All posts by Archaeology World Team

ASIA, EUROPE, RUSSIA, WORLD

Million-year-old mammoth genomes set a record for ancient DNA

Million-year-old mammoth genomes set a record for ancient DNA

Image from the Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, of steppe mammoths, thought to have preceded the woolly mammoth.

Teeth from mammoths buried in the Siberian permafrost for more than a million years have led to the world’s oldest known DNA being sequenced, according to a study that shines a genetic searchlight on the deep past.

Researchers said the three teeth specimens, one roughly 800,000 years old and two more than a million years old, provided important insights into the giant ice age mammals, including into the ancient heritage of, specifically, the woolly mammoth.

The genomes surpass the oldest previously sequenced DNA, that of a horse dating from 560,000 to 780,000 years ago.

Love Dalén, professor of evolutionary genetics at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm, was the senior author of the study, published in Nature. He said: “This DNA is incredibly old. The samples are a thousand times older than Viking remains, and even pre-date the existence of humans and Neanderthals.”

The mammoths were originally discovered in the 1970s in Siberia and had been kept at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

Million-year-old mammoth genomes set a record for ancient DNA
Palaeontologists Love Dalén and Patricia Pecnerova with a mammoth tusk on Wrangel Island, Arctic Ocean.

Researchers first dated the specimens geologically, using comparisons with other species, such as small rodents, known to be unique to particular time periods and found in the same sedimentary layers.

This suggested that two of the mammals were ancient steppe mammoths more than a million years old. The youngest of the trio is one of the earliest woolly mammoths yet found.

The team also extracted genetic data from tiny samples of powder from each mammoth tooth, “essentially like a pinch of salt you would put on your dinner plate”, Dalén told a press briefing.

While the material had degraded into very small fragments, the scientists were able to sequence tens of millions of chemical base pairs – which make up the strands of DNA – and conduct age estimates from the genetic information.

This suggested that the oldest mammoth, named Krestovka, was even older than thought, at approximately 1.65m years, while the second, Adycha, was about 1.34m years old, and the youngest, Chukochya, was 870,000 years old.

Dalén said that, regarding the oldest mammoth, the DNA dating process could indicate the creature was probably about 1.2m years old, as suggested by the geological evidence. But it was possible the specimen was older than that and had thawed out of the permafrost at one point and then become wedged in a more recent layer of sediment.

Tom van der Valk, of the Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, in Sweden, said the DNA fragments were like a puzzle with millions of tiny pieces “way, way, way, smaller than you would get from modern high-quality DNA”.

Using a genome from an African elephant, a modern relative of the mammoth, as a blueprint for their algorithm, the researchers were able to reconstruct parts of the mammoth genomes.

The study found that the mammoth named Krestovka represented a previously unrecognised genetic lineage, which researchers estimated diverged from other mammoths around two million years ago and was ancestral to those that colonised North America.

The study also traced the lineage from the million-year-old Adycha steppe mammoth to Chukochya and other more recent woolly mammoths.

Researchers also found gene variants associated with life in the Arctic, such as hairiness, thermoregulation, fat deposits and cold tolerance in the older specimen, suggesting mammoths were already hairy long before the woolly mammoth emerged.

Siberia has alternated between dry and cold ice age conditions and warm, wet periods. Now climate change is causing the permafrost to melt and reveal more specimens, Dalén said. There was a risk that amid more rainfall, remains could be washed away, however.

Dalén said new technologies could allow the sequencing of even older DNA from remains found in the permafrost, which dates back 2.6m years.

Researchers are keen to look at creatures such as the ancestors of moose, musk ox, wolves and lemmings, to shine a light on the evolution of modern species.

“Genomics has been pushed into deep time by the giants of the ice age – the wee mammals that surrounded them might soon also have their day,” said Alfred Roca, a professor at the department of animal sciences at the University of Illinois, US, in a comment piece published in Nature.

WORLD

Neanderthals helped create early human art, researcher says

Neanderthals helped create early human art, researcher says

When Neanderthals, Denisovans and homo sapiens met one another 50,000 years ago, these archaic and modern humans not only interbred during the thousands of years in which they overlapped, but they exchanged ideas that led to a surge in creativity, according to a leading academic.

