Medieval artefacts Discovered at Crannog

Pieces of a medieval board game and 1,000-year-old combs are among rare artefacts uncovered during an archaeological dig that is set to rewrite the history books.

Experts have hailed the finds in Co Fermanagh as internationally significant, claiming they shed new light on life in medieval Ireland and its connection with the wider world.

Iron, bronze and bone ornaments have been discovered at the crannog just outside Enniskillen, along with the chess-like pieces believed to have been part of the game. Parts of log boats, leather shoes, knives, decorated dress pins, wooden vessels and a bowl with a cross carved on its base were also unearthed during the six-month dig.

The style and design of the antler and bone combs suggest influences from northern Europe and indicate that the Fermanagh settlement had international links 1,000 years ago.

The Drumclay Crannog, which is an artificial island built in a lake, is the first of its type to be excavated in the north of Ireland since 1870. Archaeologists believe people may have lived there from 600 AD to 1600 AD, and it was probably the home of a noble family, with perhaps four or five houses inhabited at any time. Parents, grandparents, children and servants would all have stayed on the crannog.

The artefacts uncovered so far date back to 900 AD but there are still a number of layers of settlement yet to be excavated.

Stormont Environment Minister Alex Attwood visited the site on Thursday and announced plans for an open day this Saturday to allow the public to tour the crannog and talk to the archaeologists.

"On my two visits to date, I have found the site, the dig, and the archaeology beyond my imagination, enormously exciting and changing my view of our history and Irish life," he said.

"This is the first substantial scientific excavation of a crannog in Northern Ireland. What has been found has the potential not only to be internationally important but ultimately to lead to a reassessment of life in Ulster in early Christian and medieval times."

Source: Herald Ireland

What were the Crusades?

Every so often I receive an email from a student looking for information pertaining to history or archaeology for a research paper. I’m not the expert let me assure you of that, but I appreciate history just as much as I enjoy archaeology.

The question is : What were the Crusades?

The crusades were an attempt by the papacy to demonstrate their influence over European society. It was a war between the godly followers and the infidels. Due to developments in the Islamic and Byzantine world, this gave rise to the new European civilization to expand their borders. As a new dynasty emerged, the demand for knights was answered leading to the first crusades which were precipitated by various religious aspects and conflicts, and tempted warriors to fight for their religion and engage in their favorite pastime-fighting.

After the division of the Catholic Church of the west and the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Byzantine Empire, the state of the empire was weakened. The head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Michael Cerularius, refused to accept the pope as the sole head of the church which resulted in a great schism between the two branches of Christianity.

The Byzantine Empire was constantly open to external threats from the Turks, Normans, and the Pechenegs. So when a new dynasty was formed by Alexius I Comnenus, the leader turned to the west for assistance in a holy war, and his requests were positively answered leading to the crusades.

Christians were on holy pilgrimage to rid the world of infidels and unbelievers, those being the Muslims. So when the pope saw an opportunity to provide papal leadership for a great cause, they rallied the warriors in an attempt to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The pope promised knights remission of sins allowing for the knights, who died in battle against the pagans, to be absolved from sin through the power of God which the pope had been invested.

The knights of the crusade were initially tempted by religious fervor, adventure, and the opportunity to engage in fighting. Others believed they would gain more land and holdings, a title, and even salvation. Merchants believed the crusades would allow for greater trade opportunities in the Muslim Lands. It was simply a war to rid Europe of young nobles who insisted upon fighting each other, thereby turning the tables and giving them a new target.

The crusades were a massacre that brought about evil side effects that effected the society of Europe for centuries. The hopes of reviving more trade during the crusades would have had the same results without the murders of thousands of people. Not much as changed even today as Christians and Muslims lay in dispute over the Holy Land.

Cooler Pacific Ocean Affected Medieval Europe, North America

Using cores of fossil coral from the Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, Burgman and a team used reconstructed sea surface temperatures from the period 1320 to 1462 to simulate medieval climate conditions with a state-of-the-art climate model. When the differences between medieval and modern climate simulations were compared with paleo-records like tree-rings and sediment cores from around the globe, the authors found remarkable agreement.