Comments on: I crave age.

Question: I crave age.

greytape — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:25:15 -0800

What's the oldest man-made thing I can buy for €1500-2000?

I remember watching an antiques program years ago and seeing a Native American sculpture that they dated to around the 5th century, being sold for not all that much. I'd really like something like that.
I'm guessing coins are probably my best bet, or maybe arrow heads, but I'd really like a bit of pottery or something. So taking into account the coolness/oldness matrix, could I pick something suitable for a few thousand dollars that was a thousand years plus? If so, what?

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:38:45 -0800

You needn't pay that much. This is your man if you want something online, he updates his store regularly and he has some truly beautiful items. For instance, why anyone would pay serious money for modern designer jewellery when you can buy stunning and wearable jewellery from before the birth of Christ is a mystery.

By: farishta

farishta — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:38:47 -0800

A google search brought up this site, though I can't say how reliable it is. I particularly like this Sumerian Fossil Shell Amulet, or, even older, this 8,000 year old Neolithic Stone Idol.

By: farishta

farishta — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:43:26 -0800

I'd really like a bit of pottery or something

This is also pretty neat.

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:42:13 -0800

Stone axe. You should be able to get back to the lower Paleolithic for $100 or so. I don't know about mid/upper - I'd like to imagine all that stuff is sitting in museums, but somehow I doubt it. Who knows, you may be able to find something crafted by Homo habilis.

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 29 May 2008 05:50:35 -0800

(I got Upper and Lower Paleolithic the wrong way round, BTW).

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 29 May 2008 05:55:03 -0800

Just FYI, stuff like that $1000 neolithic idol that farsihta linked to are laying around in piles in neolithic sites in Syria. Though much of it is covered under antiquities laws (as is the idol probably) it's not very rare and $1000 is a rip-off.

By: saladin

saladin — Thu, 29 May 2008 06:34:16 -0800

I'm partial to cuneiform, myself.

By: D.C.

D.C. — Thu, 29 May 2008 06:42:22 -0800

Be careful who you buy from; fakes and scammers abound. Learn about the type of items you are interested in and who the reputable dealers are.

Also, some of the jewelry you'll see may have recently removed from a corpse, if that bothers you.

By: mdn

mdn — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:28:33 -0800

ancient coins are not very expensive - you can easily get something a couple thousand years old for less than $100 because they were so common. You can even get something that old for a few bucks if you want...

If you become a collector, you would be looking for rare coins, well preserved examples, etc. To get anything old would not take much money, but you could find examples that would cost what you are willing to pay. But it would make more sense to be familiar with the details so that you know why it's worth paying that much for a particular coin, etc...

By: mumkin

mumkin — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:44:11 -0800

Speaking of antiquities law, please do a bit of research into whatever dealer you're thinking of going with, to ensure that they're reputable and on the up and up. Not because you might get a fake, but because you might get something real that was collected by treasure hunters.

<soapbox>The looting of archaeological sites is a crime that impacts everyone — when an artifact is removed from its context, undocumented, the value that it could impart is significantly diminished. Potentially precious information about a long-vanished culture is immediately destroyed, forever and ever. Purchasing looted artifacts feeds the trade, encouraging further destruction of sites not yet professionally excavated.</soapbox>

So, as one lover of history to another, please do all that you can to ensure that in your desire to possess history, you don't harm it.

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:54:51 -0800

What mumkin said.

Flintknappers could easily make you a tool (arrowhead, knife etc) that looks like those made upwards of 10,000 years ago. No-one but another 'knapper or an archaeologist would ever know the difference.

Link goes to google search results. I 'knap myself but I'm nowhere near good enough to produce the cool stuff represented in the link.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:37:24 -0800

I agree with mumkin, but trading in looted antiquities is different from trading in antiquities. Many artifacts have already been removed from their context by historical acts of humans, war or nature. Also, it is far better to have artifats on the market and documented than to have them sitting under hundreds of feet of water in a Turkish reservoir or entombed in concrete under the fast lane of an Italian motorway or other act of modern man. It is certainly hard to tell the difference. Creating a market for legal antiquities definitely creates value for the illegal, but still, the two are quite different.

To n-th Mumkin and the others, use only a reputable dealer and know the provenance of the item before you buy.

By: sethwoodworth

sethwoodworth — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:52:21 -0800

Well potentially someone other than a knapper could know that your piece isn't genuine. Obsidian (far more common than flint in the NW for knappers) patinas in a very predictable rate.

By: erikgrande

erikgrande — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:12:20 -0800

They're not going to be as old as the pottery or coins for the price, but I get a kick out of old books. AbeBooks lets you filter by date: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchEntry

By: judith

judith — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:30:46 -0800

Sadigh Gallery. Their web site is horrific, but the gallery is reputable (and very much worth a visit if you're in NYC) and has wonderful items - you could get a 2500 year old oil lamp (you mentioned liking pottery) for a few hundred bucks.