All posts by Archaeology World Team

AFRICA, WORLD

African Stonehenge – Extraordinary Stone Circles Of Senegambia – Who Were The Unknown Builders?

African Stonehenge – Extraordinary Stone Circles Of Senegambia – Who Were The Unknown Builders?

Throughout human history, mankind has been passionate about building impressive monuments. Very often, this is achieved by building something that is the largest, highest, longest, most expensive, etc. in the world.

Nevertheless, some less imposing monuments, rarely given the same attention, are also of great architectural and technological achievement. Take the Senegambian Stone Circles, for instance.

On average, the stones forming these circles are 2m in height and weigh up to 7 tons each. Although these are not massive structures like those of Stonehenge in England or the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the incredible feature of the Senegambian Stone Circles is that there are more than 1000 of them spread over an area that is 100 km wide and 350 km in length. Now, this is a truly remarkable achievement.

A Senegambian Stone Circle at Wassu.

The Senegambian Stone Circles can be found in West Africa, in the modern countries of Gambia and Senegal. Of the 1000 stone circles, 93 of them have been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

These include the Sine Ngayène complex in Senegal, as well as the Wanar, Wassu and Kerbatch complexes in the Gambia. Apart from these stone circles, the sites also contain numerous tumuli and burial mounds. 

According to the material obtained from the archaeological excavations of some of these features, the stone circles have been dated to between the 3 rd century B.C. and the 16 th century A.D. This suggests that the stone circles were built gradually over a long period of time, which perhaps reflects a tradition that was kept for almost two millennia. 

To construct these stone circles, the ancient builders were first required to identify suitable lateritic outcrops for the carving of the stones. Although this stone is common in the region, great knowledge of the local geology was required to find the best laterite.

Having found the suitable laterite, one would then have to cut and extract the stone from the quarry. This was no easy feat as the stones needed to be extracted in one piece. At quarry sites, monoliths that were broken in the course of extraction were of no value and were left there.

These broken monoliths show traces of microscopic cracks which may have caused them to fragment while being extracted. Therefore, great skill was required when cutting and extracting these stones. Finally, the extracted monoliths were transported and erected at various sites along the River Gambia.

This final process suggests that there was a social organization in place that was able to mobilize the manpower required for this task. Imagine this process being repeated for tens of thousands of monoliths, and you get a sense of the massive scale of the Senegambian Stone Circles.

Some of the Senegambian Stone Circles like within and around villages.

The function of these stone circles, however, remains a mystery to us. It has been suggested that they had a funerary function. In some of the excavations, mass burials were discovered, in which bodies were haphazardly thrown into graves.

This suggests that either an epidemic killed a large number of the region’s inhabitants or possibly that it was some kind of sacrifice. By contrast, it is claimed that Islamic writers recorded that these stone circles were built around the burial mounds of kings and chiefs, following the royal burial custom of the ancient empire of Ghana.

When Islam was introduced into the region in the 11 th century, devout Muslims were also buried in the same way, and these stone circles became sacred places. Therefore, these stone circles may have had various functions. What is certain is that more research is needed in order to better understand their function. 

The Senegambian Stone Circles may not be as well-known as the more imposing monuments of mankind. Nevertheless, I think it challenges our perception of what we consider great monuments.

While we often imagine architectural feats to be one huge building looming over the landscape, the sheer number of stone circles scattered around the Senegambian landscape is a building achievement that is as impressive, if not more impressive, than some of the most famous ancient buildings on the planet.

EUROPE, SCOTLAND, WORLD

Traces of 18th-Century Glass Factory Uncovered in Scotland

Traces of 18th-Century Glass Factory Uncovered in Scotland

Interesting traces of Leith’s glass-making past are being uncovered as preparatory works to construct a new residential development gather steam.

The City of Edinburgh Council lodged proposals by Barratt Homes to develop 212 new apartments plus commercial units on a former industrial land stretch near Leith Docks at Salamander Lane. two years ago and are currently at the consultation stage.

Work is already underway to prepare the site ahead of full planning approval, with a number of buildings that were once home to Garland and Roger Ltd timber yard and a six-metre-high boundary wall cleared at the start of the year.

