All posts by Archaeology World Team

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Thousands of ignored ‘Nummi Minimi’ Coins Found in the Ancient City of Marea in Egypt

Thousands of ignored ‘Nummi Minimi’ Coins Found in the Ancient City of Marea in Egypt

Thousands of ignored ‘Nummi Minimi’ Coins Found in the Ancient City of Marea in Egypt

Numismatists from the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw have examined thousands of previously ignored small coins (Nummi Minimi) discovered in the ancient city of Marea, located 45 kilometers southwest of Alexandria. Their findings are reshaping the literature’s established understanding of monetary circulation in Egypt at the end of antiquity.

Marea, known as Filoksenite during the Byzantine period was a large port town located to the south-west of Alexandria. In Ancient times it was famous, among other things, for its excellent wine which was sold in all parts of the Mediterranean.

Located on Lake Mariut near Alexandria, it was an important port in the Roman and Byzantine times, and probably existed already in the Ptolemaic times. As it was linked by canals to the Nile and the Mediterranean Sea, also products from Upper Egypt were brought there.

The importance of Marea is evidenced by the four long piers, the longest of which (125 m) was built from strong stone ashlars bound with waterproof mortar. It developed remarkable infrastructure and architecture during the reign of Emperor Justinian, and it became an important place of rest for pilgrims en route to the tomb of Saint Menas, one of the most famous martyrs in Christian history, which is situated in the Egyptian desert.

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology UW (University of Warsaw) has been conducting archaeological research in Marea since 2000. The current work is supervised by Professor Tomasz Derda.

Currently, excavations are underway in the extensive bath complex. Excavations also continue in the large basilica built during Justinian’s reign.

Vandal coin. Photo: Warsaw University

A team of numismatists from the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, led by Dr. Piotr Jaworski, examined nearly 8,500 Byzantine and Umayyad coins.

Among them, they discovered several treasures, such as the remains of pouches and thousands of coins lost by the city’s inhabitants and pilgrims who stayed in the city before the last stage of the pilgrim trail to Abu Mena.

‘The importance of the research we conduct in Marea cannot be overestimated, because the material culture of this rich Byzantine city gives an idea about the most important city in the region – Alexandria.

Due to the rapid development of the city in the 19th and 20th centuries, the possibilities of conducting archaeological research there are extremely limited, and the state of research on monetary finds is far from satisfactory,’ says Dr. Piotr Jaworski.

The results of numismatic research conducted in Marea (Filoksenite) are surprising because they paint a picture of monetary circulation in Egypt at the end of antiquity that differs from that known from literature. Most existing publications focus on the coinage of Byzantine Alexandria.

An important exception and basic reference material for Polish numismatists is the body of finds from nearby Abu Mena, compiled by Hans-Christoph Noeske.

Research findings show that before the Umayyad caliphs took power, Egypt seemed to be part of an economic zone extending far beyond the territory of the country and covering large areas of the eastern Mediterranean, and the closest similarity of the monetary circulation model can be found in today’s Israel.

According to the University of Warsaw press release, these important findings were possible primarily due to focusing on the most numerous (approximately 75 percent of the total number of finds), although seemingly least attractive group of coins: those with a diameter of only a few millimeters, called nummi minimi.

Ostrogothic coin. Photo Warsaw University

The majority of “nummi minimi” were stored in bags, numerous remnants of which were discovered at the site. These coins have been largely marginalized in scientific publications until now. However, numismatists from the University of Warsaw decided to examine each specimen, even the smallest and poorly preserved ones.

Thanks to this, they discovered that in the group of “nummi minimi” found in Marea (Filoksenite), coins minted in Carthage by the Vandal kings predominated and, subsequently, after the recovery of Africa from the barbarians, by Justinian.

The researchers also identified Ostrogothic small coins, which – like Vandal coins – began to flow widely into the eastern Mediterranean after the Ostrogothic kingdom was ended by Justinian.

