From My Fantasy Writing Desk:
Quick Reminder for this Saturday June 1
My schedule at the KJZZ StoryFest:
2:40 pm, Judith’s talk on the Author Reading Stage
10 am to 4 pm, Signing and visiting with readers at Table 50
Mesa Convention Center – Building C 201 North Center Street, Mesa AZ 85201. For more about this event, see last week’s post.
Archaeology I Enjoyed:
Cracking Viking Ships
Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum found cracks in the Gokstad ship on display since 1932. The brittleness of such old wood means it can collapse without warning. Unfortunately, the museum needs much more space around the ship to properly support it and lack of funds has delayed a new building until at least 2025.
I was thinking about Viking ships while watching this season’s Game of Thrones. All those ships did not look like what I had seen from history. A lot of you are far more informed than I am on this. Take a look at these real ships—they may not be around for viewing much longer, sadly.
Click here for Archaeology News Network “More cracks found in 1000-year-old Viking ship”
Getting the Archaeology Right
Sometimes super careful archaeology saves the day. That’s the case for an Anglo-Saxon princely burial dug in Prittlewell, Essex. The 2003 excavation lifted whole blocks of soil so they could be micro-examined in the lab.
As a result, they could record a lyre’s complete form, even though only the soil stain of its parts and some tiny fragments of wood and metal fittings remained. No other Anglo-Saxon lyre, the primary musical instrument of the time, has survived. Similar treatment revealed the painting on a now-decayed wood box.
I particularly like the model of the whole burial this research has constructed. They also found the decorated gold neck of a wooden drinking vessel. Precision dating eliminated the tomb as that of Christian King Saebert. It’s too early for that, but perhaps a relative of his.
The Christian symbols in the tomb are surprisingly early. Because they have been able to sort out the construction and layout of this burial chamber with such precision, they know it took 113 person-days to build. That’s a huge dedication of resources, so whoever this prince is, he was important. Click here for Archaeology News Network “Anglo-Saxon princely burial secrets revealed in new research”