LifeArtEarth

Contemplating a Norwegian silver penny of Olaf Haraldsson (king of Norway 1067-1093, also known as Olav Kyrre), some vivid associations came to mind. The first was the 1066 Battle of Stamford Bridge near York and the end of the Viking Age (Olaf was there). The second was the presence of another silver penny of Olaf Haraldsson at a Native American archaeological site in Maine, USA. Then there is the larger context of Norse colonies on Greenland and the voyages to the coast of eastern North America from around a thousand years ago to the 14th century. And finally, the medieval runestones and buildings encountered during a spell living in Stavanger at the end of the 1990s. Stavanger's cathedral is Norway's oldest, begun shortly after the death of Olaf (and there's also an Olav Kyrres Gate in the city). A handsome  11th century  penny of Olaf Haraldsson (Olav Kyrre), in as-struck condition (author's collection). This is close to TabIII:19 in Schive (1865) and Plate I:11 in ...

Cotham Marble from near Bristol is far from uncommon, but old museum specimens of the material are rarely seen. One such 19th century specimen is illustrated below. The chain of ownership runs from John I. Legro (1842-1923) to Hugh A. Ford (1885-1966) to Eugene Carmichael and the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum (named for professor Arthur Edmund Seaman, 1858-1937). Sowerby (1811, p. 41) illustrated a similar polished slab of Cotham Marble (his TAB. CCCXXV), shown below. He wrote, ' Cotham, near Bristol, affords this remarkably figured Marle, which, according to the Bristol Guide, you may often imagine is a fine drawing. It is a curious formation of Marle and Clay, chiefly stained by Iron, and perhaps occasionally by Manganese, forming, by settling moisture under peculiar circumstances, the top undulations, sometimes representing clouds in a sky, while the bottom imitates earth and water as in landscapes. The fanciful figure to themselves in this something like a boat and men in one part...

The pretty North Yorkshire market town of Richmond has a rich history, most notably visible in the large Norman castle perched high above the River Swale. Carboniferous exposures in the River Swale beneath Richmond's Norman castle. I watched a relaxed kingfisher standing on the rocks here on 3rd August 2024. Richmond also has an important palaeontological history, being the site of a discovery in the 1850s of numerous beautifully preserved Carboniferous crinoid fossils. The most abundant of these,  Woodocrinus macrodactylus , was described in 1854 (de Koninck in de Koninck & Le Hon). De Koninck's 1854 diagram of Woodocrinus macrodactylus . 'Parmi les nombreux fossiles carbonifères du Yorkshire dont je suis redevable à l’obligeance de M. Edward Wood, de Richmond, il s’est trouvé  quelques échantillons d’un Crinoïde remarquable par sa taille et par la parfaite conservation de ses diverses parties.' Illustrations of Woodocrinus macrodactylus in de Koninck & Le Hon...

Early Medieval runic gold coins are very rare. One type, a shilling or thrymsa found in East Anglia, is known from only two examples (plus a broken contemporary plated forgery). Dating to about 660-70, in the "Trophy" series (the earliest East Anglian coinage), it is known as the 'Runic Reverse' or ‘Runic Ring-Bearer’ shilling (Marsden 2016, Marsden & Pol 2020). The example shown here was found in 1998 by a detectorist near East Bergholt, Suffolk (about 25 km from Sutton Hoo) and is registered with the Fitwilliam Museum's Early Medieval Coin Finds . The other known example  was found near Billockby, Norfolk. The obverse shows the head of an emperor facing left with a floating cross in front and above, and a nine-rayed starburst with two connected rings and a slightly disconnected third (with attached line) below. The floating cross on this coin is particularly reminiscent of Constantine's vision (as recounted in "Life of Constantine" by Eusebius)...

Deramakot lies in central Sabah, northwest Borneo. It's reached by a drive of about 4 hours from Sandakan, the major part being through seemingly endless palm oil plantations. The sustainably managed forest reserve is known as the best place in Borneo to have a chance of encountering the spectacular clouded leopard, but even so, sightings are few and far between. I found myself with a few clear days before needing to be back at university to give a talk in Kuala Lumpur, so on the spur of the moment (after checking with Alternative Adventure Borneo that it would be OK to turn up at such short notice), I booked a flight to Sandakan for the following morning.  Once installed in a room at Deramakot, there was a meal and then it was straight out into the evening to see what we could find. Sharp-eyed guide Elsie was balanced on top of the cabin of the vehicle. For the following two evenings, we headed out in the afternoon with a packed dinner to be eaten just after dusk before continuing...