Among the coins found in Marea, a significant percentage are local Egyptian imitations. They include coins inspired by the coinage of the Kingdom of Aksum and imitations of Byzantine coins minted in Alexandria. A surprisingly large number of them are called “blanki,” that is, empty coin discs made of copper or lead that functioned as spare coins.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Roman mosaics were found during rescue excavation in southeast Turkey

Roman mosaics were found during rescue excavation in southeast Turkey

Roman mosaics were found during rescue excavation in southeast Turkey

Archaeologists discovered mosaics believed to be from the Roman era during a rescue excavation undertaken in a rural expanse in the Kızıltepe district of Mardin in southeastern Türkiye.

In the countryside of Uzunkaya Neighbourhood, which is about 30 kilometers away from the district center, officials investigated the area known as Kela Hanma (Lady’s Castle) upon a report of illegal excavation.

During the investigations, it was determined that the architectural texture of the area was destroyed and there were many illegal excavation pits in the area.

Following reports of illicit excavations and the destruction of the architectural fabric in the area, researchers delved into the site to uncover ancient treasures hidden beneath the ground.

A rescue excavation was started on 2 October in the said area under the chairmanship of Mardin Museum Director Abdulgani Tarkan, with the participation of expert archaeologist and art historian Volkan Bağlayıcı, Museum Specialist Archaeologist Mehmet Şan and 6 workers, and teams from Diyarbakır Restoration and Conservation Regional Laboratory Directorate.

The excavation revealed mosaic floor tiles belonging to a Villa Rustica, a rural settlement enclosed by walls, comprising a central structure along with smaller auxiliary buildings distributed around it.

The mosaic floor, measuring approximately 100 square meters, exhibited intricate designs depicting fish scales, triangles, hexagons, octagons, arch formations, trees, waterfowl, octopuses, fish, mussels, seals, and aquatic plant imagery.

Director Abdulgani Tarkan highlighted the significance of the findings, emphasizing that this Roman settlement in the forested area between Kızıltepe and Artuklu districts is not just a rural villa; it encompasses diverse architectural remnants, including living quarters and a necropolis dating back to the fifth to seventh centuries.

“These mosaics, adorned with animal figures and rare sea creatures like octopuses and various fish species, are distinctive in this region.

Our priority is to preserve these historical relics to prevent further deterioration,” Tarkan emphasized.

Plans are in the works to carefully remove and display these unique mosaic artifacts at the museum, highlighting this new chapter in Mardin’s rich historical narrative.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

A Dancing Muses statue 2175 years old was found in the ancient city of Stratonikeia, known as the city of eternal loves

A Dancing Muses statue 2175 years old was found in the ancient city of Stratonikeia, known as the city of eternal loves

The latest discovery in the ongoing excavations in the Ancient City of Stratonikeia, known as the city of eternal loves and gladiators, was a “Dancing Muses” statue, an iconic figure from ancient mythology.

According to the statement made by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the statue found in the works carried out in the ancient city is this unearthed statue is the sole original Hellenistic period piece attributed to a work famously replicated during the Roman period.

Today the ancient city is located in Eskihisar village of the Yatagan district of Mugla Province. It is one of the cities of the Ancient Caria Region. With an area of ​​7 km, it is one of the largest marble-built cities in the world. It is the only city-state with two major sanctuaries dedicated to Hekate and Zeus.

Historically, the “Dancing Muses,” considered one of the muses born from Zeus and Mnemosyne’s union, was reputedly crafted by Philiskos, a renowned sculptor from the second century B.C.

While there are numerous Roman period reproductions of this piece throughout Anatolia and Greece, the newly discovered statue from Stratonikeia stands out as the only authentic work by Philiskos from the Hellenistic era.

A Dancing Muses statue 2175 years old was found in the ancient city of Stratonikeia, known as the city of eternal loves
Photo: Stratonikeia and Lagina Excavation from social media account.

Information about Philiskos, the renowned sculptor from the Hellenistic Period, is quite scarce. Philiskos was known for his work in bronze sculpture, particularly in creating statues and sculptures of athletes and gods. He was active during the 4th century BCE and hailed from Rhodes, a center for artistic innovation during that era.

