{"id":5118,"date":"2022-12-28T13:29:17","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T18:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=5118"},"modified":"2022-12-28T13:29:17","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T18:29:17","slug":"discovery-of-7th-century-necklace-worn-by-early-christians-sets-archaeology-world-abuzz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2022\/12\/discovery-of-7th-century-necklace-worn-by-early-christians-sets-archaeology-world-abuzz.html","title":{"rendered":"Discovery Of 7th-Century Necklace Worn By Early Christians Sets Archaeology World Abuzz"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Museum of London Archeology<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaeologists released the discovery of a 7th-century necklace found in an English Northamptonshire burial site\u00a0 and are calling the discovery a \u201conce in a lifetime.\u201d The necklace, which is over 1300 years old, dating from 630 to 670 AD and called the \u201cHarpole Treasure,\u201d <\/span>was found<\/span><\/a>\u00a0along with an ornate cross and is believed to have been worn by an early Christian woman, possibly a leader of a church in the area. The necklace is described as \u201cmade up of a staggering number of pendants. There are gold Roman coins, semi-precious stones set in gold and decorated glass pendants set in gold. Along with these are several gold bead spacers that spaced out the pendants in the necklace. The centerpiece of this necklace is a large rectangular pendant made of red garnets and gold, with a cross motif.\u201d A similar necklace, called the\u00a0<\/span>Desborough necklace<\/span><\/a>, was found in the same area in 1876 and was the finest kind of this necklace discovered, but it is thought to be incomplete, unlike the Harpole Treasure.<\/span><\/p>\n

The find is especially rare due to the early Christian church\u2019s disapproval of being buried with abundant treasures. \u201cThe Harpole Treasure, it\u2019s not the richest [bed burial] in terms of the number of artifacts, but it is the richest in terms of investment of wealth … and it has the highest amount of gold and religious symbolism,\u201d <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Lyn Blackmore, a senior finds specialist at the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). Blackmore stated that the any organic matter in the grave had completely decomposed other than some tiny fragments of tooth enamel, but that the necklace and other details about the site had led the archaeologists to believe the burial site was that of a woman. Levente-Bence Bal\u00e1zs, site supervisor, described the necklace saying, \u201cIn 17 years of excavating sites, this was the first time I\u2019ve found gold. It\u2019s not just the artifacts, it\u2019s the sheer magnitude of the find.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The dig comes as a result of a partnership with the <\/span>Vistry Group<\/span><\/a>. Vistry was preparing the site for building new homes and partnered with MOLA to ensure the safety of any archaeological finds. On their website, Vistry\u2019s regional technical director praised the find saying, \u201cWe are delighted to confirm that these internationally important artifacts will be gifted to the nation and any ownership rights have been waived. This is such an important find it was important for us to do the right thing and ensure they were protected for many years to come. As a business, Vistry is extremely conscious of the legacy that we leave amongst the communities that we build. Having personally seen this treasure on site, I could not be more excited to see how much more has been learned already \u2013 it is an amazing find.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Archaeologists released the discovery of a 7th-century necklace found in an English Northamptonshire burial site\u00a0 and are calling the discovery a \u201conce in a lifetime.\u201d The necklace, which is over 1300 years old, dating from 630 to 670 AD and called the \u201cHarpole Treasure,\u201d was found\u00a0along with an ornate cross and is believed to have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":5121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDiscovery Of 7th-Century Necklace Worn By Early Christians Sets Archaeology World Abuzz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The recent discovery of an ancient necklace that is said to be worn by a Christian woman has sent excitement through the 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