India knew to use iron 4,000 years ago, archaeological findings show
Carbon dating of cultural deposits found during archaeological excavations in Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district has found they belong to 2172 BCE, establishing that the Tamils were aware of the use of iron 4,200 years ago.
Representative image.
Representational image of an archaeological dig
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin told the Assembly that the first phase of excavation in 2020-2021 has yielded two important dates – 1615 BCE and 2172 BCE, which provide a new understanding of the nature of cultural deposits.
The AMS dating by Beta Analytical Lab in Florida, US has established three important features – iron appeared in Tamil Nadu as early as 220 BCE, the late Neolithic phase was identified before 2200 BCE as there is a cultural deposit of 25 cm below the dated level, and black-red-redware was in use the late Neolithic phase itself, in contrast to the wider belief that they were introduced in the Iron Age.
Archaeological excavations in Mayiladumparai have found that the date of iron artefacts unearthed ‘ranges from 2172 BCE to 1615 BCE’.
The recent archaeological excavations in Tamil Nadu have thrown up surprises – carbon dating of artefacts in Keeladi, a Sangam Era site near Madurai, and paddy husks found in a burial urn in Sivakalai in Thoothukudi district established their age to 2,600 and 3,200 years old.
“Through the findings, it has been established that Tamils who lived 4200 years ago were aware of iron. Dense forests were converted into fertile lands only after humankind began realising the use of iron. This finding has answered questions relating to the start of agricultural activity in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said.
He also announced that the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) will begin work on a comparative study of graffiti found in Keeladi and the signs of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
AMS dating of the Iron Age has so far been done in many places, including in the Gangetic plains and Karnataka, Stalin said, adding that the period that has thrown up in Mayiladumparai is the earliest so far.
“I have been saying that the goal of this government is to establish through scientific methods that the history of India should be rewritten from the Tamil land. The latest findings reinforce our thoughts,” Stalin added.
The Chief Minister also announced that the TNSDA will continue its efforts to trace the journey of ancient Tamils. As part of the efforts, excavations in Pattanam (Kerala), Thalakadu (Karnataka), Vengi (Andhra Pradesh), and Palur (Odisha) will begin this year, Stalin added.
Dr R Sivananthan, Commissioner, TNSDA, told DH that Mayiladumparai can be termed as the earliest Iron Age site in South India as Brahmagiri in Karnataka was the earliest so far with AMS dates going back to 2040 BCE.
“The date we have got for Mayiladumparai is 2172 BCE. It is just about a century and we need more evidence. The earliest evidence of the Iron Age in Tamil Nadu so far was 1500 BCE and Mayiladumparai pushes it back by another six to seven centuries. Since this is just the 1st phase in Mayiladumparai, we should wait for more cultural deposits,” he told DH.
An archaeological expert put the findings in perspective saying that the AMS dating has brought Tamil Nadu “within the Indian framework” as the cultural deposits in Mayiladumparai are 4,200 years old.
“The earliest Iron Age site in Tamil Nadu so far was 1500 BCE old while all other such sites in the country were beyond 2000 BCE. There were a lot of questions on why there was no scientific evidence on the use of iron despite it being mentioned in literature and having rich iron ore in the Salem region. With this, we now have findings,” the expert said.
The report released by the government also spoke about references in Sangam literature on iron, the use of iron, and the methods of making iron weapons. Literature refers to iron as ‘blacksmiths’ and ‘blacksmiths with strong hands’.
“It can be said that the iron industry was very advanced from the fact that many fine words about the iron industry find a place in Tamil literature. One could realise that the iron technology was in an advanced stage as one could find many fine technical terms in Tamil literature,” he said.
5000-Year-Old Jewellery Making Factory Discovered In Millennia-Old Harappan City In Haryana’s Rakhigarhi
Rakhigarhi in Haryana is world-famous for some of the most well-known sites Harrapan civilisation, and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been conducting new excavations for the last 32 years. Now, it seems ASI has made one of its biggest discoveries in the 7,000-year-old planned Harappan city with the excavation of a 5000-year-old factory which used to manufacture jewellery.
ASI digs up a millennia-old planned Harappan city at Rakhigarhi, Haryana
The excavation and study at Rakhigarhi have so far revealed that this place once not only housed a planned Harappan city with some of the best engineering marvels of the time but also engaged in trading and business practices.
