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A Tiny Badge Lost in a Finnish Field Belongs to One of the Rarest Medieval Pilgrimage Finds
A medieval pilgrim badge found in a field in South-West Finland has been identified as part of one of the rarest known groups of devotional objects from the Baltic world. Only six or seven comparable Livonian badges are known from Europe, which makes the worn pewter fragment from Masku far more important than its small…
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A Sealed Reliquary Cross Discovered at Ancient Lystra, a City Visited by Saint Paul
Archaeologists working in central Anatolia have uncovered a rare Christian artifact at Ancient Lystra—a sealed bronze reliquary cross, preserved exactly as it was closed nearly a millennium ago. The object was found during excavations in the church area of the ancient city, a site closely associated with the missionary journeys of Saint Paul Dating to…
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A Small Bronze Cross Is Rewriting the Early Christian History of Northeastern Germany
A modest bronze cross uncovered in western Brandenburg is prompting archaeologists to rethink how early Christianity spread across northeastern Germany during the early Middle Ages. Dating to the late 10th or early 11th century, the object is unremarkable in size—but extraordinary in what it reveals. What makes the find exceptional is not merely its age,…
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A Medieval Glass Crucifixion Jewel Emerges from England’s Largest Infrastructure Dig
Beneath the future site of the Sizewell C nuclear power station, archaeologists have uncovered an object that feels unexpectedly intimate.A tiny medieval glass jewel, depicting the Crucifixion, lay hidden in Suffolk soil for centuries. The find comes from one of the largest archaeological investigations ever carried out in eastern England, revealing not only the jewel…
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A Byzantine Glass Cameo Unearthed in Britain Reveals the Global Reach of Medieval Pilgrimage
Archaeologists from Oxford Cotswold Archaeology have uncovered a small yet extraordinary Byzantine glass cameo depicting the Crucifixion of Christ, offering a rare glimpse into how sacred imagery circulated across the medieval world. The translucent green cameo — just 2 centimeters across — shows Christ on the Cross, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John,…