Philiskos is often mentioned in historical records and texts for his mastery in portraying movement and anatomical accuracy in his sculptures.

Unfortunately, none of his original works have survived, leaving us to rely on written accounts and references by other ancient authors to understand his artistic prowess and contributions to the field of sculpture during the Hellenistic Period.

Therefore, the discovery of the statue in Stratonikeia is significant for archaeologists because it demonstrates Philiskos’ artistic presence in the ancient city during the Hellenistic period.

The statue and pedestal were found during excavations inside the frigidarium of the Roman bath in Stratonikeia. However, the head and arms of the sculpture were notably absent from the findings.

Previously, a replica of this revered statue was discovered in the Roman baths of the ancient city of Perge, as well as another in Rhodes, demonstrating its widespread replication during the Roman period.

The statue will be exhibited at the Muğla Museum after the work to be done.

EUROPE, SERBIA, WORLD

Oldest Fortresses in the World Discovered in Siberia

Oldest Fortresses in the World Discovered in Siberia

Oldest Fortresses in the World Discovered in Siberia

Archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin together with an international team have uncovered fortified prehistoric settlements in a remote region of Siberia.

The results of their research reveal that hunter-gatherers in Siberia constructed complex defense structures around their settlements already 8000 years ago.

This discovery reshapes our understanding of early human societies, challenging the notion that people only began to build permanent settlements with monumental architecture and complex social structures with the advent of agriculture.

The investigation centered on the fortified settlement of Amnya, acknowledged as the northernmost Stone Age fort in Eurasia, where the team of researchers conducted fieldwork in 2019.

The group was led by Professor Henny Piezonka, an archaeologist at Freie Universität Berlin, and Dr. Natalia Chairkina, an archaeologist in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Among the team’s members were German and Russian researchers from Berlin, Kiel, and Yekaterinburg.

Tanja Schreiber, an archaeologist at the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology in Berlin and co-author of the study explains, “Through detailed archaeological examinations at Amnya, we collected samples for radiocarbon dating, confirming the prehistoric age of the site and establishing it as the world’s oldest-known fort.

Our new palaeobotanical and stratigraphical examinations reveal that inhabitants of Western Siberia led a sophisticated lifestyle based on the abundant resources of the taiga environment.”

The prehistoric inhabitants caught fish from the Amnya River and hunted elk and reindeer using bone and stone-tipped spears. To preserve their surplus of fish oil and meat, they crafted elaborately decorated pottery.

Top: aerial view of the Amnya river and promontory; bottom: general plan of Amnya I and II, showing location of excavation trenches and features visible in the surface relief.

Approximately ten Stone Age fortified sites are known to date, with pit houses and surrounded by earthen walls and wooden palisades, suggesting advanced architectural and defensive capabilities. This discovery challenges the traditional view that permanent settlements, accompanied by defensive structures, only emerged with farming societies, thus disproving the notion that agriculture and animal husbandry were prerequisites for societal complexity.

The Siberian findings, along with other global examples like Gobekli Tepe in Anatolia, contribute to a broader reassessment of evolutionist notions that suggest a linear development of societies from simple to complex.

In various parts of the world, from the Korean peninsula to Scandinavia, hunter-gatherer communities developed large settlements by drawing on aquatic resources.

The abundance of natural resources in the Siberian taiga, such as annual fish runs and migrating herds, probably played a crucial role in the emergence of the hunter-gatherer forts.

The fortified settlements overlooking rivers may have served as strategic locations to control and exploit productive fishing spots. The competitive nature arising from the storage of resources and increased populations is evident in these prehistoric constructions, overturning previous assumptions that competition and conflict were absent in hunter-gatherer societies.

The findings underscore the diversity of pathways that led to complex societal organizations, reflected in the emergence of monumental constructions such as the Siberian forts. They also highlight the significance of local environmental conditions in shaping the trajectories of human societies.

Research results were published in the scientific journal “Antiquity.”