The archaeologists found evidence of town planning, including streets, pucca walls and multi-storeyed houses. Evidence of modern engineering which is currently being used to build big cities– like straight streets, drains, and dustbins placed at corners of streets for garbage– were also found from the excavation site in Rakhigarhi.
During the latest round of excavation in Rakhigarhi, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of May, skeletons of two women were found along with jewellery. Along with skeletons, utensils used by the deceased were also found.
Elaborating on the latest discoveries, Sanjay K Manjul, Joint Director General, ASI told news agency ANI that Rakhigarhi archaeological site has seven mounds and pieces of evidence of Harappan culture have been uncovered in all seven of them. “Similar excavations have happened before and this is the third phase,” he said.
Sharing his observations on the engineering marvels of the Harappan civilisation, the archaeologist said well-led planning could be observed here, with streets and walls along with it, house complexes, drainage systems, burnt brick structural support and varieties of pottery components with many paintings showing their improved baking technique.
“Copper and gold objects were also found, along with artefacts, beads, sealed scripts with motifs, and ceilings with Harappan script and elephant depictions. This shows their cultural diversity. Our motive is to develop this site iconically,” he added.
History of Rakhigarhi: In Points
Rakhigarhi is the largest archaeological site of the Harappan civilisation which comes under two modern villages Rakhi-Shahpur and Rakhigarhi-Khash. For the first time, this site was excavated in 1998-2001 by the ASI. After that from 2013 to 2016, Deccan College, Pune worked here.
Rakhigarhi has been classified as a major metropolitan centre of the Harappan culture. During an investigation conducted in 1969 by Professor Suraj Bhan, it was found that archaeological remains of Rakhigarhi and settlements are of the nature of the Harappan culture.
Later, during an investigation conducted by the ASI and Pune Deccan College, it came to the fore that this place has a cluster township spread across 500 hectares. It includes 11 mounds which have been named RGR- 1 TO 11.
The excavations carried out by the ASI under the directions of Amarendra Nath during the year 1997-98 to 1999-2000 revealed various occupational phases beginning from the pre-formative stage to the mature Harrapan period covering the time from 5th millennia BCE to 3rd millennia BCE based on the radiocarbon dates obtained from various layers.
How ASI plans to develop Rakhigarhi In Future
According to a report by news agency IANS, there is a procedure going on for a memorandum of understanding between the ASI and Haryana government under which the ancient things of the Rakhigarhi will be displayed in a museum which is under the Haryana government.
The ASI will soon start excavation in September 2022 and after that will throw open these mounds, so that the tourists can get full information. Very soon Rakhigarhi will witness a beeline of tourists as the officials want that when the tourists see the remains they get the information about the antique and the truth about it.
As per the announcement made by the Central government in the Union Budget 2020-21, Rakhigarhi will be developed as one of the five best iconic places for which excavation started on February 24, 2022.
The government’s aim is to facilitate the tourists who come to Rakhigarhi besides exposing structural remains. Besides, its aim is also to understand the settlement of Harappa in Rakhigarhi and the interrelation of seven mounds.
Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked!
A seismometer or seismoscope is an instrument that detects and measures the motions of the ground as a result of seismic waves gushing from an earthquake, volcanic eruption or powerful explosion.
A modern replica of Zhang Heng’s famous seismoscope.
Today, there are thousands of such instruments dispersed in key places around the world that constantly keep watching, gather data and help seismologists better their understanding of how earthquakes work. And no, we can’t predict earthquakes yet.
You might be surprised to find, however, that the first seismometer was invented in China in 132 AD by a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, engineer, and inventor called Zhang Heng.
The instrument was said to resemble a wine jar six feet in diameter, with eight dragons positioned face down along the outside of the barrel, marking the primary compass directions. In each dragon’s mouth was a small bronze ball.
Beneath the dragons sat eight bronze toads, with their broad mouths gaping to receive the balls.
When the instrument sensed an incoming seismic wave, one of the balls would drop and the sound would alert observers to the earthquake, giving a rough indication of the earthquake’s direction of origin.
The device is said to have been very accurate and could detect earthquakes from afar, and did not rely on shaking or movement in the location where the instrument was positioned.
The first-ever earthquake recorded by this seismograph was supposedly somewhere in the east. Days later, a rider from there reported this earthquake.
Moreover, it had the most wicked ornaments. They don’t make scientific instruments like they used to!
