Old Football Found On Beach Turns Out To Be An Iron Age Skull
Image kicking what you thought was part of an old football during a stroll on the beach – only to discover it was actually part of a human skull. That’s what happened to Anthony Plowright.
He was walking his two dogs on the beach near Binstead on the Isle of Wight when he discovered what turned out to be the upper part of a human skull, called the cranium.
The Isle of Wight coroners office sent the dark brown remains for carbon dating and discovered it was about 2,800 years old.
The skull, pictured here, belonged to someone who would have lived in the Iron Age, or about 2,800 years ago according to the Isle of Wight coroners office.
All that remained of the person was the upper part of the skull called the cranium – seen in this photo from the Isle of Wight coroner.
The skull was discovered on the 4th of June 2018 but the Isle of Wight Coroner, Caroline Sumeray has only just released her findings.
The carbon dating puts the cranium as belonging to someone who would have lived in the early Iron Age – between about 800BC and 540BC.
Mr Plowright said: ‘I thought it was part of an old football when I first saw it and so I booted it down the beach. I soon realised it wasn’t a ball.
‘I put it in a bag and took it home and emailed the police to tell them I had found it.’
‘I had absolutely no idea it was that old.’
The skull has been donated to the Isle of Wight Museum Service who say they are looking forward to studying it.
During the Iron Age, the people of the Isle of Wight were already trading with nearby communities through maritime links.
‘Recent discoveries suggest that the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight engaged in wider maritime activity within the Solent from prehistoric times, according to Stephanie Smith from the British Museum.
‘By the Iron Age and Roman periods, the Island was part of a vast maritime network of interaction between coastal southern Britain and the Continent, extending as far as the Mediterranean.’
The skull – pictured – has been donated to the Isle of Wight Museum Service who say they are looking forward to studying it
Possible Image of Roman God Unearthed at Vindolanda
BBC News reports that two volunteers discovered a piece of sandstone carved with an image of a donkey or horse and a naked man holding a spear at Vindolanda, a Roman fort along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England.
It was found intact near a 4th Century cavalry barrack and it is believed to depict either the Gods Mars or Mercury, although there is no inscription.
The artefact will be on display at the fort’s museum from Thursday.
It was unearthed by volunteers Richie Milor and David Goldwater who have taken part in annual digs at the fort for the past 15 years
Site archaeologist Marta Alberti is now piecing together clues to try to establish who the carving represents.
Ms Alberti said: “We are looking at something we have never seen at Vindolanda before and we might not see again.
“The nakedness of the man means he is probably a god, rather than a mere cavalryman, he is also carrying a spear in his left arm, a common attribute of the God of War Mars.
“However, when you look at his head, the two almost circular features could be identified as wings, a common attribute of Mercury – god of travel.
“Horses and donkeys are also often associated with Mercury as a protector of travellers.”
The Vindolanda Survival Appeal has so far raised £130,000 of a £200,000 target
The carving – which measures 6.2in (160mm) wide and 12.4in (315mm) tall – is very well preserved, Ms Alberti said.
It was unearthed by volunteers Richie Milor and David Goldwater who have taken part in annual digs at the fort for the past 15 years.
Mr Milor said: “We are just absolutely elated, very proud to be part of this discovery, it was actually very emotional.
“Whether you find something or not we love coming to this site, playing our small part in the research that takes place, but finding this made it a very special day indeed.”
Due to the pandemic, Vindolanda had to close for many months and furlough staff.
It has is so far raised more than £130,000 of a target of £200,000 as part of its Survival Appeal.
The excavations at Vindolanda will continue until 24 September.
Huge Objects Could Have Been Moved by a Lifting Machine at Stonehenge and Egypt!
A history-loving carpet fitter has recreated an ancient machine to solve the mystery of how Stonehenge was built. Steven Tasker, 66, believes the long-forgotten machinery would have been used to transport the huge stones 180 miles.
Steven Tasker on a day trip to Stonehenge, when he was likely thinking about his lifting machine and how it was used first in the UK and how it was likely the Egyptians visited Britain in search of scientific solutions for moving huge statues and building the pyramids.