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

125,000 Years Ago Neanderthals Hunted Elephants Much Larger Than Extinct Woolly Mammoths

125,000 Years Ago Neanderthals Hunted Elephants Much Larger Than Extinct Woolly Mammoths

Hunting the now-extinct straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) was widespread among Neanderthals, concludes a research team.

In the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences scientists write that they have closely examined the bones of elephants that are approximately 125,000 years old that were discovered in Gröbern in Saxony-Anhalt and Taubach in Thuringia, Germany, decades ago.

They were able to identify cut marks made by stone tools used by the Neanderthals that indicate that the animals must have been hunted before they were extensively butchered.

125,000 Years Ago Neanderthals Hunted Elephants Much Larger Than Extinct Woolly Mammoths
Pelvic bone of a Palaeoloxodon antiquus found in Gröbern.

It was two years ago, during the analysis of bones found at the Neumark-Nord site in a former lignite mine in Saxony-Anhalt, that the same team discovered the very first evidence that Neanderthals actively hunted straight-tusked elephants, the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene.

“The results of the more recent examination of the bones from Gröbern and Taubach now show that the hunting of these elephants by Neanderthals was not an isolated phenomenon but must have been a more regular activity,” emphasized Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Professor of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at JGU and Director of the Archaeological Research Center and Museum of Human Behavioral Evolution MONREPOS in Neuwied, an institute run under the aegis of LEIZA.

Gaudzinski-Windheuser was extensively involved in the investigation of the bones from Gröbern and Taubach as well as the previous study of the bones from the Neumark-Nord site.

Palaeoloxodon antiquus roamed the landscapes of Europe and Western Asia 800,000 to 100,000 years ago.

With shoulder heights of up to 4 meters and body masses of up to 13 tons, the European straight-tusked elephant was the largest land-living animal at the time, significantly larger than today’s African and Asian elephants and even bigger than the extinct wooly mammoth.

“We have estimated that the meat and fat supplied by the body of an adult Palaeoloxodon antiquus bull would have been sufficient to satisfy the daily calorie intake of at least 2,500 adult Neanderthals,” explained Gaudzinski-Windheuser.

“This is a significant number because it furnishes us with new insights into the behavior of Neanderthals.

So far, for instance, researchers had generally assumed that Neanderthals associated in groups of no more than 20 individuals.

However, the information now obtained in relation to the systematic exploitation of straight-tusked elephants indicates that Neanderthals must have gathered, at least temporarily, in larger groups or mastered techniques that allowed them to preserve and store large quantities of foodstuffs—or both.

CROATIA, EUROPE, WORLD

Unexpected Discovery Of Roman Baths Under Split City Museum In Croatia

Unexpected Discovery Of Roman Baths Under Split City Museum In Croatia

Archaeologists assisting with the restoration works of the Split City Museum in Croatia have made a surprising discovery. Beneath the building, they found large Roman baths and mosaics.

Researchers did expect to make some minor archaeological discoveries, but not large Roman thermal baths!

One of the goals of the European project called “Palace of Life, City of Change” is to reconstruct the ground floor and the installation of a lift in the Split City Museum.

Located inside the old Papalic Palace, the museum is visited by many, featuring various fascinating exhibitions telling the story of the rich history of Split and its citizens.

The ongoing restoration works have been carried out according to the plans, and archaeologists enjoyed the minor discoveries they made at the site. It was a huge surprise and sensation when they suddenly unearthed massive Roman structures.

Total Croatia News reports that “in the former museum reception, the structure of the ancient floor, underfloor heating, an opening for warm air connected to the stove, a praetorium, an opening inside the underfloor heating, and a furnace construction were all discovered.

Unexpected Discovery Of Roman Baths Under Split City Museum In Croatia

A deeper continuation of digging revealed an ancient mosaic in the southern room, then a continuation of the ancient wall in the central room with a pool and an oil and grape press.

In the northern room, next to the staircase, a pool with a white mosaic floor was also found – the head of archaeological research from the Neir company, Nebojša Cingeli, revealed.

