All posts by Archaeology World Team

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Ice Age humans in Israel lived the good life while contemporaries starved — study

Ice Age humans in Israel lived the good life while contemporaries starved — study

Researchers in Israel recently uncovered remains that revealed the life of ancient humans that lived near the Sea of Galilee about 23,000 years ago. With this new discovery, experts were able to figure out how these residents managed to thrive amid the Ice Age.

A gazelle in southern Israel, July 14, 2017. Ice Age humans feasted on gazelle, along with smaller prey animals, according to a new Hebrew University study.

One of Israel’s leading academic institutions, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU), and its Institute of Archeology team and colleagues worked together to figure out how these ancient tribes thrived.

About Israel’s Ohalo II 

According to their research of the animal remains, the team found that ice age survivors lived a good life while most of their contemporaries were facing hunger and starvation. This is mainly because of the extremely cold temperatures on Earth at the time of their existence.

The Israeli site of Ohalo II was inhabited between 23,500 and 22,500 years ago, during the conclusion of the last Ice Age (“Last Glacial Maximum”). The brush huts and plant relics at Ohalo II have been preserved to an exceptional degree.

Excavation of the site by Prof. Dani Nadel of the University of Haifa in conjunction with HU Professor Rivka Rabinovich and HU doctoral student Tikvah Steiner allowed the researchers to learn more about the ancient occupants’ eating habits and widespread use of animal parts. 

Many parts of North America, Northern Europe and Asia were blanketed by ice sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum, as per Phys.org.

This caused severe drought, desertification and a significant drop in sea levels. Ohalo II was discovered in 1989 when the water level of the Sea of Galilee was reduced by several meters due to drought. There were two sets of excavations: one in 1989-1991 and the other in 1998-2001. 

About 9 kilometres south of Tiberias, on the southernmost part of the contemporary Sea of Galilee, lies this sprawling 2000-meter-long archaeological complex. An adult male’s burial and the ruins of six oval-shaped brush houses are among the many artefacts found on the site, as are a variety of other structures and piles of rubbish.

Fisher-hunter-gatherers’ lifestyles throughout that time period can be gleaned from the abundance of organic and inorganic elements. 

Animal Bones Discovered at the Site

Cut marks on ancient gazelle bones found at the Ohalo II archaeological site.

In addition to a large number and variety of animal bones found at the site (including gazelles, deer, hares, and foxes), the team also examined other evidence, such as charred plant remains and flint tools, to draw the conclusion that Ohalo II presents a distinct picture of subsistence from most other early Epipaleolithic sites in the area. 

These individuals were able to take advantage of a wide range of edible plants, animals and reptiles as well as birds and fish in the Upper Jordan Valley at Ohalo II during the Last Glacial Maximum, according to The Times of Israel.

With the ability to hunt large creatures, these occupants also had the means and time necessary to fully exploit animal carcasses down to the marrow, said Steiner. 

Identification of the Animal Species 

An investigation into the three distinct occupants of one of the huts revealed the presence of reptile, bird, and mammal remains. Bone sizes were measured and spectroscopic analysis of bone surfaces was performed to detect evidence of cutting and wear as part of the study’s identification and quantification.

Additionally, Dr. Rebecca Biton, a herpetology expert and post-doctoral student at Hebrew University, found that the turtles were all the same size, which could indicate that the hunters deliberately selected a specific size of the turtle shell. 

Rather than showing a decrease in food availability, Steiner and her colleagues feel that the site’s data show an increase in the variety of food sources. At the beginning of the Epipaleolithic period, Ohalo II is a remarkable example of a truly broad-spectrum economy.

ASIA, EUROPE, RUSSIA, WORLD

Did ‘unicorns’ co-exist with humans? Yes, but they were just rhinos

Did ‘unicorns’ co-exist with humans? Yes, but they were just rhinos

Sorry, guys, but I’m going to be a killjoy on this one. But first, the good news: According to a study published last month in the American Journal of Applied Science, a species called Elasmotherium sibiricum — the “Siberian unicorn” — went extinct much later than previously thought.

