The Gold-encrusted Dagger

The Man

William Cunnington (1754 – 1810)

• Self-educated merchant
• Lived and worked in the Wiltshire village of Heytesbury
• He was one of Britain's earliest professional archaeologists
• He was also the man who discovered what has become to be known as the crown jewels of the 'King of Stonehenge'.

Bush Barrow

• Artifact was found within a large Bronze Age (>3000 B.C.) burial mound just half a mile from Stonehenge, known today as Bush Barrow.
• Within the 4,000-year-old barrow, Cunnington found ornate jewelery, a gold lozenge that would fasten a cloak, and the intricately decorated dagger.

• To put into perspective, the distance between the previous image and this one was the half mile that the artifact's burial was to the Stonehenge.

• The first documented use of gold was by ancient Egyptians around 3000 B.C.
• This allows us to observe the incredibly fast and wide-spreading use of gold within mere years from Egypt to Britain

• It is thought that the gold found in the dagger's hilt was gathered from mines in Ireland
• However, the metal blade was developed in England.

• Although knifes and daggers have their evident use and purpose of being multi-use tools and/or weapons, this gold encrusted dagger was most likely specialized as a "holy" or "divine" object due to the burial of the occupant.

The Dagger

• The dagger was originally adorned with around 140,000 tiny gold studs
• Each gold stud is just a third of a millimeter wide.

The Era

• The artifact is claimed to be created in the Bronze Age, which predates times from 3000 B.C.

• However, the artifact itself was only rediscovered in 1808.

• This completed project has an estimated completion time of over 2500 hours

How was it made?

• Thousands of tiny holes were then made in the dagger handle and a thin layer of tree resin was rubbed over the surface as an adhesive to keep the studs in place.
• Each stud was then carefully placed into it's miniscule hole.

• First, the craftsman had to create an extremely fine gold wire, just a little thicker than a human hair.

• The end of the wire was then flattened to create a stud-head, and cut with a very sharp flint or obsidian razor, just a millimeter below the head.
• This delicate procedure was then repeated literally tens of thousands of times.

• As seen on this image of the bottom inch of the handle, the dagger was not only finely encrusted with gold, but the gold itself was intricately patterned in various ways.
• The detail of the handle itself was considered to be of "godly craftsmanship".

• Although there were other artifacts found within the burial, including two of the largest daggers of the time period and the golden fastening lozenge, the gold encrusted dagger is by far the most intricate and artistic artifact of the era.

The Gold-Encrusted Dagger

of Stonehenge's Bush Barrow

Darren Strydom

The golden-encrusted dagger may be antiquated, however, it is still a clear reminder of the devotion to artistry that has been prominent in humans from ancient times, as well as the fact that our art now may be discovered and treasured in our distant future.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_Barrow#Daggers

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/stonehenge-intricate-treasures-made-by-children-140919.htm

http://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/ten-amazing-artifacts-ancient-world-002105?page=0%2C1

http://bebusinessed.com/history/the-history-of-gold/