Archaeologists uncover part of the 16th-century ship in central Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden’s capital, can be popular for a lot, but it was an unexpected event to discover a 500-year-old shipwreck in the center of the city.
The most likely shipwreck is from the Swedish cargo ship Samson, built-in 1598 at Enånger in Hälsingland by AndersPedersson.
Relics of the ship were accidentally found in the middle of Stockholm under a Kungsträdgården (Swedish for “King’s Garden”) courtyard.
The courtyard had to be lowered while conducting renovation work to strengthen the foundation of a property
In these projects archeologists usually participate, in case anything of historical value will be found, were amazed when they noticed wooden parts of this old ship.
The study of wreckage was carried out by the maritime archeologists of the Norwegian Maritime Museum of Transport History and it has been determined it’s part of the Samson ship that was over 30 meters long.
In an interview with TT archaeologist Philip Tonemar who has commissioned the survey on behalf of the county administrative board, explained it’s a very rare archaeological discovery.
Archaeologists examine the shipwreck discovered in the middle of the city of Stockholm.
Tonemar said the dating of the timber, the shipbuilding technology as well as the size perfectly matches Samson.
“A finding from this transition period between the older and newer shipbuilding of the era is very unusual. There are really no other direct examples, and that it is completely built with pine and its special design details also makes it unique,” Tonemar said.
Little is known about Samson’s fate and there are only brief historical notes about the ship’s history. For some unknown reason, after 1607 Samson vanished from historical records.
Tonemar thinks the ship was most likely abandoned.
“When the ship was abandoned in the early 1600s, it was probably stripped of material, chopped up and left on the shore.
Discovering parts of the Samson cargo ship thrilled archaeologists.
We found garbage from residents in the area that were thrown directly over the ship,” Tonemar said.
In addition to the shipwreck, archaeologists also discovered coins, pipes, ceramics, glass and a small ball of clay in mud that perhaps a child had lost.
Today, only a part of the bottom of one hull remains from Samson. It’s a historical ship and the latest remains will be covered with a ground cloth, protective material, and preserved for future generations.
Throughout excavations at the site of remains of The House of Millions of Years Temple for Amenhotep III, the Egyptian-German Joint Archeological Mission in the Koam-al-Hetan area of Luxor’s West Bank discovered an “enormous” statue of Horus.
The newly-discovered Horus statue.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the statue, which shows the god Horus in the shape of a falcon, consists of black granite and measures 1.85 meters in length, said the Director-General of West Luxor Antiquities Mr. Fathy Yassin.
The statue is without legs and has broken arms as well, he added.
The find is part of a long-term restoration project of the Memnon statue and the Temple of King Amenhotep III, which began in 1998 under the supervision of the Ministry of Antiquities and the German Archaeological Institute.
The aim of the project is to preserve the remains of the temple and rebuild it again, said co-head of the Egyptian-German mission Horig Sorosyan.
Two statues of Amenhotep III (Memnon’s pillars) at the entrance to his temple
She stressed that the discovered statue was in good condition and of an important artistic, scientific and archaeological value, as it would contribute to presenting the full image of the temple, especially after its collapse after a devastating earthquake in the twenty-eighth century BC.
Stones were used to building temples and other royal statues in the Ramesside era, she pointed out, adding that the statue in question is currently undergoing restoration.
The mission, meanwhile, will continue to search for the missing legs of the statue.
The Egyptian-German archaeological expedition previously discovered a number of large statues depicting deities, Amenhotep III, and his wife Queen T, in addition to a significant number of statues of the goddess Sekhmet.
Amenhotep III accumulated various Sekhmet statues in his temple The House of Millions of Years in order to protect it from danger.
In excavations on the west of the islet of Chrysi by Lasithi Ephorate, large numbers of porfyra and houses of Minoan settlements survived the ancient carved fish ponds across the coast.
The several broken porfyra shells found in the rooms of the houses are evidence of a very early cottage industry of porfyra dye established during Crete’s first palaces.
The settlement had a flourishing economy not apparent from the architectural remains but from the fine quality artifacts found in the houses.
