bookofjoe

Gold cape, perhaps of an ancient Briton priestess or queen

From Atlas Obscura:

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

In 1833, a group of workmen quarrying for stone in Mold, Wales, discovered something incredible.

There, caked with mud, was an intricate sheet gold cape.

Human bones lay within the earth as well.

The cape and the human who wore it were originally interred within a Bronze Age burial mound.

Even millennia after the burial took place the site remained prominent within local folklore.

It's known as Bryn yr Ellyllon, meaning "The Faerie/Goblin Hill."

For many years the site was left largely untouched so as not to anger these supernatural figures.

When the cape was eventually unearthed it was in rather poor shape.

The garment was crushed and the bones of the body it once adorned were smashed into fragments.

Many of the various cape pieces wound up in the hands of various parties, and only one of the many beads that once adorned the cape still survives today.

But though the centuries were not kind to the cape, its magnificence was not lost.

The artifact has been carefully restored and most of its separated pieces recovered and joined again, demonstrating the remarkable craftsmanship that went into creating it.

It's now housed in the British Museum.

Archeologists believe the cape was worn ritualistically by a high-status individual who, given the slenderness of the cape, was likely female and probably the same person whose remains were found during the discovery.

Due to the artifact's splendor, it has been suggested that the person buried in the grave may have been a high priestess or queen of the Ancient Britons.

A young Frank Zappa plays the bicycle on the Steve Allen Show (1963)

From Open Culture: "Frank Zappa bringing his own brand of offbeat music to the American airwaves in 1963. Only 22 years old and not yet famous, Zappa appeared on the Steve Allen Show and made music with some drumsticks, a bass bow, and two garden-variety bicycles — and nothing more."

"Above, the Concerto for Two Bicycles, which features the show's house orchestra joining the cacophonous fun."

Lillian Gish in "The Scarlet Letter" (1926)

Wonderful posters

for the

great silent film.

An illustrated guide to all 2,339 deaths in "Game of Thrones"

Res

ipsa

loquitur.

[via the Washington Post]

British Bumblebees Tea Towel

From the website:

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A simple identification chart of 17 of the commonest bumblebee and cuckoo bee species in Britain, using just the proportions and colors of stripes.

The eight commonest are at the top — see if you can spot any of the rarer or declining bees below!

• 27" x 18"

• 100% cotton

• Corner hanging tag

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

£9.95.