As he removed the last piece of wood, he tried to keep up.
His heart pounded against his chest and his hands began to sweat as he worked on the statue.
By then she already knew that she had stumbled upon something big.
His emotions were running high when she decided to take a look inside.
Why would someone hide something like this، and in this statue of all places?
Maybe there was a reason why he was hiding in the first place… He could think of both good things and bad things. But, what precisely did he find inside of it?
One for the history books
Not everyone gets a chance to find a historic discovery, but this woman had a chance.
Gemma Ramirez is an art restorer who was given the task of restoring an old statue of Jesus Christ.
When she started working on the artwork, she assumed this would be just another normal day at work.
She visited the Church of Santa Águeda, where the statue was located.
At the time, she was completely oblivious to the fact that this was going to be a huge game changer for her.
After all, you can never really predict when something like this will happen.
It was a holy place
Along with the rest of the restoration team, he entered the church.
They crossed the corridor to reach the statue in question.
She had been thinking about his parentage and education while looking at the holy statue. Ramírez could tell that it was a masterpiece just by looking at it.
He was about to turn to say something to his colleague when two of the candles went out. Could this be a sign of things to come?
She was nervous for some reason
In his line of work, it is not uncommon to work on religious objects.
As an art restorer, she has gotten close to various sacred artifacts. But this was the first time she felt this way in a spiritual place.
There was something unsettling about the place, but she couldn't imagine what it was.
As she made her way to the statue, she tried to locate the source of this feeling that was taking over her.
Christ of the Miserere
Called “Cristo del Miserere”, the wooden statue dates from the 18th century.
It has suffered some damage in recent years, so the church administration wanted to restore it. There was no one better for the job than Ramírez and his team.
At last, he had a chance to look directly at this work of art.
He looked at her, looking like he was screaming for help.
The team was going to do everything they could to bring him back to his former glory.
The weather hasn't been kind to him
The statue has suffered quite a bit of damage over the years.
It was covered in dirt, rust and chips.
The team knew it was going to take a lot of work.
Ramírez took notes as he inspected the object.
He listed the parts that had the worst damage, as well as the cost to repair them.
The statue was in poor condition, but it had not disappeared.
When he turned her over, her fingers suddenly slipped out of his!
Too close for comfort
It was good that he got his grip back in time.
Once again, she carefully and slowly turned him over to check the cracks and curves along her back.
He took note of the fact that the wood was splintering in certain areas.
As she began to dust it off to check the intricate details, she sneezed.
The sound of her bounced off the walls of the hallway. It was then that a memory of him surfaced without warning.
memories flooded her
Ramírez now understood why the church did not feel good about her.
It was not the first time he was there. When she was little, she visited the same religious building with her grandmother.
The two had to leave when she couldn't stop sneezing.
As she thought about this memory, her eyes fell on a large crack in the back of the wooden statue. It was a long, deep cut that ran almost all the way down her back.
She stopped what she was doing to get a better look.
find something unexpected
Intrigued, the rest of the team took a look at the crack. She said, "There's something inside!" Her first thought was that the statue must have harbored insects.
Once the wood begins to decompose, it is not uncommon for insects to feed on the interior.
Everyone on the team gathered around the statue to see if this was the case.
Everyone was shocked when they saw something they didn't expect to see.
where to go from there
They had two options. First, they could just ignore the object inside the statue and leave a seal on the crack.
This meant that the item would be hidden there forever.
The other option was to open it and retrieve the hidden item.
Who knew what they would find inside?
It could be something that would change history as we know it. However, it was not going to be easy to do so.
for the first time in a long time
His heart raced as he lifted the last piece of wood from the statue.
One of her colleagues was standing next to her, on tiptoe as he watched what was happening. It was the moment of the great revelation.
As you can imagine, everyone wanted to see what was hiding there for so long.
The statue had not been touched for centuries, so it was the first time the secret of it had been discovered after so many years.
What the scrolls said
Finally, Ramírez lifted the frame to get the answers to his questions.
She and her colleague were shocked and speechless when they found two leather scrolls inside. Ramírez did his best to be careful as she moved closer to get a better look.
That it could be?
What could be written on the scrolls and who would do it? It was time they found out.
Withstood the test of time
It was clear that the person who left the scrolls there wanted them to survive the test of time.
The material was vellum, which is a thin sheet of leather that can withstand a lot of damage.
This explains why the scrolls were still readable.
If the message had been scribbled on a piece of paper, his condition would not have been so good. He knew the artifacts were old, but exactly how long had they been there?
long time ago
There was a yellowish cast to the scrolls, which was evidence that it had already been there for a long time.
Still, the team was surprised to learn her real age.
When Ramírez spoke to the Daily Mail, he said: “The 18th century document appeared when we were dismantling the Christ from the cross.
The wood is hollow inside and the sculptor put in the two [scrolls] that we have found”
an amazing find
As an art restorer, Ramírez was no stranger to amazing discoveries.
However, this was the first time he had seen something like this.
This was a truly unique find! After all, you don't find secret messages hidden in ancient statues every day.
Now let's find out why the scrolls were there and what they said.
The man who wrote them
The team discovered that the scrolls date back to 1777.
They were written by a former church chaplain named Joaquín Minguez.
He wrote about the culture of the area during the creation of the statute.
He named Manuel Bal as his sculptor and talked about the politics and economy of Spain in those days.
Aside from that, he also talked about his daily life and what it was like to be alive back then. Ramírez and his colleague stayed together as they learned more about this man.
Perspectives on your time
In the parchments, Minguez talks in great detail about the state of the Spanish economy.
He offered a lot of information about the time period and even said what foods were grown in the region. The area produced wine and cereals such as oats, wheat, barley and rye.
However, the secret message went on to take a dark turn!
A valuable find
The scrolls also spoke of the diseases that were raging in their area at the time.
Typhoid fever and the like led to court status.
He spoke of King Carlos III, who began his nearly three-decade reign as ruler of Spain in 1759.
Aside from that, Mínguez also provided insight into the infamous Spanish Inquisition.
It wasn't all bad
Though that wasn't the happiest thing to read, Mínguez made up for it in other ways.
He also told other things about that period of time.
Among other things, he detailed the recreational and leisure activities they enjoyed. For example, he talked about playing cards and joining ball games.
These fascinating details about an important part of Spain's history are valuable, but they need to be verified first.
for generations to come
When she headed to work that day, Gemma Ramírez did not think she would find something like this. She was surprised by the incredible find.
She couldn't transfer the scrolls elsewhere without first creating replicas.
This was done to honor her original intentions.
When the real ones were sent to the archives, she put one of the copies in the statue anyway. In addition to this, she left a message of her own from her there as well. "She wanted to leave a memory of her experience in her time," she reflected.
We wonder how long it will be before the next generation discovers this incredible secret!
Other great treasures discovered
An Iron Age tomb brimming with treasures made of gold, bronze and amber was recently discovered after lying undisturbed by the Danube River for nearly 2,600 years, archaeologists report.
The dazzling hoard adorned and surrounded the skeleton of a woman who likely died in her 30s and 40s, and suggests she was an elite member of Celtic society who buried her in ancient southern Germany at a hill fort called Heuneburg.
in 583. BC, the researchers said. In addition, the presence of a petrified sea urchin and ammonites (a type of extinct mollusk) in the grave are intriguing and suggest that the woman "was a kind of priestess," said the study's lead researcher, Dirk Krausse, an archaeologist at the Institute. German. state of Baden-Württemberg.
huge excavation
Some looters dug tunnels from grave to grave, making the looting process easier, Krausse said. The newly discovered tomb is “remarkable” as it is the “first richly furnished central tomb from that period, the first half of the 6th century in Heuneburg, that was not looted in antiquity,” Krausse said.
People have known about Heuneburg, a prehistoric fort near the Danube River, for centuries.
The Celtic city-state was probably founded in the 6th century BC. C., and even the famous Greek philosopher Herodotus (circa 484 B.C. to 425 B.C.) is believed to have mentioned it while writing about the history of the Danube River, Krausse said.
However, it wasn't until 1950 that researchers began modern excavations of the site, which lies just north of the Alps.
But those excavations did not uncover everything.
golden treasures
Kurz later led a small-scale excavation of the tomb, which was located in an area known as the Bettelbühl necropolis.
The tomb contained a young girl, probably between the ages of 2 and 4, who was buried next to a larger tomb that had a burial chamber made of wood, the researchers said. Concerned that another plough, or other agricultural activity, would damage the larger tomb, researchers excavated the entire 88-ton (80-tonne) section, which they named Keltenblock, in 2010. A crane carried Keltenblock to the laboratories of the archaeological state office. from Baden-Württemberg.
The great tomb contained countless treasures: intricate jewelry made of amber, gold, and bronze; piles of furs and textiles; an ornament made of boar horns and bronze bells that would have adorned the chest of a horse; carved objects in boxwood; carved black stone bracelets; and a bronze and leather belt.
Wild boar adorned with two bronze straps and pendants
Mounted boars tusks are adorned with two bronze straps and bronze pendants. If the ornament were placed on a horse's chest, the pendants would have tinkled against the bronze straps as the horse moved.
Mounted boar tusks are adorned with two bronze straps and bronze pendants.
If the ornament were placed on a horse's chest, the pendants would have tinkled against the bronze straps as the horse moved.
The jewelery and belt covered the elite woman's 1.62-meter (5-foot-3-inch) skeleton.
On the opposite side of the chamber, the researchers found the skeleton of what was likely a woman, standing just 5 feet 1 inch (1.57 m) tall. The woman, whose remains were buried with only a few pieces of bronze jewelry,
The blade could have been a chamfer
At the feet of the second individual was a 0.4 m (1.3 ft) long bronze plate decorated with circles. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the blade showed the remains of an iron horse bit, giving researchers the idea that the blade might have been a chamfron (also spelled chamfron), a piece of metal that covers the front of a horse. If the bronze blade is a chamfer, it is the earliest recorded from Heuneburg and only the second known from this period north of the Alps, the researchers said. Since the tomb has both the chanfron and the boar tusk ornament that would have covered a horse's chest, it is likely that the elite woman had a strong connection to horses, Krausse said. The floor of the chamber was paneled with planks of oak and silver fir. By dating the wood and examining the tree rings, the researchers determined that the trees were felled in the fall of 583 BC.
soaked wood
This date places the tomb firmly in the Hallstatt culture, a name given to people living in central Europe during that time, the researchers said. These wooden tombs have been flooded for the last 2,600 years. These wooden tombs have been flooded for the last 2,600 years. It is rare for wood to survive 2,600 years, but the contents of the tomb persisted because the Danube River regularly flooded and the clay in the soil around the tomb helped keep water inside the burial site. Just as the ocean can preserve a wooden shipwreck, the Danube water preserved the woods and most of the organic content of the tomb, with the exception of the textiles and furs (which were in poor condition) and some of the iron and bronze objects from the tomb. the researchers said.
high value items
However, the surviving objects are especially revealing. The elite woman's jewelry is similar to jewelry worn by a girl whose remains were discovered in 2005, and whose grave was about 6.5 feet (2 m) away from the elite woman's grave. The similarity in their jewelry suggests the girl and woman were buried during the same time period, the researchers said. In addition, the style of elite women's jewelry and chanfrones matches that seen in cultures south of the Alps, including Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Sicily, Krausse said. Other excavations suggest that the gold filigree was made in Heuneburg, showing that craftsmen there were influenced by the styles of cultures south of the Alps, Krausse said. “Upon knowing this new tomb, we see the context between the region south of the Alps and this city on the Danube River,” Krausse said. "They were much closer, there was much more traffic and interrelationships between these areas than we thought before."
