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2k-year-old wine and the uncanny immediacy of the past

(resobscura.substack.com)
244 points benbreen | 1 comments | 15 Jan 25 21:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.301s | source
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bglazer ◴[16 Jan 25 15:59 UTC] No.42727042[source]▶
Nice article about artifacts that make the past more immediate, that allow us to connect our experiences to people hundreds or thousands of years ago.

My favorite example is the writings of Onfim, who was a little boy in the 1200s in present day Russia whose scribbling and homework were exquisitely preserved on birch bark fragments. It’s so immediately recognizable as a little boy’s endearing doodles about knights and imaginary beasts, yet its 800 years old.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onfim

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1. internet_points ◴[17 Jan 25 15:09 UTC] No.42738296[source]▶
Or the rune-rods which were "the medieval snapchat" https://www.nrk.no/vestland/gamle_-norske-ord-for-kjonnsorga... (google translate isn't half bad on this article)

or a more PG version https://sprakprat.no/2017/06/22/middelalderkvinner-og-runeku... where a rune-rod simply says "Gyda says you have to come home" (I guess hubby had been out too late with his no-good friends?)