All posts by Archaeology World Team

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Mystery solved about the origin of the 30,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf

Mystery solved about the origin of the 30,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf

The source of the materials used to make the Venus of Willendorf, a 30,000-year-old figurine that counts among the world’s oldest artefacts, have long eluded experts.

The original Venus from Willendorf. Left: lateral view. Right-top: hemispherical cavities on the righthaunch and leg. Right bottom: existing hole enlarged to form the navel.

The figurine, which resembles a woman with fulsome breasts and round hips, is made of a rock known as oolite, which isn’t native to Willendorf, the village in Austria where it was found. At long last, how the oolite made its way to Willendorf appears to be solved.

An anthropologist with the University of Vienna and two geologists said on Tuesday that the Venus of Willendorf’s oolite most likely came from an area in the north of Italy near Lake Garda.

The findings by Gerhard Weber, Alexander Lukeneder, and Mathias Harzhauser put forward in their paper, which appears in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, have the potential to reshape how experts understand the movement of various peoples during the Paleolithic era.

Working in collaboration with the prehistorian Walpurga Antl-Weiser and the Natural History Museum in Vienna, which owns the Venus of Willendorf, the team of researchers closely examined the figurine to determine its origins.

They relied on a technique called micro-computed tomography, which uses extremely high-definition photography to offer cross-sections of objects.

Inside the oolite, they discovered remnants of shells and limonites, a kind of large grain. Some of the limonites appear to have fallen out of the figurine as it was being carved, leaving depressions behind.

Pictures derived from micro-computed tomography scans of the Venus. Left: Segmented bivalve (Oxytomidae) that was located on the right side of the Venus head; scan resolution 11.5 μm; characteristic features are the umbo and the wings. Middle: Volume rendering of the virtual Venus; six embedded limonite concretions: neck right (orange), neck left (blue), breast left (red), belly left (yellow), hip left (green), leg left (purple); three mollusc fragments: bivalve head right (blue, only 2.5 mm long, see the white line from label “Bivalve” for position), shell breast middle (orange), shell leg left (turquoise). Right: Single μCT-slice showing the porosity and layering of the oolite; note the relative density of the limonite concretion; scan resolution 53 μm.
Venus fluorescent

The experts suggested that the Venus of Willendorf’s gaping belly button was the result of this—a happy accident that was embraced by its maker.

If indeed the oolite came from northern Italy, it means that the sculpture’s maker likely travelled across an area where the Alps are sited.

But because glaciers that have since melted once covered those mountains, the creator likely circumvented the Alps.

Because the oolite went from Italy to Austria, it probably means that the people of civilization that the sculpture’s maker belonged to “looked for and inhabited favourable locations,” Weber said in a statement.

“When the climate or the prey situation changed, they moved on, preferably along rivers.”

But the archaeologists left open the possibility that the oolite may have come from a very different locale: Ukraine. Similar-looking Venus figures have been found there, the experts said, and while the oolite “clearly” seems to have come from Italy, it was “possible, though less likely,” that this sculpture could have originated in Eastern Europe.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Ice Age ‘megafauna’ remains including a mammoth, rhino, hyena and wolf dating back up to 60,000 years are discovered in a Devon cave

Ice Age ‘megafauna’ remains including a mammoth, rhino, hyena and wolf dating back up to 60,000 years are discovered in a Devon cave

Ice Age 'megafauna' remains including a mammoth, rhino, hyena and wolf dating back up to 60,000 years are discovered in a Devon cave
This partial woolly rhinoceros mandible remarkably still has several teeth attached.

The development of Sherford began in 2015 and appeared rather promising. A new town in Devon, England, it would have 5,500 homes and sit near the bustling port city of Plymouth. Fortunately, developers requested archaeologists comb the area before breaking ground — leading to the discovery of animal remains that date back to the Ice Age.

These remains included the tusk, molar tooth, and other bones of a woolly mammoth.

Experts also found the lower jaw and partial skull of a woolly rhinoceros, with a complete wolf skeleton to follow. Other findings include partial remains of a hyena, horse, reindeer, mountain hare, and red fox, plus the bones of bats and shrews.

Led by AC Archaeology and Orion Heritage, the ongoing excavations took place in a cave near old lime kilns and a local quarry. 

According to Sherford officials, the animals died at some point between 30,000 and 60,000 years ago. For the experts involved, this extinct megafauna from Britain’s last Ice Age speaks a thousand words.