Workers and archaeologists are now starting to uncover traces of an almost extinct Leith industry which has flourished for centuries and was even responsible for the naming of the road on which it was situated.

There was evidence of the once enormous glasswork in Salamander Lane, which can trace its origins from more than two and a half centuries to 1747.

Remnants of the Edinburgh and Leith Glass Works, which can trace its roots back to the 1740s, have been uncovered.

Aerial photographs show the re-emergence of what’s left of one of the glassworks’ six huge furnace cones as well as a number of other buildings, including workshop and warehouse remains.

The furnace cones measured between 80 and 100 feet in height with a diameter of around 40 feet at the base. The brick-built sixsome towered above the Leith skyline at the time and could be easily spotted from the slopes of Calton Hill more than two miles away.

Archaeologists are currently on-site examining the glassworks buildings and deep layers of ancient beach sand deposits that have been exposed as a result of the excavation.  John Lawson, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Archaeologist, said his team is hopeful of uncovering important artefacts during the dig.

Remains of one of the glassworks’ six furnace cones (right-hand side of image) are now visible from above.

He said: “Archaeological investigations have just started on the site which once housed the nationally significant Edinburgh and Leith Glass Works and formed an iconic element of Leith’s industrial skyline.

“It is hoped that the excavations will reveal important evidence as to its development since it moved to this site in the mid 18th Century.”

This image taken by Thomas Begbie in the 1850s captures two of the glassworks’ furnace cones.

From the 14th century onwards, Leith boasted trading links with Europe and the world, importing and exporting a wide range of shipments. Alcohol was among the most sought after produce being brought in and the harbour was regularly flooded with casks and barrels of fine French wine, sweet Spanish sherry and Portuguese port.

Leith’s growing whisky industry and Edinburgh being a burgeoning centre for medicine meant an increasing demand for glass products, further underlining the need for a dedicated glassware and bottling works. As chance would have it, the old port was the perfect home for such an industry as the district boasted substantial quantities of sand and kelp – both of which were essential in glass manufacturing during the Georgian era.

Following the opening of earlier works elsewhere at Leith Citadel and in Edinburgh, the first furnace at what would become the Edinburgh and Leith Glass Works on Salamander Street was fired up in 1747. The works opened on the border of what was then Leith Sands, which, for more than 200 years, was home to Scotland’s main horse racing event, the infamous Leith Races.

A total of six giant, brick-built cones had risen from the site by 1783 and would continue to belch out fire and smoke for the best part of the next century. The amphibian-sounding Salamander Street appeared on maps in the early 19th century and was even coined, it is thought, as an allusion to the glass-making industry – the salamander being supposedly fire-proof, according to medieval legend.

At its height, the glassworks had a lot of bottles, producing in excess of one million glass vessels per week – but it wouldn’t last forever. Editions of The Scotsman dating from 1874 record that the dissolution of the Edinburgh and Leith Glass Works Company occurred in December of that year.

The site was put up for lease and the entire plant, stock and materials of the glassworks, which included a 6-horse power horizontal steam engine; a grinding mill; a “first-class nearly new” turning lathe; and all manner of pot-boards; tank rings and “bottle moulds of ever variety from flasks to carboys”, were listed for auction.

Local Blue Badge tourist guide and historian Fraser Parkinson says he hopes chiefs of the ongoing residential development are respectful of the history being uncovered.

He said: “The glass making industry had a strong footing in Leith until the second half of the 19th century, so it is really exciting to be able to view the footprint of the old glass making buildings and especially the foundations of the old cones which could be seen from Calton Hill.

“It’s a brief but appreciated glimpse back in time. Let’s hope that the developers make good recordings of what is unearthed before moving onto Leith’s future buildings.”

The last of the glass works’ furnace cones was demolished in 1912. The timber yard of Garland & Rogers Ltd filled the space in the decades that followed, as one by one Leith’s traditional industries slowly began to disappear.