Illustration of world’s first seismoscope.
Of course, the insides of the seismometer were filled with a sensing mechanism of some sort, the contents of which have been lost in time. In all likelihood, a simple or inverted pendulum was employed, according to experts.
In 2005, scientists in Zhengzhou, China built a replica of Zhang’s seismoscope, estimating the content of the inner mechanism by using technology that was available during the great inventor’s time.
They used the replica to detect simulated earthquakes based on waves from four different real-life earthquakes in China and Vietnam.
The seismoscope detected all of them. As a matter of fact, the data gathered from the tests corresponded accurately with that collected by modern-day seismometers!
Ancient DNA Sheds New Light on the Biblical Philistines
An international team, led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the Leon Levy Expedition, retrieved and analyzed, for the first time, genome-wide data from people who lived during the Bronze and Iron Ages (~3,600-2,800 years ago) in the ancient port city of Ashkelon, one of the core Philistine cities during the Iron Age. The team found that a European-derived ancestry was introduced in Ashkelon around the time of the Philistines’ estimated arrival, suggesting that ancestors of the Philistines migrated across the Mediterranean, reaching Ashkelon by the early Iron Age.
Excavation of the Philistine cemetery at Ashkelon.
This European-related genetic component was subsequently diluted by the local Levantine gene pool over the succeeding centuries, suggesting intensive admixture between local and foreign populations. These genetic results, published in Science Advances, are a critical step toward understanding the long-disputed origins of the Philistines.
The Philistines are famous for their appearance in the Hebrew Bible as the arch-enemies of the Israelites. However, the ancient texts tell little about the Philistine origins other than a later memory that the Philistines came from “Caphtor” (a Bronze Age name for Crete; Amos 9:7). More than a century ago, Egyptologists proposed that a group called the Peleset in texts of the late twelfth century BCE were the same as the Biblical Philistines.
The Egyptians claimed that the Peleset traveled from the “the islands,” attacking what is today Cyprus and the Turkish and Syrian coasts, finally attempting to invade Egypt. These hieroglyphic inscriptions were the first indication that the search for the origins of the Philistines should be focused on the late second millennium BCE. From 1985-to 2016, the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, a project of the Harvard Semitic Museum, took up the search for the origin of the Philistines at Ashkelon, one of the five “Philistine” cities according to the Hebrew Bible. Led by its founder, the late Lawrence E. Stager, and then by Daniel M. Master, and author of the study and director of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, the team found substantial changes in ways of life during the 12th century BCE which they connected to the arrival of the Philistines.
Many scholars, however, argued that these cultural changes were merely the result of trade or a local imitation of foreign styles and not the result of a substantial movement of people.
This new study represents the culmination of more than thirty years of archaeological work and of genetic research utilizing state-of-the-art technologies, concluding that the advent of the Philistines in the southern Levant involved a movement of people from the west during the Bronze to Iron Age transition.
An infant burial at the Philistine cemetery at Ashkelon.
Genetic discontinuity between the Bronze and Iron Age people of Ashkelon
The researchers successfully recovered genomic data from the remains of 10 individuals who lived in Ashkelon during the Bronze and Iron Ages.
This data allowed the team to compare the DNA of the Bronze and Iron Age people of Ashkelon to determine how they were related.
The researchers found that individuals across all time periods derived most of their ancestry from the local Levantine gene pool, but that individuals who lived in early Iron Age Ashkelon had a European derived ancestral component that was not present in their Bronze Age predecessors.
“This genetic distinction is due to European-related gene flow introduced in Ashkelon during either the end of the Bronze Age or the beginning of the Iron Age. This timing is in accord with estimates of the Philistine’s arrival to the coast of the Levant, based on archaeological and textual records,” explains Michal Feldman of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, leading author of the study.
“While our modeling suggests a southern European gene pool as a plausible source, future sampling could identify more precisely the populations introducing the European-related component to Ashkelon.”
Transient impact of the “European related” gene flow
In analyzing later Iron Age individuals from Ashkelon, the researchers found that the European-related component could no longer be traced.
“Within no more than two centuries, this genetic footprint introduced during the early Iron Age is no longer detectable and seems to be diluted by a local Levantine related gene pool,” states Choongwon Jeong of the Max Planck Institute of the Science of Human History, one of the corresponding authors of the study.