“This is a major discovery of national significance — a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those involved,” said lead archaeologist Rob Bourn. “To find such an array of artefacts untouched for so long is a rare and special occurrence. Equally rare is the presence of complete or semi-complete individual animals.”

The researchers documented the remains at the site before carefully removing them for further off-site analysis.

Fortunately for scientists and historians, requesting heritage institutions to thoroughly search an area prior to construction is commonplace in the United Kingdom.

Sherford Consortium developers did so from the very beginning — thereby preventing the destruction of these priceless remains.

The team has since taken the remains off-site for a thorough examination. While they’ve dated them to the Middle Devensian period, it’s unclear if all the animals involved lived during the same timeframe or died millennia apart. For Victoria Herridge, an expert in fossil elephants at the Natural History Museum in London, much is left to learn:

“Devon then would have been a bitterly cold and dry place to be, even in summer,” she said.

“However, it was also a huge open grassland, capable of supporting vast herds of cold-tolerant animals like the woolly mammoth, the woolly rhino and reindeer, as well as the big carnivores like hyena and wolf that preyed upon them.”

This ancient wolf skull was found alongside its complete skeleton.

“This is vital knowledge. Scientists are still unravelling what role climate and humans played in the extinction of the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhino — and what we can learn from that to protect species threatened by both today.”

While the fact that these bones were preserved for millennia is astounding, Bourn was more impressed that they stayed intact during the human activity of the modern age: “Construction happening at Sherford is the sole reason these findings have been discovered and it is remarkable that they have laid undisturbed until now.”

On the other hand, the discovery site itself isn’t particularly easy to access for regular folk. It’s likely precisely because of this that the bones remained so well-preserved.

The Sherford Consortium has since guaranteed that this underground area will be closed off, with no public access allowed — or construction atop to follow.

The remains will be put on display at Plymouth’s new museum, The Box.

“To have found partial remains of such a range of species here in Devon gives us a brilliant insight into the animals which roamed around Ice Age Britain thousands of years ago, as well as a better understanding of the environment and climate at the time,” said Duncan Wilson, the chief executive of Historic England.

As for the future of these ancient remains themselves, it’s been decided that Plymouth’s new museum The Box will put them on display. With the history of the region safeguarded by those who inhabit it today, museum CEO Victoria Pomery hopes locals will gain warranted insight into their heritage.

“Once all the analysis work is completed it will be a huge honour to care for and display these newly discovered finds, and to play an ongoing part in the public’s understanding of Plymouth and the animals that were here during the Ice Age,” said Pomery.

This woolly mammoth tusk is estimated to be between 30,000 and 60,000 years old.

Whether the animals in question all fell into the pit and died together or merely washed into the cave over time is still a mystery. What is clear, however, is that Devon’s Joint Mitnor cave discovered in 1939 yielded over 4,000 animal bones — and was robbed in 2015 by thieves who stole a 100,000-year-old elephant tooth.

Fortunately, that’s unlikely to occur again, as those in charge appear to be determined to properly guard the newfound site.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

The Discovery 29 people of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture

The Discovery 29 people of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture

The human remains of 29 people, buried as sacrificial offerings more than 1,000 years ago, have been discovered in a pre-Inca temple in northern Peru. Researchers found four tombs in the Huaca Santa Rosa de Pucalá dig site, in the Lambayeque region of Peru, with the remains of children and teenagers.

They were originally buried as offerings at the time of the construction of the first of the three enclosures, including a Wari-culture temple, according to the team behind the discovery from the Lambayeque Valley Archaeological Project.

As well as the human remains, the team discovered camelids and guinea pigs showing signs of sacrificial practices.

The Discovery 29 people of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture
The human remains of 29 people buried as sacrificial offerings more than 1,000 years ago have been discovered in a pre-Inca temple in northern Peru
Researchers found four tombs in the Huaca Santa Rosa de Pucalá dig site, in the Lambayeque region of Peru, with the remains of children and teenagers

Archaeologist Edgar Bracamonte Levano, who is also in charge of the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum, said this was a significant discovery. 

It is the first time they have registered this type of human offering linked to the Wari culture, a civilisation that flourished in the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1000 CE.

So far three of the enclosures discovered at the site have been excavated, according to the team behind the finding. 

