[Red Badger]

The collection, which is now on display at the Wiltshire Museum in the town of Devizes, was interpreted at that time as the grave goods of a "shaman" or holy man.

Always with the 'religious' aspect. Why couldn't they interpret it as 'He was a rich goldsmith'?..............

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

For the same reason that anything they can not figure out is "status".

Did you know that building a hill fort was just to show off?

Had nothing to do with defending your stuff.

It was just to impress your neighbors.

It was the same reason you white washed and decorated your castle. It was to show off, not because your wife would have gone back to her family if you insisted on living in a gloomy hole with vermin all over the place.

[Ezekiel]

The "magic" of interpretation:

"The ability to transform other objects by the delicate and skilled process of covering them with gold sheet may have been seen as a magical or ritual process, a secret method known only to a few people," she told Live Science in an email. "This research shows how metalworking was closely related to magical, ritual and religious beliefs."

[Steve Van Doorn]

said, "The collection, which is now on display at the Wiltshire Museum in the town of Devizes, was interpreted at that time as the grave goods of a "shaman" or holy man.
Always with the 'religious' aspect. Why couldn't they interpret it as 'He was a rich goldsmith'?.............."

Yeap. Gold was used during this time for Electrolysis Engraving and other low current simple devices. Possibly sound amplification.

[dljordan]

“Why couldn’t they interpret it as ‘He was a rich goldsmith’?..”

I was thinking ‘the guy was a jeweler not a Shaman’.