Friday, April 22, 2011

Jewelry News - Another Reason For Gardening

Imagine that you are digging around in your back yard
maybe to plant a tree or two
and look what you come across buried in the dirt

Yes, that would be a cache of antique jewelry

Austrian authorities reveal find of buried treasure


VIENNA – A man turning dirt in his back yard stumbled onto buried treasure — hundreds of pieces of centuries-old jewelry and other precious objects that Austrian authorities described Friday as a fairy-tale find.

Austria's department in charge of national antiquities said the trove consists of more than 200 rings, brooches, ornate belt buckles, gold-plated silver plates and other pieces or fragments, many encrusted with pearls, fossilized coral and other ornaments. It says the objects are about 650 years old and are being evaluated for their provenance and worth.

So it makes me wonder, what was going on in Vienna in the early 14th Century that caused someone to hide their wealth. Could these pieces have been from the 13th Century when Vienna was under threat from the Mongolian Empire?   Or was the cache hidden later in the 16th  Century when the city was under siege by the Ottoman Turks.  What can I say, I'm nosy and I need to know these things.