As well as the human remains, the team discovered camelids and guinea pigs showing signs of sacrificial practices

As well as the human remains, they also found offerings of camelids, such as alpacas, with signs of sacrifice and eight sacrificed guinea pigs. 

The remains of humans and animals are part of a possible ritual that was carried out at the time of starting construction on Wari-style religious spaces, they said.

The enclosures were ‘D’ shaped, and within one was a tomb with offerings related to a group living in the area between 850 and 900 CE. 

The tomb contained a pitcher with Mochica iconography, a bottle of the well-known Early Sicán or Proto-Lambayeque style, a pot with palette decoration and a knife or tumi with the blade in the shape of a half Moon.  

The work also revealed a temple from the Formative Period of this community, contemporary to the end of the Chavin culture – different from earlier finds.  

Bracamonte said: ‘It is a temple built with walls made of clay as formwork and that include clay maces as prototypes of adobes inside the walls. 

‘The upper part of the temple presents very well elaborated floors, ceilings of vegetal remains and evidence of the incineration of objects were found.

‘The temple was built by a human group with local features and that are linked to the mountains, showing that during the years 400 to 200 BCE, ‘ he added. 

‘There were different communities on the coast with interactions towards the mountains and that also show marked differences with the groups of the Formative Period found in the lower part of the valley, in Collud and Ventarrón.’

These new discoveries have added to the existence of Wari-period ceremonial spaces, forcing experts to rewrite the history of Lambayeque. 

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Red paint on the 1,000-year-old gold mask from Peru contains human blood proteins

Red paint on the 1,000-year-old gold mask from Peru contains human blood proteins

Traces of human blood have been discovered in the red paint that decorated a gold mask found on the remains of an elite man who died 1,000 years ago in Peru, a new analysis reveals. 

The man, who was between 40 and 50 years old at the time of his death, lived during the Sicán that spanned from 750 A.D. to 1375 – an era known for its dazzling array of gold objects, many of which were buried in tombs of the elite class.

The tomb was originally unearthed in the 1990s and archaeologists at the time concluded the red paint cinnabar, a brick-red form of mercury, but the effective organic binder remained a mystery – until now.

Scientists, led by Izumi Shimada, founder of the Sicán Archaeological Project, reassessed the ancient burial mask and found unique peptides that match human blood and bird egg proteins. 

‘The presence of human blood would support previous ideas that red cinnabar paint may represent ‘life force’ intended to support ‘rebirth,’ the team shared in the study published in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Red paint on the 1,000-year-old gold mask from Peru contains human blood proteins
A gold mask discovered on the remains of an elite man who died 1,000 years ago in Peru is decorated with red paint that contains human blood, a new analysis reveals

The mask, made of gold, was found on the man whose skeleton was also painted red, and seated inside the tomb.  

The skeletons of two young women were arranged nearby in birthing and midwifing poses, and two crouching children’s skeletons were placed at a higher level, according to a statement.

Shimada and his colleagues analyzed a small sample of red paint from the mask with the hopes of determining the organic binder.

Using spectroscopy, a study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation, the team found six proteins from human blood in the red paint, including serum albumin and immunoglobulin G (a type of human serum antibody). Other proteins, such as ovalbumin, came from egg whites.

The tomb was originally unearthed in the 1990s and archaeologists at the time concluded the red paint cinnabar, a brick-red form of mercury, but the effective organic binder remained a mystery – until now.

Since the proteins were so highly degraded, the researchers could not identify the exact species of bird’s egg used to make the paint, but a likely candidate is the Muscovy duck.

The Sican culture inhabited the north coast of modern-day Peru and predates the Incas, but how they developed is unclear Ancient Origins reports.

However, some say Sicáns are descendants of the Moche culture that flourished in the country from 100 A.D. to 700 A.D.

The Sicán culture put a large focus on the funerary practices of the elites, who were often buried with stunning grave goods.

Another aspect of Sicán funerary practice that has gained attention relatively recently is that of human sacrifice – and it was mostly women who were sacrificed and laid in the tombs of men.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

15th-century Chan Chan mass grave discovered in Peru

15th-century Chan Chan mass grave discovered in Peru

A mass grave of 25 to 30 skeletons has been unearthed in the ancient Peruvian city of Chan Chan, which archaeologists believe is the resting place of the society’s elite members.

