Archaeology news

• Plant DNA Suggests Maya Blessed Their Ball Courts

  30-04-2024 01:45 via archaeology.org
  CAMPECHE, MEXICO—According to a Gizmodo report, an international team of researchers led by David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati analyzed a soil sample taken underneath a 2,000-year-old ball court platform at Yaxnohcah, a Maya city site on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The analysis detected the presence of Ipomoea corymbose, a type of morning glory also called xtabentun that is known for its hallucinogenic properties; Capsicum, or chili peppers, which were used by the Maya to tr
  
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• New Thoughts on the “Lead Lady” of the Netherlands

  21-05-2024 00:14 via archaeology.org
  NIJMEGEN, THE NETHERLANDS—According to a Dutch News report, scientists have re-examined the remains of a woman that were discovered in a lead coffin in the center of the city of Nijmegen in 2001. At the time, researchers thought that the woman had been a wealthy Roman. City archaeologist Joep Hendriks said that the “Lead Lady,” as she came to be known, may have actually been a menial laborer. First, the new study indicates that the lead coffin had been recycled. “It was a
  
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• Study Analyzes Medieval Sacrificed Horses of the Eastern Baltic

  20-05-2024 01:04 via archaeology.org
  CARDIFF, WALES—A new study of horse remains recovered from archaeological sites near the Baltic Sea, in what are now Poland, Lithuania, and the Russian province of Kaliningrad, reveals that the Balts sacrificed both mares and stallions, some of which had traveled across the Baltic Sea, according to a Live Science report. About 66 percent of the horses in the study were male and about 34 percent were female. All of them lived between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, based upon carbon
  
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• Ancient Skeletons from China Bear Marks of Punitive Amputation

  20-05-2024 01:02 via archaeology.org
  SANMENXIA CITY, CHINA—According to a statement released by Texas A&M University, paleoanthropologist Qian Wang of Texas A&M University, Yawei Zhou and Yanmei Liu of Zhengzhou University, and Fei Yan of the Sanmengxia Institute examined the remains of two men unearthed near the Yellow River in central China’s Henan Province. Based upon the style of their burials, the men are thought to have been low-level officials during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, between 2,300 and 2,500 years
  
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• Was This Site in Spain Burned by Hannibal 2,200 Years Ago?

  18-05-2024 03:57 via archaeology.org
  BARCELONA, SPAIN—According to a statement released by Frontiers, an excavation at the Iron Age hillfort of Tossal de Baltarga in the Eastern Pyrenees has uncovered a farmhouse that may have been destroyed by Hannibal and the Carthaginians on their way to attack Rome during the Second Punic War in the late third century B.C. “We know that Hannibal passed the Pyrenees fighting against the local tribes, likely the Cerretani,” said Oriol Olesti Vila of the Autonomous University of
  
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• Project Maps Possible Path of Lost Nile River Branch

  17-05-2024 01:30 via archaeology.org
  WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA—According to a Cosmos Magazine report, geomorphologist Eman Ghoneim of the University of Carolina Wilmington and her colleagues have found evidence of a 40-mile-long branch of the Nile River that flowed some 4,700 years ago along the western banks of the modern Nile. The evidence was collected through the analysis of soil cores, ground-penetrating radar and tomography surveys conducted by the Egyptian National Institute, and the study of historic maps. The sugges
  
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• Revolutionary War Barracks Found in Virginia

  17-05-2024 00:58 via archaeology.org
  WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA—WAVY 10 reports that traces of a barracks dated to the Revolutionary War period have been found near the visitor center at Colonial Williamsburg. Historic maps and documents indicate that the barracks was constructed between 1776 and 1777 to house up to 2,000 soldiers and 100 horses on an area of roughly three to four acres. The structures are thought to have been burned down in 1781 by British troops under the command of General Charles Cornwallis. Artifacts re
  
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• Roman Gold Coin Discovered on Island of Alderney

  17-05-2024 00:57 via archaeology.org
  BAILIWICK OF GUERNSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS—A gold coin has been discovered at a Roman site on the island of Alderney, according to a BBC News report. The coin has been dated to the fourth century A.D., during the reign of the emperor Valens, who ruled from A.D. 364 to 378. Archaeologist Phil de Jersey said the coin will help researchers date the Roman occupation of the site. “It’s all adding to the picture of the intensive Roman settlement that was here,” he said. To read abo
  
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• 1,800-Year-Old Tombs Excavated in Eastern China

  16-05-2024 02:46 via archaeology.org
  RIZHAO, CHINA—The Miami Herald reports that three tombs have been discovered inside a partially damaged burial mound near the coast of eastern China by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Each of the tombs, which have been dated to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220), has a sloping passageway to its entrance and held two burials. Two of the structures carried the surname Huan, suggesting that the structures belonged to the same family. And while two of the tombs
  
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• Hair Analysis Hints at Beethoven’s Health Status

  16-05-2024 02:18 via archaeology.org
  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS—According to a Live Science report, analysis of two hair samples attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven by a team of researchers including Nader Fifai of Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and William Meredith of San José State University has detected high levels of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, and mercury. DNA analysis of the hair samples indicated that they both came from the same person, or from a set of identical twins. The DN
  