Elasmotherium sibiricum: Technically a unicorn, but not a unicorn.

Researchers from Tomsk State University believe they’ve found fossil evidence of a Siberian unicorn prancing around just 29,000 years ago — more than 300,000 years after they were thought to have gone extinct.

Homo sapiens was stomping around by then, which means our ancestors may have encountered this beast.

But, um.

No.

Despite the image on that post, the Siberian unicorn was far from being, you know, a unicorn. It was a rhino.

Note that this finding isn’t cool: Whenever scientists discover evidence that something survived for hundreds of thousands of years past its assumed expiration date, it’s worth noting.

If the fossil — which is just a small fragment of the skull — was correctly categorized and radiocarbon dated, then it suggests that a small group of the species was able to survive in what’s now Kazakhstan, even as the rest of its kind died off.

Figuring out why that happened could help scientists understand how the planet was changing during that period and how resilient these kinds of animals are to climate shifts.

I just don’t get why we’re trying to pretend this rhino was a unicorn.

My roommate tried to convince me:

“Well, what’s the relative length and girth of the horn?”
“I guess it’s slightly longer than a modern rhino.”
“I rest my case.”

So that’s something, I guess. Forbes reports that the horn was “likely multiple feet long.”

(E. sibiricum, by Rashevsky, under supervision of A.F. Brant/Public Domain)

Still, I have to agree with Ben Guarino at Inverse, who argues that the Siberian unicorn “was a unicorn in the same way that a seahorse is a mustang.”

We can’t even really entertain the idea that this shaggy beast inspired unicorn mythology, because the time and place it lived just doesn’t jibe with that.

But, hey, scientists and future scientists of the world, take this as a lesson: Giving your newly discovered species (or even your research boat) a good name can go a long way.

Never hesitate to throw in a shout-out to a pop star or a mythical creature. Never. You are not too good at this. Science is not too good for this.

Because in an age when sources of entertainment are literally endless, people all over the world spent this morning reading about the radiocarbon dating of a shaggy ancient rhino.

EUROPE, IRELAND, WORLD

4,500-year-old Neolithic tomb collapses in South Dublin

4,500-year-old Neolithic tomb collapses in South Dublin

The tomb, which dates back to the Neolithic period before the start of the Bronze Age, appears to have collapsed in late 2021, with photos showing the capstone having fallen in. The tomb itself is located on farmland in Shankill and is known as the Carrickgollogan wedge tomb.

The Carrickgollogan Dolmen in Shankill Co Dublin

Andrew Bambrick, who runs a heritage conservation community, says that the capstone appears had fallen in between the two supporting stones and that it was sad to see it like this. 

“It’s sad, it’s been in the country for over 4,500 years and it’s collapsed,” said Bambrick.

Photos taken of the monument in early 2021 show it surrounded by fencing and overgrown with brambles. In more recent photos, there are fewer brambles surrounding the tomb, but the capstone has collapsed inwards.

Bambrick says that while wedge tombs have collapsed in the past, it is usually due to factors like tree roots displacing the tomb and over long periods of time, erosion.

Bambrick says that he has reported the collapse to the National Monument Service, but had yet to receive a response.

The tomb appears to have collapsed in late 2021

However, the Department of Heritage said that the National Monuments Service was made aware of the collapse and that they plan on investigating further.

“The National Monuments Service was recently made aware of an apparent collapse of a capstone at the monument and will be investigating the matter,” said a spokesperson for the Department.

The wedge tomb is included within the most recent Record of Protected Structures (RPS) published by Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown County Council. 

While there is awareness of large scale monuments, like Newgrange, Bambrick says that there needs to be more done to raise awareness of smaller, local heritage sites like the Carrickgollogan Dolmen.

He says greater awareness of these historical sites will lead to greater preservation efforts and called for local community groups to be set up to look after dolmens.