Neanderthals helped create early human art, researcher says
Denisovan ornaments are made from mammoth tusks from Denisova Cave in Siberia.

Tom Higham, a professor of archaeological science at the University of Oxford, argues that their exchange explains “a proliferation of objects in the archaeological record”, such as perforated teeth and shell pendants, the use of pigments and colourants, decorated and incised bones, carved figurative art and cave painting: “Through the early 50,000s, up to around 38,000 to 40,000 years ago, we see a massive growth in these types of ornaments that we simply didn’t see before.”

Between 40,000 and 150,000 years ago, our cousins included the Neanderthals, Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonesis and the Denisovans.

“Now it’s just us; there aren’t any other types of humans on the planet,” Higham says. “We always thought that the origins of art and complex cognitive thought were the hallmark of us – modern humans. This was called the human revolution. The basis of this hypothesis, which came out in the 1970s, was that humans came out of Africa and brought with them a cognitive ability that no other types of humans – particularly Neanderthals – had … Now what we think is happening is that … it’s not restricted to modern humans at all.

“If our groups were interbreeding, then cultural transfer – the exchange of ideas, thoughts and language – may well also have been happening. Humans are good at picking up new ideas.”

The latest research, which draws on recent findings by international scientists and archaeologists, will feature in Higham’s forthcoming book, The World Before Us: How Science is Revealing a New Story of Our Human Origins, to be published by Viking on 25 March.

He writes that Earth was a primevally complicated place 50,000 years ago: “To borrow from the words of Tolkien, we should think of it as a veritable ‘Middle Earth’ in terms of the diversity of forms of the human family that existed at the time. There were five, six, or even more, different types of human presence in various parts of the world.”

In the book, through the latest scientific and technological advances – including radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA analysis – Higham explores how we became the only humans on Earth and how our forebears lived – “and live on in our genes today”.

He is a world expert in technology that is revolutionising what we know about the previous human species. Archaeological and genetic discoveries are transforming our understanding of our ancestors.

Higham is among academics who have been working in Siberia, where a new type of human, the Denisovans, was discovered in a remote cave in 2010.

From a finger bone fragment so tiny that it would previously have been unidentifiable, they were able to extract crucial DNA details that link them to people spread across a vast area of Eurasia, including south-east Asia.

He says: “Denisovans are closely related to Neanderthals and to us. As with Neanderthals, we interbred with them. People today, depending on where they are geographical, have a small amount – and, in some cases, big amounts – of Denisovan DNA.

“At the site of the Denisova cave, we’ve also uncovered evidence that intriguingly suggests that Denisovans too might have been involved in making personal ornaments and doing the kinds of things that hitherto we only thought were the exclusive preserve of us and later Neanderthals.”

That evidence includes rings and beads made out of mammoth tusks and ostrich eggshells. “Were these and the other ornaments made by both Denisovans and modern humans?” Higham asks.

New research means that all sorts of artworks and decorative items that have been assumed to be linked to the earliest modern human could have been created by Neanderthals or Denisovans, in the absence of other evidence.

Higham says: “The weight of evidence now suggests that if there was the cultural transmission, it probably occurred in both directions and that the earliest evidence for the beginnings of complex behaviour in Europe was prior to the widespread arrival of Homo sapiens.”

EUROPE, SPAIN, WORLD

Oldest European human fossil found in Spain

Oldest European human fossil found in Spain

A jawbone fragment discovered in northern Spain last month could be the oldest known fossil of a human ancestor found to date in Europe, Spanish palaeontologists said on Friday. The researchers said the fossil found at an archaeological site on 30 June in the Atapuerca mountain range was about 1.4m years old.

Elena Moreno, a member of the Atapuerca research team, works on the jawbone of a hominid in the National Centre for Research on Human Evolution in Burgos.

Until now, the oldest hominid fossil found in Europe was a jawbone found at the same site in 2007 that was determined to be 1.2m years old.

Atapuerca holds one of the richest records of prehistoric human occupation in Europe.

Researchers will now have to complete their first estimate for the age of the jawbone fragment using dating techniques, palaeoanthropologist José María Berúmudez de Castro, the co-director of the Atapuerca research project, said during a news conference.