“While, according to ancient texts, the people of Ashkelon in the first millennium BCE remained ‘Philistines’ to their neighbors, the distinctiveness of their genetic makeup was no longer clear, perhaps due to intermarriage with Levantine groups around them,” notes Master.
“This data begins to fill a temporal gap in the genetic map of the southern Levant,” explains Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, senior author of the study.
“At the same time, by the zoomed-in comparative analysis of the Ashkelon genetic time transect, we find that the unique cultural features in the early Iron Age are mirrored by a distinct genetic composition of the early Iron Age people.”
First-ever portrait of Jesus found in 1 of 70 ancient books?
The image is eerily familiar: a bearded young man with flowing curly hair. After lying for nearly 2,000 years hidden in a cave in the Holy Land, the fine detail is difficult to determine. But in a certain light, it is not difficult to interpret the marks around the figure’s brow as a crown of thorns. The extraordinary picture of one of the recently discovered hoards of up to 70 lead codices – booklets – found in a cave in the hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee is one reason Bible historians are clamouring to get their hands on the ancient artefacts. If genuine, this could be the first-ever portrait of Jesus Christ, possibly even created in the lifetime of those who knew him. The tiny booklet, a little smaller than a modern credit card, is sealed on all sides and has a three-dimensional representation of a human head on both the front and the back. One appears to have a beard and the other is without. Even the maker’s fingerprint can be seen in the lead impression. Beneath both figures is a line of as-yet undeciphered text in an ancient Hebrew script.
Discovery: The impression on this booklet cover shows what could be the earliest image of Christ
Astonishingly, one of the booklets appears to bear the words ‘Saviour of Israel’ – one of the few phrases so far translated. The owner of the cache is Bedouin trucker Hassan Saida who lives in the Arab village of Umm al-Ghanim, Shibli. He has refused to sell the booklets but two samples were sent to England and Switzerland for testing.
A Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed that the artefacts were originally found in a cave in the village of Saham in Jordan, close to where Israel, Jordan and Syria’s Golan Heights converge – and within three miles of the Israeli spa and hot springs of Hamat Gader, a religious site for thousands of years.
Precious: This booklet shows what scholars believe to be the map of Christian Jerusalem
According to sources in Saham, they were discovered five years ago after a flash flood scoured away the dusty mountain soil to reveal what looked like a large capstone. When this was levered aside, a cave was discovered with a large number of small niches set into the walls. Each of these niches contained a booklet. There were also other objects, including some metal plates and rolled lead scrolls. The area is renowned as an age-old refuge for ancient Jews fleeing the bloody aftermath of a series of revolts against the Roman empire in the First and early Second Century AD. The cave is less than 100 miles from Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and around 60 miles from Masada, the scene of the last stand and mass suicide of an extremist Zealot sect in the face of a Roman Army siege in 72AD – two years after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It is also close to caves that have been used as sanctuaries by refugees from the Bar Kokhba revolt, the third and final Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire in 132AD.
The era is of critical importance to Biblical scholars because it encompasses the political, social and religious upheavals that led to the split between Judaism and Christianity. It ended with the triumph of Christianity over its rivals as the dominant new religion first for dissident Jews and then for Gentiles. In this context, it is important that while the Dead Sea Scrolls are rolled pieces of parchment or papyrus containing the earliest-known versions of books of the Hebrew Bible and other texts – the traditional Jewish format for written work – these lead discoveries are in the book, or codex, form which has long been associated with the rise of Christianity.
The codices are seen by The Mail on Sunday range in size from smaller than 3in x 2 to around 10in x 8in. They each contain an average of eight or nine pages and appear to be cast, rather than inscribed, with images on both sides and bound with lead-ring bindings. Many of them were severely corroded when they were first discovered, although it has been possible to open them with care. The codex showing what may be the face of Christ is not thought to have been opened yet. Some codices show signs of having been buried – although this could simply be the detritus resulting from lying in a cave for hundreds of years. Unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, the lead codices appear to consist of stylised pictures, rather than text, with a relatively small amount of script that appears to be in a Phoenician language, although the exact dialect is yet to be identified. At the time these codices were created, the Holy Land was populated by different sects, including Essenes, Samaritans, Pharisees, Sadducees, Dositheans and Nazoreans.
