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https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/may/08/teacher-finds-stone-ancient-ogham-writing-ireland-coventry-garden>
"A geography teacher was tidying his overgrown garden at his home in Coventry
when he stumbled across a rock with mysterious incisions. Intrigued, he sent
photographs to a local archaeologist and was taken aback to learn that the
markings were created more than 1,600 years ago and that the artefact was
worthy of a museum.
The rectangular sandstone rock that Graham Senior had discovered was inscribed
in ogham, an alphabet used in the early medieval period primarily for writing
in the Irish language.
Before the people of Ireland began using manuscripts made from vellum, they
used the ogham writing system , consisting of parallel lines in groups on
materials such as stone. Rare examples of such stones offer an insight into the
Irish language before the use of the Latin insular script.
Senior, 55, said: “I was just clearing a flowerbed of weeds and stones when I
saw this thing and thought, that’s not natural, that’s not scratchings of an
animal. It can’t have been more than four or five inches below the surface.”
He washed it and consulted a relative who was an archaeologist, who suggested
that he contact the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which encourages the recording
of archaeological objects found by members of the public."
Via Christoph S.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