Since the jawbone fragment was found some 2 metres below the layer of earth of the 2007 find “it is logical and reasonable to think it is older”, he said.

The dating of the jawbone fragment will be carried out at the National Centre for Research on Human Evolution in Burgos, a city located about six miles from Atapuerca.

The process should take six to eight months to complete, Bermúdez de Castro said.

The analysis could help identify which hominid species the jawbone fragment belongs to and better understand how human beings evolved on the European continent.

Scientists have so far been unable to determine with certainty the species of the jawbone discovered in 2007. The fossil could correspond to Homo antecessor, discovered in the 1990s.

The Atapuerca Foundation, which runs the archaeological site, said it was very likely the jawbone fragment “belongs to one of the first populations that colonised Europe”.

In 2000 the archaeological site of Atapuerca was included on Unesco’s list of world heritage sites, giving it access to UN conservation funding.

It contains thousands of hominid fossils and tools including a flint discovered in 2013 that is 1.4m years old.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

8,000-year-old Yarmukian ‘Mother Goddess’ figurine uncovered at Sha’ar HaGolan

8,000-year-old Yarmukian ‘Mother Goddess’ figurine uncovered at Sha’ar HaGolan

Before the Israelis and the Palestinians, before the Greek and the Roman empires, before the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, before the Umayyad Caliphate and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem – there were the Yarmukians.

8,000-year-old Yarmukian 'Mother Goddess' figurine uncovered at Sha’ar HaGolan
An impressive 8,000-year-old Yarmukian ceramic “Mother Goddess” figurine was uncovered at renewed excavations at the Sha’ar HaGolan Yarmukian archaeological site.

This 8,000-year-old Neolithic agricultural culture is considered the first culture in the prehistoric area of what today is called Israel. It is one of the oldest cultures in the Levant to make use of ceramic pottery, with a distinctive style of herringbone decorations incised in horizontal and diagonal lines over the body of their ceramic cooking, serving and storage vessels.

The culture is also known for its enigmatic and iconic “Mother Goddess” figurines, which are believed to have been part of a Yarmukian fertility cult. Renewed excavations at the Sha’ar Hagolan Yarmukian archaeological site at the Sha’ar Hagolan kibbutz this month have revealed an unusually large and impressive ceramic goddess figurine of the “Mother Goddess.”

Created in the typical seating pose, the 20-centimetre figurine was found broken in two pieces next to the wall of a home, said excavation co-director Anna Eirikh-Rose, Israeli Antiquity Authority Judea district archaeologist, who is doing her doctoral research at the Hebrew University on Neolithic pottery.

Sha’ar HaGolan excavation co-director Dr. Julien Vieugue of the French Center for Research in Jerusalem holds the 8,000-year-old ceramic ”Mother Goddess” figurine uncovered at renewed excavations at the Sha’ar HaGolan archaeological site

The broken figurine was covered by a bracelet with a red bottom, the colour which represented fertility. A schematic stone with etched eyes and mouth was also uncovered. The excavation is being carried out in conjunction with the French Center for Research in Jerusalem under the co-direction of Dr. Julien Vieugue.

“This woman ceramic figurine is a hallmark of Yarmukian culture,” Eirikh-Rose said. “This is one of the largest examples of the figurine found. It is of a large, seated woman with big hips, a unique pointed hat and what is known as ‘coffee-bean’ eyes and a big nose. One hand is positioned on her hip and the other one under her breast.”

Symbolism

Though dubbed “coffee-bean” eyes, the traditional eyes of the figurine more likely represented kernels possibly of wheat, or more likely barley, she said.

All the small details of the figurine are important for its cultic symbolism, she said, and the process of creating such a figurine involved a complex method of wrapping and layering the clay around a central cylindrical core.

“It is really impressive, and was a very elaborate way of making a figurine,” she said. “It was not simple to make.”

The Yarmukian culture was poised at the dramatic human juncture of the transition from a foraging culture to a permanent settlement, which also changed the development of architecture. It was so named for the discovery of the archaeological remains at the Sha’ar Hagolan site dated to 6,400-6,000 BCE near the northern bank of the Yarmuk River in the central Jordan Valley.

