 1120s. Many of these coins were so well made that more than 200 years later, 88 per cent of Chinese coins in circulation were produced during the Northern Song era.
At least 10 ornamental blue glass beads, the size of blueberries and made in Venice, arrived in the Americas decades before Columbus. Punyik Point, a mile from the Continental Divide in the Brooks Range of Alaska, on ancient trade routes from the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean, was a seasonal camp for generations of inland Eskimos. Two pierced turquoise beads were found here in the 1960s. Archæologists returned in 2004 and 2005, and found three more beads, this time near some copper bangles and other metal bits that might have been part of a necklace or bracelet. Wound around one of the metal bangles was twine, probably the inner bark of a shrub willow, which has now been carbon-dated along with charcoal found nearby to between 1440 and 1480, long before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. This result was later backed up by similar dating on objects found near the same type of beads at two other Arctic Alaska sites. “We almost fell over backwards,” said Mike Kunz, who coauthored the research published in American Antiquity.
Archaeologists often find European “trade beads” at Native American sites; famously, Dutchman Peter Minuit included trade beads in his deal for Manhattan Island in 1626. But how did the Alaska beads – found at no other site west of the Rockies – make their way from Italy more than 10,000 miles away to a plateau in Alaska? Fifteenth century Venetian craftsmen traded with people throughout Asia. The beads might have travelled in a horse-drawn cart east along the Silk Road. From there, they must have found their way into the aboriginal hinterlands, and on to the Russian Far East. A trader may have tucked them into his kayak on the western shore of the Bering Sea. The crossing of the Bering Strait at its narrowest is about 52 miles (84km). The beads found at Punyik Point and two other sites probably arrived at an ancient trading centre called Shashalik, north of today’s Kotzebue and just west of Noatak. From there they were carried deep into the Brooks Range. Someone at Punyik Point might have strung them into a necklace. news.uaf.edu, 4 Feb; D.Telegraph, 8 Feb 2021.
OLDEST BEER FACTORY
What could be the oldest known highproduction brewery in the world has been unearthed in the burial ground of Abydos, in the Egyptian desert west of the Nile, more than 280 miles (450km) south of Cairo. It apparently dates back to the time of King Narmer, widely known for his unification of ancient Egypt at the beginning of the first dynastic period (3150-2613 BC). It consists of eight huge units, each 20m (66ft) long and 2.5m (8ft) wide. Each unit includes about 40 pottery basins in two rows, used to heat a mixture of grains and water to produce beer. Each basin was held in place by clay levers, placed vertically in the form of rings. Abydos was known for monuments honouring Osiris, the god of the underworld responsible for judging souls in the afterlife. It is thought the brewery was built here to lubricate royal rituals. Evidence was found for the use of beer in sacrificial rituals in engravings found at the site. About 22,400 litres (12,730 pints) of beer was made at a time.
The necropolis was used in every period of Egyptian history, from the prehistoric age to Roman times. A British archæologist found evidence of brewing in the area in 1912, but did not locate the site. [AP] theguardian.com, irishexaminer. com, 13 Feb; D.Telegraph, 15
Feb; al-monitor, 24 Feb 2021.
VENUS FIGURINES
The mystery behind the enigmatic `Venus’ figurines carved some 30,000 years ago may have been solved. The hand-held depictions of obese or pregnant women were long seen as symbols of fertility or beauty; but according to Richard Johnson, a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the key to understanding the statues lies in climate change and diet. “Some of the earliest art in the world are these mysterious figurines of overweight women from the time of hunter gatherers in Ice Age Europe where you would not expect to see obesity at all,” he said. “We show that these figurines correlate to times of extreme nutritional stress.”
Early modern humans entered Europe during a warming period about 48,000 years ago. Known as Aurignacians, they hunted reindeer, horses and mammoths with bone-tipped spears. In summer they dined on berries, fish, nuts and plants. But the climate did not remain static. As temperatures dropped, ice sheets advanced and disaster set in. During the coldest months, temperatures plunged to minus 1015 degrees Celsius. Some bands of huntergatherers died out, others moved south, some sought refuge in forests. Big game was overhunted.
It was during these desperate times that the obese Venus figurines appeared. They ranged between 6cm and 16cm (2in and 6in) tall and were made of stone, ivory, horn – or occasionally clay. Some were threaded and worn as amulets. Johnson and his colleagues measured the statues’ waist-to-hip and waist-to-shoulder ratios. Those found closest to the glaciers were more obese than those located further away. It is thought the figurines represented an idealised body type for these difficult living conditions. “We propose they conveyed ideals of body size for young women, and especially those who lived in proximity to glaciers,” said Johnson. “We found that body size proportions were highest when the glaciers were advancing, whereas obesity decreased when the climate warmed and glaciers retreated.” Obesity, according to the researchers, became a desired condition. An obese female in times of scarcity could carry a child through pregnancy better than one suffering malnutrition. So the Venus figurines may have been imbued with a spiritual meaning – a fetish or magical charm of sorts that could protect a woman through pregnancy, birth and nursing. Many Venus figurines are well worn, indicating that they were heirlooms passed down from mother to daughter through generations. scitechdaily.com, 1 Dec 2020.