Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

"Indeed, this thing is eye-catching enough." After looking at the shiny golden thing that Professor Harry placed in the box next to him, Liang En nodded in approval. "Maybe the whole of Britain will go crazy tonight."

What appeared in front of Liang En was a gold shoulder buckle. This shoulder buckle was composed of two independent folds, fixed with a latch in the middle, and there were some circles under the button for fixing it to fabric or leather.

The front of this shoulder buckle is carefully inlaid with enamel, garnet and millefiori glass, interspersed with complex filigree patterns, which fully reflects the superb skills of the Wang family's jewelers at that time.

Especially when it comes to deep red gemstones like garnets, craftsmen cut them into thin slices and back them up with gold foil. In this way, the gemstones reflect light to achieve a blood-red effect, making them look magnificent against the gold.

To be honest, this piece of jewelry is very fashionable and eye-catching even today. Liang En thinks that if it is slightly tidied up and used as a belt buckle on today's dress, it will look very beautiful and suitable.

Of course, this also means that this thing is absolutely suitable for showing to reporters at online press conferences. Compared with the embossed iron piece in Liang En's hand before, these ancient jewelry are more conducive to publicity.

"There is no doubt that this piece of jewelry adopts the craftsmanship of Germanic jewelry from the late fourth century to the seventh century AD." After inspecting the jewelry, Liang En quickly came to a conclusion.

The jewelry at this stage drew on the style of the late ancient Roman Empire in terms of craftsmanship and decorative style, and the strong exploration of light and color contrast also created a strong visual impact for this type of metal products.

In the traditional production process of Germanic jewelry, gold and silver are melted and cast on high-convex reliefs. The plates are decorated with raised patterns, showing a very gorgeous effect.

Imprinting techniques improve the quality of the surface of the jewelry, such as gold and silver marquetry and metal granulation. At the same time, the decorative effect can be further enhanced by inlaying black silver, colored glass and gemstones.

In addition, the Germans would also use gold plating or tin plating on copper alloys to imitate the unique texture of gold and silver. Geometric patterns and sinuous animal shapes coupled with varied metal surface textures make jewelry more dazzling. .

For example, today I also found several small decorations on swords. Although they were covered with green rust, the gold that originally covered the surface could still be vaguely seen.

However, the most dazzling garnet inlay on this shoulder buckle is not a traditional European technology, but comes from India or Afghanistan, where this technology is an ancient and popular solution.

More importantly, this mosaic-like gem splicing technique on the shoulder buckles is called the Anglo-Saxon carpet pattern, which has been popular in many areas from Scandinavia to Lombardy, Italy, from the central Danube to the United Kingdom. kind of pattern.

This type of design pattern, which dates back to the fifth century AD, is characterized by the use of highly artistic animal forms, with simplified components often transformed into unrecognizable decorative elements.

Although it may seem a bit confusing at first glance, behind it lies a variety of accidents and surprises created by decorative construction, modeling principles and visual games.

This was also the most complex and perfect jewelry in Europe in the early Middle Ages. What surprises modern people even more is that these craftsmen were able to produce such beautiful jewelry despite their very primitive working conditions.

"By the way, I've already cleaned up the piece of iron I found just now." After a series of discussions about the jewelry he just found, Liang En took out the piece of iron that was previously in the box.

"This iron piece has a relief on it, but judging from the style, it should be part of a certain iron tool. I think if we dig in that place, we should be able to find something interesting."

"Indeed, your judgment is correct." After carefully looking at the piece of iron, Professor Harry nodded very seriously. "Let me arrange what I have on hand, and then go with you."

"I thought you would continue to dig up that pile of jewelry." After hearing what the professor said, Liang En felt a little strange. After all, compared to the jewelry, this piece of iron was inconspicuous.

"This should be part of a helmet." Professor Harry looked at the iron piece and said, "Unlike these jewelry, high-quality armor from this era was often carried by the deceased."

"In other words, if this is a helmet, it may also mark the location of the previous owner of the tomb." Liang En said subconsciously.

"Yes, you just saw it. The tomb chamber located in the middle of the ship collapsed long before we excavated it. This caused a lot of trouble for us to find the location of the tomb owner." Professor Harry spread his hands helplessly.

"So I think it is more important to find the owner of the tomb than to dig through and organize the boxes where the jewelry was previously placed."

Professor Harry is a historian rather than an antique dealer, so for him the history contained in an object is the most important, not the artistic value or economic value.

"Yes, if there are no accidents, I think we should be able to dig out that thing this afternoon." Liang En nodded and said, "If I guess correctly, it shouldn't be difficult to dig out such a helmet. "

"You are right, but we must be absolutely careful when digging." Professor Harry reminded at this time. "Considering the local acidic soil, there shouldn't be too much of this type of iron head left."

"Yes, it shouldn't be too much. Think about the previous ones -" Liang En paused for a moment, because at this time he finally thought of what this piece of iron should be.

If he guessed correctly, this piece of iron should be the most representative thing in the Sutton Hoo ruins: the Sutton Hoo helmet, which is regarded as a British national treasure in another world and one of the treasures of the British Museum. precious.

"What's wrong? Do you have any ideas?" After hearing the pause in Liang En's words, Professor Harry turned his head and asked curiously.

In his opinion, Liang En was a young archaeologist with little experience but good luck, so he was also happy to hear if Liang En had any new ideas on this matter.

"Well - what I want to say is that if you can make exquisite carvings on a piece of equipment such as a helmet that should be regarded as a consumable, then the user is likely to be a certain king at that time." Looking at Professor Harry's concerned eyes, En said quickly.

"It's just that I think the probability that the remains of the deceased can be left in the tomb is not very high. Thinking about the completely rotted wood, I don't think the human body structure will be more corrosion-resistant than the wood that has been treated with antiseptic treatment."

Considering that the wood used for sailing ships could only leave traces on the soil, Liang En was not optimistic about finding the owner of the tomb himself.

"What you said makes sense, so we'd better wear an extra layer of gloves later." Professor Harry raised his eyebrows and said. "Because every handful of soil we dig is likely to be part of the owner of the tomb."