Wunderkammer

23/12/2022

Did you know... Eve was a sagittarius, born the 30th November in 🐍🍎 ‘The Garden of Eden’

But what has Eve’s zodiac sign to do with anything? Swipe to read to uncover the curiousity of Medical Astroligy 👉

14/12/2022

Ten Western European Bronze age axes showing the broad 'evolution' of style from the copper age (far left) to late bronze age/early iron age (far right) ☞

This spans about 3000 - 500 BC.

(1, 2, 3) Shown are simple flat axes from the early bronze age with progressive flaring of the cutting edge through casting and hammering.

(4) A flanged flat axe with raised edges and median winged and stopped palstaves (5, 6) from the middle bronze age.

(7) A stopped palstave and a wrapped bronze axe, (8) middle to late bronze age.

(9) Finally socketed axes with the top (9) showing patterning mimicking earlier axe types and perhaps showing the development towards a socketed head.

(10) The final Portland style axe is patterned copper alloy, perhaps votive or currency, from the late bronze age to early iron age. These trends are general and included many overlapping styles and patterns which varied regionally.

You might have noticed some minor details... 🔍 The axe designs continuously refer to each other. Some of them as practical features, and some purely for decorative features referencing previous practical features. This process is a clear representation of design evolution, something we today often see in for example, fashion, architecture and product design.

09/12/2022

Have you ever wondered what people collected before Pokémon, magic cards and comic books?

Dating back to the 18th century, collecting butterflies was a very common hobby for both adults and children all over Europe 🦋

This hobby was so popular, it lasted for centuries - all the way up until the early 1960’s.
Two British prime ministers were themselves avid butterfly collectors - Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill.

Due to over-collection, rare butterfly populations have been damaged, which could be one of the reasons this hobby has now passed out of favour.

Today many species are locally or nationally protected from collection, though most conservationists agree that habitat loss and degradation (due to intensive farming, draining, pesticide and herbicide use etc.) is ultimately responsible for the rapid population and range reduction in many butterfly species in recent decades.

External sources:
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/wings-of-desire-why-the-hobby-of-butterfly-collecting-is-over-it-s-all-about-conservation-now-10448852.html

02/12/2022

17/11/2022

Tiny evidence of a massive event 💥

The result of a meteorite impact 14.5 million years ago in Ries Germany.

This is a calcite belemnite rostra - already a fossil over 100 million years old at the time of the impact, which was shattered below ground in the claystone and marlstone rock where it was deposited under the impact site. Over the ensuing million years silicates leached into the cavities to re-fuse a structure now looking like a rattler's tail.

08/11/2022

When thinking of ‘Braveheart’, ‘Asterix’ & ‘Doctor who’, can you see any similarities..? 🔎

Here's one.
All of them depict elements of Pictish heritage.
An ancient celtic people famously known as the mythical blue folk, or to Romans known as savages who fought completely naked!

Much of what we know about the Picts comes from the Romans' attempts to conquer parts of Scotland. Romans named these celtic tribes ‘Picti’, which translates to ‘The Painted’/’Tattooed People’.

Julius Caesar himself was fascinated by this people and recorded that the Picts' were covered head to toe with blue colored designs from woad 💙 and the only clothes they wore was chains of iron around their neck and waist.
These designs were so intricate and beautiful it led Romans to believe the reason for the garmentless Picts was to show off their graphical blue bodies.

This depiction of the Picts can be seen in John Chapmans’ engraving from the 19th-century, which was prepared for ‘Encyclopaedia Londinensis’ (Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature) 📚 published in London between 1810 and 1829.

By counts, around 10.000 Picts died defending their land, but Scotland never fell to the Romans.
As the Roman records are of invading forces thus likely far away from the whole truth.

What is known from relics uncovered in British archaeological digs, the Picts weren’t a particular warlike folk, but relatively peaceful - until the Romans showed up with a radical “go-getter” attitude. Also there is little proof that they really fought naked.

In the end it was not war drums that heralded the end of the Pictish culture: it was the cross.
Christian missionaries started moving into the Picts’ territory and spread the message of Jesus Christ.
One of the most successful conversions was done by Saint Columba, who famously won over the clans by banishing a monster they thought dwelled in the River Ness - a story believed to be the basis for the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.

External sources:
www.meetthepicts.com/eerste-blogbericht/
www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/illuminated/lab/overview-of-artists-materials/indigo-and-woad/type/material

04/11/2022

We're so excited to start sharing stories with you guys! 📖✨