It is thought that children as young as ten could have made the greatest treasures of the Bronze Age found near Stonehenge.
The artefacts were crafted nearly 4,000 years ago, 1,000 years before the invention of the magnifying glass.
Making them took many hours of peering at tiny pieces of metal, and would have effectively blinded the young artisans, said experts.
Stonehenge treasure was made by children as young as 10 - and the works were so intricate it would have left them almost BLIND, experts claim
Ornate jewellery and daggers crafted 4,000 years ago found in Bush Barrow
One dagger had a wooden handle decorated with 140,000 tiny gold studs
Historians say adults would have grown too short-sighted to make them
By Ben Spencer, Science Reporter For The Daily Mail
18 September 2014
Daily Mail
Children as young as ten created the greatest treasures of the Bronze Age found near Stonehenge, historians believe.
They said the ornate jewellery and ceremonial daggers are so intricate that they could only have been made by a child.
The artefacts were crafted nearly 4,000 years ago, 1,000 years before the invention of the magnifying glass.
Artefacts: The Bush Barrow treasures, including this gold body lozenge, were crafted during the Bronze Age
Making them took many hours of peering at tiny pieces of metal, and would have effectively blinded the young artisans, said experts.
One of the finest pieces, the Bush Barrow Dagger, has a wooden handle decorated with 140,000 tiny gold studs just 1mm long and 0.2mm wide. Making it would have taken at least 2,500 hours.
Ronald Rabbetts, a leading optometrist, has assessed several pieces found near Stonehenge.
He said: ‘Only children and teenagers, and adults who had become myopic naturally, would have been able to create such tiny objects.’
By the age of 20, jewellery workers would have seen anything more than 3ft away as just a blur, he added.
The Bush Barrow Dagger dating from 1900BC was excavated 200 years ago from a burial mound filled with noblemen’s treasures 1,000 yards from Stonehenge.
Secrets: The artefacts were excavated 200 years ago near the ancient stone circle in Wiltshire, pictured
But it is only now that such artefacts have been re-examined as part of a major project which is featured at 8pm tonight on BBC2 in Operation Stonehenge: What Lies Beneath.
Archaeologists have unveiled 17 previously undiscovered monuments and shrines around the site in Wiltshire, meaning they now realise Stonehenge was not isolated but at the centre of a bustling complex.
David Dawson is director of the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, where the Bush Barrow treasures are on display.
He said: ‘The very finest gold work involved the making and positioning of tens of thousands of tiny individually made components, each around 1mm long and 0.2mm wide.’
Read more: Stonehenge treasure was made by children as young as 10 - and the works were so intricate it would have left them almost BLIND, experts claim | Daily Mail Online
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The ornate jewellery and ceremonial daggers, which were found 200 years ago, are so intricate they could only have been made by children.
The artefacts were crafted nearly 4,000 years ago, 1,000 years before the invention of the magnifying glass.
Making them took many hours of peering at tiny pieces of metal, and would have effectively blinded the young artisans, said experts.
Stonehenge treasure was made by children as young as 10 - and the works were so intricate it would have left them almost BLIND, experts claim
Ornate jewellery and daggers crafted 4,000 years ago found in Bush Barrow
One dagger had a wooden handle decorated with 140,000 tiny gold studs
Historians say adults would have grown too short-sighted to make them
By Ben Spencer, Science Reporter For The Daily Mail
18 September 2014
Daily Mail
Children as young as ten created the greatest treasures of the Bronze Age found near Stonehenge, historians believe.
They said the ornate jewellery and ceremonial daggers are so intricate that they could only have been made by a child.
The artefacts were crafted nearly 4,000 years ago, 1,000 years before the invention of the magnifying glass.
Artefacts: The Bush Barrow treasures, including this gold body lozenge, were crafted during the Bronze Age
Making them took many hours of peering at tiny pieces of metal, and would have effectively blinded the young artisans, said experts.
One of the finest pieces, the Bush Barrow Dagger, has a wooden handle decorated with 140,000 tiny gold studs just 1mm long and 0.2mm wide. Making it would have taken at least 2,500 hours.
Ronald Rabbetts, a leading optometrist, has assessed several pieces found near Stonehenge.
He said: ‘Only children and teenagers, and adults who had become myopic naturally, would have been able to create such tiny objects.’
By the age of 20, jewellery workers would have seen anything more than 3ft away as just a blur, he added.
The Bush Barrow Dagger dating from 1900BC was excavated 200 years ago from a burial mound filled with noblemen’s treasures 1,000 yards from Stonehenge.
Secrets: The artefacts were excavated 200 years ago near the ancient stone circle in Wiltshire, pictured
But it is only now that such artefacts have been re-examined as part of a major project which is featured at 8pm tonight on BBC2 in Operation Stonehenge: What Lies Beneath.
Archaeologists have unveiled 17 previously undiscovered monuments and shrines around the site in Wiltshire, meaning they now realise Stonehenge was not isolated but at the centre of a bustling complex.
David Dawson is director of the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, where the Bush Barrow treasures are on display.
He said: ‘The very finest gold work involved the making and positioning of tens of thousands of tiny individually made components, each around 1mm long and 0.2mm wide.’
Read more: Stonehenge treasure was made by children as young as 10 - and the works were so intricate it would have left them almost BLIND, experts claim | Daily Mail Online
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