2,000-year-old snake-figure altar unearthed in the ancient city of Patara in southern Turkey
Daily Sabah reports that a marble altar encircled with a coiled snake carved in relief has been unearthed at the ancient city of Patara in southern Turkey.
The altar, which is believed to date back more than 2,000 years, was found during excavations conducted in an area close to the Roman baths and walls. It is decorated with a snake relief that appears to be winding around the stone.
Mustafa Koçak, an academic at the Department of archaeology at Antalya Bilim University and also the vice president of the excavation team in Patara, told reporters that the discovery highlights the first of its kind in the ancient Patara site.
Archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old snake altar in Turkey’s ancient city
“We found a snake-shaped altar for the first time in Patara. Similar discoveries were made in some ancient cities in Muğla but this is the first time such a discovery has been made in Patara.
This altar depicts the relations of people in Patara with the outside world,” Koçak said.
He added that residents of the area were polytheistic in ancient times and made offerings at the altar in a bid to appease the gods of the underworld. Furthermore, the snake motif on the altar is thought to be associated with the gods.
New Study Redates Two Lower Paleolithic Sites in France
A publication in the journal Quaternary International led by Dr Mathieu Duval, Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at the Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), is based on the use of an unprecedented combination of three different dating techniques, namely Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), Luminescence and Palaeomagnetism, to date two Lower Palaeolithic sites in France.
“The initial purpose of this study was to refine the chronology of these two sites, which are amongst the oldest evidence of the human presence in Western Europe, north of the 45°N latitude, before 500,000 years ago”, says Dr Duval.
“They were previously dated using one method only, and we now provide an independent age assessment, based on a multi-technique approach that enables to build a robust chronological framework.”
The two archaeological sites have delivered lithic tools that are typical of the Lower Palaeolithic, the oldest cultural period identified in Europe. The first one, Lunery-la Terre-des-Sablons, provided an Oldowan lithic industry similar to that found at other sites such as Atapuerca Gran Dolina, Sima del Elefante, Barranco León or Fuente Nueva-3 (Spain).
Initially dated to about 1.1 million years, the new study indicated a more complex site formation process than thought earlier, and a minimum age of 710,000 years is now proposed for the lithic tools.
In contrast, the new age results obtained for the second site, Brinay-la Noira, are in excellent agreement with those obtained previously. They confirm the age of the lithic industry to around 650,000 years, making the site one of the oldest Acheulean site in Western Europe.
“Nowadays, the number of old archaeological sites in Western Europe is still very limited, which is why it essential to obtain at least an accurate dating for those that have been found and excavated so far.
These new dating results will undoubtedly contribute to improving our understanding of the timing of the early human settlements in Western Europe”, concludes Prof. Josep M. Parés, co-author of the work and Head of the Geochronology and Geology Programme at CENIEH.
This work is the result of an international scientific collaboration involving researchers from various prestigious institutions such as the CENIEH (Spain), Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (France) and University of Adelaide (Australia).
Background
The Geochronology and Geology Programme at CENIEH, Spain, hosts a unique combination of world-class facilities and international researchers fully dedicated to Human Evolution.
One of the main research lines of the program consists in refining the chronology of the early human occupations in the Mediterranean area, with a special emphasis on the combination of different dating methods in order to obtain more robust chronologies.
2,500-Year-Old Iron Age horse harness found by accident is oldest in CEE, say, archaeologists
Science in Poland reports that some 150 decorative bronze pieces of a 2,500-year-old horse’s bridle were discovered in north-central Poland.
The pieces, which resemble those made by the Scythians, who lived to the north, had been wrapped in leaves and placed in a leather bag. “This secured deposit had been buried on a sandy hill near the bank of the Vistula,” said Jacek Gackowski of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
After searching a nearby hill, he had returned to the meeting point of the archaeologists, when his metal detector, which was still turned on, began beeping.
The researchers contacted Toruń Provincial Office for Monument Protection when they decided that they might have found something of historical interest that they discovered more than 150 large and smaller bronze pieces which made up a large part of a bridle.
The items were wrapped in leaves, analysis of which reveals they were probably burdock, and the bundles had been placed in a leather bag; its remains are also visible on the harness parts.
Dr Jacek Gackowski from the Institute of Archaeology of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń: “This is the first find of this type in Central and Eastern Europe.