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• New Thoughts on Decline of Roman Town in Egypt

  16-05-2024 01:04 via archaeology.org
  ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN—According to a Newsweek report, Laura Motta of the University of Michigan and her colleagues radiocarbon dated plant remains recovered from the site of Karanis and found that this Roman agricultural settlement in Egypt's Fayum Oasis was probably abandoned later than previously thought. Thousands of people are thought to have lived in Karanis, based upon the residential neighborhoods, production facilities, granaries, temples, and the bath complex that have been unearthe
  
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• Underground Anomaly Detected in Giza’s Western Cemetery

  15-05-2024 05:32 via archaeology.org
  CAIRO, EGYPT—An L-shaped structure was detected using ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography about six feet beneath Giza’s Western Cemetery by a team of scientists from Tohoku University, Higashi Nippon International University, and Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, according to a Live Science report. During the Old Kingdom period, members of the royal family and high-ranking officials were buried in stone or mudbrick struc
  
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• Indoor Pool Uncovered at Roman Villa in Albania

  15-05-2024 05:03 via archaeology.org
  DURRËS, ALBANIA—According to a Miami Herald report, an indoor pool has been uncovered at a Roman villa located near western Albania’s Adriatic coastline. Researchers from Albania’s National Institute of Cultural Heritage said that the 1,600-year-old rectangular pool is decorated with well-preserved mosaics. Two shallow bathtubs coated with waterproof mortar were also found at the site. In another area of the villa, the excavators also unearthed a large brick floor, several
  
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• Endurance Running May Have Helped Prehistoric Hunters

  15-05-2024 04:45 via archaeology.org
  ONTARIO, CANADA—Science Magazine reports that archaeologist Eugène Morin of Trent University, behavioral ecologist Bruce Winterhalder of University of California, Davis, and their colleagues reviewed historic accounts written by travelers, explorers, and missionaries for information about persistence hunting, the practice of chasing prey at a run over long distances. The researchers found 391 descriptions of persistence hunting in the more than 8,000 texts written between the sixtee
  
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• Unusual Ancient Burial in Austria Reevaluated

  14-05-2024 03:02 via archaeology.org
  VIENNA, AUSTRIA—According to a Live Science report, radiocarbon dating and the analysis of DNA samples taken from the remains of two people buried in the same grave with a horse some 1,800 years ago in northern Austria reveals that they were first-degree relatives—either mother and daughter or sisters. It had been previously thought that the two individuals may have been a married couple that lived during the medieval period. The older woman is estimated to have been between the ages
  
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• 5,000-Year-Old Rock Art in Sudan May Reflect Climate Change

  14-05-2024 02:37 via archaeology.org
  SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—Rock art depicting boats and cattle has been discovered in Sudan’s Atbai Desert, more than 60 miles from Wadi Halfa and the shores of Lake Nubia, according to a Cosmos Magazine report. The images have been dated to 5,000 years ago. “At this early prehistoric period, we have almost no evidence of Egyptians or Nubians going this far into the desert and that’s why it was really unexpected to find this large scene of boats,” said Julien Cooper of Macqu
  
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• Final Excavation Planned at Scotland’s Ness of Brodgar

  14-05-2024 02:08 via archaeology.org
  ORKNEY, SCOTLAND—According to a report in The Guardian, a final excavation will be conducted at the Ness of Brodgar this summer. Discovered in 2003, the six-acre site is located on an isthmus in the West Mainland of Orkney that separates the Loch of Stenness and the Loch of Harray. “There are more than 100 buildings here,” said archaeologist Nick Card. The monumental Neolithic structures include buildings linked to outhouses and kitchens by stone walkways. Cattle bones, pottery
  
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• Possible Roman Waystation Uncovered in England

  14-05-2024 02:06 via archaeology.org
  COTSWOLDS, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that a Roman settlement was discovered during a road construction project in southwestern England. The settlement was situated along the road that connected Roman Cirencester and Gloucester, said Alex Thompson of Oxford Cotswold Archaeology. “We think that our settlement was being used to help with people that were travelling along the road and probably something to do with horses,” he said. Travelers may have stopped at the site to exchange
  
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• Audio News for May 5th through the 11th, 2024

  13-05-2024 19:08 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Roman shipwreck held fish sauce(details)(details)New linguistic model shows four waves of migration into the Americas(details)(details)Microarchaeology provides new precision for early history of Jerusalem(details)(details)English study shows leprosy could come from Medieval red squirrels(details)(details)
  
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• 16th- and 17th-Century Fabrics and Shoes Discovered in Poland

  11-05-2024 00:42 via archaeology.org
  TORUŃ, POLAND—Science in Poland reports that fragments of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century clothing and shoes in both eastern and western styles were discovered in a layer of mulch during an investigation conducted ahead of a construction project in the Chełmińskie Przedmieście neighborhood of the city of Toruń, which is located in north-central Poland. Archaeologist Małgorzata Grupa said that the large collection, including fine woolens, silks, and a cloth
  