He came up with the theory on a visit to Egypt as he wanted to explain how the Pyramids were built. Steven decided to build the rocking structure with his grandson to see if they could lift heavy stones.
The mechanism features a circular board in the middle of wooden planks that sit on top of rockers and wooden feet. Steven, of Llanrhaeadr, Mid Wales, says it could ‘move any weight’ and may solve the Stonehenge mystery.
He said: ‘It may look like something out of Last of the Summer Wine, but we’ve lifted a third of a tonne with it and theoretically it could move any weight.
‘I tied rockers below a plank of wood to try and work out how they could have been used.
‘By using pivot points, I could counterbalance a 60kg roll of carpet on top and by using the rockers, walk it across the road.’
Steven’s theory could explain how stone circles from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire were moved to Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.
He explained his ideas to Dr Campbell Price – curator of one of the UK’s largest Egyptology collections at Manchester Museum. Dr Price was impressed with his theory and said the ‘efficient movement of large numbers of ancient monuments’ has never been fully explained.
He said: ‘Steve’s experiments give a different perspective into how ancient people were able to plan paths of least resistance and to manipulate natural forces.’
Steven also believes the machine is referenced in the Old Testament when Ezekiel describes a ‘vision of God being transported on cherubim.’
Steven tested the prototype with his grandson: An important element where the ball bearings – such as those found at ancient sites – stop the statue from sliding off.
How Steven believes the machine could have looked – with the stone held over a circular board in the middle and wooden planks pulled sideways to propel the feet forward.
How Steven believes the machine would have looked – he believes the Egyptians could have kept animal fat in head cones to be used as a lubricant on the stone rollers
The cherubim include four wings and ‘feet shaped like the sole of a calf’s foot.
Steven said: ‘The feet are an important part of the machine because the load’s centre of mass is retained over them.
‘It gives the impression the machine is defying gravity, but like any trick of the eye, a clown leaning forward with his big shoes, it looks like magic.’
Steven estimates the machine would be able to travel 1.5 miles a day – meaning the Stonehenge stones would have taken months to transport.
Engineer Shaun Whitehead, who led the Djedi robotic exploration of the Great Pyramid, said: ‘I’m often approached by people who have their own ideas about why and how these great structures were built.
‘I’m careful not to dismiss any of these without a little thought, but most can be shown to be unworkable or impractical.
‘However, Steven’s theories on how massive objects could have been moved demonstrate a very creative and practical engineering mind.’
Roman sarcophagus discovered in Bath contained two skeletons, with one laid at the other’s feet
In the British city of Bath, two separate skeletons were discovered inside a Roman-era tomb. A well-preserved body was discovered face-down with the partial remains of another person positioned at its feet.
Beads and pottery that may have contained food were also discovered at the site, suggesting they were some kind of offering.
The limestone casket, along with stone walls and evidence of a cremation burial, were uncovered at Bathwick Roman Cemetery in southwest Bath’s Sydney Gardens, the last remaining Georgian pleasure gardens in the UK.
The casket, found in a grave about six feet long, 23 inches wide and 19 inches deep, was north-facing, suggesting it was a pagan burial.
The cremation burial is the only recorded one of its kind in the Bathwick Cemetery, according to the BBC.
A nearly 2,000-year-old Roman sarcophagus containing two bodies was discovered in Bath, England. Its northern-facing orientation and the presence of offerings suggest it was a pagan burial, archaeologists say
‘Having a human skeleton directly associated with a coffin is a rarity and to have this one associated with what was probably votive offering and a nearby human cremation, allows a very rare glimpse into funerary practices in the region almost two millennia ago,’ archaeologist Kelly Madigan, who worked on the excavation, said in a statement.
Calling the discovery ‘a real career highlight,’ Madigan said that testing of the bones could offer new information, ‘where we can delve deeper into just who the people we found in the coffin were, where they were from and their health and welfare.’
