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A small treasure from the Bronze Age discovered in German-speaking Switzerland

2021-03-30T04:10:36.601Z


ARCHEOLOGY - Buried around -1200, this set of bronze ornaments was entrusted to archaeologists from the canton of Thurgau.


By searching as usual in the hilly wood of Tättebüelwald, near Etzwilen, in northern Switzerland, Stefan Di Staso hoped to find some new remains from the Roman era, perhaps another fibula or a few coins. , as it sometimes happens to pick up.

In January 2020, however, when the 55-year-old detectorist finally hears his equipment react to something, no sestertius emerges from the leafy forest floor.

Only a small metal ring is exposed.

He grabs it and, pulling it out of the ground, drags in its wake a string of new rings and other small embedded objects.

Stefan Di Staso can then perhaps distinguish the dull and peculiar verdigris glow of the cluster he has just unearthed: it is a small treasure in the Bronze Age.

Read also: Did a woman reign over this ancient bronze palace from the El Argar period?

From a scientific point of view, this is an exceptional and very important discovery

,” said

Irene Ebneter, the director of collections at the Archaeological Office of the Canton of Thurgau

, for the

Tagblatt

.

A regular collaborator of the Bureau's archaeologists who had given him his prospecting permit, the detectorist Stefan Di Staso hastened to give them his discovery, in the images of the few Roman objects he had unearthed until then.

  • 1/2 - Tättebüelwald's treasure, still buried in the earth.

    AATG / Office for archeology Thurgau

  • 2/2 - The Swiss detectorist and the little treasure from the Bronze Age that he entrusted to the specialists of the Archaeological Office of the Canton of Thurgau.

    AATG / Office for archeology Thurgau

Small in size, the treasure was dated by the archaeologist to around 1200 BC.

AD, that is to say the final bronze.

It is made up of seven rings - several of which were belt ornaments -, five shaped needles, bracelets, armbands - one of which is decorated with chevrons - and a leaf-shaped ornament with a point.

Completed, finally, with an arrowhead with barbs, this motley set mixing elements of luxury jewelry and offensive armament shows signs of wear.

"

You can easily see this when you put the objects down: some parts were already deformed, broken or damaged by the heat,

" confirmed Irene Ebneter.

The traces of a funeral pyre, perhaps?

Prospected by archaeologists from Thurgau, the site of the discovery yielded a few shards of pottery but did not reveal any structure, any charred bones or charcoal.

"

It is unlikely that it is a funeral deposit,

" therefore believes the archaeologist, who suggests instead seeing a votive offering, or a buried treasure.

As to why we found a single arrowhead in the middle of so many ornaments, no one knows.

Contrary to the abundant documentation available for the Roman period, the practices of the various cultures of the Bronze Age suffer from the absence of any historical sources, outside the field of archeology and anthropology.

While waiting perhaps for next excavations or new discoveries, it will be difficult to decide.

"

Some mysteries will probably remain unsolved forever

," observes Irene Ebneter philosophically.

As for Stefan Di Staso, the lucky detectorist should continue to crisscross the Tättebüelwald hill in search of Roman artifacts.

Or the Bronze Age, depending on his vein.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-03-30

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