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• Face of 4,000-Year-Old Warrior Recreated in Norway

  11-05-2024 00:37 via archaeology.org
  TRONDHEIM, NORWAY—According to a statement released by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), archaeologist Birgitte Skar of the NTNU University Museum and her colleagues have created an image of the human remains known as Hitra Man, which were discovered in 1916 on the island of Hitra, based upon continuing DNA and isotope analysis of his remains. The studies suggest that the man was about 25 years old at the time of his death some 4,000 years ago, that he ate mostly l
  
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• Traces of a Royal Medieval Church Found in Hungary

  11-05-2024 00:35 via archaeology.org
  VISEGRÁD, HUNGARY—Hungary Today reports that traces of a fifteenth-century Christian church have been found in Visegrád, the site of a fortified medieval castle on a hill on the Danube River in northern Hungary. The Church of the Virgin Mary had been part of a Franciscan monastery founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg, and built next to his palace. Sigismund, the son of Charles IV, ruled as King of Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia, and eventually as Holy Roman Emperor from
  
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• Head of a Large Statue Unearthed at Cambodia’s Angkor Thom

  11-05-2024 00:32 via archaeology.org
  SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA—An excavation conducted by Cambodia’s Heritage Protection Police and the APSARA National Authority near the Angkor Thom temple complex has uncovered the head of a statue of a deity, according to The Phnom Pen Post. Angkor Thom, built in the late twelfth century by Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–1218), was the last capital of the Khmer Empire. The carving, including pieces of its mouth and nose, was found about 330 feet from the city’s Victory Gate, where
  
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• Roman Lead Ingots From Spain Studied

  10-05-2024 05:21 via archaeology.org
  CÓRDOBA, SPAIN—According to a statement released by the University of Córdoba, recent analysis of three first-century A.D. lead ingots recovered from southern Spain’s site of Los Escoriales de Doña Rama in the twentieth century suggests that ancient Córdoba, the capital of the Roman region of Baetica, was a center for smelting lead. The Romans used the metal to make spoons, tiles, pipes, and other everyday objects. Each ingot is about 18 inches long, trian
  
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• Possible Algonquian Capital Identified in North Carolina

  10-05-2024 04:38 via archaeology.org
  DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA—According to an IFL Science report, researchers led by Eric Klingelhofer of the First Colony Foundation have uncovered evidence for a palisade and nine houses at the possible site of an Algonquian village within Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. Explorers Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlow wrote of their visit to an Algonquian village in 1584, and described it as having “nine houses, built of cedar, and fortified round with sharp trees.” The possible vil
  
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• Stone Inscribed With Ireland’s Ogham Script Found in England

  09-05-2024 06:03 via archaeology.org
  COVENTRY, ENGLAND—The Irish Times reports that an inscribed rectangular piece of sandstone was discovered by a gardener in his yard in England’s West Midlands. He sent photographs of the rock to a local archaeologist, who identified the markings as ogham, an early medieval alphabet consisting of groups of parallel lines for writing the Irish language. “This particular find has given us a new insight into early medieval activity in Coventry, which we still need to make sense of,
  
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• Human Remains Unearthed at Historic Church in Iceland

  09-05-2024 05:35 via archaeology.org
  GARðABÆR, ICELAND—An excavation conducted at Bessastaðir church on the west coast of Iceland uncovered the remains of two people, according to an Iceland Review report. Occupation of the Bessastaðir farmstead dates back to the tenth or eleventh century. In the thirteenth century, it was owned by the historian, poet, and politician Snorri Sturluson, before it became a royal stronghold. In the late eighteenth century, Bessastaðir was once again used as a farm until the
  
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• Iron Age Necropolis Excavated in Italy

  08-05-2024 05:34 via archaeology.org
  AMOROSI, ITALY—A 2,800-year-old necropolis containing 88 pit tombs and two large burial mounds was discovered in southern Italy, according to a Live Science report. The necropolis is thought to have been used by the Iron Age “Pit Tomb” culture of central and southern Italy. The mounds, which measure about 50 feet across, may cover the burials of elite members of the society. Weapons have been found buried with men, while pieces of worked amber and bone, and bronze ornaments suc
  
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• 400-Year-Old Pottery Workshop Uncovered in France

  08-05-2024 05:09 via archaeology.org
  MONTREUIL-SUR-MER, FRANCE—A pottery workshop has been uncovered near the coast of northern France, according to a Miami Herald report. Researchers from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) found a collection of pots and two kilns at the site. The main kiln, thought to have been in use from the late sixteenth century into the early seventeenth century, was constructed of bricks in an almond shape. Several pots in addition to pottery waste were found in
  
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• Bronze Age Well Lined With Wood Discovered in England

  08-05-2024 04:51 via archaeology.org
  OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by the Oxfordshire County Council, a Bronze Age well lined with wood was uncovered during an investigation conducted by Oxford Archaeology ahead of a road construction project in southeastern England. The well is thought to have been used for agricultural purposes by people living in a nearby settlement. “When investigating what appeared to be a standard pit for the site, the archaeological team started exposing the remains of a
  
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