Cingeli explained that the discoveries underneath the Papalic Palace are related to water because they are pools and cisterns, so it is easy to conclude “that there were once thermal baths in the northern part of Diocletian’s Palace as well”.

This comes as somewhat of a surprise for both historians and archaeologists, because for years it was assumed that the northern part of Diocletian’s palace housed barracks and training grounds for Diocletian’s personal guard and staff.”

The plan is to holed the excavated rooms open to the public. Before visitors can come it is important to strengthen the walls and secure the structure. Above the open archaeology site, architects will design a design a system of walkways that will allow movement above the site.

“The selection of exhibits, expanded legends/descriptions and other museological items created a narrative thread of the exhibition that starts from before Diocletian’s time, the connection with Salona, ancient Split, all the way through to the early Middle Ages to the period of the autonomous commune.

“Showing our visitors the “living past” that speaks to us through the original layers of centuries long gone by adds insurmountable value and legacy to future generations. It is up to us to carry this out in the best and most professional way,” concluded the director of the Split City Museum.”

NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Humans Got To America 7,000 Years Earlier Than Thought – New Research Confirms

Humans Got To America 7,000 Years Earlier Than Thought – New Research Confirms

When and how humans first settled in the Americas is a subject of considerable controversy. In the 20th century, archaeologists believed that humans reached the North American interior no earlier than around 14,000 years ago.

But our new research found something different. Our latest study supports the view that people were in America about 23,000 years ago.

Humans Got To America 7,000 Years Earlier Than Thought – New Research Confirms
The footprints come from a group of people of different ages.

The 20th-century experts thought the appearance of humans had coincided with the formation of an ice-free corridor between two immense ice sheets straddling what’s now Canada and the northern US. According to this idea, the corridor, caused by melting at the end of the last Ice Age, allowed humans to trek from Alaska into the heart of North America.

Gradually, this orthodoxy crumbled. In recent decades, dates for the earliest evidence of people have crept back from 14,000 years ago to 16,000 years ago. This is still consistent with humans only reaching the Americas as the last Ice Age was ending.

In September 2021, we published a paper in Science that dated fossil footprints uncovered in New Mexico to around 23,000 years ago—the height of the last Ice Age. They were made by a group of people passing by an ancient lake near what’s now White Sands. The discovery added 7,000 years to the record of humans on the continent, rewriting American prehistory.

If humans were in America at the height of the last Ice Age, either the ice posed few barriers to their passage, or humans had been there for much longer. Perhaps they had reached the continent during an earlier period of melting.

Our conclusions were criticized, however, we have now published evidence confirming the early dates.

Dating the pollen

For many people, the word pollen conjures up a summer of allergies, sneezing, and misery. But fossilized pollen can be a powerful scientific tool.

In our 2021 study, we carried out radiocarbon dating on common ditch grass seeds found in sediment layers above and below where the footprints were found. Radiocarbon dating is based on how a particular form—called an isotope—of carbon (carbon-14) undergoes radioactive decay in organisms that have died within the last 50,000 years.

Some researchers claimed that the radiocarbon dates in our 2021 research were too old because they were subject to something called the “hard water” effect. Water contains carbonate salts and therefore carbon. Hard water is groundwater that has been isolated from the atmosphere for some period of time, meaning that some of its carbon-14 has already undergone radioactive decay.

Common ditch grass is an aquatic plant and the critics said seeds from this plant could have consumed old water, scrambling the dates in a way that made them seem older than they were.

It’s quite right that they raised this issue. This is the way that science should proceed, with claim and counter-claim.

How did we test our claim?

Radiocarbon dating is robust and well-understood. You can date any type of organic matter in this way as long as you have enough of it. So two members of our team, Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati of the United States Geological Survey set out to date the pollen grains. However, pollen grains are really small, typically about 0.005 millimeters in diameter, so you need lots of them.

This posed a formidable challenge: you need thousands of them to get enough carbon to date something. In fact, you need 70,000 grains or more.

