{"id":26079,"date":"2019-06-01T07:56:45","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T04:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/?p=26079"},"modified":"2020-03-05T18:41:30","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T15:41:30","slug":"britanskie-arheologi-v-shoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/2019\/06\/01\/britanskie-arheologi-v-shoke\/","title":{"rendered":"British scientists shocked!"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time<\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

In Leicestershire, England, researchers discovered<\/a> a 2300-year-old shield that was made from tree bark. This fossil is the only specimen of such a shield of the territory of Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shield dates back to 395\u2013250 BC. Archaeologists say that the discovery drastically changed their ideas about weapons of the Iron Age<\/a> and caused a heated discussion between experts.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The shield is preserved because it was left in a marshy pit. (Photo: University of Leicester)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is certainly an amazing object, one of the most iconic and world-important finds I have seen in all my work,\u201d admitted Julia Farley, curator of British and European Iron Age collections in the British Museum<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2015, researchers from the University of Leicester Archaeological Service near the Soar River found a shield. According to Matt Beamish, the chief archaeologist of the study, objects from natural materials of this time are extremely rarely preserved, but the shield has survived in marshy soil. Maybe he was specially placed in a water-filled pit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matt Beamish added that shields from the bark of that period had never been found in the northern hemisphere before. It was assumed that the wood material was too flimsy for use in wars. However, the reconstruction of weapons from alder and willow proved that the 3 mm thick shield was light but reliable enough in the battles of that time. According to Beamish, contrary to researchers’ assumptions, such weapons were widespread in that period.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Alder and willow shield reconstruction process (Photo: University of Leicester)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weapon is made of green bark, which is reinforced from the inside with slats of the same material. The main part is surrounded by a rim of hazel and wicker willow. Matt Beamish noted that \u201cthis is a lost technology,\u201d which was not known before. Apparently, this technique was used in many areas for the manufacture of products from the bark.<\/span><\/p>\n

Supple green tree, giving the shield strength and shape that remotely resembles the figure eight<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important,\u201d says Farley. According to her, the Battersea shield<\/a> had a similar shape. It was extracted from the Thames in the middle of the 19th century and dates from the same period.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Battersea Shield (Photo: British Museum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Farley argues that the visual world of the Iron Age is lost for us, since from the period 395-250 BC few artifacts left. She added that a new find for her is \u201ca small window into that world.\u201d For Farley, this awareness is “incredible and so exciting.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The shield was donated to the British Museum. Farley hopes that the shield will be exhibited in the museum next year.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading time<\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>In Leicestershire, England, researchers discovered a 2300-year-old shield that was made from tree bark. This fossil is the only specimen of such a shield of the territory of Europe. The shield dates back to 395\u2013250 BC. Archaeologists say that the discovery drastically changed their ideas about weapons of the Iron Age and caused a heated … Continue reading “British scientists shocked!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":947,"featured_media":26087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[250],"class_list":["post-26079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blank","tag-foot2","keywords-abroad","keywords-science","keywords-past","size-medium","format-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/947"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26442,"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26079\/revisions\/26442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hitmedia.su\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}