The limestone casket, along with stone walls and evidence of a cremation burial, were uncovered at Bathwick Roman Cemetery in southwest Bath
Historic England advisor Sylvia Warman called the discovery ‘a first for Bathwick and a really significant find for Roman Bath and the World Heritage Site.’
The baths remain a major tourist attraction and receive over a million visitors a year.
While habitation goes back to the Neolithic era, the city proper was founded in 43AD, when the Romans turned a patch of marshland into the ancient world’s equivalent of a luxury spa, taking advantage of the millions of gallons of warm water bubbling up from natural hot springs.
They named it Aquae Sulis, after the Celtic goddess Sulis, associated with the Roman deity Minerva.
The Romans constructed elaborate baths in the city in the first century AD, taking advantage of natural hot springs that provided warm water. More than a million tourists visit Bath each year
A temple dedicated to Minerva was erected in 70 AD, and the bathhouse was expanded and improved over the next 300 years.
By the 5th century, with the fall of the Roman empire, the baths fell into disrepair and were eventually abandoned.
In 2007, archaeologists found a massive hoard of 30,000 Roman coins less than 500 feet from the baths, the BBC reported. The collection, one of the largest ever found in the country, dates to about 270 AD.
A metal detectorist discovered two ancient and extremely rare gold coins thought to have been lost during the Black Death. Near Reepham, Norfolk, a leopard-shaped 23-carat gold coin was discovered alongside an Edward III golden coin.
The leopard was withdrawn within months of its being minted in 1344 and according to finds liaison officer Helen Geake, hardly any of the coins have survived.
The coins would be worth the equivalent of £12,000 in terms of today’s currency and would have been owned by someone at the top of society’, she told the BBC.
The coins were discovered by a metal detectorist in Reepham, Norfolk in October 2019
‘For some reason, they didn’t catch on, but when one or two pennies were the equivalent of a day’s wages at today’s minimum wage rate, perhaps very few people used them,’ she said.
Called a florin, leopard and a helm, the coinage was an attempt by King Edward III to produce a gold coin suitable to be used in Europe as well as in England.
But, the gold used to strike the coins was overvalued, which resulted in them being unacceptable to the public. Within months, they were melted down to produce the more popular gold noble, worth six shillings and eightpence.
The coin was discovered alongside a rare Edward III noble, thought to date between 1351 and 1352, while the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, was ravaging Europe.
Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is carried by fleas and transmitted between animals.
The bubonic plague – the most common form – is caused by the bite of an infected flea and can spread through contact with infectious bodily fluids or contaminated materials. Patients may show signs of fever and nausea and at an advanced stage may develop open sores filled with pus.
It devastated Europe in the Middle Ages, most notably in the Black Death of the 1340s which killed a third or more of the continent’s population.
After the Black Death plague became a common phenomenon in Europe, with outbreaks recurring regularly until the 18th century. When the Great Plague of 1665 hit, a fifth of people in London died, with victims shut in their homes and red crosses painted on the door.
Bubonic plague has almost completely vanished from the rich world, with 90 per cent of all cases now found in Africa. It is now treatable with antibiotics, as long as they are administered quickly.
Still, there have been a few non-fatal cases in the U.S., with an average of seven reported a year, according to disease control bosses. From 2010 to 2015 there were 3,248 cases reported worldwide, including 584 deaths, says the World Health Organisation.
Some plague vaccines have been developed, but none are available to the general public. The WHO does not recommend vaccination except for high-risk groups such as health care workers.
Without antibiotics, the bubonic strain can spread to the lungs – where it becomes the more virulent pneumonic form. Pneumonic plague, which can kill within 24 hours, can then be passed on through coughing, sneezing or spitting.
The coins were thought to be lost after the Norman Conquest, as the only coins in circulation were silver pennies.
Dr Geake said no one really knows why Edward III decided to reintroduce the first gold coins in England since the Anglo-Saxon era. The find shows that the leopard, worth three shillings at the time, was in circulation for longer than historians have previously believed.
The coin was discovered alongside a rare Edward III noble, thought to date between 1351/52
But, after looking at the circumstances at the time, they realised that it coincided with the Black Death reaching England in 1348 – a ‘cataclysmic’ event which saw coinage issues drop in priority.