The history of the Sha’ar HaGolan site

First excavated in 1949, the Sha’ar Hagolan site was identified by Hebrew University Professor Moshe Stekelis as belonging to the Yarmuk culture. A subsequent excavation by Hebrew University Prof. Yosef Garfinkel ended in 2004.

The finds are on exhibit at the Museum of Yarmukian Culture at the kibbutz.

Eirikh-Rose said the current re-excavation of the site was begun next to previous excavations. It is meant to expose the site layer by layer, until reaching the Neolithic pre-ceramic level of the settlement to research the culture’s use and production of ceramic pottery.

“Although the site of Sha’ar Hagolan has been dug several times, revealing the additional layers one at a time, this time there is a clear purpose for our excavation: we want to understand the origin and mechanism of development of the pottery production in the world of this ancient period in the Levant region,” she said.

Eirikh-Rose noted that 8,000 years ago, the inhabitants of this site began to use pottery vessels and mass-produce them.

“This is the first culture of the Neolithic revolution to use and manufacture pottery vessels on a large scale, not just one bowl here and one bowl there,” she said.

Previous excavations at the Sha’ar Hagolan site have uncovered planned streets, courtyard houses and smaller mother goddess figurines, as well as incised pebble face figurines and eye figurines.

At its height, the settlement covered an area spanning 20 hectares, making it one of the largest settlements in the world at that time, said Eirikh-Rose. Although other Yarmukian sites have been identified since, Sha’ar Hagolan is the largest, probably indicating its role as a Yarmukian cultural center.

Eirikh-Rose said the newly uncovered figurine will be taken for residue analysis, which will help researchers establish what types of clay were used to create it. Continued study of these figurines may also help researchers in their quest to determine whether the “Mother Goddess” was used in cultic practices or was already part of established religion.

“There are so many theories,” she said. “This is a big question to study– the development of religious beliefs and culture.”

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Historical artefact from AD 250 returns to Türkiye after 140 years

Historical artefact from AD 250 returns to Türkiye after 140 years

Discovered 140 years ago and taken to England from Türkiye, the Eros Head was put in its place at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum as a result of the initiatives of the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

The artefact, which was brought to Türkiye on June 10, was reunited with the historical Sidamara Sarcophagus to which it belonged.

The Sidamara Sarcophagus is considered one of the largest sarcophagi of the ancient world. The sarcophagus, which is weighing tons, was discovered in 1882 in the ancient city of Sidamara in Ambar Village of the Central Anatolian province of Karaman by British Military Consul General Charles Wilson.

The sarcophagus was buried under the ground again because it was too heavy to be carried. Sometime later it was understood that it was “Eros Head,” one of the reliefs separated from the sarcophagus, that had been taken to London.

The sarcophagus, which was rediscovered by a villager in the ancient city of Sidamara in 1898, was reported to the Müze-i Hümayun, which is now the Istanbul Archeology Museum.

As a result of the Ottoman archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey’s investigations in the region, the giant sarcophagus was decided to be moved to the museum in Istanbul. Then it was carried to the centre by buffaloes under the conditions of the time.

The magnificent work, which made a gruelling journey in specially arranged train wagons, reached the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in 1901.

The “Eros Head” relief in London was donated by Marion Olivia Wilson to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1933 in memory of her father, Charles Wilson.

A plaster copy of the Eros Head was placed in the giant sarcophagus in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum as a result of the negotiations with the Victoria & Albert Museum officials in the 1930s.

With the research of archaeologist Şehrazat Karagöz, who brought the issue back to the agenda in 2010, the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Foreign Ministry made talks with the Victoria & Albert Museum for the display of the Eros Head to be exhibited together with its sarcophagus.

As a result of the meetings between the ministry and the Victoria & Albert Museum Director Tristram Hunt and his team, the Eros Head was reunited with the sarcophagus. The Eros Head was transported from London to Türkiye on 10 June with the support of the Foreign Ministry and Turkish Airlines (THY).

With scientific studies jointly carried out by the expert restorers of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Eros Head was placed in the giant sarcophagus, which weighs more than 30 tons.