Bambrick said that while there were laws in place to protect historical sites like dolmens, there needed to be further efforts to investigate and enforce these protection laws.

He says that a separate organisation specifically to tackle monument vandalism needed to be set up by the Government.

The National Monuments Service is responsible for archaeological matters arising at larger monuments in the care of the State, as well as carrying out surveys on areas that may have historical monuments.

The body also provides advice to planning authorities on development proposals, like development plans, around the impacts they may have on historical sites.

Wedge tombs were the last tombs to be built during the Neolithic period, acting as burial grounds. All wedge tombs in the country are protected under the National Monument Service.

Similar tombs constructed during the Neolithic era include passage tombs, portal tombs and court tombs. These were constructed earlier in the Neolithic era, before wedge tombs became more common.

Well-known wedge tombs include the Labbacallee wedge tomb near Glanworth in Co Cork. It is noted as the largest in Ireland and dates back to 2300 BC.

4,500-year-old Neolithic tomb collapses in South Dublin
The Labbacallee wedge tomb near Glanworth in Cork
EUROPE, POLAND, WORLD

The Mystery of the Death of 60 Prisoners From a Camp in the Stargard Area

The Mystery of the Death of 60 Prisoners From a Camp in the Stargard Area

‘During research in Stalag II-D, we found several dozen mass graves. We carried out exhumation in one of them and found the remains of 64 men. Based on the analysis of collected evidence, artefacts, we can now say that most of them were Red Army soldiers’, says Dr. Andrzej Ossowski, head of the Department of Forensic Genetics at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.

Archaeological and genetic research in the former German POW camp Stalag II D in Stargard.

He adds that the items discovered in the grave include fragments of Polish and Belgian soldier uniforms, but at this stage, it is not possible to confirm that those soldiers were also buried there.

Based on the Red Army soldiers data published by the OBD Memorial project, the researchers determined that the prisoners died within four consecutive days, in December 1941.

Preliminary findings also indicate that death occurred as a result of exhaustion, but scientists want to investigate it in more detail – precisely because of the short time, in which so many people died.

‘The scale is incredible – a dozen or so people per day died in the camp. There are no traces that would point to a brutal death mechanism – shooting or torture, which we have seen during our work in Stutthof, Treblinka or Sobibór’, explains Ossowski.

According to Ossowski, exhaustion made prisoners susceptible to infectious diseases, such as typhus. ‘We plan to carry out pioneering testing for the presence of pathogens in the preserved bone material – so far, no one has done that in Poland’, the geneticist says.

He adds that research in the former Stalag II-D will continue. The researchers assume that the 64 prisoners found in the grave are not the only such victims.

‘It was not a concentration camp or extermination camp. It was a POW camp. This shows the scale of the criminal system, and we can talk about a mass scale of death in POW camps. This is a terrifying image showing the enormity of criminal action.

It was extermination through the conditions, to which prisoners of war were exposed – hard work, malnutrition, lack of any medical care, emphasises Ossowski.

He notes that research is also underway to determine the identity of prisoners of other nationalities, about whom the researchers have very little information at this point. He also points out that in the case of soldiers of the Red Army, although their fate was known, the communist system never informed their relatives.

‘After taking possession of the German documentation, Soviets did not inform families what happened to their relatives – despite the fact that, as can be seen in the documents, even their addresses were recorded. The authorities allowed to brand the relatives of Soviet POW +families of traitors+’, the geneticist says.

The work that began in October 2021 is the first comprehensive research in the former camp. Earlier, the Military Property Agency, which owns the area, conducted surveys after history enthusiasts determined the approximate location of the burial site in the complex.

Stalag II-D was one of the largest POW camps in the Third Reich. From 1939 (initially, it operated as a temporary camp, Dulag L), prisoners from all over Europe were sent there, soldiers and non-commissioned officers, including soldiers from Gen. Kleeberg’s Army, as well as other Polish soldiers, French, Belgian and Soviet soldiers.