“This secured deposit had been buried on a sandy hill near the bank of the Vistula. It can be assumed that someone who hid these valuable items planned their subsequent extraction.
“The preserved artefacts indicate that the bridle was very decorative, as evidenced also by the numerous tubular and ring-shaped harness parts made of sheet metal and wire.
‘It is an almost complete horse bridle. The only thing missing is a bit, the part inserted into the horse’s mouth; it was used to send signals and guide the animal.”
He added that the style of the harness can be traced back to the far north infiltration of nomads, possibly Scythians, in the environment of the Lusatian culture. This most likely took place in the early Iron Age (6th century BC).
He said: “Remember that the remains of Scythian weapons and ornaments are known from the area of Kujawy and the south-western edge of the Chełmno Land. (…) Perhaps the treasure from Cierpice is a trace of dramatic events that could have occurred between the local population and culturally alien, horse-riding visitors from far away.”
In addition, archaeologists also found a locally-made socketed axe inside the leather bag.
Wojciech Sosnowski from the Provincial Office for Monument Protection in Toruń said that “at the moment, it is difficult to answer” why or how the axe was in the bag, adding: “An interdisciplinary research team will be established to solve all the mysteries related to the discovered treasure. It will include pre-historians, archaeometallurgists, conservators and representatives of the natural sciences.
“Samples will be taken and their analysis will allow, among other things, to determine the exact time when the treasure was buried.”
But he suggested that the person who buried the metal parts treated them as a raw material for further remelting. During this period, metals were considered very valuable and they were in short supply. The whole treasure weighs about 1 kg; the parts are light so as not to constrain and unnecessarily burden the horse, he said.
The remains of what archaeologists in Bulgaria identified as a “massive skeleton” have been discovered in downtown Varna, a city on the shores of the Black Sea which is rich in culture and civilisation for 7,000 years.
Giant Human Skeleton in Varna, Bulgaria
Sofia News Agency, Novinite, reports that the skeleton was found in what was once the ancient city of Odessos, a trading post established by the Greeks towards the end of the 7th century BC.
Odessos was a mixed community made up of Ionian Greeks and the Thracian tribes (Getae, Krobyzoi, Terizi). Later it was controlled by the Thracians, Macedonians, and then Romans.
The Roman city, Odessus, covered 47 hectares in present-day central Varna and had prominent public baths, Thermae, erected in the late 2nd century AD, now the largest Roman remains in Bulgaria.
Researchers have said that initial analyses suggest the skeleton belongs to a man who lived in the late 4 th or early 5 th century AD, a time when Odessus was an early Christian centre.
Remains of ancient Odessus in Varna, Bulgaria
Valeri Yotov, who is part of the team carrying out excavations there, is reported as telling local news websites that the size of the bones is “impressive” and that they belonged to “a very tall man”. However, Yotov would not reveal the exact height of the skeleton.
The remains were found near the remains of the ancient city wall and Yotov has suggested that the man may have died while working or during a ceremony held near the city walls.
“His posture, with hands laid on his waist and his body pointing to the east (head) and west (feet), is a clear indication for archaeologists he was buried,” reports Novinite.
It is not the first time that an over-sized skeleton has been found in Eastern Europe. In 2013, the skeleton of a giant warrior dating back to 1600 BC was found in Santa Mare, Romania.
Nicknamed ‘Goliath’, the warrior measured more than 2 meters in height, highly unusually for the time and place, when people were of small stature (approximately 1.5 meters on average).
The warrior was buried with an impressive dagger that indicated his high stature.
Giant skeleton nicknamed ‘Goliath’ found in Santa Mare, Romania
3,600-Year-old figurine found in a Prehistoric Village in Greece
A 3,600-year-old marble figurine of a woman is among a treasure trove of artefacts found in a prehistoric village on the Greek island of Santorini.
A 3,600-year-old marble figurine of a woman (pictured) is among a treasure trove of artefacts found in a prehistoric village on the Greek island of Santorini.
Archaeologists also found two small marble jars, a marble vial and an alabaster vase inside rectangular clay chests within an ancient settlement.
They said the finds shed new light on the beliefs of the Theran society – a mysterious group that scientists know little about as they had no written language.
The discovery was made by experts at the Greek culture ministry in the prehistoric village of Akrotiri – known locally as the ‘Minoan Pompeii’.
