tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post1379094714467889014..comments2024-03-09T11:34:22.175+00:00Comments on The History Girls: Holding on to the Past by Penny DolanMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-11037283880111934542011-10-24T17:35:46.306+01:002011-10-24T17:35:46.306+01:00Treading grapes in an etruscan stone grape-treadin...Treading grapes in an etruscan stone grape-treading tank on a riverbank . . . Ghosts of feet past. . . My friend makes the wine following etruscan techniques. can't sell it, obv,- health and safety - but it is delicious.louisanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-21322642874387109942011-10-23T23:37:05.279+01:002011-10-23T23:37:05.279+01:00The oldest book in my collection is from 1699.The oldest book in my collection is from 1699.Kelly Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01752857506190488860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-77281598035902413902011-10-18T14:06:18.470+01:002011-10-18T14:06:18.470+01:00At the medievalist conference in Kalamazoo I purch...At the medievalist conference in Kalamazoo I purchased two coins, both from either the late 13th century or very early 14th, one from Ravenna and one from Florence. The idea was to have coins that Dante might have touched, and to touch them myself before starting to write about his life and time. (Real coin collectors would wince, I know, and tell me to leave them in their plastic holders. Nope.)Tinney Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18383946402836289511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-1884493643796229112011-10-17T22:01:12.746+01:002011-10-17T22:01:12.746+01:00Once, ironically in a museum near Princeton, N.J.,...Once, ironically in a museum near Princeton, N.J., I was given a dagger to look at that had been fished out of the Thames near London Bridge. It was a thousand years old. Holding it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.Linda B-Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01599899073420595717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-29867308219730355462011-10-17T21:17:22.925+01:002011-10-17T21:17:22.925+01:00Your shell is so beautiful. I think the oldest thi...Your shell is so beautiful. I think the oldest thing I have held is a stalactite. It was found when a new road was built through the woods where much of my novel is set. My stepfather gave it to me and it is very precious - though not at all beautiful!Essie Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04611324005960689918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-63562422642269227622011-10-17T20:37:36.300+01:002011-10-17T20:37:36.300+01:00I love the shell. I have held quite a lot of ancie...I love the shell. I have held quite a lot of ancient things in my hand - pebbles on a beach, for one! Flints in my garden, which are the remnants of ancient sea creatures. But as far as human-made things are concerned, this isn't terribly old, but Stewart the handyman found a little clay pipe when he was digging in our garden to put up my greenhouse, and also we found a bit of ploughshare which is now rusting away on the terrace. Those things connect me with the earth I till too, which contains the remnants of animals, and maybe humans, too. Maybe chemicals from the blood of the Civil War soldiers who died on Balmers Field, which our plot is taken from, on the day 'the dew fell red with blood.'Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-27676438217036572082011-10-17T18:27:40.581+01:002011-10-17T18:27:40.581+01:00A beautiful thing, that shell. So sad that your fa...A beautiful thing, that shell. So sad that your family didn't pass on its story.<br />Oldest thing - and person - I've ever held was a human skull, around 5000 years old, when I visted the 'Tomb of the Eagles' in Orkney. A group of tourists were shown round by the daughter of the farmer who excavated it, and she opened a case, took out this skull, and asked who'd like to hold it. I almost knocked her down. Then, feeling I was being selfish, I offered it to the others - who all shrank back against the wall. Strange people.<br />It felt beautifully smooth and polished, and I was in awe of it - but, much as I would have liked some contact with whoever originally inhabited it, there was nothing.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-76262163507135362132011-10-17T17:50:51.977+01:002011-10-17T17:50:51.977+01:00Oooh! What amazing things you've all found and...Oooh! What amazing things you've all found and in so many amazing places. The arrowheads and axe! The hidden bricks, the shoe, that ring!(Not to self - do not steal ideas! )<br /><br />Especaially liked Juliette's tale of the tablet passed around in class and meeting the quiet, private space where there is only you and the object, no matter how many people around.<br /><br />Needless to say, I have now thought of lots of other things and other occasions. . .Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-39894379780776766902011-10-17T17:02:27.735+01:002011-10-17T17:02:27.735+01:00Wonderful Penny!!! Such lovely things to ponder. O...Wonderful Penny!!! Such lovely things to ponder. On a stony 'kopje'(hill) out in the veld somewhere in Botswana between the Shashi and Limpopo rivers I found a piece of pottery shard and an arrow-head. It was wonderful to have in my hand two things that were shaped so painstakingly by other hands so long ago. I like to imagine I am the first to hold them since they were dropped by their owners. <br />And in the Petrie Museum where I was doing a workshop, the pupils and I were able to handle a ring that had been worn by Akenaten (Nefertiti's husband).Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-45919625330203672462011-10-17T15:20:41.805+01:002011-10-17T15:20:41.805+01:00Beautiful post, Penny and a beautiful shell. You H...Beautiful post, Penny and a beautiful shell. You HAVE to write the story now. I don't know what the oldest thing I've ever handled was....my grandmother's silver candlesticks perhaps? They must have been from the nineteenth century as they had belonged to her mother! Not too old...no prehistoric stuff. But agree that Museums play a wonderful role in this...adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-42922414156771424622011-10-17T13:41:03.418+01:002011-10-17T13:41:03.418+01:00I love your shell - it's really beautiful. Old...I love your shell - it's really beautiful. Oldest article I've held - hm. That's tricky. Have obviously seen a lot of charismatic old things, but actually held - my mind's gone blank. I do have a little carved wooden sho which used to belong to my Granddad - some day I'd like to find something out about that. I'm very fond of it. But I don't think it's all that old.Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-62590373152282091932011-10-17T12:19:13.856+01:002011-10-17T12:19:13.856+01:00When I was digging at a Roman fort in Somerset I f...When I was digging at a Roman fort in Somerset I found a Paleolithic handaxe which was petty cool! Other than that, lots of Roman pottery, iron age pottery, roman brooches :)Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04619103177792576609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-64633829474398686782011-10-17T11:32:58.265+01:002011-10-17T11:32:58.265+01:00Probably an ancient Near Eastern tablet I seem to ...Probably an ancient Near Eastern tablet I seem to remember being passed around a class when I was in first year. It was so old and so alien, it was hard to summon up appropriate feelings - it was just too much to take in!Juliettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-42369516398645890662011-10-17T09:23:12.553+01:002011-10-17T09:23:12.553+01:00When we were restoring our apartment, we had to re...When we were restoring our apartment, we had to remove some salt-rotted bricks and found some Byzantine arches ... 13th century, probably. But the Soprintenza decreed we should re-cover them because the 'tamponamento' was also 'storico'. So I touched them, photographed them, and reburied them. I still see their ghosts through the plastered walls, however. <br /><br />Your shell is all the more beautiful because one can imagine how many attempts were made where the brittle surface snapped or fissured. I bet there were ten rejected shells for every perfect one. A bit like a book manuscript, really!michelle lovrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01026972300195225090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-64291599412909245832011-10-17T09:10:18.390+01:002011-10-17T09:10:18.390+01:00If we don't count fossils, it's probably t...If we don't count fossils, it's probably the stone arrowhead my son brought me back from Belize. It was just lying beside the track in the middle of the rainforest. The point has broken off, but the knapping marks are as clear as the day it was made. Gives me shivers when I handle it.<br /><br />I love the coronation shell, and so beautifully photographed!<br /><br />Thanks for your post!Joan Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763862159032836768noreply@blogger.com