EUROPE, SPAIN, WORLD

Fabled palace’s lost gateway unearthed

Islamic-Era Palace Gate Uncovered in Spain

The abandoned gate of the fabled Islamic palace-town Medina Azahara in the 10th century, which was destroyed by fire during a 1010 civil war, has been discovered in southern Spain.

Abd Rahman III, the first caliph of Córdoba, began in 936-1940 AD to build a palace – whose name means ‘ the shining city. ‘ This palace was built as a power symbol.

For some seventy years Medina Azahara thrived before being sacked and burned by Berber rebels in an uprising that eventually saw the caliphate’s dissolution. In the following centuries, the city’s ruins were plundered for the construction of other structures as far away as Marrakech

Abd-al-Rahman III was the first caliph of Córdoba, in Andalusia, and once a member of the Umayyad dynasty.

The site was first excavated in the 1910s, with efforts to date have only uncovered around 10 per cent of the massive complex — which is threatened by construction.

Researchers hope that the discovery of the gate will add to their understanding of the workings of the palace — in particular, the parade ground that it opened on to.

The palace, pictured — whose name means ‘the shining city’ — was built as a symbol of power by Abd-al-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Córdoba, beginning around 936–940 AD
The lost gate of the fabled 10th-century Islamic palace-city Medina Azahara that was destroyed by fire during a civil war in 1010 has been unearthed in southern Spain. Pictured, the remains of the mosque at Medina Azahara. One of the oldest of the city’s buildings, it was built on the lowest of the complex’s three terraced levels, outside of the walled precinct

Medina Azahara lies around four miles west of Córdoba in the foothills of the Sierra Morena, where it would have dominated the views from the surrounding plains.

‘The east gate stood on a porch that collapsed with the fire that destroyed the city,” said archaeologist Alberto Canto of The Autonomous University of Madrid, who led the excavation.

‘Everything collapsed and so we found buried the remains of its tiles, wood, nails, beams, hinges and ornaments,’ he added. Alongside the gate’s debris, the archaeological team also discovered charcoal believed to have come from the fire that destroyed the gateway.

The lost gate is believed to be the entrance to the palace’s spacious parade ground — which was the size of two football pitches — where the caliph’s guard assembled.

Believed to have once stood at around two storeys high, the lost gate was built in a style similar to the doors of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, in Andalusia. It is thought that the entryway would have been embedded in a plastered portico decorated with blue plant motifs.

The site was first rediscovered in the 1910s, with excavations to date having only uncovered around 10 per cent of the massive complex. Pictured, the so-called door of the prime minister within the city-palace

The Medina Azahara complex spanned around 250 acres of land and is believed to have taken some 10,000 workers to build across its history.

Alongside the parade ground, the city featured administrative and governmental offices, barracks, baths, three gardens, a mint, mosques, reception halls, residences, schools, stables and workshops. The heart of Medina Azahara was the reception hall, referred to as the ‘Salón Rico’, or ‘Rich Hall.

Historians believe that at the centre of the hall lay a pool filled with mercury that, when disturbed on cue by a servant, shone the sun’s reflected rays flashing across the walls and ceiling in a display like lightning — one that was used by the caliph to entertain his guests.

Water was supplied to the city by tapping into the remains of a 1st-century Roman aqueduct — part of which was also repurposed as a sewer system. 

Medina Azahara was modelled after the old Umayyad palace in Damascus, a move intended to serve as a symbol of the connection between the caliph and his ancestors.

Medina Azahara lies around four miles west of Córdoba in the foothills of the Sierra Morena, southern Spain, where it would have dominated the views from the surrounding plains

Between the palace-city’s first construction and Abd-al-Rahman III’s death in 961, the ruler is said to have to spend a third of his caliphate’s annual revenue on developing the magnificent complex.

The caliphate of Córdoba covered much of the Iberian peninsula — and a breakaway from territories of the Umayyad dynasty, one of the world’s largest empires that spanned some 4.3 million square miles at its height and was centred on Damascus.

Medina Azahara has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2018, with the United Nations describing the caliphate city as an exemplar ‘of the now vanished Western Islamic civilisation of al-Andalus at the height of its splendour.’

MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

3,400-Year-Old Ball Court Found in Mexico’s Highlands

3,400-Year-Old Ball Court Found in Mexico’s Highlands

Two ancient ball courts were found in a remote area of highland in Mexico. This forces experts to reconsider how an important ballgame and cultural custom in ancient Mexico originated. In the evolution of Mesoamerican civilization, the findings also show the importance of highland areas.

In 2015, in the mountains of Oaxaca, southern Mexico, a group of archeologists from George Washington University in Washington D.C. was investigating a site known as Etlatongo.

They were examining an open raised area and believed they were excavating a prehistoric public building or space. However, by 2017, to their astonishment, they had found ancient ball courts.

Location of Etlatongo in Mesoamerica and the setting of its ballcourt.

The archaeologists had found two stone ball courts, the earliest one, dates to about 1374 BC. This was based on the radiocarbon dating of burnt wood found at the site. This means that it is the oldest one ever found in the Mexican highlands, by some 800 years.

According to Science News, “the oldest known ball court dates to about 3,650 years ago at a non- Olmec coast site at Paso de la Amada.”

Both ball courts were made of stone and were walled-in areas roughly about 18 ft wide (6m). Earthen mounds were used to buttress the structures. The courts were quite similar to ball alleys. Most spectators would view the game from the mounds. These courts were regularly maintained and rebuilt, and they were in use for around 175 years. 

Excavations at Etlatongo in southern Mexico probed beneath surface remains of a Spanish hacienda’s threshing floor (shown) to reveal two ancient ball courts, built atop each other.

Jeffrey Blomster an archaeologist from George Washington University, who took part in the excavation told Gizmodo that there were some architectural changes observable between the two sites, “the older court having banquettes [like a long bench] and the younger court eliminating the banquettes and instead of having steeper walls adjacent to the alley.”

These probably reflect changes in the game over a period of time. Some of the courts have not been investigated because of their state. Blomster told Gizmodo that “we tried to be very careful and not expose more of the ballcourts than we needed to, as they are so fragile and delicate.”

Science News reports that the study found that “the second ball court was burnt and taken out of use.” This happened about 1200 BC according to radio-carbon dating and was done most likely by the local inhabitants as part of a ceremony. Why this was done is a mystery, but it seems that there were no ball courts at this site after this date.

An archaeologist, David Carballo, from Boston University stated to Science News that the discovery shows “that some of the earliest villages and towns in the highlands in Mexico were playing a ballgame comparable to the most prestigious version of the sport known as ullamaliztli.”

This was a game that was played by the Aztecs and it was very popular with them, and during their competitions, they would often hold human sacrifices. Similar ballgames were also played by the Maya and other Mesoamerican societies. 

The games often symbolized “the regeneration of life and the maintenance of the cosmic order,” according to Gizmodo. They were also important as religious, social and political gatherings.

Some 2,300 ball courts have been found across Mexico and Central America. The game involved a solid rubber ball and the aim of the game was to keep it in constant motions, like volleyball.

The players used only their hips and bodies to keep the ball in play, which they did by hitting it off the walls. These games could be brutal and there are sources that state that the losers were often sacrificed to the gods.

Depiction of players hitting a rubber ball with their hips in a version of Mesoamerica’s famous ballgame.

Apart from the structures of the ball courts the team also found several artifacts and bones, both human and non-human. They also unearthed 14 fragments of figurines of ballplayers. They were wearing Olmec style clothing such as “thick belts above a loincloth and sometimes a chest plate,” reports Science News. 

The Olmecs were a very influential society and it appears that they influenced the development of the game and had cultural contacts with the Mexican highlands.

Partial ballgame player figurines such as this (shown from the front and side) were unearthed at a mountain site in southern Mexico.

Because the rubber used to make the balls came from the coastal areas, such as those controlled by the Olmecs it was long assumed that the game originated in the southern lowlands. However, the finds of the two ball courts are changing this view.

Gizmodo quotes the team members who made the discovery as saying that they find is evidence that the Mexican highlands were “important players in the origin and evolution of the Mexican ballgame.”

