FAVORITE PERIOD (REPLICA) ARTEFACTS II

Ask the average reenactor what his favorite reenacting tools are, the chances are that the reenactor—even the female reenactors in many case—will roll out a list of weapons, both sharp and rebated, shiny armor, fancy shiny bling and silk clothing. Fine, but I am more intrigued by the quiet and rather dull aspects of life…

Dice

Dice was popular as far back as Roman times. The average die was six, equal sizes. Each side only added up to 7 in the later middle ages, but modern replica dice of bone and other substsances are usually made according to modern standards. The Norse had long dice, where the object was to throw the lowest score. The ends were one and two.

Codex

Codexes or books are Christian. The heathens did not have any codexes. Therefore the reenactors might have books that printed gospels, psalters, homilies or such things as harmonies of Jesus. However, most books were rebound and are not accurate for the earlier times except the Cuthbert or Monymuk Gospel, which was buried with Saint Cuthbert and was made in a slightly modifies Coptic binding style.

Crystal Ball Pendant

The crystal ball pendants were made in Constantinople and northern Europe. They were made of glass and quartz and used in many other places. They probably had three purposes. They were bling and hung from the neck. It is altogether possible they were used to ignite fires since the lenses could focus the rays of the sun (and were certainly used later and elsewhere). And the lens were rough magnifying lenses. They could be used to magnify art and other objects for work. MoPs have use the crystals and seen that the magnification is not perfect, but it it is useable!

Beads

Beads are popular and indicate how wealthy the person of the husband was. They were made from clay, from glass, from bones, from shells and from stones. However, one must remember that many reenactors love to wear many, many beads. This indicates a display of wealth, even though no othr aspect of clothing indicates such wealth and status. Men wore beads, but they appeared to hve far fewer beads, and the number was not indicators of wealth. From what has been found in graves, men usually had no more than one to three beads, and there is indication from where the beads were found in the grave that they were positioned somewhere around the waste

The beads should be inspired by extant beads from the time of course.

Canterbury Mini Sundial

The Canterbury Sundial, also known as the Saint Dunstan watch was found in 1938 by workmen clearing the cloister garth at Canterbury. It was dated to from the tenth century and is a portable time piece that gives liturgical hours. It has two sides and three holes in each side that has three holes to allow for the time variations!

I have been fascinated by this since I first read about it and made a special effort to get my silver copy at Canterbury Cathedral when I was over there. Copies are now made by many suppliers, of less valuable metals, so there are probably more replicas today than there were actual sundials during the time, since they were fairly rare.

October 14, 2023 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment