Paper cuttings made by 17th-century schoolgirls discovered beneath floorboards

(www.smithsonianmag.com)

210 points benbreen | 1 comments | 23 Jul 24 04:33 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

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lholden ◴[27 Jul 24 06:04 UTC] No.41084741[source]▶

My mom lived in a historical house when she was a kid in the 60s. Since then, the house has become a museum. There are a lot of "artifacts" on display that "came from the 1800s" that are actually just toys my moms brothers made. My mom got a good laugh about it when she took me to visit the place.

I'm sure these finds must have dated in some way to verify the authenticity, but I always think back to seeing my uncles toys on display as if they were historical artifacts when I see stuff like this.

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nmridul ◴[27 Jul 24 10:19 UTC] No.41085586[source]▶

>>41084741 #

>> sure these finds must have dated in some way to verify the authenticity ....

What happens if the uncle used very old wood or cloth to make the toys. Will the dating technique be able to find the actual age ?

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1. curiouscavalier ◴[27 Jul 24 15:18 UTC] No.41087122[source]▶

>>41085586 #

Dating is done with more than just material analysis. Evidence of tools used to make the toy, techniques for things like joins and stitching, etc. can all be indicative of methods that can give at least a lower bound. How applicable method differentiation is to this specific case obviously depends on a number of things.

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