One lucky owner: Hassan Saida with some of the artefacts that he says he inherited
There was no common script and considerable intermingling of language and writing systems between groups. This means it could take years of detailed scholarship to accurately interpret the codices. Many of the books are sealed on all sides with metal rings, suggesting they were not intended to be opened. This could be because they contained holy words which should never be read. For example, the early Jews fiercely protected the sacred name of God, which was only ever uttered by The High Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem at Yom Kippur. The original pronunciation has been lost, but has been transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH – known as the Tetragrammaton – and is usually translated either as Yahweh or Jehovah. A sealed book containing sacred information was mentioned in the biblical Book of Revelations.
One plate has been interpreted as a schematic map of Christian Jerusalem showing the Roman crosses outside the city walls. At the top can be seen a ladder-type shape. This is thought to be a balustrade mentioned in a biblical description of the Temple in Jerusalem. Below that are three groups of brickwork, to represent the walls of the city. A fruiting palm tree suggests the House of David and there are three or four shapes that appear to be horizontal lines intersected by short vertical lines from below. These are the T-shaped crosses believed to have been used in biblical times (the familiar crucifix shape is said to date from the 4th Century). The star shapes in a long line represent the House of Jesse – and then the pattern is repeated.
This interpretation of the books as proto-Christian artefacts is supported by Margaret Barker, former president of the Society for Old Testament Study and one of Britain’s leading experts on early Christianity. The fact that a figure is portrayed would appear to rule out these codices being connected to mainstream Judaism of the time, where the portrayal of lifelike figures was strictly forbidden because it was considered idolatry. If genuine, it seems clear that these books were, in fact, created by an early Messianic Jewish sect, perhaps closely allied to the early Christian church and that these images represent Christ himself. However another theory, put forward by Robert Feather – an authority on The Dead Sea Scrolls and author of The Mystery Of The Copper Scroll Of Qumran – is that these books are connected to the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132-136AD, the third major rebellion by the Jews of Judea Province and the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars.
The revolt established an independent state of Israel over parts of Judea for two years before the Roman army finally crushed it, with the result that all Jews, including the early Christians, were barred from Jerusalem. The followers of Simon Bar Kokhba, the commander of the revolt, acclaimed him as a Messiah, a heroic figure who could restore Israel. Although Jewish Christians hailed Jesus as the Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba, they were barred from Jerusalem along with the rest of the Jews. The war and its aftermath helped differentiate Christianity as a religion distinct from Judaism.
Wonder: The cave in Jordan where the metal books were discovered
The spiritual leader of the revolt was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who laid the foundations for a mystical form of Judaism known today as Kabbalah, which is followed by Madonna, Britney Spears and others. Yochai hid in a cave for 13 years and wrote a secret commentary on the Bible, the Zohar, which evolved into the teaching of Kabbalah. Feather is convinced that some of the text on
The codices carry the name of Rabbi Bar Yochai.
Feather says that all known codices prior to around 400AD were made of parchment and that cast lead is unknown. They were clearly designed to exist forever and never to be opened. The use of metal as a writing material at this time is well documented – however, the text was always inscribed, not cast.
The books are currently in the possession of Hassan Saida, in Umm al-Ghanim, Shibli, which is at the foot of Mount Tabor, 18 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. Saida owns and operates a haulage business consisting of at least nine large flatbed lorries. He is regarded in his village as a wealthy man. His grandfather settled there more than 50 years ago and his mother and four brothers still live there. Saida, who is in his mid-30s and married with five or six children, claims he inherited the booklets from his grandfather. However, The Mail on Sunday has learned of claims that they first came to light five years ago when his Bedouin business partner met a villager in Jordan who said he had some ancient artefacts to sell. The business partner was apparently shown two very small metal books. He brought them back over the border to Israel and Saida became entranced by them, coming to believe they had magical properties and that it was his fate to collect as many as he could. The arid, mountainous area where they were found is both militarily sensitive and agriculturally poor. The local people have for generations supplemented their income by hoarding and selling archaeological artefacts found in caves.
More of the booklets were clandestinely smuggled across the border by drivers working for Saida – the smaller ones were typically worn openly as charms hanging from chains around the drivers’ necks, the larger concealed behind car and lorry dashboards. In order to finance the purchase of booklets from the Jordanians who had initially discovered them, Saida allegedly went into partnership with a number of other people – including his lawyer from Haifa, Israel. Saida’s motives are complex. He constantly studies the booklets but does not take particularly good care of them, opening some and coating them in olive oil in order to ‘preserve’ them.