The find also shows that the highlands of Mexico were important in the development and spread of Mesoamerican culture. A variant of the ballgame that was played in the ball alleys is still played in Mexico to this day. Thus, making it possibly the world’s oldest sport.

NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

Mammoth Site of Hot Springs in South Dakota is the World’s Largest Columbian Mammoth Exhibit

Inside the excavation of a South Dakota sinkhole that swallowed more than 60 mammoths

When I learned of this and ongoing mammoth fossil excavations, I thought that this was fake But when I was inside the building and I saw that real work was taking place, I was delighted to see the history of the building opened in front of your eyes.

The Mammoth Site is a ‘ successful paleontological mining site with the highest concentration of mammal remains worldwide! ‘ According to the website. “The mammoth count is currently 61, with 58 Colombian mammoths and 3 Woolly mammoths found.

Just 140,000 years later, in 1974, when a worker preparing the field for a housing project hit a tusk with the blade of his machine. 

A volunteer crew at work.
A mounted replica of one of the site’s mammoths.

The Mammoth Site has been an active dig ever since, one of the few places in the U.S. where you can follow a fossil’s path from the ground to the preparation lab to the museum floor, all within the same building.

Excavating the Ice Age

Turning into the parking lot, I’m greeted by a life-size reconstruction of one of the site’s namesakes, a Columbian mammoth, raising its trunk above the museum’s welcome sign. The town of Hot Springs has fully embraced the local extinct wildlife.

The restaurant next to the museum is named Woolly’s, in honor of the smaller species of mammoth found next door, and there are a surprisingly large number of visitors on the site’s morning tours for a day in late September.

As I enter the room that houses the dig itself, I’m struck by the height of the excavation. It takes a pretty big hole in the ground to trap upwards of 60 mammoths (mostly the larger Columbian species, though they’ve found a couple of woolly mammoths, too), but hearing about it and seeing it in person are two different things.

The way the bones have been excavated has left dramatic sheer walls and flat terraces in the yellowish-tan earth, on which light brown mammoth skulls sporting huge tusks sit like statues on pedestals. The bones are jumbled together and piled high—nothing like that perfectly articulated skeleton in Jurassic Park.

Descending the stairs from the main wooden walkway that encircles the active parts of the dig to stand on a fenced-in platform on the level of one of the deepest floors, I’m keenly aware that there are likely many more bones of Ice Age animals beneath my feet. Along with the famous mammoths, many other species have been found here, including llamas, camels, and the giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus).

The site’s geologists have figured out that the sinkhole was originally about 65 feet deep. The dedicated crew of paleontologists, interns, and volunteers working at the site have only excavated about 20 feet of that. And, unlike the Jurassic Park paleontologists, they’re not doing it with just paintbrushes and bare hands.

A prehistoric puzzle

On the day of my visit, a group of adult volunteers sits in the less-excavated half of the bonebed, gently tapping away with hammers and small chisels, scraping with trowels, and scooping the loose sediment into buckets.

One of the least glamorous parts of a thorough excavation is screen-washing, where bucket after bucket of dirt is rinsed through a screen until only small bits of rock, bone, and teeth are left behind. What remains is then picked through for tiny fossils of small mammals—rodents and rabbits—that also met their end in the sinkhole.

A jumbled pile of mammoth bones, including vertebrae, limbs, and ribs.

Some of this picking happens downstairs, in the Mammoth Site’s fossil preparation lab. A short elevator ride down to the museum’s lower floor reveals the part of paleontology most people don’t think about when they see a beautifully complete mounted skeleton in a museum.

After leaving the elevator, I’m greeted by a wall of windows. Here, visitors can peer into the lab as bits of bone are painstakingly cleaned and glued back together, like putting together a puzzle where half of the pieces are broken or missing.

A wall-mounted TV plays a video of the site’s molding and casting process. Silicone rubber is used to make an exact mold of a fossil. That mold can then be used to create replicas (called casts) of the bone, which are often what ends up mounted in museums. Fossils are fragile and irreplaceable, so it’s safer to work with the casts.

