The Basiliscoe Mercury 349

The Basiliscoe Mercury349


TheInternet newsletter for the arms and armour community


A rather quiet couple of weeks, but a few good and interesting stories, plus a couple of new books, too. Fascinating DNA story from Scotland, and new museums and galleries opening or re-opening. Finally a few spooky Scottish items scattered through for Hallowe’en. Long may your apples bob.


Arms and armour in the news


Ancient arms


Prehistoric barbed weapons- older than thought….https://www.sciencenews.org/article/homo-erectus-not-humans-invented-barbed-bone-point-tool


Short feature on the 9th Legion- spoiler alert- no secret revelations at the end!

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/10/legio-ix-hispana-the-lost-roman-legion/135890


Battles, towers and forts


Recreating Colchester’s Roman Wall

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/18788177.technology-used-make-3d-model-colchesters-roman-wall/


Feature on Byzantium’s Anastasian Wall

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/10/the-anastasian-wall-the-great-byzantine-wall/135802


Feature on Rome’s siege of Numantia

https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/hell-on-earth-the-siege-of-numantia-bf053c0ef63e


900 year old gate of Harran Palace investigated

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/nine-century-old-harran-palaces-gate-unearthed-159305


Investigating Vikings in the British Isles

https://www.thenational.scot/news/1...jor-project-may-shed-light-scotlands-vikings/


Grave stories


Investigating the graves at Portmahomack

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-54552907

https://www.livescience.com/six-headed-chief-tomb-dna.html

Investigating a WW2 execution site in Poland

https://www.thefirstnews.com/articl...wwii-execution-site-dubbed-death-valley-17031


Castles and forts


Krak desChevalierstidied up for visitors

https://www.gulftoday.ae/lifestyle/...castle-krak-des-chevaliers-after-years-of-war

https://www.thehansindia.com/news/cities/hyderabad/hyderabad-a-portion-of-golconda-crashes-650958


Restoration of 11 forts in Cholistan recommended

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2268134/restoration-of-11-forts-in-cholistan-recommended


Statues missing from the Red Fort- and other items

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...ot-just-due-to-theft/articleshow/78618210.cms


Cannons to the left, cannon to the right


US field guns in the Mexican wars

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/fire-brief-history-american-field-artillery-170756


1804 Britishcast-iron merchant 18 pounder for sale

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...annon-fired-Battle-Trafalgar-goes-hammer.html


Miscellany


Things found in glaciers

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-alpine-glaciers-yield-archaeologic-troves.html


Unusual story of glass fire grenades

https://museumcrush.org/the-beauty-and-danger-in-victorian-glass-fire-grenades/


Tracing a Jamaican at Culloden

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/a-jamaican-at-the-battle-of-culloden


Living in the past


Dressing like colonials…

https://hyperallergic.com/595896/ho...lania-trump-benefit-from-colonialist-cosplay/


Café Basiliscoe


Medieval cooking course coming up online!

https://www.medievalists.net/2020/10/online-medieval-cooking-course/


And whisky to follow…

https://museumcrush.org/the-old-bottle-of-scotch-telling-the-story-of-whisky-galore/


Princesses and Amazons


Planning the execution of a queen

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...viii-planned-every-detail-of-boleyn-beheading


Nautical news


Disquiet at the future of the Goodwin Sands

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...e-notorious-ship-swallower-sandbank-condemned


Crew found aboard VOC ship

https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...asure-found-underwater-pompeii-science-uk-spt



Museum news and exhibitions


News


Visitors not returning to the re-opened museums in large numbers https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/arts/design/europe-museums-covid.html


Berlin Museums attacked by conspiracy theorists and exhibits damaged

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...xzOBwlbsxV7eKk6_paNptIMWBNxrAMlFCE0ytnp3GqwzY


Dutch museums targeted by Nazi-hunters

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ms-tighten-security-after-raids-on-nazi-items


New museums


New gallery at London Transport Museum about the two World Wars

https://artdaily.com/news/129303/A-...ransport-played-their-part-in-two-world-wars-