surprising finds
The findings were published in the February issue of the journal Antiquity. Editor's Note: This article was updated to correct the record about who discovered the young woman's grave in 2005. A team led by archaeologist Siegfried Kurz, who died in 2014, found the brooch in a plowed field and then led an excavation to small scale of the tomb. Previously, the story incorrectly said that the farmer who plowed the field discovered the brooch. Searching among those treasures, they were surprised to see that each time they found one more surprising than the previous one. The quality of the materials, the stones, the design… left him very surprised and they had no choice but to continue digging to see other materials. They imagined the stories behind all those objects,
A woman in East Bohemia
Other nearby skeletons had been looted, but the woman's grave was intact. About 1,600 years ago, a woman in eastern Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) was buried with a treasure trove of precious objects, including a headdress and four silver buckles inlaid with gold and studded with semi-precious stones. Archaeologists from the East Bohemian Museum in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, found the 5th-century burial in 2019 and recently described their initial finds in a statement. An exceptional find was the headdress, decorated with gold discs. Glass beads, a bone comb, a ceramic pot and an iron knife also lay near the remains. Five other graves at the burial site contained skeletons, but looters cleaned them of any precious artifacts and looted the corpses shortly after burial. Only a handful of mundane grave goods in those graves, such as knives and a sword, were left intact, the scientists reported.
It was used for cooking and storing meat
Investigators estimated that the woman was between 35 and 50 years old when she died. They identified pieces of cloth on the silver buckles that belonged to two different textiles; one was probably the item of clothing that the buckles fastened, and the other may have been a coat or cloth that covered the woman's body at her funeral. The scientists also detected traces of leather and fur on the buckles, possibly from another garment. Analysis of the ceramic pot revealed chemical traces of certain fats and acids, suggesting it was used for cooking and storing meat. All of the people in the graves were between 16 and 55 years old when they died, but most of the skeletons were so damaged by looters that it was impossible to determine the sex of the individuals. Nevertheless,
Other tests will include radiocarbon dating
"In one individual, traces of cancer were found in the skull and pelvis," the researchers said in the statement. Some bones indicated signs of arthritis, and one person's leg bones showed they had asymmetric muscle mass, suggesting they favored one leg, perhaps the result of a stroke. Other tests will include radiocarbon dating, to more precisely establish the ages of the graves. Evidence in the ratios of oxygen isotopes (variations of the same element with different numbers of neutrons) could further reveal whether the individuals were local to the region or migrated there from elsewhere. Further chemical analysis of the bones could tell scientists what these people ate and whether their diets changed dramatically during their lifetimes.
Perhaps we will learn more about the kinship of the dead
The researchers also expect "significant results from the DNA analysis," which will be carried out with scientists from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, and the Institute of Archeology and Museology at Masaryk University in Brno, the Czech Republic, according to the statement. "Perhaps we will learn more about the parentage of the dead and where they came from," the scientists said. Ancient discoveries, especially things like gold and gems, build crustier houses among locals and experts, says Thomas Salzano, a renowned antiques dealer and blogger. Every time we hear about a new discovery, we feel like exploring, seeing and knowing what the discovery is about and what history it has among people.
While there were five other graves near the site
It is said that 1,600 years ago, there was a woman in eastern Bohemia that is now known as the Czech Republic. She was buried with a treasure trove of very precious objects, including a headdress and 4 silver buckles that were inlaid with gold and augmented with semi-precious stones. This discovery was made in 2019 by archaeologists from the East Bohemian Museum in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. They recently shared their findings in an official statement. The finds included the headdress that was beautifully decorated with gold discs, a bone comb, glass beads, a ceramic pot, and an iron knife that was found near the remains. While there were five other graves near the burial site that contained skeletons, but there was nothing else in those 5 graves. Experts say that these tombs were looted and nothing valuable was left. The things found in those tombs were not precious objects like swords and knives.
Chemical traces of certain fats and acids
According to the theory of the investigation, it is suspected that the woman was between 35 and 50 years old when she died. The shared investigation also pointed towards two different types of fabric in the silver buckle that belonged to two different textiles. It is suspected that one is probably the item of clothing, while the other may have been a coat, the cloth used to cover the woman's body at the time of her funeral. There was a trace of fur and leather on the buckles. Based on analysis of the ceramic vessel, some chemical traces of certain fats and acids were found, leading to suspicion that it was used for activities such as cooking and storing meat. While the other graves, when analyzed, were said to be of people who were between the ages of 16 and 55 when they died.