The people who work in these spaces are the unsung heroes of paleontology, painstakingly bringing ancient bones back to life. While a lot of museums are starting to pull back the curtain on what it takes to prepare a fossil when it comes in from the field by building these kinds of “fishbowl” lab spaces, the Mammoth Site is a rare destination because the fossils are being both excavated and pieced back together inside the same building.

A diagram shows the size of the mammoths.
Carefully excavated mammoth skulls.

Heading back upstairs, I see the work of the site’s preparators in the museum’s more traditional gallery space, where mounted mammoths and replicas of huts made of casts of mammoth bones and faux-fur await.

Half of this space is dedicated to ancient life in the Black Hills and surrounding areas, but the other half is all about fossil elephants and their relatives. Bits of mummified tissue from mammoths found in the Siberian permafrost fill the cases on one wall. Mounted skeletons include a Channel Islands pygmy mammoth, a dwarf descendent of mainland Columbian mammoths.

The Mammoth Site is a local treasure of international scientific importance, and I leave with a certain amount of envy that the residents of Hot Springs get to live with these fossil riches so close at hand. But I’m also reminded that the traces of prehistoric life are everywhere—even if they’re usually less dramatic than a sinkhole full of mammoths.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Archaeologists find vast medieval palace buried under prehistoric fortress at Old Sarum

Archaeologists find vast medieval palace buried under prehistoric fortress at Old Sarum

Old Sarum archeological site in Wiltshire, England has a rich history covering at least 5,000 years. Nevertheless, the site selection of William the Conqueror for his royal castle in the 11th century left the mark on this historic landmark.

An aerial photograph of the site of Old Sarum. The newly discovered probable royal palace is under the grass in the quadrant opposite the foundations of the cathedral. The massive earthworks surrounding the site are from the Iron Age. The earthwork in the center is the medieval castle mound (English Heritage)

Geophysical surveys suggest that what lies beneath the surface can be one of the biggest royal medieval palaces ever discovered, built within the grounds of a vast Iron Age fortress, and hidden beneath fields for more than 700 years.

According to a report in The Independent, the high-tech scans carried out by archaeologists from the University of Southampton, including magnetometry, earth resistance, ground-penetrating radar, and electric resistivity tomography survey, have revealed the foundations of dozens of houses and an enormous, previously unknown complex, measuring 170 ms (558 ft) long and 65 m (214 ft) wide, which is believed to have been a royal palace.

“The prime candidate for constructing it is perhaps Henry I sometime in the early 12th century,” said one of Britain’s leading experts on high-status medieval buildings, Dr. Edward Impey, Director-General of the Royal Armouries.

The complex was arranged around a large courtyard with 3 m (10 ft) wide walls and included a long building, which was probably a grand hall. There is also evidence of towers and multi-storey buildings. If it is indeed a medieval royal palace, it is the largest of its kind ever found in Britain. Up until now, archaeologists were only aware of the much smaller complex on top of the man-made castle mound.

A geophysical ‘x-ray’ image showing the structures which have lain buried in the ground of Old Sarum for more than 700 years

Old Sarum was originally an Iron Age hill fort, built-in 400 BC on a site that had been inhabited since at least 3,000 BC. The site was used by the Romans, becoming the town of Sorviodunum. The Saxons also used the site as a stronghold against marauding Vikings.

In the 11 th century, William the Conqueror, having gained control of England, chose Sarum as the location for a royal castle. The fact that it lay inside a large hill fort meant that defenses could be constructed very quickly.

The castle was built on a motte (raised earthworks) protected by a deep dry moat in 1069, three years after the Norman conquest.

The construction of a cathedral and bishop’s palace occurred between 1075 and 1092. A royal palace was then built within the castle for King Henry I and subsequently used by Plantagenet monarchs.

Reconstruction of Old Sarum in 12 th Century. The model includes the previously known castle of William the Conqueror in the center, and the cathedral, but does not show the newly discovered palace.

By 1219, the limitations of space on the hilltop site had become a cause for concern, with the cathedral and castle in close proximity and their respective chiefs in regular conflict.

The abandonment of Old Sarum by the clergy during the 1220s marked the end of serious royal interest in the castle. The castle continued in use but was largely abandoned by the 16th century.

