Moscow Metro Installs Replica of Stalin Monument

Recent years have seen a steady rehabilitation of Jozef Stalin in Russia under President Vladimir Putin. Now Moscow’s Metro has installed a replica of a monument to the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin that had been removed in a purge of his memory during the Soviet Union’s de-Stalinization campaign in the 1960s (Moscow Metro Installs Replica of Stalin Monument May 15, 2025)

The life-sized bas-relief had been unveiled in 1950 at Taganskaya Station but was dismantled in the 1960s. The removal made way for a new transfer corridor, and the original sculpture is believed to have been destroyed. “Experts are currently recreating the composition from archival photographs and documents. We plan to complete the work in the near future,” Moscow’s Metro had said in a statement released Saturday. The monument was unveiled to the public on Thursday, following Victory Day celebrations last week and the 90th anniversary of the Moscow Metro, which was first opened during the height of Stalin’s rule. Architectural historian Alexander Zinoviyev said several key elements of the original relief were not preserved in the recreation, including the ceramic panel, certain colors and ornamental details around the edges. “Ultimately, this resulted in more of an ideological gesture than a genuine attempt to restore the historical architectural appearance,” Zinoviyev wrote on Telegram.

The new work seems a rather stiff composition, it would be interesting to compare it with the original work in the Socialist-Realism style.

No treasure finds reported in North Central London

Adam Care, 'No treasure finds reported in North Central London'  MSN 14 May 2025. 

Mr Care seems to have hit on a winning formula for news 'gap fillers' it's the same article with just a few words changed.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show there were no treasure finds declared to coroners in 2024 in North Central London. There were also none the year before.

He gets the definition of Treasure wrong though.

No treasure finds reported in South London

There were no treasure finds reported in South London last year, new figures show (Adam Care, 'No treasure finds reported in South London'  MSN 14 May 2025)

The latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show there were no treasure finds declared to coroners in 2024 in South London. There was one the year before.

Shock-horror. And in Bromley, Sonja Tutty, writes ' No treasure discoveries in South London since 2018', London World 16th May 2023,

Detectorists in South London have not reported any treasure discoveries since 2018, new figures show – despite a national increase. Figures from the Ministry of Justice show one treasure find was reported to South London Coroner's Court, which is responsible for holding treasure inquests, in 2018. It is the only recorded discovery in the area in the past decade.

This is despite a national increase in finds in recent years. Across England and Wales, 2022 saw a 20% increase in treasure finds on the year before with 1,087 reported to coroners. It is the highest number of discoveries since records began in 1997.

In London, four treasure finds were reported to coroners' courts last year.[...]
The Ministry of Justice said the number of treasure finds reported steadily increased from 1997 when the Treasure Act was introduced, up to 2017. But since 2018 the number has been "more volatile" and was impacted by Covid-19 restrictions in recent years.

It added: "There has been a big surge in metal detecting activity during (and also since) the pandemic.

There is then something more on the increase in finds:

Keith Westcott, founder of the Institute of Detectorists, said: "It was definitely the lockdown periods that brought the idea and interest of metal detecting to a lot of people who were sat at home, all day indoors thinking of what would give them a reason to get outdoors."

However, Mr Westcott added the growing interest in detecting must also be met with awareness of the hobby's requirements and responsibilities

"Probably as little as 10% of what's found is recorded, so a dramatic improvement in that is needed if interest continues to grow," he said..

"People see these finds as objects of interest, but in reality it is part of an archeologic record of the area it was found in. So there has to be an understanding of the context around whatever is found." 

Such vopices in British metal detecting are rare - despite what starry-eyed supportive arkies will tell you.

hat tip Dave Coward

Looting Hits Anundshög Sweden's Largest Burial Site

Photo: Västerås stad

In Sweden, 'Looting Hits Sweden's Largest Burial Site Anundshög'  (Sweden Herald 7th May 2025). The site at Anundshög, Sweden's largest ancient burial site, has been subjected to a severe bout of grave looting. The police have now set up a criminal investigation and determined that about fifty pits have been dug in the hill. The looting was discovered when an archaeologist who was also a teacher took a school party to see the site  as part of a lesson.

The looting occurred on the evening of May 5th or early morning the next day. It seems that an artefact hunter went over the site with a metal detector and where the detector has given a signal, they have dug with a spade, lifted away a turf, found an object and taken it with them. The looters had probably taken iron objects with them since there are traces of rust and corrosion in the soil. But what they have taken with them exactly, we do not know and we will probably not be able to find out – it is just gone. The site has not been excavated archaeologically yet, so the objects that have been removed could have provided vital information about the Viking Age and Bronze Age. This one action in just a few hours had destroyed something that had been lying here for thousands of years. Who the looters were is unclear – but they have tried to leave as few traces as possible by putting back the turfs. The incident has been reported to the County Administrative Board, which has conducted an inspection. The police also rushed to the cultural heritage site and began door-to-door questioning in the area to gather more information.

Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand on her social media that the event makes her "damn furious". "This is not just theft: this is a downright despicable vandalism of our common cultural heritage", she adds.

European Dilemma: Awkward When you Find Stuff you can't just Slip in Your Pocket

 

Marius Mangeac and the coins (photo Marius Mangeac via Facebook)

Why would you "stumble across" a hoard of Treasure when ?going for a walk"? When you live in an EU  country that requires you to have a permit to go looking for archaeological artefacts with a metal detector (Andrea Margolis, 'Man stumbles across hoard of priceless coins while out for nature walk: 'Face to face with history' Fox News May 11, 2025)

An ordinary spring day quickly became extraordinary after a nature-loving metal detectorist unearthed a cache of ancient treasure. Marius Mangeac confirmed the discovery to Fox News Digital. He said he found the hoard in a field near Letca Veche, a small village in southern Romania. In a Facebook group, Mangeac said that he found the coins "on a beautiful Saturday that didn't foreshadow anything of what was to come." "I took my detector and went out alone, as I often do, for exercise and to relax in the fields and forests," he wrote in his post, which was translated from Romanian to English. "I didn't think this day would surprise me and bring me face to face with history." But suddenly his metal detector began beeping – and soon, Mangeac was looking at a hoard of 1,469 Roman coins. [...] After two strenuous days of photographing the coins, he handed them over to the town hall in Letca Nouă.

There is no mention one way or another of any search permit or the fate of any previous objects he might have found  while on a nature walk when he "just happened" (as one does) to take his metal detector with him without applying for any permit for the search first. 

Norton Disney Dodecahedron PAS Public Record LIN-BC9890

Here is a copy of the original database entry - made with PUBLIC MONEY as part of the public record of the common archaeological heritage:

DODECAHEDRON

Unique ID: LIN-BC9890

Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Published 

A complete cast copper-alloy dodecahedron dating to the Roman period (c. AD 43-410). Type 1b.

This object was discovered during a controlled archaeological investigation by a local History and Archaeology Group and Allen Archaeology and was recovered from a pit described by the excavators as a quarry infilled with debris as a midden. Other finds include a box-flue tile fragment, grey-ware pottery, roof tile debris and animal teeth. Photographs and information were kindly provided by Lorena Hitchens who is currently undertaking a PhD on the topic of dodecahedrons. The object has not been handled by the recorder. Photographs are the copyright of Lorena Hitchens.

Description

Dodecahedra are characterised by their openwork (hollow) 12-sided form. Each face is a pentagon with equilateral sides, pierced with a different-sized circular hole Sometimes, faces are decorated with markings surrounding the holes or on the faces or edges. Each vertex, or corner where three sides meet, has a semi-spherical knob, totalling 20 when completely intact. All are roughly the size of an adult human fist, which, it should be noted, can vary widely, from 5cm to 11cm in diameter.

The casting is of high quality, with no cracks, gaps or voids from manufacturing are visible.

This example closely aligns with "1b" style (based on the 1907 typology developed by de Saint-Venant, later refined by Grenier in 1996, then Guggenberger in 1999). Type 1b is defined by a varying number of concentric rings per face, with up to 12 faces decorated; the Norton Disney object is decorated on all 12 faces. Face A, with the largest hole, has one ring. Face J, the face with the smallest hole, has three rings; all other faces have two rings. There are no other markings or stamps inside or outside the
object. The holes on the faces are graduated with slight differences in size

Measurements

Height: 80 mm, Height (without knobs): 70 mm; Width: 86 mm (without knobs) 75 mm; Weight: 254g. Side length of faces: 27 mm. 

Discussion

This is the first example to have been found in the Midlands (stratified or unstratified) and is an exceptionally large example, although it is thought that a larger example is located in the British Museum, although this has been resized on three occasions. It has an unusually large lead content. Lead is required to make it flow into the mould, but this amount makes it fairly impractical for use. 

This is the 10th example recorded on the national PAS database - with it being the first for Lincolnshire and the Midlands. For similar complete or near complete examples see YORYM-41CD72 and BH-692011

What are they? 

The function of these enigmatic forms is still unclear and no firm conclusions have been reached. Suggestions as to their function include: candleholders, polygonal dice, rangefinders, sceptre heads and surveying instruments.

