Friday 20 May 2016

Derrynaflan, where the treasure came from.


In 1980, I think it was, a local went out with a metal detector and found the hoard of very impressive metalwork consisting of a large chalice, a paten and a strainer all under a bronze bowl.
The discovery very much became a cause célèbre due to how it was found and the process deployed on ownership after it was found.
Because it was a guy and his son out with the detector with the permission of the landowner there was little if any context to the finds. So much so it may as well have been found on someone's table where all you had to date it was the dust. But the find also showed up the flaws internationally when finds weren't reported to the source country for there was no reason in Law to have the items set to the National Museums. And in fact once dealt with under the Treasure Trove coroner's court, not one damn thing to keep them on the island once sold. Other countries were in the same position, Greece Italy and Turkey were being stropped of artifacts by the new time while Spain France and England were going out of their way to allow exports.   

9 comments:

  1. Is there supposed to be sound on this? I'm getting bits and pieces but it's mostly silent. I will try again in the morning as my eyes are being kept open by sticks right now. zzzzzzzzzzzz
    Oh wait, now there is sound on your video...what is happening in the beginning. Are those some of the artifacts?

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    1. Yep. I got too bound up in panning and zooming edits it seems :-). I had them fading in and out in the middle but lost that edit in a video editing fubar that saw the whole 2.5 hours work vanish on foot of a injudicious tap on the keyboard.
      I think I'll have to get out in front of the camera soon, if I'm going to do more of these.

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    2. An Irish Rick Steves maybe? :)
      Not sure what was happening, but there was a woman talking on and off in the beginning part where you show the artifacts. It must have been playing back something else at the same time. Anyhow, I was able to watch it finally.
      That is a really interesting story. It's amazing to me that these things are buried for all this time and are still quite beautiful once cleaned up. I can't imagine stumbling upon something like that.
      It sure is pretty there. :)

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  2. I think treasuring hunting with metal detectors must be coming back in style because they now have a couple cable television shows on the subject these days. I remember back in my youth when it was previously in style and everyone was running around with those things. In between has been three decades where you couldn't hardly give those things away and now they are expensive and have tons more features.

    Technology is always a double edged sword it seems. In this case, it allows you to find artifacts not known to exist but once found, they can be lost again to private collections.

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    1. Back then they only had the metal one. Nowadays, they have ground penetrating radar, geo-phys, and magnetic resonance.
      In the UK they have clubs&societies of metal detectorists. And some of them are really really really good and have found profoundly important sites. Ireland has gone a way too far with her laws for the few departments and the national museums have very little by way of exploration cash.

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  3. I enjoyed this. Did you drop the mike or something near the end?

    Seems like there has been quite a bit of controversy regarding "treasures", especially those recovered from shipwrecks. When someone goes to great expense to locate and retrieve things, it doesn't really seem right when a government or whatever takes claim.

    Keep these coming please!

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    1. No, Jessy yelped. There was horses in the field and I wanted to make certain she stayed put, so I had her on one of those extendable leashes. Mid-way you here me call her back. And she did but wound herself, me and the tripod up in the string. And somehow in a few secs had it under and around her front legs, both of them. It's the reason I ended so abruptly.

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    2. Probably not meant to be funny, but the mental image of your explanation has me laughing. Poor Jess. ;) I've never attempted one of those types of leashes and I'm not sure I could handle a dog on one.

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    3. What's quite hilarious is she thinks whenever I'm speaking it's to her. And she could readily be forgiven in this case for thinking that since there was no one else about.

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