Chrysi islet is situated in the south of Crete in the administrative Region of Lasithi and belongs to the Ierapetra Municipality. The surface survey conducted between 2008-2011 provided evidence of human activity and habitation since the Bronze Age.
In 2018 and 2019 the by now systematic excavation on Chrysi under the Lasithi Antiquities Ephorate’s Head Chrysa Sophianou, brought to light a large building with many rooms, known as B2, which was inhabited without interruptions during the Protopalatial and Neopalatial period, from the Middle Minoan IIB to the Late Minoan IB period (ca 1800-1500 BC).
The rooms had simple architectural elements, such as built-in vats, stone benches, work surfaces, hearths and a staircase with stone slabs. Pottery is a typical mixture of vessels for drinking, eating, cooking, and storage, while many stone tools were recovered.
It was a surprise to discover no evidence in this entire building of a cottage industry for the production of porfyra, unlike the other excavated houses of the settlement.
Despite their simple architecture, two rooms contained “treasures/hoards” of metal, glass and semiprecious stones. The first treasure was found in 2018 in a room that most probably was used as a storage area.
The deposit contained two parts of copper talents, a mass of slag and jewellery: a gold ring, a gold bracelet, 26 gold beads (disc-shaped, round and shaped like a papyrus), one bead of silver, 5 of bronze and the band of a bronze ring.
A collection of gold beads found at the site.
Beads found during excavations on the western part of the islet Chryssi.
There was also a large number of different shaped glass beads (39 round and 25 papyrus-shaped), 4 of so-called Egyptian blue, 20 of corneal stone, 1 of amethyst, 10 of lapis, one agate seal depicting a ship whose prow has the shape of an animal’s head and a stone amulet shaped like a monkey.
While continuing the excavation in 2019, another treasure of talents was discovered in the corner of a room in the same building, along with a large saw and three vessels, one made of copper.
A copper vase found at the site.
Their overall weight is 68 kilos and together with the parts of the other treasure, they are in all over two talents. It is the largest treasure of metals found to date on Crete. Moreover, stored inside a vessel were pieces of a tin talent.
The latter is considered a rare find being the second from the Late Minoan period found on Crete. The first was discovered in a settlement on the islet of Mochlos.
The above data leads to the hypothesis that the inhabitants of building B2 in the Late Minoan period (ca 1500 BC) belonged to a higher social class and played a different part in the society of Chrysi; probably one of administration. They managed production, the promotion of products, the trading of porfyra dye and the import or distribution of metals.
Archaeologists uncover two Bronze Age ‘royal’ tombs lined with GOLD that promise to unlock secrets about life in ancient Greece 3,500 years ago
Historians from the classic department of the American University of Cincinnati are readdressing what is known of early Greek history based on their once-in-a-lifetime discovery of two treasure-filled tombs that were once lined with gold leaf.
The two beehive-like graves were uncovered by a team of archeologists in last year and they announced in last Tuesday in Pylos while they were investigating the tomb of the renowned Greek military leader Griffin Warrior, who had been identified with the remarkable collection of weapons armors and jewelry in 2015
The scientist Jack Davis and Sharon Stocker from the UC Classics department reported in an article on the UC Web Site that they spent 18 months excavating both graves and similarly to the Griffin Warrior’s tomb, they were called ‘princely.’
The burials were discovered overlooking the Mediterranean Sea close to the palace of Nestor, a ruler mentioned in Homer’s famous works the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Davis and Stocker´s team are excavating in Greece in the wake of the late Carl Blegen who was head of UC’s Classics Department and was responsible for having discovered the Palace of Nestor in 1939 with Greek archaeologists Konstantinos Kourouniotis.
Stone lines the entrance to a grave called Tholos IV near the former Palace of Nestor, both discovered by the late UC Classics archaeologist Carl Blegen in 1939.
Within the two tombs, a wealth of cultural artifacts were recovered, including delicate jewelry. As an added mark of the extreme opulence of the family, the researchers found, “The tombs were littered with flakes of gold leaf that once papered the walls.”
