RECENT HISTORY HEADLINES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE
EXPERTS DISCOVER OLDEST KNOWN REFERENCE TO ODIN
A gold disc found in Denmark three years ago is thought to contain the oldest known reference to the Norse god Odin, say experts. The 1,500-year-old item – known as a bracteate – is inscribed with the words “He is Odin’s man” around the profile of male figure, thought to be a king or local lord. According to runologist Lisbeth Imer, the message suggests that the deity became the subject of worship at least 150 years earlier than previously thought. The bracteate, which would have been worn as a pendant, was discovered as part of a hoard in the village of Vindelev that included numerous other items of jewellery, including some fashioned from Roman coins.
RICHARD BURTON RECORDING AMONG WELSH ARCHIVE TREASURES
A vast collection of Welsh radio and television recordings has been preserved at a brand-new facility in Aberystwyth. The Wales Broadcast Archive, housed within the National Library of Wales, contains more than half a million items dating back to the early 20th century, including material from the BBC, ITV and Welsh national broadcaster S4C. Among the highlights – which can be accessed on-site, or at partner archives across Wales – is a film about rugby featuring a recital by the Glamorgan-born film star Richard Burton, pictured below.
MYSTERIOUS MING DYNASTY BUDDHA COULD REWRITE HISTORY
The story behind an infant Buddha statue buried on a beach in Western Australia remains a mystery, say experts. Filmmakers Shayne Thomson and Leon Deschamps, who discovered the artefact in Shark Bay five years ago, recently appeared on BBC One’s Antiques Roadshow in a bid to find out how it might have ended up there. But although the programme’s Asian art speci