Naval Museum of Madrid re-opens

https://armada.defensa.gob.es/Armad...nola/cienciaorgano/prefLang-es/01cienciamuseo


NationalMuseumofTheUnitedStatesArmy

https://www.thenmusa.org/


Museum musings


UK’s Royal palaces now join in the hunt for their past slavery connections

https://www.theguardian.com/culture...s-review-of-links-to-slave-trade-lucy-worsley


Conservation corner


British Museum conserves artic treasures

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...tic-exhibition-fish-skin-london-b1182013.html


Knife-making in Sheffield

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engla...C+Yorkshire&at_custom1=link&at_medium=custom7


Objects


Missing artefacts

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/most-wanted-antiquities-have-you-seen-these-missing-artefacts


Wallace collection armoured knight gets makeover

https://www.wallacecollection.org/art/exhibitions-displays/equestrian-armour/


More and better photos of the Polish/Bulgarian sword

https://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/n...ary-uprising-polish-sword-found-bulgaria.html


Exhibitions


Harryhausen in Edinburgh- lots of childhood memories!

https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...ts-titan-of-cinema-monsters-cyclops-skeletons


HMS Invincible finally sails into Portsmouth

https://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Hamps...e-1744-Interactive-Exhibition-Opens-Next-Week



Thermopylae and Salamis at Athens

https://greece.greekreporter.com/20...elebrates-battles-of-thermopylae-and-salamis/


Books


Stefan Krause: 1000 Years of Tournaments

https://www.olympiaauctions.com/about-us/publications/1000-years-of-tournaments/


The Hindu Warrior: The Roy Elvis Collection of South Indian Arms and Armour

https://www.olympiaauctions.com/about-us/publications/the-hindu-warrior/


Philip Weir: Dunkirk and the Little Ships

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dunkirk-and-the-little-ships-9781784423759/


This month’s books from Osprey

https://ospreypublishing.com/store/military-history/upcoming-books/available-this-month


Online Books


ICOMAM have digitalized a number of their previous conferences

http://icomam.mini.icom.museum/icomam-and-iamam-publications/


Arms and armour research from Kiev

http://zbroeznav.com/?book-review=i...-MeYL5Cu71WZX1VrulUldc77Q2bPuvD6WUf1bmfCkz-rE


William Nugent: Naval Sketch-book (1826)

https://archive.org/details/navalsketchbook00glagoog/mode/2up



Popular Culture


Napoleon heads for the silver screen again https://www.cinemablend.com/news/25...ix-are-reteaming-for-another-historical-drama


Dark novel to pass the Hallowe’en weekend: The Devil and the Dark Water

by Stuart Turton

https://anaveragelife.org/2020/10/01/book-review-the-devil-and-the-dark-water-stuart-turton/





Events


Conferences


ICOMAM conference –Toledo, Spain

New dates 17 – 21 May 2021

https://ejercito.defensa.gob.es/eventos/icomam_toledo_2021/


Sales Fairs and auctions


2-4 November Herman Historica

https://www.hermann-historica.de/en/auctions



Websites and downloads


1066 etc Dracula and the Sword of God

https://www.medievalists.net/2020/10/vlad-iii-tepes-dracula/

https://museumcrush.org/the-old-bottle-of-scotch-telling-the-story-of-whisky-galore/


A Scottish Hallowe’en

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/a-hebridean-halloween

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/the-turn-of-the-page-a-photographic-ghost-story


A tale of murder and arson in 17th century Aberdeenshire

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/gladstones-land-and-the-murder-allegation


The Tam O’Shanterchair

https://www.rct.uk/collection/27942/tam-oshanter-chair


And Tam O’Shanter himself…

http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/Poems_Songs/tamoshanter.htm


Read by Brian Cox (the actor not the scientist)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/robertburns/works/tam_o_shanter/


This fortnight I tweeted Hallowe’en inspired cannon.

https://twitter.com/Basiliscoe


Compiled by Ruth Rhynas Brown –31 October 2020


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