5 ms·

1,100-year-old Viking sword pulled from UK river by magnet fisher

44 points by ohjeez 3y ago

ggm 3y ago
... against the wishes of the landowner and river authority. But, given it was donated to a museum (c/f Indiana Jones) no action will be taken. There's a huge tension between Archeologists, Landholders, Developers, Metal detectorists, Magnet fishers, unexploded bomb experts, CSI labs and found objects related to crime.. But the other side of this coin is Italy where people use construction site diggers to rob graves and flee, irrespective to the damage. A framework which encourages reporting and resolution of finds, preservation of the locus and data is good.
- tsukikage 3y ago
  > ... against the wishes of the landowner and river authority. ...I mean, it originally arrived in the area against the wishes of the landowners at the time as well. The gentleman is simply continuing a long established tradition. (Seriously, though, aside from the fact he wasn't supposed to be doing what he did where he did it, archaeological information was lost that could have potentially been recovered had the sword been left in situ and a team called to survey it. We really shouldn't be celebrating this.)
  - edgineer 3y ago
    Aren't objects at the bottom of a river at great risk of permanent damage? I'd imagine metal artifacts are hoping for a magnet fisherman to find them before they're gone for good.
    - tsukikage 3y ago
      It's been there for 900 years. It's not going to suddenly vanish next Tuesday.
  - pvaldes 3y ago
    Is a river, the sword is just an isolated object displaced by the current or washed by a flood. All the context is lost. The chance to find an archaeology location here with more objects related with the sword is close to zero
    - tsukikage 3y ago
      e.g. correlating relative location of objects found on a riverbed with each other and with structures historically known to be nearby was this person's two year project: https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news/award-project-rescuing-roman-history-riverbed https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news/award-project-rescuing-rom...
Asparagirl 3y ago
It’s still no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
- qup 3y ago
  Which ceremony was that?
  - techer 3y ago
    A quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  - latexr 3y ago
    It’s a Monty Python reference. https://youtube.com/watch?v=6HX6cfy3At4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=6HX6cfy3At4
- switch007 3y ago
  I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away! (One of my favourite python scenes. Makes me giggle every time!)
underlogic 3y ago
So, the guy that found it got nothing. The museum got another piece of trash. Should've thrown it back in the river or sold it privately. What's the point of spending all that time covered in dirt fishing in the muddy waters in the freezing rain for treasure when even in the best case scenario, when against all odds you pull a 1000 year old sword from the depths, some pencil pusher leaps from the woodwork to snatch it from your hands and leave you with no reward? The next guy will think twice. This is why English society does so poorly. They don't properly manage incentives.
- vidarh 3y ago
  Magnet fishing there isn't allowed. They explicitly don't want to incentivise you to do it, because they don't want you to do it. So you're right, there isn't much point, and that is intentional.
  - underlogic 3y ago
    No it isn't about safety this guy would've been left empty handed if he found that sword in his own backyard. They have arbitrary rules to smother any type of fortune, to make seeking fortune futile, to suppress those who want more. They see success as a threat to their artificially fair society. Better the fortunate receive nothing to keep the peace. If the people get a taste for more they will leave the country right fast. Keep them uneducated and unskilled and tax them out of options into poverty and dependence. Don't let them leave - the people are the governments assets.
    - wutwutwat 3y ago
      Bro, someone found an old hunk of metal in a river, and you're losing your shit here. Maybe the person who found it doesn't care that they didn't get a reward and is just happy to have an amazing story and to have helped all of humanity learn a little more about the collective past that somehow all of man managed to forget about after it happened. There are much more important things in this world besides fortune, and not everything is a conspiracy by the shadow government to oppress you.

44 points by ohjeez 3y ago

ggm 3y ago

... against the wishes of the landowner and river authority. But, given it was donated to a museum (c/f Indiana Jones) no action will be taken. There's a huge tension between Archeologists, Landholders, Developers, Metal detectorists, Magnet fishers, unexploded bomb experts, CSI labs and found objects related to crime.. But the other side of this coin is Italy where people use construction site diggers to rob graves and flee, irrespective to the damage. A framework which encourages reporting and resolution of finds, preservation of the locus and data is good.

tsukikage 3y ago
> ... against the wishes of the landowner and river authority. ...I mean, it originally arrived in the area against the wishes of the landowners at the time as well. The gentleman is simply continuing a long established tradition. (Seriously, though, aside from the fact he wasn't supposed to be doing what he did where he did it, archaeological information was lost that could have potentially been recovered had the sword been left in situ and a team called to survey it. We really shouldn't be celebrating this.)
- edgineer 3y ago
  Aren't objects at the bottom of a river at great risk of permanent damage? I'd imagine metal artifacts are hoping for a magnet fisherman to find them before they're gone for good.
  - tsukikage 3y ago
    It's been there for 900 years. It's not going to suddenly vanish next Tuesday.
- pvaldes 3y ago
  Is a river, the sword is just an isolated object displaced by the current or washed by a flood. All the context is lost. The chance to find an archaeology location here with more objects related with the sword is close to zero
  - tsukikage 3y ago
    e.g. correlating relative location of objects found on a riverbed with each other and with structures historically known to be nearby was this person's two year project: https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news/award-project-rescuing-roman-history-riverbed https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news/award-project-rescuing-rom...

Asparagirl 3y ago

It’s still no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

qup 3y ago
Which ceremony was that?
- techer 3y ago
  A quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- latexr 3y ago
  It’s a Monty Python reference. https://youtube.com/watch?v=6HX6cfy3At4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=6HX6cfy3At4
switch007 3y ago
I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away! (One of my favourite python scenes. Makes me giggle every time!)

underlogic 3y ago

So, the guy that found it got nothing. The museum got another piece of trash. Should've thrown it back in the river or sold it privately. What's the point of spending all that time covered in dirt fishing in the muddy waters in the freezing rain for treasure when even in the best case scenario, when against all odds you pull a 1000 year old sword from the depths, some pencil pusher leaps from the woodwork to snatch it from your hands and leave you with no reward? The next guy will think twice. This is why English society does so poorly. They don't properly manage incentives.

vidarh 3y ago
Magnet fishing there isn't allowed. They explicitly don't want to incentivise you to do it, because they don't want you to do it. So you're right, there isn't much point, and that is intentional.
- underlogic 3y ago
  No it isn't about safety this guy would've been left empty handed if he found that sword in his own backyard. They have arbitrary rules to smother any type of fortune, to make seeking fortune futile, to suppress those who want more. They see success as a threat to their artificially fair society. Better the fortunate receive nothing to keep the peace. If the people get a taste for more they will leave the country right fast. Keep them uneducated and unskilled and tax them out of options into poverty and dependence. Don't let them leave - the people are the governments assets.
  - wutwutwat 3y ago
    Bro, someone found an old hunk of metal in a river, and you're losing your shit here. Maybe the person who found it doesn't care that they didn't get a reward and is just happy to have an amazing story and to have helped all of humanity learn a little more about the collective past that somehow all of man managed to forget about after it happened. There are much more important things in this world besides fortune, and not everything is a conspiracy by the shadow government to oppress you.