The Netherlands: Ancient warrior head turns up among shrimp

Palinurus

The Living Force
Source (Dutch only): Eeuwenoud beeld van krijger duikt op tussen garnalen bij Texel

In cooperation with NH-News
NOS News - today, 16:17

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Who recognizes this sculpture that the fishermen of the WR22 fished up from the bottom? - Image: Victor Ayal

Ancient statue of warrior turns up among shrimp near Texel

Fishermen made a unique find yesterday off the coast of Texel. While fishing for shrimp, a piece of wood came along that turned out to be an ancient statue. According to archaeologists, it is a "rare masterpiece" and "a jewel".

Fisherman Victor Ayal is still impressed by it. "We get thousands of pieces of wood on board. There were only two seconds between that and I would have thrown it overboard. That was until a face looked at me," he tells NH-News (in Dutch). It turned out to be the piercing eyes of a man with a mustache and a hat. They were on a wooden sculpture that was about 30 by 40 centimeters in size.

According to archaeologist Michiel Bartels of the maritime museum Kaap Skil on Texel, this is probably a statue from the 16th or 17th century. "It is a warrior wearing a Phrygian hat. That hat was a symbol of freedom from slavery in Roman times. That symbolism was also used during the period of the Eighty Years' War," he explains.

The Phrygian hat is a soft cone-shaped headgear whose top points forward and falls down a bit. The Phrygians lived in the area that is now part of Turkey and were a mountain people enslaved by the Romans. When they were freed from slavery, they wore a Phrygian cap.

Presumably this is a kaag-piece, an end piece of a fence on the starboard or port side of a ship, says Bartels. He would like to do research to find out exactly how old the sculpture is and what colors it had. "Possibly there are pigment residues in the folds, because these kinds of statues were always completely painted."

Unique find


According to Bartels, the find is very unique. "It doesn't happen that often that a statue comes to the surface from the Wadden Sea in such a pristine condition. Usually naval shipworms (Teredo Navalis) have chewed it to pieces," says the archaeologist.

Ayal has also never found anything like it before. "Often we retrieve bones, mammoth teeth or wooden pulleys from the VOC era, but I have never encountered anything as special as this."

Where the sculpture will eventually end up is not yet clear. In principle, fishermen are allowed to keep their finds. They only have a reporting obligation and that has been fulfilled.

As far as Ayal is concerned, the sculpture goes to the Kaap Skil museum on Texel. "My intention is not to make money with it. Eventually, if it gets a nice spot at Kaap Skil, nicely preserved, that's fine and then we can look at it again." For now, he has placed the sculpture in an eel tank with seawater, to keep it well preserved.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

From: Eeuwenoude 'krijger' duikt op tussen de garnalen: "Een topstuk, een juweel!"

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Mike Bakker, Victor Ayal and Thijs ten Bokkel of the WR22 managed to keep the 'warrior' on board - Private photo
 
Is it just me or does the headgear look like a combo of a crown on top of a Phrygian cap?
I think you are right, especially when you look at the image on the right side. On that one, the crown like top-up is clearly visible - more so than on the other two.

I, for one, didn't see it as such before you directed my attention to it. So, thanks for mentioning it and congrats for your observational skills. :cool2: The Phrygian cap is supposed to be a soft one, like many of the smurfs are wearing, like here. ;-)
 
I think you are right, especially when you look at the image on the right side. On that one, the crown like top-up is clearly visible - more so than on the other two.

I, for one, didn't see it as such before you directed my attention to it. So, thanks for mentioning it and congrats for your observational skills. :cool2: The Phrygian cap is supposed to be a soft one, like many of the smurfs are wearing, like here. ;-)
Smiling, thank you. So now we have to wonder - did kings who were in areas in which the Phrygian cap was the standard wear them under their crowns? :-/
 
UPDATE: https://www.msn.com/nl-nl/nieuws/Binnenland/opgevist-17e-eeuws-beeld-gaat-naar-archeologische-organisatie/

Retrieved 17th-century statue goes to archaeological organization
ANP - 7 hours ago

DEN OEVER (ANP) - The wooden statue that possibly dates from the 17th century and was fished up near Texel in early August is going to the organization Archeologie West-Friesland. Shrimp fisherman Victor Ayal said Saturday on Twitter that the statue will be examined by the organization, for example to find out what colors it had and how old it is.

Among other things, the image of a man's head with a hat will receive a CT scan in Groningen to examine its interior. Eventually, it must be preserved with freeze-drying. The archaeological organization has taken the statue on loan.

It is planned that the statue will subsequently return to Den Oever, the port where it was first brought ashore. There it will then likely be displayed starting next spring, if there is a spot in the shade and it can be placed in a proper display case, Ayal said.

'Barry'

Municipal archaeologist Michiel Bartels doesn't want to say too much about it yet. "We have now found a way for the statue to stay close to where it was found," he said. He says he will soon write another blog about the find and the process in which the statue afterwards ended up.

Ayal found the statue with his colleagues in early August. He posted the story on Twitter, after which it received a lot of attention. He himself calls the sculpture Barry.

Coat

Bartels is leading the investigation into 'Barry'. He assumes the statue is authentic and comes from the 17th century, he said last month. "This was not thrown overboard for fun. A statue like this belongs to a large freighter or a warship. There is a lot of detail in it. Here and there are elements that indicate it was mounted to a ship, such as holes for connections."

'Barry' has a coat with "crazy flaps," Bartels described. It looks like a Leiden duffel, which came into vogue around 1800. "On his head is possibly a so-called Phrygian hat, but it could also be the hat of a Basque whaler." It is unclear from which ship the statue came.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 
I find many similarities with "La dama de Elche".
Superficial similarities, yes. But the differences dominate, I think.

For one, according to wikipedia this Elche bust is made of limestone whereas the retrieved head is made of wood.

Secondly, there's almost 21 centuries between them as far as the presumed date of production is concerned (4th century BC vs. 17th century AD).

Thirdly, the wooden head seems purely ornamental while the bust probably functioned as a funerary urn.
 
Superficial similarities, yes. But the differences dominate, I think.

For one, according to wikipedia this Elche bust is made of limestone whereas the retrieved head is made of wood.

Secondly, there's almost 21 centuries between them as far as the presumed date of production is concerned (4th century BC vs. 17th century AD).

Thirdly, the wooden head seems purely ornamental while the bust probably functioned as a funerary urn.
Yes, what I am referring to more than anything, is what he wears over his ears, which could be something technological.

The Phrygian cap is significant to locate him perhaps, but what caught my attention is what he wears on his ears.
 
Yes, what I am referring to more than anything, is what he wears over his ears, which could be something technological.

The Phrygian cap is significant to locate him perhaps, but what caught my attention is what he wears on his ears.
As far as I'm able to recognize, he's not wearing anything on his ears other than his hair - which seems to be fairly curly. So it might have been a wig of sorts in stead of his own hairstyle. :huh:
 
As far as I'm able to recognize, he's not wearing anything on his ears other than his hair - which seems to be fairly curly. So it might have been a wig of sorts in stead of his own hairstyle. :huh:
Or some earmuffs for the cold, yes.

It's just an impression I had when I saw the image.

Thank you for your vision more based on concrete facts.
 
Cat eyes ? Oriental eyes? The thing perched on his head look like it has eyes. But 3-400 years underwater? Looks super clean. How does that work?
I don't see any eyes in the hat, only holes which were probably drilled into it for attachment purposes, I presume.

As for its pristine outlook, the head was probably buried under a (thin) layer of sand all those years. Shrimp fishing is done while trawling, so the head emerged from the sand together with the shrimp in one go, which follows from the description in the original post.
 
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