The columned sarcophagus, dating back to 250 B.C. in the Roman era, is now open to visitors in its original form at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum today.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Ancient Mosaic Floors in Israel May Depict Biblical Heroines

Ancient Mosaic Floors in Israel May Depict Biblical Heroines

A team of specialists and students led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Jodi Magness recently returned to Israel’s Lower Galilee to continue unearthing nearly 1,600-year-old mosaics in an ancient Jewish synagogue at Huqoq.

Ancient Mosaic Floors in Israel May Depict Biblical Heroines
Left: The Israelite commander Barak is depicted in the Huqoq synagogue mosaic. Right: Fox-eating grapes depicted in Huqoq synagogue mosaics.

Discoveries made this year include the first known depiction of the biblical heroines Deborah and Jael as described in the book of Judges.

The Huqoq Excavation Project is now in its 10th season after recent seasons were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Project director Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor of religious studies in Carolina’s College of Arts & Sciences, and assistant director Dennis Mizzi of the University of Malta focused this season on the southwest part of the synagogue, which was built in the late fourth-early fifth century C.E.

Israelite commander Barak is depicted in the Huqoq synagogue mosaic.

This season, the project team unearthed a part of the synagogue’s floor decorated with a large mosaic panel that is divided into three horizontal strips (called registers), which depicts an episode from the book of Judges chapter 4: The victory of the Israelite forces led by the prophetess and judge Deborah and the military commander Barak over the Canaanite army led by the general Sisera.

The Bible relates that after the battle, Sisera took refuge in the tent of a Kenite woman named Jael (Yael), who killed him by driving a tent stake through his temple as he slept.

The uppermost register of the newly-discovered Huqoq mosaic shows Deborah under a palm tree, gazing at Barak, who is equipped with a shield. Only a small part of the middle register is preserved, which appears to show Sisera seated.

The lowest register depicts Sisera lying deceased on the ground, bleeding from the head as Jael hammers a tent stake through his temple.

“This is the first depiction of this episode and the first time we’ve seen a depiction of the biblical heroines Deborah and Jael in ancient Jewish art,” Magness said. “Looking at the book of Joshua chapter 19, we can see how the story might have had special resonance for the Jewish community at Huqoq, as it is described as taking place in the same geographical region – the territory of the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon.”

Also among the newly discovered mosaics is a fragmentary Hebrew dedicatory inscription inside a wreath, flanked by panels measuring 6 feet tall and 2 feet wide, which show two vases that hold sprouting vines. The vines form medallions that frame four animals eating clusters of grapes: a hare, a fox, a leopard and a wild boar.

Mosaic depicting a fox eating grapes in the ancient synagogue at Huqoq.

A decade of discovery  

Mosaics were first discovered at the site in 2012, and work continued each summer until the COVID-19 pandemic paused work after the dig in 2019.

The mosaics exposed in the last 10 active seasons cover the synagogue’s aisles and main hall.

Discoveries along the east aisle include:  
  • Panels depicting Samson and the foxes (as related in Judges 15:4)  
  • Samson carrying the gate of Gaza on his shoulders (Judges 16:3)  
  • A Hebrew inscription surrounded by human figures, animals and mythological creatures including putti, or cupids  
  • The first non-biblical story ever found decorating an ancient synagogue — perhaps the legendary meeting between Alexander the Great and the Jewish high priest   

The mosaic floor in the north aisle is divided into two rows of panels containing figures and objects accompanied by Hebrew inscriptions identifying them as biblical stories, including:  

  • One panel depicts two of the spies sent by Moses to explore Canaan carrying a pole with a cluster of grapes, labelled “a pole between two” (from Numbers 13:23)  
  • Another panel showing a man leading an animal on a rope is accompanied by the inscription “a small child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6)
The mosaics panels in the nave, or main hall, include:  
  • A portrayal of Noah’s Ark  
  • The parting of the Red Sea  
  • A Helios-zodiac cycle  
  • Jonah being swallowed by three successive fish
  • The building of the Tower of Babel  

In 2019, the team uncovered panels in the north aisle that frame figures of animals identified by an Aramaic inscription as the four beasts representing four kingdoms in the book of Daniel, chapter 7. A large panel in the northwest aisle depicts Elim, the spot where the Israelites camped by 12 springs and 70 date palms after departing Egypt and wandering in the wilderness without water (Exodus 15:27).