The large settlement was destroyed around the year 1628 BC in a catastrophic volcanic eruption on the island, which in Ancient Greek was known as Thera.
Thick layers of ash from the explosion preserved the remains of many frescoes, objects and artworks in Akrotiri. The new finds include a number of different marble artefacts that were likely used for religious or other symbolic rituals, archaeologists said.
They shed fresh light on the prehistoric Theran society, which scientists believe was killed off during Santorini’s 16th Century BC eruption.
‘These finds are undoubtedly linked to the views and beliefs of Theran society,’ the Greek culture ministry said.
Archaeologists also found two small marble jars, a marble vial and an alabaster vase inside rectangular clay chests within an ancient building
‘They provide a stimulus for a new interpretive drive on fundamental questions about the ideology and possibly the religion of prehistoric Aegean society.’
Just like the Roman-era remains in Pompeii and Herculaneum, Akrotiri is a goldmine for researchers. This is because much of the settlement became preserved for the ages by solidified volcanic ash.
Pictured are marble and clay pots and other artefacts uncovered as part of the new study. The discovery was made by experts at the Greek culture ministry in the prehistoric village of Akrotiri – known locally as the ‘Minoan Pompeii’
The Late Bronze Age eruption devastated many nearby islands and is commonly believed to have triggered the downfall of the once-dominant Minoan civilisation.
It is thought the group, based on the neighbouring island of Crete, fell due to the desolating earthquakes and tsunamis that followed.
Akrotiri has been suggested by several experts as a likely candidate to represent the fictional island of Atlantis mentioned in Plato’s works.
The 2,500-Year-old ancient Greek city, now about one-third of the city is underwater
The Foundation Oleg Deripaska Volnoe Delo and the Russian Academy of Archaeology uncovered parts of marble stele with inscriptions of ancient Persian King Darius I.
Discovered in the ancient town of Phanagoria, in the southern area of Krasnodar, the stele is assessed to date back to the first half of the 5th century B.C. Archaeologists doing excavations in the area say the find has good chances of becoming a world sensation.
The stele with a signature in the name of Persian King Darius I was unearthed in the centre of Phanagoria, the remains of an ancient Greek city near Crimea and the Black Sea during an archaeological expedition that has been supported by Volnoe Delo Foundation since 2004.
During excavations in Phanagoria was discovered foundations of the building, covering an area of 12 square meters. It is the building and call the temple that once stood on the site. In addition, there was discovered a temple, archaeologists were able to detect more than 20 burial complexes and the crypt, which is attributed to the Roman times. In this crypt were buried several generations, so we tell ourselves archaeologists.
The decoded inscriptions on the stele state someone made them in the name of the Persian King Darius I who lived from 550-486 B.C. The stele has an inscription in the ancient Persian language. The approximate assessment dates the find to the first half of the 5th century B.C.
The text contains a word unregistered before and roughly interpreted as the place named Miletus, one of the biggest cities in Ionia, a region known as Asia Minor now. Miletus stood at the head of the so-called Ionian uprising of Greek city-states against Darius I. It was suppressed in 494 B.C.
Fragments of a building dated 5th century with Roman holes
Archaeologists believe the king put up a marble stele in the city after his victory over the Greeks. The monument had a text on it, reporting on the king’s triumph. Later on, a fragment of the overturned and broken stele got to Phanagoria – quite possibly, as ballast on a ship that called into the Phanagoria port, since there is no natural stone of the kind on the Taman peninsula.
At present, the stele is undergoing scrutiny at the restoration laboratory of the Phanagoria Research and Cultural Center. The find has good chances of becoming a world sensation.
Darius I, a Persian ruler from the Achaemenian dynasty considerably expanded the territory of his country with the aid of wars against the Getae, Thrace, Lemnos, Imbros, and Macedonia. He was buried in the mausoleum built on the cliffs at Naqsh-e Rustam near Persepolis on his order and decorated with sculptures.
Apart from the stele, the archaeologists have found in the acropolis the remainders of ancient fortress walls, which in itself is an important even in classical archaeology.
The remains of the wall of a small structure are seen in the foreground.