Medical science provided a remarkable solution to our conundrum. We used a technique called flow cytometry, which is more commonly used for counting and sampling individual human cells, to count and isolate fossil pollen for radiocarbon dating.

Flow cytometry uses the fluorescent properties of cells, stimulated by a laser. These cells move through a stream of liquid. Fluorescence causes a gate to open, allowing individual cells in the flow of liquid to be diverted, sampled, and concentrated.

We have pollen grains in all sediment layers between the footprints at White Sands, which allows us to date them. The key advantage of having so much pollen is that you can pick plants like pine trees that are not affected by old water. Our samples were processed to concentrate the pollen within them using flow cytometry.

After a year or more of labor-intensive and expensive laboratory work, we were rewarded with dates based on pine pollen that validated the original chronology of the footprints. They also showed that old water effects were absent at this site.

The pollen also allowed us to reconstruct vegetation that was growing when people made the footprints. We got exactly the kinds of plants we would expect to have been there during the Ice Age in New Mexico.

We also used a different dating technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) as an independent check. OSL relies on the accumulation of energy within buried grains of quartz over time. This energy comes from the background radiation that’s all around us.

Colorized scanning electron microscope image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants.

The more energy we find, the older we can assume the quartz grains are. This energy is released when the quartz is exposed to light, so what you are dating is the last time the quartz grains saw sunlight.

To sample the buried quartz, you drive metal tubes into the sediment and remove them carefully to avoid exposing them to light. Taking quartz grains from the center of the tube, you expose them to light in the lab and measure the light emitted by grains. This reveals their age. The dates from OSL supported those we got using other techniques.

The humble pollen grain and some marvelous medical technology helped us confirm the dates the footprints were made, and when people reached the Americas.

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

Seven Bronze Age Swords And Large Hoard Of Slavic Coins Found In Germany

Seven Bronze Age Swords And Large Hoard Of Slavic Coins Found In Germany

Seven impressive Bronze Age swords and a large hoard of Slavic coins have been unearthed by volunteer archaeologists in Germany. The find was made in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal, and European Affairs announced in a press release that the seven swords were found in fragments near Mirow (Mecklenburg Lake District).

Seven Bronze Age Swords And Large Hoard Of Slavic Coins Found In Germany
Credit: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs

It can be assumed that they came to the surface some time ago when a trench was being dredged and spread over a larger area with the dredged material.

Originally, the swords were probably sunk into the lowlands as consecration or sacrificial offerings. Although such deposits of valuable items are not unusual, many Bronze Age swords have never been discovered in one place in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Scientific dating has shown that the swords date back to the Bronze Age. Their age is estimated at around 3,000 years.

The finders meticulously tracked down the individual fragments, making it possible to assemble the swords almost completely.

The recovery was carried out together with an excavation technician from the state archaeology department.

The 6,000 silver coins from the 11th century were found on Rügen, Germany’s largest island. They were scattered over a larger area, but most of them were in a clay pot.

Credit: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs

The coins were also found by volunteer conservationists, more precisely by the “De Ackerlöper” working group.

The origins of the coins are very different. Some of the coins are from Western Germany, while others can be traced to the Meißen-Upper Lusatia region. About 10 percent of the coins come from England, Denmark, Bohemia, and Hungary.

Credit: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs

The unearthed coins reflect trade relationships in the 11th century. Scientists point out that this is the largest Slavic coin hoard of the post-war period to date.

Another very unusual find is the reliquary containers that were found in the Mecklenburg Lake District. A volunteer conservationist discovered the treasure during an inspection. In a pot with around 1,700 coins were neck and finger rings, a pearl necklace (with gold, rock crystal, and carnelian beads), and two reliquary containers.

Credit: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs

The researcher explained that the two reliquary containers offer surprising evidence of the Christian faith in an area that was still largely influenced by other beliefs at the time.

“Around 250 volunteers are currently active in the preservation of archaeological monuments. About the same number are currently undergoing relevant training. They are indispensable for preserving our cultural heritage in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,” Culture Minister Bettina Martin said, highlighting the work of the volunteer archaeological preservationists in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.