POWs from the camp worked on work details all over Pomerania, including farms and road construction. Many of them died during labour and were buried near their place of work. The camp functioned until its evacuation in February 1945.

Research in Stalag II-D was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. (PAP)

EUROPE, NETHERLANDS, WORLD

2,000-Year-Old Intact Roman Glass Bowl Uncovered in the Netherlands

2,000-Year-Old Intact Roman Glass Bowl Uncovered in the Netherlands

Archaeologists excavating a site in Nijmegen — the oldest city in the Netherlands, situated on the Waal river about six miles from the German border — have discovered a blue glass bowl estimated to be some 2,000 years old, in pristine condition. 

2,000-Year-Old Intact Roman Glass Bowl Uncovered in the Netherlands
2,000-year-old glass bowl unearthed in Nijmegen in the Netherlands

The bowl, just small enough to sit comfortably in the palm of a hand, has a trim rim and a vertical stripe pattern with ridges on the outside.

With no chips or cracks on its surface, the object is stunningly intact. Lead archaeologist Pepjin van de Geer remarked that it was “really special,” deserving pride of place in a museum. 

The ancient Roman bowl is thought to have originated from glass workshops in German cities like Cologne and Xanten, though van de Geer also entertains the possibility that it may have been traded from Italy. 

“Such dishes were made by allowing molten glass to cool and harden over a mould,” he told the Dutch regional newspaper De Stentor.

“The stripe pattern was drawn in when the glass mixture was still liquid. Metal oxide causes a blue colour.”

Archaeologists hope to produce a map of the historic settlement.

Van de Geer’s team had been excavating the site ahead of construction for a new housing and green development project called Winkelsteeg, which promises to be a “dynamic living and working area” for the growing city.

Around the time the bowl was in use, Nijmegen was a Roman military camp that subsequently drew civilian settlement.

It was the first city in the modern-day Netherlands that was named a municipium, or Roman city, so the local Batavi inhabitants were the first in the region to be granted Roman citizenship.

The same excavation effort has unearthed Roman tombs, trinkets like dishware and jewellery, and traces of construction — which the archaeologists hope will be definitive enough to allow them to produce a map of what the settlement layout looked like.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Remains of a man and dog trying to escape ancient tsunami found on Aegean coast

Remains of a man and dog trying to escape ancient tsunami found on Aegean coast

Roughly 3,600 years ago, the massive Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea blew its top, unleashing massive tsunamis. Now, archaeologists in western Turkey have unearthed the bones of a young man and a dog killed by one of those tsunamis. 

It’s the first time that any victims of the ancient eruption have been found in their archaeological context, and it’s the northernmost evidence found of the tsunamis that followed it.

Archaeological excavations at the site in the town of Çeşme, about 40 miles (70 kilometres) west of the city of Izmer, began more than 10 years ago when construction workers built an apartment complex there found Bronze Age ruins. 

Remains of a man and dog trying to escape ancient tsunami found on Aegean coast
The skeleton of a man killed in a tsunami after the eruption of the Thera volcano is the first found in its archaeological context.

But only recently did researchers realize that the destruction they saw was caused by tsunamis from the Thera eruption, said Vasıf Şahoğlu, an archaeologist at the University of Ankara, who led the excavations from 2009 until 2019 and is the lead author of a new study on the discoveries.

“It took some years, and then everything started to have some meaning,” Şahoğlu told Live Science. “This is going to help us enormously. … We will now be able to interpret everything in a much better way.”

The Bronze Age ruins were discovered in 2009 near the waterfront of Çeşme ahead of the construction of a new apartment building.

The Thera volcano, which was then at the centre of the resulting archipelago of Aegean islands now known as Santorini, erupted in about 1600 B.C. It was one of the worst natural disasters in human history; scientists estimate the volcano erupted with 2 million times the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, NASA reported. 

The blast wiped out the Minoan town of Akrotiri on the island, and its aftermath may have contributed to the demise of the Minoan civilization on Crete, about 75 miles (120 km) to the south. The volcano’s plume may have been seen in Egypt, and it likely caused a global volcanic winter that reached as far as China. 

