# Turkish authorities misidentifies modern souvenir as historical artifact? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834 "2019-05-31T15:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/1 "2019-05-31T15:39:31Z")
An English language propaganda “newspaper” in Turkey just published this story about [a 1200-year-old statuette of Odin being seized in Central Turkey](https://www.dailysabah.com/investigations/2019/05/30/1200-year-old-viking-god-odin-statuette-seized-in-central-turkey). The statuette pictured is absolutely not a 1200-year old Norse artifact. Actually my inexpert guess would be that it’s a modern souvenir supposed to be a Celt. I wonder who vouched for it being Viking art? The supposed criminal? ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/2 "2019-05-31T17:02:47Z")
I didn’t realize Odin was hanging out in Turkey these days. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/3 "2019-05-31T17:14:51Z")
Turkish authorities are currently searching for a Mr. Franklin Mint at this time… ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/4 "2019-05-31T17:17:48Z")
Are you sure this wasn’t from _The Onion_? Looks like a decoration they might sell in Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/5 "2019-05-31T17:18:57Z")
Vikings LOVE the Mediterranean, as this documentary shows: > **[The Long Ships (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Ships_(film))** > > The Long Ships is a 1964 Anglo–Yugoslav adventure film shot in Technirama directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn and Rosanna Schiaffino. > The film was very loosely based on the Swedish novel The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson (1941–1945), retaining little more than the title (of the English translation) and the Moorish settings of Orm's first voyage. Although the protagonist is named Rolfe, the film was released in Sweden with the title Röde Orm ... Despite the Wikipedia claim that the movie discarded all of the book, quite a bit of it is actually in the originally book by Swedish author Frank Bengtsson ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/6 "2019-05-31T19:06:39Z")
> [@naita](#): > > The statuette pictured is absolutely not a 1200-year old Norse artifact. This is more like what [Viking art](http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/EARLYART.html) of that period looked like. > [@VOW](#): > > I didn’t realize Odin was hanging out in Turkey these days. That part isn’t ridiculous. The Vikings established the [Kievian Rus state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangians) in modern Ukraine and traded and fought with the Byzantine Empire. It’s not implausible that a Viking artifact could be found in Turkey. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/7 "2019-05-31T19:55:01Z")
The [Ynglinga Saga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga) says that some Norse Gods (while they were still mere mortals\*) originated from a land separated from the Turks (who weren’t in Turkey yet) by a mountain range. So some shared cultural items from ~20000 years ago would be possible. If the account were true. (Thor Heyerdahl thought it was and spent some time trying to prove it. Maybe not the best idea he had.) The Rus/Byzantine/Anatolia thing is a thousand years later. - Later, Christian, writers liked to posit that the old Gods were just these really fantastic guys, you know? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/8 "2019-05-31T19:56:18Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > I didn’t realize Odin was hanging out in Turkey these days. > ~VOW Visiting old haunts: [Viking vandalism in the Hagia Sophia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runic_inscriptions_in_Hagia_Sophia) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/9 "2019-05-31T20:01:31Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Thor Heyerdahl thought it was and spent some time trying to prove it. Maybe not the best idea he had. Definitely not the best. Entirely based on the fiction of Snorre, who was trying to make the sagas acceptable for a Christian audience, and standard crack pot archaeology approaches, like non-etymologists comparing modern languages to establish links, without knowing the evolution of said languages. A Norwegian etymologist showed that by the same shallow analysis one could show that the Sami language belongs in an African language group. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/10 "2019-05-31T20:39:27Z")
Did they check the bottom to see if it says “copyright Marvel Entertainment” on it? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/11 "2019-05-31T21:57:11Z")
Amazing! I guess [this](http://sgws3productimages.azureedge.net/sgwproductimages/images/148/1-25-2019/97709282563037is.JPG) is just a reproduction ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/12 "2019-05-31T23:15:58Z")
But it is made of an unknown metal that present day science cannot reproduce! Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/13 "2019-05-31T23:55:33Z")
This type of thing [isn’t unprecedented](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/found-mysterious-gold-object-in-a-jerusalem-cemetery). ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/14 "2019-06-01T00:10:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The Vikings established the [Kievian Rus state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangians) in modern Ukraine and traded and fought with the Byzantine Empire. Fought, traded and [more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian_Guard). ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/15 "2019-06-01T00:35:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > This type of thing [isn’t unprecedented](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/found-mysterious-gold-object-in-a-jerusalem-cemetery). > [@Atlas Obscura](#): > > And in short order, the object was identified as a gilded Isis beamer— OMG! It’s ISIS! ISIS is in Jerusalem! ISIS! Daesh! The sinister global caliphate! The– > [@Atlas Obscura](#): > > a New Age tool that’s sold by a German company. It comes in sizes large and small, and is meant to “strengthen the body’s own energy field” and also harmonize radiation or other energy fields. According to the company that makes it, about 25,000 have been sold. Oh. [Emily Litella]Never mind.[/Emily Litella] Unless it _is_ ISIS, as in Daesh. And they’ve teamed up with _the Germans!_ And they can MANIPULATE ENERGY FIELDS! It’s an _ **ISLAMO-GERMAN DEATH RAY!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/16 "2019-06-01T10:09:46Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Amazing! > > I guess [this](http://sgws3productimages.azureedge.net/sgwproductimages/images/148/1-25-2019/97709282563037is.JPG) is just a reproduction That one actually has a patina…I could better buy it being misidentified as OLD than the untarnished one in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/17 "2019-06-01T12:23:53Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Unless it _is_ ISIS, as in Daesh. And they’ve teamed up with _the Germans!_ And they can MANIPULATE ENERGY FIELDS! It sound more like ISIS has teamed up with Gwyneth Paltrow… ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/18 "2019-06-01T19:50:58Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Amazing! > > I guess [this](http://sgws3productimages.azureedge.net/sgwproductimages/images/148/1-25-2019/97709282563037is.JPG) is just a reproduction I knew the Teeming Millions wouldn’t disappoint. Did you just find the image, or is there more info? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/19 "2019-06-02T00:58:15Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I knew the Teeming Millions wouldn’t disappoint. Did you just find the image, or is there more info? Actually, I found the photo using Google Image Search. This led me to a Goodwill auction site that was auctioning the figurine off, but the auction had ended and they were no longer hosting the image, but I could link to the image that appeared in Google Images, which is what I did. I wanted to post the auction, figuring it would be a lot more interesting, but without the image, it kind of lost its appeal. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-authorities-misidentifies-modern-souvenir-as-historical-artifact/834834/20 "2019-06-02T23:45:35Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Actually, I found the photo using Google Image Search. This led me to a Goodwill auction site that was auctioning the figurine off, but the auction had ended and they were no longer hosting the image, but I could link to the image that appeared in Google Images, which is what I did. > > I wanted to post the auction, figuring it would be a lot more interesting, but without the image, it kind of lost its appeal. Too bad. It would be interesting to find out where it’s from.