The new research has enabled archaeologists to piece together the layout of the old Medieval city, shedding new light on the urban planning of a Norman city.

“This is a discovery of immense importance,” said historian, Professor David Bates of the University of East Anglia. “It reveals the monumental scale of building work taking place in the earlier 12th century.”

While the significance of Old Sarum has been known about for some time, only now are archaeologists beginning to piece together the long-vanished city buried beneath the green fields that thousands of tourists visit every year.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Archaeologist discovered One of the earliest images of Jesus’ unearthed in an Egyptian tomb

Archaeologist discovered One of the earliest images of Jesus’ unearthed in an Egyptian tomb

The house-church found in Dura, where an image of Jesus dating to 235 C.E. was found

The image has been replicated countless times in churches and artwork, but a team of Spanish archaeologists believes they have found one of the earliest images of Jesus.

A mysterious underground room dating from between the sixth and seventh century AD holds an image of a young man with curly hair, who appears to be giving a blessing among other Coptic images.

The Catalan experts who discovered the site in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus think it was the final resting place for a writer and a number of priests

A miraculous discovery! An underground room dating from the sixth century holds an image of a young man with curly hair, who appears to be giving a blessing (pictured) and one expert thinks it could be one of the earliest paintings of Jesus Christ. The image, which is seen here, has been protected from the sun with a thin layer of material

The find has been heralded as ‘exceptional’ by Josep Padró who is leading the exhibition and said the figure accompanies symbols and images of plants that are thought to date from the Coptic period of the first Christians.

Dr. Padró, Emeritus Professor at the University of Barcelona, told La Vanguardia newspaper that the figure is that of ‘a young man with curly hair, dressed in a short tunic and with his hand raised as if giving a blessing.’

‘We could be dealing with a very early image of Jesus Christ.’

Archaeologists are now working to translate inscriptions surrounding the figure in the painting on the wall of the rectangular crypt in a bid to ascertain the man’s identity.

The underground structure measures around eight meters long and four meters deep. Experts from the University of Barcelona, the Catalan Egyptology Society and the University of Montpellier are also unsure of what the function of a structure originally was, but said that the underground stone structure is ‘excellent’ quality.

Tools of the trade: The team of archaeologists also found working tools of a scribe that were buried in the tomb. They include a metallic inkpot which is still full of ink and two new pens for the pens (pictured) for the deceased to write during the eternal life

They also found working tools of a scribe that was buried in the tomb. They include a metallic inkpot which is still full of ink and two new pens for the deceased to write during the eternal life.

Dr. Padró said: ‘The archaeological site of Oxyrhynchus is known for the thousands of papyri found there, but any scribe was found to date.’

While there were no inscriptions hinting at the identity of the deceased, the remains show that the scribe was probably around 17 years old and lived during the Coptic Roman period.

Archaeologists and engineers had to move around 45tonnes of rock to get to the hidden artwork and another unidentified structure close by, which is connected to the tombs by a set of very worn steps.

No-one is sure of what lies inside it, but experts from the University of Barcelona think it might be a temple, perhaps dedicated to god Serapis – the Hellenistic form of Osiris who is the ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife.

The structures are situated in the middle of what was a processional route joining the Nile with the Osireion, the temple dedicated to Osiris, which is one of the greatest findings of Oxyrhynchus.

Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, Mohamed Ibrahim, has become personally involved with the excavation, The Local reported. The Egyptian ministry will develop the archaeological site to preserve early Christian artwork.

A tomb full of Roman mummies was also found during the excavation.

EUROPE, SWEDEN, WORLD

Human Skulls Mounted on Stakes Found at 8,000-Year-Old Burial Archaeological Site in Sweden

Human Skulls Mounted on Stakes Found at 8,000-Year-Old Burial Archaeological Site in Sweden

In a mysterious underwater grave that has baffled archeologists, a group of 8,000 years old human skulls has been discovered, some of them embedded in stakes. One of the pierced skulls, found preserved in what was once a prehistoric lake in Sweden, was discovered with some of its brain tissue still intact.