When interpreted alongside the artifacts recovered from the tomb of the Griffin Warrior, historians expect to use these burials to gain a deeper understanding of early Greek civilization and Pylos’ links with ancient Egypt.
Pylos is a town in the Bay of Navarino and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. It has an exceptionally long history – having been inhabited since the Neolithic era. In Classical times the site was uninhabited yet hosted the Battle of Pylos in 425 BC, during the Peloponnesian War.
Pylos was one of the last places which held out against the Spartans in the Second Messenian War and it sank out of history until the seventh year of the Peloponnesian War, during which according to the Greek historian Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War, the area was together with most of the country and “round, unpopulated.”
An aerial view of the site shows the Tholos IV tomb, far left, found by UC archaeologist Carl Blegen in 1939 in relation to the two family tombs called Tholos VI and Tholos VII, uncovered last year by UC archaeologists Jack Davis and Sharon Stocker.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the identity of the ‘Griffin Warrior’ is an assumption based on the types of armor, weapons, and jewelry found in his tomb – which all suggest he had military and religious authority. It is thought that he may have been the king known in later Mycenaean times as a ‘Wanax.’
The name ‘Griffin Warrior’ was chosen after the mythological creature, the Griffin, which is composed of parts from eagles and lions, a depiction of which was found engraved on an ivory plaque in the warrior’s tomb alongside his armor, weaponry, and gold jewelry.
The new artifacts discovered in the two princely tombs include a gold ring with two bulls within sheaves of barley, and an incredibly detailed carnelian seal depicting an image of two ‘genii,’ which like the Griffin are lionlike mythological creatures. The depictions of the genii are shown below a 16-pointed star and they hold serving vessels and an incense burner over an altar.
According to Dr. Stocker, “16-pointed stars are rare” to find in Mycenaean iconography and he sees the discovery of two objects depicting 16-pointed stars, in both agate and gold, as “noteworthy.”
In one of the two family tombs, UC archaeologists found a carnelian seal stone featuring two mythological creatures called genii with serving vessels and incense over an altar.
A National Geographic article says the two tombs were found holding “lots of gold” but also Baltic amber, Egyptian amethysts, and imported carnelian – which the archaeologists think belonged to “very sophisticated” people at a time when very few luxury items were being imported into Pylos – which was later a central location on the Bronze Age trade routes, said the archaeologists.
Dr. Davis said the discovery of a gold pendant displaying what might be a depiction of the Egyptian goddess Hathor is “particularly interesting considering the role she played in Egypt as protectress of the dead.” And if this is the Egyptian goddess Hathor than new evidence has been discovered suggesting early trade links between Pylos, Greece, and Egypt.
UC archaeologists found several gold pieces, including this double argonaut (octopus type of creature).
Ancient anti-witchcraft potion found at old Northamptonshire pub
Throughout Western Europe, about 200,000 witches were murdered, burned, or hanged, between 1484 and 1750 according to historians, while between 1644 and 1646, around 300 so-called witches were killed.
In the 1560s, the practice of witchcraft was a major offense. Many witches in Britain were often old women and were part of poor families.
A Victorian bottle that is supposed to be used to prevent evil spells has recently been found. As per the experts in Watford, Northamptonshire, the bottle has been found at the birthplace of the witch.
History of the Lancashire Witches is in the John Rylands Library in Manchester Wikimedia Commons
Angeline Tubbs, a famous witch, who is still a popular name, was born at the former Star and Garter Inn at Watford village in 1761.
Known as the Witch of Saratoga she is one of the major subjects of ghost tours at Saratoga Springs in New York, where she moved at the age of 15 and used to foretell the future.
But the 19th-century weird bottle was found during roof repairs of her house in Northamptonshire.
The bottle contains fish hooks, human teeth, glass, a liquid and suddenly appeared after several years when a chimney was demolished at the building.
The suspected witch bottle
As reported by BBC, Dr. Ceri Houlbrook, lecturer in folklore and history at the University of Hertfordshire said, “It’s certainly later than most witch bottles, so sadly not contemporary with Angeline Tubbs, but still a fascinating find.”