In the 14th century C.E. (the Mamluk period), the synagogue was rebuilt and expanded in size, perhaps in connection with the rise of a tradition that the Tomb of Habakkuk was located nearby, which became a focal point of late medieval Jewish pilgrimage.

“The 14th century C.E. building appears to be the first Mamluk period synagogue ever discovered in Israel, making it no less important than the earlier building,” said Magness.

The sponsors of the project are UNC-Chapel Hill, Austin College, Baylor University, Brigham Young University and the University of Toronto. Students and staff from Carolina and the consortium schools participated in the dig. Financial support for the 2022 season was also provided by the National Geographic Society, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation, the Kenan Charitable Trust and the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. 

The mosaics have been removed from the site for conservation, and the excavated areas have been backfilled. Excavations are scheduled to continue in summer 2023. For additional information and updates, visit the project’s website: www.huqoq.org.

Images of the most recent discoveries may be downloaded here using password huqoq. Photos by Jim Haberman.

GUATEMALA, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

The Discovery Of A Maya Shrine Reveals Arrival Of “New World Order”

The Discovery Of A Maya Shrine Reveals Arrival Of “New World Order”

Researchers are surprised with a new discovery consisting of fragments of an ancient Maya shrine which reveals “previously unknown” details of a “Cold War” in the Maya Empire. The fragment of the carved stone monument was discovered at El Achiotal, an ancient Maya site located that depicts the face of an ajaw vassal lord.

This incredible new discovery at the Maya site in Guatemala has made it possible for researchers to understand new details regarding a fierce rivalry which ruled over two great Ancient Maya superpowers some 1500 years ago.

This discovery was announced in Guatemala City and was presented by The La Corona Regional Archaeological Project, co-directed by Marcello Canuto, director of Tulane’s Middle American Research Institute, and Tomás Barrientos, director of the Department of Archaeology at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.

The Discovery Of A Maya Shrine Reveals Arrival Of “New World Order”

According to researchers and their preliminary study, forces belonging to Siyaj K’ahk’s arrived at the Maya lowlands somewhere around 378 D.C., overturning the rulers of the great Maya city-state of Tikal.

They established among other things, a new political order across the ancient Maya empire.

Siyaj K’ahk’, also referred to as “Fire is Born” was A prominent Ancient Maya political figure commonly mentioned in the Classical Period Glyphs. He is believed to have been the general of the Teotihuacan ruler Spearthrower Owl.

National Geographic Young Explorer and Tulane graduate student Luke Auld-Thomas said:

“We were looking for a stairway and digging test units.” He added, “when an excavator working on a unit backed out of the hole he had dug and told us he found what looked like a stela.”

“We gasped and looked in, and there’s the face of a king just staring straight out at us,” says Auld-Thomas. “It had been very carefully placed by the ancient Maya so that it was looking out a doorway, like a museum piece in a display case.”

“We never expected to find a stela at El Achiotal,” says Canuto, who began research there in 2009 with a National Geographic Society/Waitt grant and considered it primarily a Late Preclassic (400 B.C. – 250 A.D.) site.

As researchers continued with their excavation duties, they came upon two stelae fragments, a discovery that they did not expect.

According to archaeologists, the two stelae fragments were from the top and bottom of a monument, the stelae are believed to have been removed from their original location which is, according to archaeologists, most likely in front of a temple.

According to National Geographic; The top fragment of the stelae features the partial image of a man holding a serpent bar, a traditional symbol of a ruler.

After the discovery was made, Davit Stuart from the University of Texas at Austin, who is an expert Maya epigrapher flew to El Achiotal to study and try to decipher the hieroglyphs located on the back of the stelae.

According to Stuart, the hieroglyphs revealed that the stelae were in fact erected to celebrate the 40th anniversary of an “ajaw.”

Regrettably, the newly found stelae are incomplete so researchers could not figure out the name of the ajaw and the leader.