XRF testing data
Gerry McDonnell tested the object with pXRF on 14 Sept 2023. Details regarding the device, settings, targets, calibration, etc., can be found in the separate specialist report from Gerry McDonell Archaeometals Consulting. The following results were communicated verbally to the author:

● Copper (Cu) 63%
● Lead (Pb) 26%
● Tin (Sn) 8%
● Zinc (Zn) 0.2%
● Iron (Fe) trace

These elements are typical of late Romano-British 'leaded gunmetal' cast objects made of mixed recycled copper-alloy metal objects. The lead proportion is high even for typical leaded gunmetal. This may be a random result from the recycling of other metal objects/scrap or an intentional decision by the maker to add more lead. Lead helps the liquid metal "flow" well into nooks and crannies of 3-dimensional object moulds (Bayley and Butcher 2004:15). Decreasing zinc availability from the mid-1st century AD onward could indicate, if
cross-referenced with other dating methods, a later date for this object (Bayley, Crossley, and Ponting 2008:49). By the latter half of the Empire, zinc was nearly unavailable in Roman
Britain, with zinc only present in copper-alloys due to the recycling of earlier brass objects. Iron can exist in trace amounts in other metal elements, or the iron trace detected by XRF may stem from surface contamination. In either case, the iron detected here is unlikely to result from any intentional alloying.

References

Bayley, J., and Butcher, S. (2004) Roman brooches in Britain: a technological and typological study based on the Richborough Collection. London: Society of Antiquaries of
London.

Bayley, J., Crossley, D. and Ponting, M. (ed.s) (2008) Metals and Metalworking: a research framework for archaeometallurgy. London: Historical Metallurgy Society Occasional
Publication No 6.

Guggenberger, M. (1999) Die römischen Dodekaeder. Eine Gesamtdarstellung (Dipl.Universität Innsbruck).

Notes:

Enquiries relating to the creation of 3D Models.

Please note that a license from the private owner of that object is required before creating and distributing a 3D model of the dodecahedron. However, the owner is choosing to remain anonymous. There will be a published report that will be submitted to the Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record (HER) although again the report will still be copyrighted by its author(s), so again, permission is required to use that data for any models.

Find of note status

This is a find of note and has been designated: Regional importance

Subsequent actions

Current location of find: Norton Disney History and Archaeology Groups / Allen Archaeology
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder

Chronology

Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN  
Period to: ROMAN  
Date from: Circa AD 43
Date to: Circa AD 410

Dimensions and weight

Quantity: 1
Height: 80 mm
Width: 86 mm
Weight: 254 g

Discovery dates

Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 15th June 2023

Personal details

This information is restricted for your access level.

Materials and construction

Primary material: Copper alloy  
Manufacture method: Cast  
Completeness: Complete  

Spatial metadata

Region: East Midlands (European Region)
County or Unitary authority: Lincolnshire (County)
District: North Kesteven (District)
To be known as: Norton Disney

Spatial coordinates

Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.

Discovery metadata

Method of discovery: Controlled archaeological investigation (stratified) 
Current location: Norton Disney History and Archaeology Groups / Allen Archaeology
General landuse: Cultivated land 

References cited

[object referred to here Record ID: NMGW-063819  with a broken link]

The link now goes to this in the PAS databaseUnavailable record: LIN-BC9890
Object type: DODECAHEDRON
Broad period: ROMAN
Institution responsible: LIN
Workflow stage: Quarantine Find in quarantine

Relevant FLOs

Lisa Brundle
Created: About one year ago
Last updated: About one month ago
This record is currently unavailable to view for your access levels. Please contact the relevant FLO to gain access.

Treasure Hoard Unearthed in Czech forest on Hiking Trip

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Two people described as "tourists" on a "hike" have discovered in the Czech Republic a 7 kg hoard of treasure hidden in a stone mound containing gold coins, jewellery, and tobacco pouches (Tomasz Sąsiada, 'Treasure trove unearthed in Czech forest valued at £256,000' Daily Wrap 3 May 2025 )

According to the Museum of East Bohemia in Hradec Králové on Facebook, where the treasure was taken, the discovery occurred in February this year. "Two caches in a stone mound on the edge of a now non-existent field overgrown with forest were discovered by two finders during a hiking trip on the south-western slope of Zvičina Hill," read the Facebook post. [...] The treasure [...] was discovered in two containers. An aluminium jar contained 598 gold coins wrapped in black fabric [...] About a yard away, a metal box was also found containing 16 tobacco pouches, bracelets, and other items. Experts from the museum claim that the coins were buried in the ground for over a hundred years and date from 1808 to 1921. They include currency from France, Belgium, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary. However, there are no Czech or German coins. The found items are currently being analysed to determine their origin and metal composition.

This is possibly the spoils from a 1920s burglary (or maybe 1940s Nazi looting) hidden for safekeeping. No mention is made of any "detection" tools used while "hiking" in the Czech forest...