Twelve individual pieces of Tudor gold recovered along the muddy banks of the Thames river are so similar that they likely came from the same source object, possibly the ornate headdress of a passenger on a barge five centuries ago, new reports have indicated.
According to The Guardian and The Telegraph, archaeologists now believe that the 12 pieces of Tudor gold discovered by eight individual treasure hunters may have come from headwear that had blown off the head of a well-to-do seafarer during a particularly strong gust of wind.
They base the theory on the similarity of the tiny fragments, which have been found by treasure seekers armed with metal detectors over the span of several months. Each of the pieces date back to the early- to mid-16th century, explained Kate Sumnall from the Museum of London.
“There are no part-completed pieces or raw materials, so we can rule out a workshop. These are the finished article,” she told The Telegraph. “They have been coming up to the surface over the past few months, and it is a really remarkable find. To find just one would be incredible, to find so many is even better.”
Museum ultimately hopes to acquire all of the found fragments
Sumnall said that the pieces of Tudor gold were originally created between 1500 and 1550, and that they were the result of a massive amount of skilled craftsmanship. She added that there was likely fabric in between the fragments at one time, but that it had rotted away over the years.
Some of the pieces discovered along the Thames were inlaid with enamel or colored glass pieces, The Guardian reported. The gold content in each is said to be extremely low, but regardless, they are considered legal treasures that must be declared to finds officers like Sumnall.
“These artifacts have been reported to me one at a time over the last couple of years,” she said. “Individually they are all wonderful finds but as a group they are even more important. To find them from just one area suggests a lost ornate hat or other item of clothing.”
“The fabric has not survived and all that remains are these gold decorative elements that hint at the fashion of the time,” Sumnall added. The pieces must go through an inquest and be given an official value, she said, after which time the Museum hopes to acquire the entire lot of them.
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Feature Image: King Henry VIII. (Credit: Wikipedia)
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