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People enjoy dining at cafes and restaurants in Melbourne, Australia, on June 1, 2020. Daniel Pockett/Getty ImagesAustralias business insolvency rates remain high in 2025, with restaurants and construction

A unique silver gilt and amethyst jewel has been unearthed from the moat of Castle Kolno in Stare Kolnie, southwestern Poland. Found embedded in the sediment of the moat between timber posts from a defunct bridge, the jewel can be dated by dendrochronological and stratigraphic evidence to between the early 14th century and the mid-15th century when the castle was destroyed.The castle was built in the 13th century by Duke Bolesaw III of Brzeg. He sold it to local minor nobility and it passed through several hands until it was burned in 1443 during a period of violent civil arrest between rival duchies in Silesia in the aftermath of the Hussite Wars. Archaeologists have been excavating it since 2010, unearthing numerous artifacts, primarily militaria and ceramic fragments, dating the 14th and 15th century heyday of the castle.Youd think a castle, populated as it was by wealthy nobles, would be a likely location to find precious jewelry, but in fact such finds are exceedingly rare. Gold and silver ornaments are almost always found in graves and hoards, not in settlements, be they rural or urban, nor in dwellings, be they townhouses or castles. Given its find site in the moat, the amethyst jewel was probably lost by its owner while traveling through the crossing to and from the castle.The amethyst was identified from its molecular composition using Raman spectroscopic analysis. X-ray fluorescence analysis identified the metal as fire-gilded silver. The cabochon amethyst is set in the center of a pattern of rays or palmette petals. Theres a silver pin and some remnants of lead solder on the back, indicating the jewel was part of a larger setting, likely a brooch but possibly something even more elaborate like a coronet.This ornament represents an international style in gem setting characteristic of the thirteenth century. Similar halos are found around re-used firstsecond-century cameos on the crown of King Sancho IV el Bravo, recovered from his tomb in Toledo, on the golden coronets from Wawel, Cracow, and on the imperial brooch in the hoard from roda lska, Poland. Late examples may be found on the fourteenth-century silver-gilt brooch from the Cathedral Treasury in Split. Present on precious, as well as more modest but still luxurious, brooches, matching settings were emblems of the medieval aristocracy, who continued to visit Kolno Castle, even after it had been sold to the lesser nobility.