Vladimir Kuznetsov, Doctor of historical sciences and the head of the Phanagorian expedition:
“The inscription on the stele made in the name of King Darius I is evidently devoted to the crushing of the Ionian revolt. The discovery places Phanagoria in the context of one of the most important events of ancient history, which had far-reaching consequences for the Greeks as well as the Persians, and makes it possible to trace the connections of this colony with other parts of the Greek world and analyze its significance in advancing Hellenistic civilization on the Black Sea coast”
Volnoe Delo Foundation, one of Russia’s biggest privately-held charity funds run by a businessman and industrialist Oleg Deripaska, has supported research activities in the 2550-year-old city of Phanagoria since 2004. The Foundation has allocated over $10 million to Phanagoria fieldwork over the past 15 years.
Now Phanagoria is one of the best-equipped archaeological expeditions in Russia with its own scientific and cultural centre, up-to-date equipment for above-ground and underwater excavation and diverse team of specialists involved in the fieldwork.
Phanagoria archaeological expedition.
Among the recent discoveries made at Phanagoria are remains of a palace of Mithradates VI dated the 1st century B.C., an ancient naval ram used by the army of Mithradates VI, a tomb with a stepped ceiling, the oldest temple unearthed on the Russian territory dating back to the 5th century B.C. and a number of submerged objects e.g. ancient city’s streets covered with sand, Phanagoria’s port structures, ship debris.
Excavation works cover several areas that include the 2,500-square-metre acropolis at the centre of the ancient city, the eastern necropolis, an ancient cemetery that served as a burial place from the very founding of the city, and a submerged part of the city. What makes the expedition unique is the mix of diversified specialists working together.
Apart from archaeologists and historians, there are anthropologists, soil scientists, paleozoologists, numismatists and other researchers. A complex approach to the study of Phanagoria’s cultural relics helps to restore the residents’ way of living, religious beliefs, economic cooperation, as well as their roles in military conflicts.
About Phanagoria
Phanagoria is one of the main antiquity monuments on Russian soil. Founded in the mid-sixth century B.C. by Greek colonists, the city has long been one of the two capitals of the Bosporan Kingdom, an ancient state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula.
Phanagoria was the major economic and cultural centre of the Black Sea region, one of the biggest Greek cities, the first capital of Great Bulgaria, one of the main cities of Khazar Kaganate. It is also one of the ancient centres of Christianity.
Saint Andrew was believed to preach in Phanagoria. The city boasts the largest Jewish community in the Black Sea region: the first synagogue in Russia was built in Phanagoria in 16th century A.D.
In the 9-10th centuries, the residents abandoned the city for reasons still unknown. Phanagoria is surrounded by Russia’s largest necropolis covering an area of over 300 hectares. The total volume of the cultural layers is 2.5 million cubic meters of soil; the layer’s depth is up to seven meters. No single building has been erected in the city since ancient times, which has helped preserve the ruins and the historical artefacts.
Regular archaeological expeditions have been held in Phanagoria since the late 1930s. As of now, only two per cent of the city’s territory has been studied. Phanagoria is located in the Temryuksky District in the Krasnodar region.
The long-Lost Dark Age Kingdom Unearthed in Scotland
Archaeologists started excavations at Trusty’s Hill, they have discovered ancient picturesque patterns etched into a rock surface near the site entrance.
The sculptures were rare in the area, well south of where Pictish carvings had usually been found. (Roman writings of around A.D. 300 described the Picts as the hostile tribes of the region north of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde; they are thought to have been a loose confederation of Celtic tribes, but their exact origins are uncertain.)
What the archaeologists uncovered at the site turned out to be a complex type of fort, dating to around A.D. 600.
A laser scan of part of the carved Pictish symbols found at Trusty’s Hill. Researchers believe these carvings may have had a role in royal inaugurations at the site.
A wooden and stone rampart had been built around the summit of the hill to fortify the site, in addition to other defensive structures and enclosures on its lower slopes. The style was consistent with other high-status settlements of the early medieval period in Scotland.
This was not a run-of-the-mill agricultural settlement, in other words, but a far more important centre. Dr David Bowles, a Scottish Borders Council archaeologist and co-director of the dig, believes its inhabitants likely managed the farming and natural resources of a much larger estate.
As Bowles told the Independent of the settlement’s influence: “Control was maintained by bonding the people of this land and the districts beyond to the royal household, by gifts, promises of protection and the bounties of raiding and warfare.”