The researchers who studied the bottle at the Museum of London Archaeology mentioned that such vessels were believed to have been used as a protection method hundreds of years ago.
As per the experts, earlier these glass or stone vessels were found under the floors of historic buildings, mostly in the churchyards and riverbanks.
It should be mentioned that most of these vessels had contained weird things, such as human nails and pins as well as human urine
Neolithic Seawall Discovered in Mediterranean Waters
Scientists have discovered an ancient seawall constructed by the Neolithic people to protect their village from a sea-level rise over 7,000 years ago.
This wall, which is 330 meters off the Carmel coast of Israel, had been constructed over a mile of riverbed stone, in order to build a barrier between the Mediterranean and Tel Heriz settlement.
Researchers led by Ehud Galili from the University of Haifa, Israel, in a study published in PLOS One claim that it represents the oldest known coastal defense system in the world with “a major effort spent by the neolithic villagers to create, organize and construct.”
At the time the settlement existed, sea levels were rising as global temperatures warmed following the end of the last ice age. The Mediterranean was rising by up to seven millimeters (0.27 inches) per year. Over a lifetime, this would have equaled around 20 centimeters.
“This rate of sea-level rise means the frequency of destructive storms damaging the village would have risen significantly,” Galili said in a statement.
Images from the underwater archaeologists investigating the site.
Model showing where the village and wall would have been compared with today.
“The environmental changes would have been noticeable to people, during the lifetime of a settlement across several centuries. Eventually, the accumulating yearly sea-level necessitated a human response involving the construction of a coastal protection wall similar to what we’re seeing around the world now.”
The Tel Hreiz settlement was first uncovered in the 1960s but the seawall was only identified in 2010 after a severe storm exposed it. Galili and his team then set about analyzing the remains of the submerged wall.
They found it was almost 10 feet tall and was built around the same time as the village. Over the course of decades, the seawall would have suffered from marine erosion, the researchers say.
After the sand layer was removed, waves and storms may have eventually dislodged boulders and stones.
Despite this “display of resilience” in the face of sea-level rise, the people of Tel Hreiz eventually left the village and, over time, both the seawall and village were lost to the sea.
“The seawall may have worked for a period,” the team wrote, “however, ultimately it proved futile and the village was eventually abandoned. The Tel Hreiz seawall represents the earliest example of a coastal defense of this type known to date.”
The team points to parallels with the sea-level rise mankind is facing today. While the rate at the moment is considerably lower than what these Neolithic people were facing, it is expected that many of the world’s coastal towns and cities will be impacted in the next century.
“Given the size of coastal populations and modern urban settlements, the magnitude of predicted future population displacement differs considerably to the impacts on people during the Neolithic,” the study said.
“However, many of the fundamental human questions and the decision-making relating to human resilience, coastal defense, local adaptation, technological innovation and decisions to ultimately abandon long-standing settlements remain ominously relevant.”
Possible 16th-Century Spanish Anchors Found Near Mexico
The exact location where the anchors were found was when the Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes was sinking his ships in order to prevent a return to Cuba by opposing the leaders of his army.
Anchor studies have shown that their morphology places the anchors to the 16th century. Their orientation indicates that they follow patterns that could be associated with the location of the fleet of conquistador Hernan Cortes.
Villa Rica is usually rich in tourists and fishermen in the salty seawater.
One of the anchors recovered off the Velacruz coast
The coast of Veracruz, however, was around 500 years ago one of history’s main cultural gatherings, which is now being investigated, with positive results, by underwater archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), who work together with foreign specialists to explore the seabed.
The researchers have found two iron anchors in their new exploratory project, the second season of the Villa Rica Subaquatic Archeology Project
Curiously, the experts have revealed that the unique characteristics of the anchors link them to the 16th century. The objects join the discover of another anchor that was found in 2018.
Laboratory studies have proven that the wood of its stock belongs to a tree of Spain’s Cantabrian coast.
The recently recovered anchors were discovered no more than 300 meters north of the location where experts in 2018 recovered the first anchor. The largest of the anchors is 3.68 meters long and 1.55 meters wide. The second anchor is 2.6 meters long and 1.43 meters wide.