The Ajaw or Ahau has two meanings in the history of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization.

It is believed to represent a political title attested from Mayan epigraphic inscriptions but it could also designate the concluding, the 20 named day of the tzolk’in or the divinatory calendar on which a king’s k’atun-ending rituals would fall.

According to Stuart, there was a date inscribed on the stelae, but Stuart states that reading it was one of the most difficult translation jobs that he has ever been part of.

Stuart also states:

“Scribes were very tricky and they wrote one of the date elements in a super-ambiguous way.”

Researchers believe that the anniversary date depicted on the stelae, could be connected with four potential dates, and Stuart believes the date everyone would be looking for is November 22, 418 A.D. Counting back 40 years from November 22, 418 A.D. marks an anniversary of an event in 378 A.D. the date when Siyaj K’ahk’ installed new rulership in Tikal setting off a series of changes both in the Maya political and cultural system.

“We know that when Siyaj K’ahk’ came on the scene in Tikal he was installing subject rulers all around that region,” Stuart explains. “We just had no idea that El Achiotal was sucked into this new world order.”

NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

A Rock With Mastodon Carving Discovered At The Underwater Stonehenge Of Lake Michigan

A Rock With Mastodon Carving Discovered At The Underwater Stonehenge Of Lake Michigan

Another incredible discovery has been made as researchers have found a rock with a carving of a Mastodon at the underwater Stonehenge of Lake Michigan. In 2007, at a depth of twelve meters, researchers found a peculiar set of aligned stones that are believed to be over 10,000 years old.

While searching for shipwrecks, archaeologists from Northwestern Michigan College came across something interesting at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

Mysteriously aligned rocks which were placed there by human beings before the area was covered with water. When the discovery was made, researchers couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It’s America’s Stonehenge.

A Rock With Mastodon Carving Discovered At The Underwater Stonehenge Of Lake Michigan

According to researchers, the stones located at the bottom of Lake Michigan all measure the same distance across, something that wouldn’t be present if we were looking at a natural formation.

The rock formation found at the bottom of Lake Michigan resembles other structures found in England and France, and even those at Nabta Playa, making it very unlikely to be a natural formation.

As if the mysterious rock formation wasn’t enough, after a diving expedition to look at the stones, underwater photographer Chris Doyle found a mysterious stone with an incredible depiction: A Mastodon. This means that the carving must have been made way before the Mastodons were extinct.

The Mastodon rock is perhaps one of the most incredible features of the underwater Stonehenge. Researchers speculate that the rock is made out of granite, a very hard material.

For people to carve something onto this rock, they had to use a tool harder than granite. So the logical question is: What could ancient mankind have used 10.000 years ago to carve something onto a granite rock?

Researchers stress that the marks and lines that make out the mastodon figure were precisely carved, the lines were not just “scratched” onto the rock.

The incredible rock formation and the precisely aligned stone circles clearly indicate a man-made structure. The areas around Michigan are witnesses of early human presence in the American continent which is believed to date back over 25.000 years.

In the distant past, the Lake itself did not exist since an Ice Age ruled over the lands and what is not located at the bottom of one of the five Great Lakes of North America, was located on dry land.

The man responsible for this incredible underwater discovery is Mark Holley, professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan College. In 2007, he searched for shipwrecks but found, 12 meters below the surface a series of stones arranged in a circle.

Adding to this amazing discovery is a relatively large rock which has, on its surface a depiction of a mastodon, an animal that became extinct around 8000 BC.

In the region near Lake Michigan, researchers have previously discovered menhirs and petroglyphs. When the first Europeans arrived in the seventeenth century they found that Michigan had thousands of prehistoric mounds.

Scholars also found “sacred stones” across the geography of the Great Lakes, stones according to the natives were placed by another race who lived there before. Statues and stone idols erected in various parts were discovered weighing over 100 kilograms.

The underwater Stonehenge of Lake Michigan must have been created before the last Ice Age, when the lake bed was dry and that is, according to researchers, over 12.000 years ago, a time that according to history, mankind couldn’t erect such elaborate constructions.

What does this tell us about history? Is this another piece of evidence that points to the fact that history books, as we know them should be re-written? We believe yes.