The site is near the busy waterfront of a popular seaside resort on Turkey’s Aegean coast. It will now become an archaeological museum.

Ancient eruption

Despite the widespread devastation and the tens of thousands of people who must have died, the remains from only one death attributed to the eruption have ever been found — those of a man buried by rubble on Santorini, which was discovered in the 19th century, Şahoğlu said.

Many victims of at least four tsunamis that spread across the Mediterranean after the Thera eruption were likely swept out to sea. Archaeologists may also have found other skeletal remains from the cataclysm, but they may have assumed those people were killed by other causes, such as earthquakes, he added.

It can be difficult to see the signs of destruction caused by an ancient tsunami, and often these signs can only be confirmed by the presence of microscopic marine animal fossils, said Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa and senior co-author of the study.

Before now, traces of the tsunamis from Thera have been found at only six sites in the Aegean, and Çeşme — about 140 miles (220 km) away — is the most northerly.

The discovery in 2017 of the bones of the man and dog mean the site at Çeşme can serve as a “frozen moment” of life at the time of the eruptions, she said.

The man was about 17 years old when he died; he was killed by one of the tsunami waves and then washed up against a wall in the Bronze Age town. 

The remains of the dog were found nearby, but there is no evidence that the man and the dog were together when they were killed, Goodman-Tchernov said.

Rescue efforts

Interestingly, a pit had been deliberately dug above the man’s body, possibly in an attempt to rescue him or to retrieve his body for a proper burial. Similar pits had been dug elsewhere at the site, apparently soon after one of the earliest tsunami waves, she said.

“We think these are actually the preserved ‘negative spaces’ from where people have come and rescued the injured survivors or removed [the dead],” Goodman-Tchernov told Live Science. “Unfortunately, there was another tsunami wave that came in and filled all of those.”

Şahoğlu said scientific tests would be carried out on the remains, including DNA analysis, to try to learn more about the young man and the dog. Archaeologists will also look for other traces of the tsunami in the area, and the discovery of tsunami destruction at Çeşme should spur experts to reassess the evidence from archaeological sites nearby, he said. 

Today, Çeşme is a thriving resort town on the Aegean coast, and the archaeological site is right beside the town’s popular waterfront. “It was very difficult to work in the middle of one of the most touristic destinations in Turkey,” Şahoğlu said.

But the archaeological work at Çeşme has now concluded, and authorities are now awaiting approval to build a museum above the site to preserve the excavations, he said.

The remains were described in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Archaeology breakthrough as 1,000-year-old mummy found in underground tomb ‘bound by rope’

Archaeology breakthrough as 1,000-year-old mummy found in underground tomb ‘bound by rope’

Archaeologists have unearthed a mummy dating back around 1,000 years at the site of Cajamarquilla in Peru. The researchers discovered the mummy lying in a fetal position and bound by rope.

Archaeology breakthrough as 1,000-year-old mummy found in underground tomb 'bound by rope'
The mummy — the remains of a male between 18 and 22 years old — was found buried in a fetal position in a tomb at the site of Cajamarquilla in Peru.

At the time the mummy was buried, Cajamarquilla was a thriving city located on the right bank of the Rímac river about 16 miles (25 kilometres) inland, and was a place where people from the coastal and mountainous areas of Peru engaged in trade, researchers said in a statement.

More than 10,000 people might have lived in the city at the time, the researchers said. 

The well-preserved mummy was found in an underground tomb that had a seven-step staircase leading down to it, researchers said in the statement.

The mummy, a male who was between 18 and 22 years old when he died, was found covered in a textile, their body wrapped in rope — a common practice at the time for those who lived in mountainous areas close to Cajamarquilla, the researchers said. 

The remains of a dog and an Andean guinea pig were found beside the mummy, along with corn and the remains of other vegetables, Pieter Van Dalen Luna, an archaeology professor at the National University of San Marcos who led the team, said in another statement.