Masterpiece: Later versions of Christ, including Leonardo Da Vinci’s interpretation in his fresco The Last Supper, give Jesus similar characteristics
The artefacts have been seen by multi-millionaire collectors of antiquities in both Israel and Europe – and Saida has been offered tens of millions of pounds for just a few of them, but has declined to sell any. When he first obtained the booklets, he had no idea what they were or even if they were genuine. He contacted Sotheby’s in London in 2007 in an attempt to find an expert opinion, but the famous auction house declined to handle them because their provenance was not known.
Soon afterwards, the British author and journalist Nick Fielding was approached by a Palestinian woman who was concerned that the booklets would be sold on the black market. Fielding was asked to approach the British Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and other places. Fielding travelled to Israel and obtained a letter from the Israeli Antiquities Authority saying it had no objection to their being taken abroad for analysis. It appears the IAA believed the booklets were forgeries on the basis that nothing like them had been discovered before.
None of the museums wanted to get involved, again because of concerns over provenance. Fielding was then asked to approach experts to find out what they were and if they were genuine. David Feather, who is a metallurgist as well as an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls, recommended submitting the samples for metal analysis at Oxford University. The work was carried out by Dr Peter Northover, head of the Materials Science-based Archaeology Group and a world expert on the analysis of ancient metal materials. The samples were then sent to the Swiss National Materials Laboratory at Dubendorf, Switzerland. The results show they were consistent with ancient (Roman) period lead production and that the metal was smelted from ore that originated in the Mediterranean. Dr Northover also said that corrosion on the books was unlikely to be modern.
Meanwhile, the politics surrounding the provenance of the books is intensifying. Most professional scholars are cautious pending further research and point to the ongoing forgery trial in Israel over the ancient limestone ossuary purporting to have housed the bones of James, brother of Jesus. The Israeli archaeological establishment has sought to defuse problems of provenance by casting doubt on the authenticity of the codices, but Jordan says it will ‘exert all efforts at every level’ to get the relics repatriated. The debate over whether these booklets are genuine and, if so, whether they represent the first known artefacts of the early Christian church or the first stirrings of mystical Kabbalah will undoubtedly rage for years to come.
The director of Jordan’s Department of Antiquities, Ziad Al-Saad, has few doubts. He believes they may indeed have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion.
‘They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls,’ he says. ‘The initial information is very encouraging and it seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery – maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology.’
If he is right, then we really may be gazing at the face of Jesus Christ.
Archaeologists Unearth 4,000-Year-Old Stone Board Game in Oman
Archaeologists in Oman have found a 4,000-year-old stone board game at a Bronze and Iron Age settlement site near the village of Ayn Bani Saidah in the northern Hajar mountains’ Qumayrah Valley.
The Royal Game of Ur (ca. 2,600 B.C.), from the Royal Cemetery of Ur in modern-day Iraq. Collection of the British Museum, London.
“Such finds are rare, but examples are known from an area stretching from India, through Mesopotamia even to the Eastern Mediterranean,” Piotr Bielinski, a University of Warsaw archaeologist who co-led the excavations, said in a statement.
“The most famous example of a game board based on a similar principle is the one from the graves from Ur,” an ancient royal cemetery in Iraq.
The ancient game he is referring to was discovered in 1922, is about 4,500 years old and is a two-player game similar to backgammon. It is now in the collection of the British Museum in London.
The newly discovered large stone board in Oman had grid-like markings seemingly indicating different fields of play, as well as cup holes. Its rules have been lost to time.
Archaeologists excavating a Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement near the village of Ayn Bani Saidah in Oman.
An Omani-Polish team from the University of Warsaw’s Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology and Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism has been conducting the fieldwork, led by Bielinski and the ministry director-general of antiquities Sultan Al Bakri.
The area surrounding the dig is one of the least-studied regions of Oman—but finds made by recent studies suggest the Qumayrah Valley was part of a major trade route between several Arab cities.
“This abundance of settlement traces proves that this valley was an important spot in Oman’s prehistory,” Bieliński told the Daily Mail.
A 4,000-year-old board game was found near the village of Ayn Bani Saidah in Oman.
Digs at the site, which has been the subject of excavations since 2015, have also yielded four towers—one at least 60 feet tall—and the first evidence of copper smelting in the region.