‘Usually the authorities would be keen to remove a withdrawn coin as soon as possible,’ Dr Geake said.
The coins were discovered by a metal detectorist in October 2019.
Footprints of Last Dinosaurs To Walk on UK Soil 110 Million Years Ago Found in Kent
In the realm of palaeontology, there’s some exciting news! At least six different dinosaur species’ footprints have been unearthed – the very last dinosaurs to walk on UK land 110 million years ago!
Footprints Of Last Dinosaurs To Walk On UK Soil 110 Million Years Ago Found in Kent
These footprints have been discovered in Folkestone, a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England, reports PTI.
“This is the first time dinosaur footprints have been found in strata known as the ‘Folkestone Formation” and it’s quite an extraordinary discovery because these dinosaurs would have been the last to roam in this country before becoming extinct,’ said David Martill, Professor of Palaeobiology, at the University of Portsmouth.
“They were walking around close to where the White Cliffs of Dover are now – next time you’re on a ferry and you see those magnificent cliffs just imagine that,” he said.
Footprint fossils are formed by sediment filling the impression when a dinosaur’s foot pushes into ground
The study titled ‘The youngest dinosaur footprints from England and their palaeoenvironmental implications’ has been published in the journal ‘Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association” this week.
In fact, some of these unique footprints are also on display at the Folkestone Museum.
According to the study, these newly discovered dinosaur footprints can be referred to as theropod, ornithopod and possibly ankylosaur dinosaurs.
These dinosaur footprints were discovered by researchers in the cliffs and on the foreshore in Folkestone.
The town suffers through stormy conditions that affect the cliff and coastal waters. This is why it’s constantly revealing new fossils.
According to Philip Hadland, Collections and Engagement Curator, at the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery and the lead author on the paper, “Back in 2011, I came across unusual impressions in the rock formation at Folkestone. They seemed to be repeating and all I could think was they might be footprints”.
He further added, “this was at odds with what most geologists say about the rocks here, but I went looking for more footprints and as the tides revealed more by erosion, I found even better ones.
More work was needed to convince the scientific community of their validity, so I teamed up with experts at the University of Portsmouth to verify what I’d found.”
Perfect 215-million-year-old dinosaur print found by a girl, 4, on Welsh beach
A girl from Wales discovered a well-preserved 215 million-year-old dinosaur print, described as the ‘finest of its type found in 10 years. After making the discovery on a beach at Bendricks Bay near Barry, four-year-old Lily Wilder has been hailed by researchers.
The girl, from Llandough, near Cardiff, found the fossilised rock as she walked out with her dad, Richard, 47.
The print is just over 3.9 inches long and was made by a two-footed dinosaur currently unknown to science.
Lily Wilder with her mum Sally and dad Richard and the dinosaur footprint she found on Bendricks Bay Barry
The creature that created it is thought to have stood about 75cm tall and 2.5m long.
Experts called it ‘the finest impression of a 215-million-year-old dinosaur print found in Britain in a decade.
The footprint as it was found by Lilly Wilder, 4
It was so perfect Mum Sally, 38, said they initially thought it was a carving made by artists.
She said: ‘Lily saw it when they were walking along and said, “daddy look”.
‘When Richard came home and showed me the photograph, I thought it looked amazing.
‘Richard thought it was too good to be true. I was put in touch with experts who took it from there.
‘We weren’t even sure it was real.
‘I was imagining an artist had gone down and scratched it out, but I knew dinosaur footprints had been found along that piece of the coast before, so I just thought I’d ask some people.
‘I found this fossil identification page on Facebook and I posted it on there and people went a bit crazy.
‘It’s all been so exciting, discovering that it’s actually what they thought it was.’
It was inspected after Sally and their husband Richard reported the finding to experts, including palaeontologists, who specialise in dinosaurs.
Karl-James Langford, of Archaeology Cymru called it ‘the finest impression of a 215-million-year-old dinosaur print found in Britain in a decade.’
