Friday, October 24, 2008

Left in the desk ...

Gold studs from a bronze dagger found in Bush Barrow near Stonehenge have been found in a desk at Cardiff University ("Ancient jewels found in uni desk", BBC News, October 22, 2008). The mound was excavated in 1808.

In the 1960s, some of the studs were loaned to Prof Richard Atkinson of Cardiff university, who was well-known for his excavations at Silbury Hill and Stonehenge.

They were placed in an old film canister, simply labelled "Bush Barrow", and were later found by Prof John G. Evans, who put them in his desk.

Prof Evans died in 2005 and the gold studs were recovered from his old desk by Niall Sharples, a senior lecturer at the university.

The studs will be placed on display in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes.

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