The remains were discovered in a small space measuring just 107 square feet, roughly 10 feet long and 10 feet wide, located inside what was once the capital of the Chimú empire that reached its height in the 15th century before falling to the Incas in 1470 AD.

Archaeologist Jorge Menese told Reuters that although this ancient society is known for human sacrifices, there is no evidence suggesting that this occurred at the site.

However, researchers plan to conduct tests in the future to determine each of the individual’s causes of death.

The Chimú were a pre-Incan culture that emerged out of the remnants of the Moche culture along the coast of Peru in 900 AD.

These ancient people lived in a strip of desert, 20 to 100 miles, in the South American country, between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes.

It’s thought that the Chimú culture peaked in the first half of the 14th century, developing a complex civilization with different levels of social hierarchy.

Most of the mass graves found in and around the ancient city were a result of human sacrifice, but Menese said the position of these 25 to 30 skeletons suggest they were buried shortly after the person had died.

15th-century Chan Chan mass grave discovered in Peru
Archaeologists discovered around 25 skeletons in a mass grave in Peru.

Archaeologist Sinthya Cueva said in a video shot at the site that although the remains are of men, women and children, most are women no older than 30.

The Chimú empire is famous for human sacrifices, specifically one uncovered in 2019 that is the largest the world has ever seen.

More than 140 children, along with llamas, were found slaughtered in what is thought to be a mass sacrifice to appease the gods of a now extinct religion.

Many of the children and juvenile animals had their hearts cut out during the grisly ritual.

The children ranged in age from five to 14 years old.

The Chimú were a pre-Incan culture that emerged out of the remnants of the Moche culture along the coast of Peru in 900AD.

It is thought a huge El Niño caused major flooding and storms which triggered the bloody sacrifice.

Analysis of the remains of more than 200 juvenile llamas and humans dates it to approximately 1450, during the peak of the Chimú civilization in northern coastal Peru.

Study author John Verano, professor of anthropology at Tulane University, said: ‘This site opens a new chapter on the practice of child sacrifice in the ancient world.

‘This archaeological discovery was a surprise to all of us – we had not seen anything like this before, and there was no suggestion from ethnohistoric sources or historic accounts of child or camelid sacrifices being made on such a scale in northern coastal Peru.

‘We were fortunate to be able to completely excavate the site and to have a multidisciplinary field and laboratory team to do the excavation and preliminary analysis of the material.’

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

1,900-year-old Roman ‘battle spoils’ recovered from robbers in Jerusalem

1,900-year-old Roman ‘battle spoils’ recovered from robbers in Jerusalem

Police in Jerusalem seized a hoard of stolen antiquities that date to a 1,900-year-old Jewish rebellion against the Romans. The cache had been dug up by tomb robbers from a tunnel complex. 

1,900-year-old Roman 'battle spoils' recovered from robbers in Jerusalem
Police in Jerusalem has seized a hoard of stolen antiquities in Jerusalem, including coins, incense burners and ceramics.

The hoard included hundreds of coins, incense burners and a number of ceramics with decorations on them, including a jug that has a carving of a reclining figure holding a jug of wine.

Researchers believe that during the Bar Kokhba revolt (A.D. 132-135), Jewish rebels captured the items from Roman soldiers and stored them in a tunnel complex where modern-day robbers found them, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement released on their Facebook page on Wednesday. 

Inspectors from the Robbery Prevention Unit examine the artefacts seized in Jerusalem.
Police in Jerusalem has seized a hoard of stolen antiquities in Jerusalem, including coins, incense burners and ceramics.

During the Bar Kokhba revolt, Shimon Ben Kosva (also called Simon Bar-Kokhba or just Bar-Kokhba) led the Jews in a revolt against Roman rule.

The rebels initially captured a substantial amount of territory. However, the Romans counterattacked and gradually wiped out the rebels and killed many civilians.

The ancient writer Cassius Dio claimed that more than 500,000 Jewish men were killed in the revolts. Archaeologists have found numerous hideouts that the Jews used to hide goods or people from the Roman army. 

Despite stealing the goods, the Jewish rebels may not have used many of the artefacts, because they had images that may have gone against Jewish religious beliefs.

“The Jewish fighters did not use them, since they are typical Roman cult artefacts and are decorated with figures and pagan symbols,” the Israel Antiquities Authority said in the statement. 

