#1 The Pons Fabricus Is The Only Ancient Bridge In Rome Still In Its Original Location And Condition. The Last Major Repairs Occurred In 23 BCE
#3 The Lycurgus Cup: The Only Complete Example Of Ancient Color-Changing Glass
#4 One Of The Last Two Preserved Jolly Roger Pirate Flags Left In Existence
Bored Panda reached out to anthropologist and archaeologist Carl Feagans to talk all things unique artifacts and anything else that you can unearth from our lovely planet Earth.
Feagans originally had a dream of becoming an astronaut one day. That, unfortunately, did not work out, but instead of looking up into the vast skies and the cosmos beyond, looking at the ground turned out to be as exciting as space.
After 12 years of service in the military, Feagans took advantage of his benefits and went to study at the University of Texas at Arlington. One leftover handout about archaeology and a subsequent shift in majors later, Feagans became a full-blown anthropologist with a focus on archaeology. Oh, and he also runs a blog about archaeology that will blow your mind.
“Now, when I mention I'm an archaeologist in a crowded room, I’m instantly one of the more popular people to speak with. At least until an astronaut shows up,” joked Feagans in our interview.
#7 The Sword Of Goujian Was Discovered Untarnished And Retains Sharp Edges After ~2500 Years
#8 The Barber Cup & Crawford Cup, The Only Two Examples Of Ancient Roman Vessels Carved From Fluorite
#9 The Only Known Color Photograph Of The Russian Czar's Fabled "Amber Room" - Looted By The Nazi's This Unique, Priceless Work Of Art Was Lost For Ever (Maybe?). St Petersburg, 1943
#10 One Of Only Three Papyrus Fragments Written In The Phoenician Language
Just like history is much more than an implement for humanity to learn from its mistakes, archaeology is more than just digging up bones and stuff lost to time. But how much more is it is also hard to say.
“It is. Much more. And it's hard to put a finger on it. Most people don't realize that archaeology is a sub-discipline of anthropology, which is essentially the study of people. In turn, that makes archaeology the study of people through the material past,” elaborated Feagans.
“Often, these are people that are long dead, which makes them an abstract thing. I think the struggle of most archaeologists is to humanize and, as much as is possible, individualize these people. It's rare that we can individualize people of the past in a manner that's respectful to that person's potential descendants in the present, but when it's done it's quite magical.”
“An example is finding the footprints of a small child alongside her mother in modern-day Whitesands, New Mexico. Footprints that currently date to over 23,000 years ago! This isn't just evidence of a population of people, it's evidence of an individual! One who carried her child for a bit, set her down to walk beside her for a bit…”
#12 This Julio-Claudian Rock Crystal And Silver Spoon Is The Only Example Of Its Kind Known To Exist
Now, with a subreddit like r/UniqueArtifacts, you’d probably guess that the stuff found here—one-of-a-kind stuff—is probably absolutely expensive or flat-out priceless. But there’s much more nuance to the price than just numbers.
Feagans explained that artifacts can absolutely have a price put on them. In fact, there are cases when you have to. The Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) regulates fines and restitution based on an archaeological object’s commercial price that, say, gets stolen from public land.
But that’s just the practical, material side of the coin. What actually brings value to the object is its context. Like the answers to questions where was it found? What was its position in relation to other artifacts? What were its features? Was it discarded or lost? Was it part of a burned-down habitation?
#16 One Of The Two Coins Found Of The Roman Usurper Silbannacus, Who Would've Been Unknown Otherwise
#17 The Only Surviving Example Of A Crest From A Roman Centurion's Helmet
#18 The Vergilius Augusteus, One Of Only Two Surviving Ancient Manuscripts To Be Painstakingly Written In Roman Square Capitals
#19 First Ever Intact Ballista Arrow Uncovered In Utrecht (Augusta Treverorum), Netherlands
#20 The Only Intact Bronze Lantern From Ancient Rome Next To A Reproduction. Housed In The Museo Archeologico Girolamo Rossi In Ventimiglia, Italy
“Archaeological sites are non-renewable resources. Once they're gone, they're gone. Forever. In fact, so many archaeological sites have been inadvertently damaged and destroyed in the last 100 years alone that we could never count them,” continued Feagans on the real price of archaeological artifacts. “Even the act of excavating a site necessarily involves destroying the site as the artifacts and features of the site are recorded, documented, photographed, and collected.”
“There are times when we archaeologists choose *not* to dig or excavate or to collect. Part of the reason is because of the destructive nature. Sometimes it's to adhere to the wishes of descendant communities or tribes. Sometimes it's so we can leave something behind for archaeologists with better methods in the future. Sometimes it's because we realize curation alone is a problem: there are only so many places you can store the past.”