While some bones indicated signs of arthritis
It is very difficult to identify the gender or any other specific details of individuals. But close examination of these skeletons revealed some clues related to the health of the people buried. During the examination process, one of the individuals showed traces of cancer in the skull and pelvis, according to the investigators' statement. While some bones indicated signs of arthritis, among all of them one skeleton when examined showed that they had asymmetric muscle mass, clearly indicating the chances of death from stroke. The examination is still in process with the aim of finding something that sheds more light on the skeletons and the history they keep. Some important tests such as DNA analysis and radiocarbon dating are still awaited,
The Recent Hot Topic for Antique Dealers
For now, the center of attraction is the woman and the precious belongings that were found, says Thomas J Salzano. We'll wait for more details about the findings, but for now, this is all we know about this discovery. Legal regulations and formalities play an important role in the art dealer profession, says Thomas J Salzano, a well-known antiques dealer and blogger. To work as an antiques dealer, he must be familiar with government rules and regulations that change frequently. The recent hot topic for antiquities dealers like Thomas is the “Implications for Art Dealers of the Anti-Money Laundering Provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021.” Let's analyze this in detail to understand what the Law says:
The financial institutes that are covered by the BSA
This included provisions that will have significant implications for the antiquities market and dealers. This will also have an impact on the art market. Section 6110 of the NDAA expands the scope of the US Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to persons engaged in the antiquities trade, including consultants, advisers, or any other person who is involved as a business in the solicitation or sale of antiques. Financial institutes that are covered by the BSA, which will now include antiques dealers, must meet certain reporting, record keeping and other AML compliance requirements. Once the law is fully implemented, antiquities dealers will face potential criminal and civil penalties for failure to comply with AML,
Treasury will keep the data of real beneficiaries
Section 6110 directs the Department of the Treasury and the DOJ to conduct an assessment of the ways in which the art trade facilitates the financing of terrorism and money laundering and to suggest to Congress the extent to which the art market should be subject to AML regulations. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will maintain beneficial ownership data in a confidential registry. This will be available to financial institutions if the institution's customer consents. Under Section 6110, FinCEN, which administers the BSA, will be required to enact implementing regulations by the end of 2021. This regulation will include the details of what transactions are covered and what is required. Once FinCEN proposes the implementing regulation,
They found her were gold belt buckles
The tombs date from the 5th century and show a complex series of rituals and mortuary objects in the intact tomb. The remains of the person buried in this tomb were analyzed and it was found that the occupant of the tomb was a woman between 35 and 50 years of age and she had a collection of valuable objects with which she was buried. The most magnificent objects found with her were gold and silver belt buckles inlaid with semi-precious stones. The gold was applied to the silver base in a basket weaving pattern and would have been an extremely valuable item in any age, but particularly in the 5th century. Four such brooches were found in the tomb, much like one would be found on a coat. or layer. Also present was a gold headdress, glass beads, a knife, a bone comb, and eggshells.
One body showed more muscle mass on one side of the body than the other
Remains of the woman's clothing were also found and she was wearing two different types of materials. The fabric samples indicate a twill type of woven fabric and also animal skins or hides. The other graves, although looted, still yielded some artifacts, including knives and a short sword. Inside one of the looted tombs was a very valuable piece that the tomb robbers missed: a ceramic pot. When the residue in the container was studied, it was found to contain acids and fats, indicating that it was once filled with broth made from a ruminant (such as cows). Could it have been an offering of food to help the deceased in the afterlife? Or was this a pot that had been used to make food in life and was buried with its owner? Analysis of the bodies shows that they had various ailments. One body showed more muscle mass on one side of the body than the other, possibly indicating that the person had been a long-term stroke victim. Other funerary remains showed visible signs of arthritis. Another body showed evidence of cancer in the pelvis and skull. The age range of the people in the graves is estimated to have been between 16 and 55 when they died.