Police officers found the artefacts after they stopped a car that was “driving in the wrong direction up a one-way street,” the statement said.

Inside the car, they found the artefacts, which researchers think the robbers stole during illegal excavations of a tunnel complex.

While the artefacts were seized in the Musrara neighbourhood of Jerusalem the precise location of the tunnel complex was not released. 

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Pendants from Holocaust victims found near gas chamber in Poland

Pendants from Holocaust victims found near gas chamber in Poland

Three pendants bearing the Hebrew prayer Shema Yisrael (“Hear O Israel”) have been excavated at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Thursday.

Two of the amulets depict Moses holding the Ten Commandments on the reverse side.

Researchers have been able to identify that the three pendants, all different from one another and made by hand, originated in Eastern Europe.

Pendants from Holocaust victims found near gas chamber in Poland
A pendant featuring Moses holding the Ten Commandments was found by the gas chambers located in Camp II at Sobibor.

One came from Lviv in Ukraine, and the other two from Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The nearly decade-long excavations of the site — where approximately 250,000 Jews were killed by the Nazis between 1942 and 1943 — were directed by Wojciech Mazurek from Poland, Yoram Haimi from the IAI and Ivar Schute from the Netherlands, assisted by local residents.

“Little is known about the stories behind the pendants, which are heartbreaking,” Haimi said in a statement.

“It has been possible to identify a kind of tradition or fashion among the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe with pendants that were inscribed with ‘Shema Yisrael’ on one side and a depiction of Moses and the tablets of the Law on the opposite side,” he said.

A figure of Moses and the Ten Commandments on a pendant that was found in the women’s barracks before they entered the gas chambers.

“But were they distributed in synagogues by local Jewish communities or possibly produced for individual orders? Research of the pendants is ongoing and we invite the public to provide us with details concerning them.”

One of the pendants was discovered in the remains of a building where Jews were undressed before being led to the gas chambers. Another, on which Latin numbers were inscribed, was uncovered in the area where victims were undressed in Camp II. A third was next to a mass grave.

“The personal and human aspect of the discovery of these pendants is chilling,” said Eli Eskozido, director of the IAA.

“They represent a thread running between generations of Jews – actually a thick thread, thousands of years old, of prayer and faith.”

A pendant was discovered in a women’s undressing area at Sobibor, where victims were forced to unclothe before entering the gas chambers.
ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Bronze Age Burial Mound Discovered in England

Bronze Age Burial Mound Discovered in England

Archaeologists believe they may have found evidence of a 4,000-year-old prehistoric burial mound during the construction of new student flats. The site has already yielded the remains of St Mary’s, a lost 15th Century Oxford University college.

Bronze Age Burial Mound Discovered in England
The remains are typical of a Bronze Age barrow used for human burials

Latest discoveries include a fragment of skull, part of a human jawbone, and remains typical of a Bronze Age barrow used for human burials.

Thirty flats are being developed at Brasenose College’s Frewin Annexe.

Oxford Archaeology’s senior project manager, Ben Ford, said St Mary’s College, which had already been a “significant archaeological discovery”, appeared to have been built above a circular burial mound.

He added: “These intriguing discoveries strongly suggest a prehistoric burial mound was on this site thousands of years before Oxford even existed.

“The jawbone is robust and clearly from an individual of some stature. The mound is built from reddish colour soils and natural gravel – its survival is very unusual.

“We are now searching for the circular ditch which would have surrounded it, and the remaining bones of the individual.”

Latest discoveries include part of a human jawbone
Thirty flats are being developed at Brasenose College’s Frewin Annexe

During the Bronze Age, important people were commemorated under large earthen mounds as part of an extensive burial ground in the region.

Mr Ford said: “Frewin Hall is one of the oldest buildings still in use in the city, and when we started this project, we hoped to uncover evidence of Oxford’s earliest years as a fortified Saxon town, as well as its later use as the residence of some of the Oxfords most powerful Norman families.

“However, it had not been previously documented that there was a prehistoric burial site here.”

He said the “rare discovery” had brought a “new dimension” to a “rich archaeological area”.

Artefacts previously found at the site include ceramic beer jugs, coins, glass vessels, highly decorated window glass, and decorated floor tiles.

At a recent open day, 500 visitors came to see some of the excavations.

The site has already yielded the remains of St Mary’s, a lost 15th Century Oxford University college