Viggen Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 What an amazing find - too bad Swedish is Greek to me. (KLINGAN we need more news on this, havent seen anything about it in english yet) http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=94&artikel=4333054 (at least nice pic) cheers viggen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryaxis Hecatee Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 From what I understood from the article (and I don't know swedish, so it's based upon german...) the mask was fouind on Gotland and appears to date from the 1st century AD. Made of Bronze, it was sent to a museum in Stockholm for further analysis. It is indeed a very fine find ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 No joy with translation but by searching on Romersk bronsmask I found several which seem to be later articles including this one from the same source. It appears that sverigesradio (Swedish Radio?) even if no one else (is Swedish really that much of a ghetto language?) have been talking about it and posting articles on their web-pages for several days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Apparently it reads something like this... Roman cavalry mask has been submitted Published: Saturday 05 February at 07:27, Share The County Board has received one of Gotland unique archaeological finds. It is a mask used by the officers in the Roman Empire cavalry. Unique Roman face masks found on Gotland The County Board has received a very unique archaeological finds. It is an ancient Roman mask used by the officers in the Roman cavalry, presented by a man. The mask was used between the first and third centuries AD. Marie-Louise Hellqvist the County Administrative Board says she's never seen anything like it on the island. Reporter Gunnel Wallin / Sveriges Radio Gotland Marie-Louise Hellqvist the County Administrative Board says she's never seen anything like it on the island. According to experts, the mask was used during the first centuries after Christ. The man that made the (... discovery of?...) bronze mask have inherited it and thought it was better that a museum had to take care of it. National Heritage Board and the Museum in Stockholm has now commissioned an expert look at the mask, which confirmed that it is around 2000 years old. County Administration hopes that the mask will be exhibited at the Museum of Gotland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 I believe our own Klingan is Swedish, I'm sure he can translate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 So the big question must be - how did it get to Sweden? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 So the big question must be - how did it get to Sweden? Gotland was a busy trading post, ships are most probably out of the questions, cavalary didnt travel by ship, right? one suggestions in my ancient germanics discussion list is that it might have been a trophy from the Marcomannic wars.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Cavalry travelled by ship if they needed to. As for this mask, it didn't need a Roman present in Gotland. it could have been booty, traded northward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 ...a second look at the mask revealed that it doesnt really have holes for the eyes??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Agreed that cavalry could travel by ship if required - although probably unhappily. The presence of a parade mask - if that is what it is - does not require a comlete unit to be present - how about a retired cavalry auxilliary with a souvenir of his military service? As to blocked eyes there only appears to be one eye position surviving intact and it is unclear how thick the 'mask' is or if there is any evidence for fixing straps on the back. Agreed that if both eye positions are blocked then interpretation as a parade mask is somewhat tenuous to say the least. Is it possible that rather than a parade mask this is actually the remains of a statue head? Hopefully the analysis it will now have done on it will provide more of an answer to such questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 You guys are just about right, here's what it reads: Roman equestrian mask handed in A unique antique has been handed in to the local authorities [L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 No joy with translation but by searching on Romersk bronsmask I found several which seem to be later articles including this one from the same source. This article is more or less saying the same thing as the other one, simply adding that the mask probably wasn't used in battle, that it was once accompanied by a helmet and that the guy who handed it in my get a small reward. It is at least, with certainty, not going to get sold of as the one in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Thanks for confirming Byraxis Hecatee's and Caldrail's initial translations Klingan - it really seems a case of watch this space.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 I find it very interesting that there's no word on this in the bigger Swedish news papers - any major find would normally be given some rather nice headlines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 One does begin to wonder 'family heirloom' from where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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