Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
1–10 of 86 posts
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#2> “crucial to know the exact location where they were found” for “reasons that could range from ritualistic to supernatural”
I wonder what they implied there.
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#3Flahavans makes excellent porridge
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#4> It is against the law in Ireland to search for archaeological objects using a metal detector unless written permission has been given. Penalties can be up to three months in prison or a fine of up to €63,486 (£53,435).
Written permission from who? He was on his own farmland. You have to write a plea to the government to request permission to use a metal detector on your own land? And, if that's the case, are such requests usually granted? What's the rationale here, and what harms does this permission-first system aim to prevent?
> It is understood, however, that Dunne will not face charges.
If it's a bad law that they're making a point of not enforcing, why not repeal the law?
So many questions.
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#5> It is against the law in Ireland to search for archaeological objects using a metal detector unless written permission has been given. Penalties can be up to three months in prison or a fine of up to €63,486 (£53,435). Written permission from who? He was on his own farmland. You have to write a plea to the government to request permission to use a metal detector on your own land? And, if that's the case, are such r…
The rationale is that while you may own the land, you don't own the artifacts, and the state has an interest in ensuring that history is recorded and preserved professionally. In effect, archeology is a licensed occupation, but then so is cutting hair in most US states.
If the story about metal in machinery is true, then really no offense was committed. Using a metal detector to find what you think is a loose horseshoe is fine. The story might also just be a convenient cover, but no-one will really care. In Ireland, authorities tend to be good natured and mostly only out to get egregious offenders. Maybe the metal detector guy has been looking for coins without permission, and it'll be handled at the level of "ah here would you have a bit of cop on".
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#6> “crucial to know the exact location where they were found” for “reasons that could range from ritualistic to supernatural” I wonder what they implied there.
I had the same question. Anyone from Ireland here that might have any idea at all what that's about?
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#7> “crucial to know the exact location where they were found” for “reasons that could range from ritualistic to supernatural” I wonder what they implied there.
I had the same question. Anyone from Ireland here that might have any idea at all what that's about?
Idk about this specific thing, but this is much simpler than it sounds if it operates like other anthropology. Ritualistic means intentional, and supernatural means symbolically meaningful. In other words, this is less of a specific claim and more of an "idk but they were clearly up to something".
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#8> “crucial to know the exact location where they were found” for “reasons that could range from ritualistic to supernatural” I wonder what they implied there.
Just that the discovery was missing something called context in archaeology. Where they were found geographically, the stratigraphy such as the dirt it was found in and the layers around it, where it was found in relation to the nearest settlement, what kinds of animal bones were found in the same general area, and so on. Archaeologists are meticulous about recording these little details because every any one of them could become important to the investigation.
An artifact on its own is (relatively) scientifically useless. Without at least geographic location and a rough idea of the area it was discovered, most analytical methods will have a hard time getting accurate results and any conclusions are suspect.
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#9> It is against the law in Ireland to search for archaeological objects using a metal detector unless written permission has been given. Penalties can be up to three months in prison or a fine of up to €63,486 (£53,435). Written permission from who? He was on his own farmland. You have to write a plea to the government to request permission to use a metal detector on your own land? And, if that's the case, are such r…
The rationale is that while you may own the land, you don't own the artifacts, and the state has an interest in ensuring that history is recorded and preserved professionally. In effect, archeology is a licensed occupation, but then so is cutting hair in most US states. If the story about metal in machinery is true, then really no offense was committed. Using a metal detector to find what you think is a loose horsesh…
“In effect, archeology is a licensed occupation, but then so is cutting hair in most US states.”
This doesn't strengthen the argument.
Re: Irish museum solves mystery of Bronze Age axe heads delivered in porridge box
#10> “crucial to know the exact location where they were found” for “reasons that could range from ritualistic to supernatural” I wonder what they implied there.
Just that the discovery was missing something called context in archaeology. Where they were found geographically, the stratigraphy such as the dirt it was found in and the layers around it, where it was found in relation to the nearest settlement, what kinds of animal bones were found in the same general area, and so on. Archaeologists are meticulous about recording these little details because every any one of them…
What would be a supernatural reason then? Is there some context in archeology that is labeled as supernatural that's different from ritualistic context? And what other things lie in the range between those two?