Unlike the anchors recovered in 2018, the recently found objects did not converse their wooden stock.
Nonetheless, the protuberances over the rod are visible where the stock would adjust.
“In both, a pair of bumps running parallel to the arms can be seen in the cane at the height at which the stocks adjusted, a typical feature of the manufacture of anchors in the 16th century,” the researchers revealed in a statement.
“It is not clear if all three anchors belong to the same historical moment, but their alignment to the southwest coincides with the logic of Villa Rica as a port that protects ships from the north and northwest winds,” explained Roberto Junco, head of the Underwater Archeology Branch of INAH.
Despite this uncertainty, for experts, it is of great importance to know they are following an accurate route to locate shipwrecks that are linked to the arrival of Europeans to the American continent.
“The Conquest of Mexico was a seminal event in human history, and these shipwrecks, if we can find them, will be symbols of the cultural collision that led to what is now the West, geopolitical and socially speaking,” says underwater archaeologist Dr. Frederick Hanselmann.
It is important to note that the anchors are well-preserved thanks to the same sediment that had protected them for five centuries. This is why after experts completed measurements and documentations, the anchors were once again covered in the sediment to be protected in situ.
Researchers will now focus on another 15 anomalies that show potential as being anchors.
Roman Fort Discovered Hidden Beneath English Bus Station
The local town council reported that archeologists surveying Exeter, England, a bus station had found evidence of a defensive fort dating back to Britain’s Roman conquest.
Per a press release, workers excavating the structure—built during the early 1960s and scheduled to be replaced by a new station and accompanying leisure complex—found three ditches said to represent a previously unknown Roman compound, as well as coins, pottery and imported Samian tableware presumably used by troops based at the site.
According to the Telegraph’s Mike Wright, the fort likely served as a satellite of Isca Dumnoniorum, a military fortification garrisoned by 5,500 legionaries tasked with pacifying the fiercely resisting local populations in the region.
Established soon after the Romans’ invasion of Britain in 43 A.D., Isca Dumnoniorum was supported by a series of smaller forts located along connecting roads.
The newly discovered structure is the first recorded along an eastward road; previously, evidence of smaller forts was limited to roads leading south of Exeter.
Artist’s rendering of the Exeter fort (Exeter City Council)
Stephen Rippon, a landscape archaeologist at the University of Exeter, tells BBC News the find was a “complete surprise.” He adds, “There was no evidence known of [the fort] at all.”
As the council statement notes, the ditches found at the site are typical of those seen in Roman military compounds: One, a V-shaped trench featuring an “ankle breaker” pit designed to deter converging soldiers, was situated on the outer edge of the fort, while another, so steep it was nearly vertical, contributed to inner defenses and was placed directly below a rampart.
If any enemy attackers reached this point, the steep slope would have ensured that defenders firing from the rampart above had the upper hand.
Although the press release suggests the inside of the fort was located west of these trenches, Rippon says it is difficult to make an exact prediction regarding the compound’s size or location in relation to the ditches.
A coin found at the excavation site (Exeter City Council)
Andrew Pye of the Exeter City Council says the discovery demonstrates “just how pivotal a role the Exeter area played in the first decades of the Roman conquest and subjugation of Britain.”
Describing the fort as a “very important and completely unexpected” discovery, Pye notes that its unveiling testifies to “just how much of the city’s history can still survive in unlikely places,” including those damaged by wartime bombing and modern concrete foundations.
Previous archaeological discoveries in the area include the 1970s unearthing of an ancient fortress and bathhouse, as well as the identification of multiple forts of varying size and significance.
Roman forces left Isca Dumnoniorum and its network of smaller forts around 75 A.D. when the army shifted its attention to southern Wales.
Exeter, now acting as the region’s capital, was transformed into a civilian town, with improvements including public baths and defensive stone walls introduced over the coming decades.
By 360, Abbie Bray writes for Devon Live, the village had started to shrink, and in 410, the Romans abandoned Britain completely. Exeter remained sparsely occupied until 928 when settlers once again returned to the area.
