Why did Romans, Celts, and even prehistoric settlers submerge their belongings?

[Neil]

Archaeologist Andrej Gaspari is haunted by pieces of the past. His hometown river, the Ljubljanica, has yielded thousands of them Celtic coins, Roman luxuries, medieval swords all from a shallow 12-mile stretch. Those who lived near and traveled along the stream that winds through Slovenia's capital of Ljubljana considered it sacred, Gaspari believes. That would explain why generations of Celts, Romans, and earlier inhabitants offered treasures far too many to be accidental to the river during rites of passage, in mourning, or as thanksgiving for battles won.

But Gaspari may never be able to explain for certain why the Ljubljanica holds one of Europe's richest stores of river treasures, many of them remarkably preserved by the soft sediments and gentle waters. Too many pieces of the puzzle have already disappeared.

During the past two decades, sport divers have made the river their playground, removing most of some 10,000 to 13,000 objects found so far. Even though removing artifacts from the Ljubljanica has long been illegal, professional archaeologists have been forced to compete with private collectors. Some divers sold their loot to museums; others to the highest bidder. Some kept their treasures private. Many artifacts have left the country, untraceable. Gaspari's greatest torment comes from the knowledge that few maverick collectors know or care where exactly their prizes were found. For an archaeologist, an object's meaning comes as much from its context location, association with other objects as from the prize itself. Without context, there is no story.

Mladen Mück is one of Gaspari's tormentors. Now in his 40s, the Bosnian-born architectbegan diving in the river in 1985 and has brought up about a thousand pieces. In his kitchen in Ljubljana, a plastic box contains prehistoric tools. Upstairs, dusty cases hold other rare artifacts, including deer antler axes. Mück says he has no intention of selling what he has found. Like many collectors, he babies his goods and claims they are better off with him than with the authorities.

"More people see these artifacts in my house than if I gave them to a museum," he says with a dismissive wave. "There they would sit in a basement."
Gaspari disagrees. A team at the National Museum of Slovenia is preparing an exhibit of the river's treasures that will tour Europe in 2008, he says. Still, he hopes that someday Mück will hand over his items. "My heart is strong," quips the 33-year-old archaeologist. If Mück is obstinate, "I will outlive him."

As for artifacts still in the Ljubljanica, Gaspari believes they should be left untouched until they can be properly conserved. He searches for new objects only when he believes they are threatened as is the case on one blistering July afternoon. Struggling into a wet suit on the riverbank, Gaspari gets ready for a dive. Water visibility is unusually good, he says, though you might not think so looking at all the algae and bits of trash.

He and his team have been hired by the town of Vrhnika to search for artifacts that could be lost when a sewage plant is built on the river. The need for a treatment plant is obvious from the stench of sulfur, and worse.

Gaspari doesn't expect to find much here, perhaps some medieval potsherds, not rare in an Old World river. But less than an hour after the divers begin their survey, one member of his team, Miran Erič-Pac, surfaces and hands him an ax made from deer antlers more than 5,000 years ago.
"We've never found an artifact so old this far upstream," Gaspari says. "It's probably from a nearby prehistoric settlement."

Then from the murk comes a 16th-century water pitcher painted with an aqua bird and yellow flowers that resembles a thousand replicas in local souvenir shops. Another diver hands him a chunk of stone with a decorative edge a fragment of an ancient plate. Gaspari strokes its flat side, as familiar with its shape as with his morning coffee cup. "It's early Roman," he says, "around 10 b.c."

Throughout the day, more pieces of Slovenia's early story are found. Like other objects from the riverbed, they hint at a mysterious connection between distant generations and waters they revered. Somewhere, perhaps in the trove of artifacts in private hands or perhaps in the river's murky depths—is the clue that could unlock the mystery.

[carling]

intresting read,,tried river tectin occasionally on the wye and arrow nowt 5000 years old there  apart from mobile phones and broken oars

[glynkid]

Intresting post I once went detecting on the banks of the river Dee Finds were mainly modern money
but george thr fifth coins and near a tree I hadtwo victorian silver and a teaspoon the only problem was
some teenagers who  grapped two finds and ran off with me quietly  should I say Loudly cursing them in my mind
they picked the finds out of the soil This happened to me on a beach once and I managed to hit the culprit with swingingthe detector into his face  Not too hard but he never came back

[probono]

I've always thought about the gravels that show at the bottom of the USK at low tide, just before the Brynglass tunnels - but just getting to them in the first place would be an adventure.

I'm also tempted by the Taff (when the river is low) - there was a roman river crossing in Llandaff, but of course the river has moved, and been moved over the years, so I'm not sure anything would be there now apart from modern rubbish.

[Neil]

Thats my neck of the woods Probono - I've tried several times to locate the Llandaff Roman jetty/port (whatever it was) without success. Its documented several times as being there, but where is anyones guess. As a kid when the Taff burst its banks and the fields flooded we used to float around them on home made rafts. Its got about six foot of silt on all neighbouring areas now on the Llandaff side.

As an aside we went on the Llandaff Ghost tour a few months ago - a quality night out, helped along with a brandy hip flask! Fully recommend it for anyone looking for something different to do. Its listed on Trip Advisor as "One of the Ten Best things You Can Do in the UK for Under a Tenner" - well worth the money!

Cheers
Neil

[probono]

Thats my neck of the woods Probono - I've tried several times to locate the Llandaff Roman jetty/port (whatever it was) without success. Its documented several times as being there, but where is anyones guess. As a kid when the Taff burst its banks and the fields flooded we used to float around them on home made rafts. Its got about six foot of silt on all neighbouring areas now on the Llandaff side.

As an aside we went on the Llandaff Ghost tour a few months ago - a quality night out, helped along with a brandy hip flask! Fully recommend it for anyone looking for something different to do. Its listed on Trip Advisor as "One of the Ten Best things You Can Do in the UK for Under a Tenner" - well worth the money!

Cheers
Neil

You can't be too far from me - I live on the 'wrong side' of the river, but was schooled on the fancy side

I've been tempted to go on the ghost tour myself - you're the second person to recommend it to me in the last few weeks.

I live a couple of hundred yards from the weir, so go and have a look at the water levels quite often - but between there and the A48 I've not seen anything in the river, or even in the estate in dry weather. I've been thinking recently that the line of Ely road sort of lines up with Birchgrove Road / Heathwood road - which then heads off in the direction of Basleg - and it would make sense to cross Caerphilly road (the roman road going north) at around that point.

[dances with badgers]

due to coastal erosion it probably was a long way further away than you think it was guys