Just how influential was this royal settlement? According to Ronan Toolis of GUARD Archaeology, which led the dig, the archaeological evidence collected at Trusty’s Hill “suggests that Galloway may have been the heart of the lost Dark Age kingdom of Rheged, a kingdom that was in the late sixth century pre-eminent amongst the kingdoms of the north.”
Thistle-headed iron pin from Trusty’s Hill. Analysis showed that this was originally embellished with copper alloy inlay decoration. Thistle head decorated pins have been found in Dark Age sites across south-west Scotland demonstrating that the thistle emblem goes back a long way in Scotland.
Toolis, Bowles and their team believe the entranceway, with the two Pictish symbols flanking it, was the location for royal inauguration ceremonies that took place at the fort complex.
They also found evidence of leatherworking and wool spinning operations at the site, along with the remains of a metal workshop that appears to have produced high-quality work in gold, silver, iron and bronze.
The remains of a copper alloy horse mount found at Trusty’s Hill. Archaeologists believe artefacts like this one point to an upper-class society of royal distinction.
Among the kingdoms of Dark Age Britain, Rheged has remained the most elusive. The kingdom and its powerful warrior king, Urien, inspired some of the earliest medieval poetry composed in Britain, by the poet Taliesin.
In some Arthurian legends, Urien is said to have married Morgan Le Fay, King Arthur’s sister. Their marriage was reportedly not a happy one; in one version of events, Morgan plotted to use the sword Excalibur to kill Urien and Arthur and take the throne herself with her lover, Accolon.
Surviving fragments of early medieval historical records also show Urien’s dominance in southern Scotland and northern England, before a rival group destroyed the settlement in the early seventh century.
But despite its historical importance, the location of the kingdom of Rheged has long been unknown. Previously, historians thought it might have been centered in Cumbria, a county in northwestern England.
Researchers studying Trusty’s Hill in Scotland believe the site may have been the royal seat of power for the lost Dark Age kingdom of Rheged. This illustration recreates what the royal stronghold may have looked like around AD 600.
The Dark Ages kingdom of Rheged, dating back more than 1,400 years, may have had its seat of power on the modern day ‘Trusty’s Hill’ in Galloway
Bowles and Toolis laid out the excavation’s findings in their book “The Lost Dark Age Kingdom of Rheged,” published this month. As Bowles puts it: “This was a place of religious, cultural and political innovation whose contribution to culture in Scotland has perhaps not been given due recognition. Yet the influence of Rheged, with Trusty’s Hill at its secular heart…and Urien its most famous king, has nevertheless rippled through the history and literature of Scotland and beyond.”
A lost Roman city dating back to the first century B.C. has been uncovered in spectacular fashion in the south of France.
Archaeologists working the site ahead of the construction for a boarding school and a cafeteria were stunned to discover a wide array of structural ruins, walls, and an organized street network.
Putting the pieces together, it was determined that the team had discovered the remains of the Roman city of Ucetia.
“Prior to our work, we knew that there had been a Roman city called Ucetia only because its name was mentioned on stela in Nimes, alongside 11 other names of Roman towns in the area.
It was probably a secondary town, under the authority of Nimes. No artefacts had been recovered except for a few isolated fragments of mosaic,” archaeologist Philippe Cayn told the International Business Times.
An archeologist cleans the floor of one of the mosaics discovered in the lost Roman city of Ucetia.
As it turns out, those isolated fragments may have been pieces of a beautifully preserved series of mosaic floors found in the remains of a 2,600-square-foot Roman home on the site.
One of the two, nearly-complete, mosaic panels uncovered in the South of France.
One of the mosaics discovered covers nearly 650 square feet, making it one of the largest ever discovered in the South of France.
A close-up of the tiny colored stones shows just how complex and immaculately preserved they are. Archaeologists say the artworks likely date back to the first century or earlier.
One of the medallions is surrounded by four multicolored animals including an owl, a duck, an eagle and a fawn.
The archaeologists speculate that the animals may represent the Roman gods, with the eagle of Jupiter, the owl of Minerva, the doe of Diana and the duck of Sequana.
The partially uncovered remains of an ancient paved roadway from the Roman city of Ucetia.
Next to the building containing the mosaics, the archaeologists uncovered the remains of an ancient paved roadway equipped with a gutter border. They also found fragments of ancient mural paintings, a wine cellar, and even the remains of a complex underfloor heating system.
An aerial view of a portion of the site uncovered by archeologists