Two 8,000-year-old human skulls have been found embedded on stakes in a mysterious underwater grave that has baffled archaeologists. One of the pierced skulls(pictured) was discovered with some of its brain tissue still intact

This terrible discovery challenges our understanding of the culture of the European Stone Age, said, researchers. The reports from researchers in the University of Stockholm and the Swedish Foundation for Cultural Heritage (CHF) are the first evidence that hunter-gatherers from the Stone Age displayed heads on wooden spikes.

‘ We have here a very nuanced example of a very organized ritual ‘ CHF lead researcher Dr. Fredrik Hallgren told Live Science. Even though we can’t decipher the meaning of the ritual, we can still appreciate the complexity of it, of these prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

Uncovered at the Kanaljorden excavation site near Sweden’s Motala Ström river, the skulls were found alongside the remains of at least 12 individuals, including an infant.

Of the adults found, four were identified as male, and two as female. One of the men was in his fifties when he died, while two were younger, aged between 20 to 35. The infant skeleton is nearly complete, suggesting the child was either stillborn or died shortly after birth.

The finding is the first evidence that Stone Age hunter-gatherers displayed heads on wooden spikes. The gruesome discovery challenges our understanding of European Stone Age culture and how these early humans handled their dead, experts said

Seven of the adults likely died in agony and had suffered serious trauma to their head before they died, which researchers suggest were the result of non-lethal, violent blows. These may have been the result of interpersonal violence, forced abduction, warfare and aids of socially-sanctioned violence between group members.

The bodies were placed atop a densely packed layer of large stones in what would have been an elaborate underwater burial between 7,500 and 8,500 years ago.  Only one of the bodies still had a jawbone when it was buried, which experts suggest were removed as part of the burial ritual.

Interestingly, the group’s head injuries were gender-specific, with males found with marks near the top of the head, above the so-called hat brim line, while the females had cracks near the back and right side of their skulls.  Scientists said they don’t know what sort of weapon was used to inflict the damage, and that the wounds were serious but could not be tied to the cause of death.

Examples of blunt force trauma from analyzed individuals.

‘Though the lesions were not lethal, they must have affected the individuals – induced pain, bleeding, and a risk of secondary infections,’ study coauthor and Stockholm University archaeologist Dr. Anna Kjellström told Gizmodo.

‘Furthermore, even less severe head trauma may cause loss of consciousness, internal bleeding, or even permanent mental impairment.’

Three of the skulls, including two with stakes driven through them, showed evidence of sharp force trauma after death. The stakes were forced upwards through the foramen magnum, the large oval opening at the bottom of the skull and reached through the top of the head. They were likely used to mount the skulls before they were buried in the lake.

‘The fact that two crania were mounted suggests that they have been on display, in the lake or elsewhere,’ Dr. Kjellström said. Skulls whose jaws had been removed were chosen for the display.

‘Since we did not find any sharp trauma showing active attempts to separate the lower jaw from the skulls, this indicates that the individuals much likely were buried in another place before the depositions… One interpretation could be that this is an alternative funeral act.’

Experts uncovered 400 intact and fragmentary pieces of wooden stakes at the site, a number of which may have been used to mount objects that have since decayed.

A map of the Kanaljorden site. The black outline shows the excavated area.

As well as human remains, the Stone Age site was littered with butchered animal bones, including several severed jaws, and tools carved from antler horns. Researchers say further research is needed to understand why the ancient group buried their dead in such an unusual fashion.

Stone Age hunter-gatherers are not known to remove body parts as part of burials, with many gravesites showing evidence of a respect for bodily integrity after death.

Only until later in history did groups begin to display heads on stakes, such as European colonists mounting skulls of murdered indigenous peoples. The Stone Age burial was likely a group of key tribe members that were removed from where they were initially displayed and placed in the lake, researchers said.

‘The people who were deposited like this in the lake, they weren’t average people, but probably people who, after they died, had been selected to be included in this ritual because of who they were, because of things they experienced in life,’ Dr. Hallgren said.

Dr. Mark Golitko, an archaeologist at the University of Notre Dame, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science: ‘There’s clearly something ritual going on here. What all that means, I don’t think we’ll ever know.’