The buried man died sometime between 1,200  — and 800 years ago, and he may have been the son of a wealthy merchant, the researchers said. 

The mummy was bound in a fetal position.

Family members would have visited his tomb at times after his burial to give offerings. “After the body is placed in the tomb, there are constant events and activities,” Van Dalen Luna told CNN.

“That is to say, their descendants keep coming back over many years and placing food and offerings there, including molluscs.” He noted that llama bones were found outside the tomb and may have been cooked by visitors who brought those bones as offerings. 

The mummy is now being displayed at the National University of San Marcos’s museum. Analysis of the mummy is ongoing. Van Dalen Luna did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication. 

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Ancient Egypt archaeologists find 30 mummies in a fire-scorched sacrificial chamber

Ancient Egypt archaeologists find 30 mummies in a fire-scorched sacrificial chamber

Hidden within a fire-scorched structure near the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt, archaeologists discovered the entrance to a 2,000-year-old family tomb. Inside, they found 30 mummies of various ages, including several arthritis-ridden elderly people, as well as children and a newborn.

The newly discovered rectangular structure contains the tomb.
The tomb was discovered beneath a set of stairs.

Though the archaeologists have yet to date the tomb, they suspect a single family buried their dead in it over generations spanning the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (the first century B.C. to the second or third century A.D.)

According to Patrizia Piacentini, a professor of Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology at the University of Milan, who was co-director of the excavation.

Ancient Egypt archaeologists find 30 mummies in a fire-scorched sacrificial chamber
One of the mummies discovered in a coffin inside the tomb.
Researchers discovered this colourful cartonnage inside the coffin of a child.

This new tomb is one of more than 300 recently discovered surrounding the Mausoleum of the Aga Khan, a pink granite structure built in the 20th century that sits on top of a slight hill along the Nile River.

But while most of the other tombs were found underground or dug into rocky hills, this particular tomb was unique in that it was found inside a larger above-ground structure, which the researchers think was likely used as a place of sacrifice.

“It seems that, due to its position along a valley of access to the necropolis, this building was used as a sacred enclosure where sacrifices were offered to the god Khnum in the form of Aries, creator god and protector of the fertile floods of the Nile, particularly revered in Aswan,” Piacentini told Live Science. “Who better than he could have propitiated the eternal life of those who rested in this necropolis?”

The archaeologists discovered a copper necklace with the inscription “Nikostratos” next to a mummy.
The researchers found this broken offering table in front of the tomb.
A barbotine bowl was among the finds.
A knife with an iron blade and wooden handle was among the finds, and the researchers think it may have been used by ancient robbers to cut the bandages of the mummies.
The researchers used a portable x-ray machine at the site to analyze the mummified head of a child.

Further supporting its use as a place of sacrifice, Piacentini and the team discovered signs of fire on the structure walls possibly from offering ceremonies; but some of the fire marks may have also been made by grave robbers, she added. Either way, inside that burned structure, they discovered animal bones, plant remains and offering tables.

Also hidden inside was a mummy of a man next to a copper necklace engraved with his name “Nikostratos.”

At the bottom of a staircase leading to the tomb entrance — which had been dug out of the rock —, they found a broken offering vase that still contained small fruits. The tomb, which was made up of four deeply-excavated chambers, contained the remains of around 30 mummies. 

Some of the mummies were very well preserved, such as the remains of a child tucked inside a terracotta sarcophagus, while others had their bandages and cartonnage, a material ancient Egyptians used to wrap mummies, cut by ancient robbers.

The researchers also discovered a knife with an iron blade and wooden handle that may have been used by the plunderers. The researchers also say that Nikostratos was likely once inside the tomb with the other 30 mummies, but was taken out by the robbers. 

The excavation was a joint venture between the Aswan and Nubian Antiquities Zone in Egypt and by the University of Milan in Italy; the researchers are continuing to analyze and date the finds.

“The study of the newly discovered structure is just beginning,” Piacentini said.