“This shows that our settlement participated in the lucrative copper trade for which Oman was famous at that time,” Bielinski said in a statement.
Plans are to continue excavations near Ayn Bani Sa’dah, as well as to investigate the other end of the valley, near Bilt.
Researchers discover huge “Dinosaur dance floor” in China
In China, researchers have found many dinosaur footprints in an area of 1,600 square meters described in the literature as a “dinosaur dance floor.” So far, 8 kinds of dinosaur footprints have been seen on the dinosaur dance floor.
It was determined that the dinosaurs that left their footprints were between 20 meters and 1 meter.
The dinosaur dance floor was found in Shanghang County, Fujian Province, China.
The “dance floor” was an excavation site measuring 100 square meters and approximately 200 dinosaur tracks have been identified there, said Xing Lida, a palaeontologist at the China University of Geosciences and a member of the research team.
The concentration of dinosaur footprints indicates that it could have been a pathway for dinosaurs roaming the area in a relatively short period of time during the Late Cretaceous, he added.
The footprints were first spotted last November when over 240 fossilized dinosaur footprints were identified, and another 364 dinosaur tracks were found in early April.
So far over 600 dinosaur footprints have been discovered in the dinosaur track site, which covers an area of about 1,600 square meters. The site is located in the county’s Longxiang Village.
Over 600 dinosaur footprints were found on the 1,600 square meter dinosaur dance floor.
The number of dinosaur footprints is expected to exceed 1,000 as the excavation works proceed, said Xing, noting that the 80-million-year-old tracks were believably left by at least eight types of dinosaurs including sauropods, large and small theropods, and ornithopods.
The newly discovered tracks include imprints left by large sauropods, which were herbivorous creatures with long necks and tails and a body that could span up to 20 meters.
The site also revealed footprints measuring less than 10 centimetres in length, which Xing said, belong to bird-footed dinosaurs about 1 meter long.
According to the scientists, it is the largest and the most diverse site of its kind discovered in China so far dating back to the Upper Cretaceous period.
The site boasts abundant geological sedimentary structures, indicating that it used to be adjacent to a water source where dinosaurs used to consume food and water, said Chen Runsheng, deputy director of Fujian Geological Survey and a member of the research team.
Chen added that more dinosaur fossils other than footprints could be found in the area as the research progresses.
Flammable Residues Detected in Medieval Vessels from Jerusalem
A new analysis of residue in ancient ceramic vessels from 11th and 12th century Jerusalem has found that the jars may have had a more sinister purpose than storage.
Previous research into the iconic vessels, which are held in museums around the world, identified them as vessels for beer drinking, and containers for mercury, oil and medicines.
The jars are easily identifiable, spherical in shape with conical bases, and have been found in all sorts of archaeological contexts throughout the Middle East between the 9th and 15th centuries.
Conico-spherical jars are found throughout the Middle East in archaeological contexts dating from the 9th-15th centuries.
But a new study, led by Carney Matheson, of Griffith University in Queensland, has found that while some of the vessels were indeed used for these purposes, others contained a flammable and likely explosive material, suggesting they may have been used as a kind of crude hand grenade – an explanation supported by evidence from ancient texts.
The sherds studied were excavated from the Armenian Garden in Jerusalem in the 1960s, and analysed for trace residue to determine their contents.
“These vessels have been reported during the time of the Crusades as grenades thrown against Crusader strongholds, producing loud noises and bright flashes of light,” says Matheson.
The Crusades (1095-1291), were a series of violent religious wars initiated by the Latin Church during the Medieval period, culminating most famously in the attempted seizure of Jerusalem from Islamic rule. Jerusalem’s inhabitants, it seems, found ingenious ways to fight back.
So, what were these ancient grenades made from?
“Some researchers had proposed the vessels were used as grenades and held black powder, an explosive invented in ancient China and known to have been introduced into the Middle East and Europe by the 13th century,” Matheson says. “It has been proposed that black powder may have been introduced to the Middle East earlier, as early as these vessels from the 9th to 11th century.”
But the new study rules out black powder: “This research has shown that it is not black powder and likely a locally invented explosive material.”
The research also found that some of the vessels had been sealed with a resin.
“More research on these vessels and their explosive content will allow us to understand ancient explosive technology of the medieval period and the history of explosive weapons in the Eastern Mediterranean,” says Matheson.