He added: ‘It’s so perfect and absolutely pristine, it’s a wonderful piece.
‘I would say it’s internationally important and that is why the museum took it. I would say it’s the best dinosaur footprint found in the UK in the past 10 years.’
A spokesman from the National Museum in Cardiff said the detail in the fossil was of great value to science.
‘Its spectacular preservation may help scientists establish more about the actual structure of their feet as the preservation is clear enough to show individual pads and even claw impressions.’
British teacher finds long-lost relative: 9,000-year-old man
Adrian Targett visited the home of a close relative yesterday. He had to put on Wellington boots because the floor is muddy. The relative was not in. Hardly surprising: he died 9,000 years ago.
9,000-Year-Old Cheddar Man Has Living Descendant Still Living in The Same Area
But there is no doubt: Mr Targett, a 42-year-old history teacher in Cheddar, Somerset, has been shown by DNA tests to be a direct descendant, by his mother’s line, of “Cheddar Man“, the oldest complete skeleton ever found in Britain, and now also the world’s most distant confirmed relative.
Even the Royal Family can only trace its heritage back to King Ecgbert, who ruled from 829AD to 830AD. By contrast, Cheddar Man, a hunter-gatherer who pre-dated the arrival of farming, lived in 7150BC.
The news caught everyone by surprise. Mr Targett’s wife, Catherine, said: “This is all a bit of a surprise, but maybe this explains why he likes his steaks rare”.
The discovery came about during tests performed as part of a television series on archaeology in Somerset, Once Upon a Time in the West, to be shown later this year.
DNA found in the pulp cavity of one of Cheddar Man’s molar teeth was tested at Oxford University’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, and then compared with that of 20 people locally, whose families were known to have been living in the area for some generations.
To make up the numbers, Mr Targett, an only child who has no children, joined in. But the match was unequivocal: the two men have a common maternal ancestor. The mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited from the egg, confirmed it.
“I’m absolutely overwhelmed,” Mr Targett said on hearing of the match. “It is very strange news to receive – I’m not sure how I feel at the moment.”
His pupils were delighted (“He has never had a nickname … until now,” one 16-year-old said with relish) and so were scientists. The finding could provide a key to the debate about the process by which early humans settled down to agricultural life.
Cheddar Man was discovered in 1903, 20 metres inside Gough’s cave, which is the largest of 100 caverns in Cheddar Gorge – Britain’s prime site for Palaeolithic human remains. He had been buried alone in a chamber near the mouth of a deep cave, about 1,000 years before hunter-gathering began to give way to farming.
Visiting the site, Mr Targett said: “I’m glad I don’t live down here – it’s very dark, dank and dismal. I have been down here before but, of course, I never dreamed that I was standing in my ancestor’s home.”
Dr Larry Barham, an archaeology lecturer at Bristol University, said: “There is debate over whether farmers arrived from eastern Europe and ousted the hunter-gatherers – or whether the idea of farming spread through the population. This discovery strongly suggests an element of the second.”
In Cheddar Man’s time, the area would have been sparsely populated, with dense forests. He would have hunted deer, rabbits, waterfowl and perhaps fish, and gathered nuts, fruit and edible roots. “There were wild boar, bears and beavers.
There were packs of wild wolves, too, but apart from that life was probably pretty good. Cheddar Gorge would have looked similar then and must have been a good spot, with ready-made homes, a spring and forest nearby,” Dr Barham said.
Physically, Cheddar Man would have looked like a modern man. “You could put a suit on him and he wouldn’t look out of place in an office. In fact, he probably wore tailored clothes of leather or skins sewn together,” Dr Barham added.
“It is likely he was part of an extended group of families of 30 or so people. They lived too late to see a woolly mammoth, and too soon to see the earliest farming.”
The link between Cheddar Man and Adrian Targett easily outstrips the existing record for distant ancestors.
The oldest previously recorded relative was the great-great-great-great-grandfather of Confucius who lived in the eighth century BC. Two of Confucius’s 85th lineal male descendants today live in Taiwan.
