Category Archives: EUROPE

EUROPE, IRELAND, WORLD

Medieval Monastery Excavated in Ireland’s County Meath

Medieval Monastery Excavated in Ireland’s County Meath

The Irish Independent reports that archaeologists led by Geraldine Stout have uncovered pottery; the bones of cows, sheep, cats, and dogs; seeds; nuts; a key; a timber dash-urn with a paddle for churning butter; and a bakery at the site of a thirteenth-century monastery in eastern Ireland.

The new findings were discovered by a team of archaeologists, led by experts Matthew and Geraldine Stout at Beamore in East Month during a four week Covid-19 dig. Armed with two-meter COVID Sticks to ensure social distancing and colour co-ordinated equipment to avoid cross-contamination, the team tried to decipher the size of the monastery by the number of sourdough loaves made each day.

“One loaf equals one monk so the size of the oven might suggest how many came from France to live and work at the monastery,” said Geraldine.

Medieval Monastery Excavated in Ireland’s County Meath
Sourdough bread

“We had to think long and hard if we were even going to do a dig this year in the times that were in it.”

“Everyone was divided into pods for cuttings (sections of excavation) and they stayed with that group for the month. Each cutting had colour coded equipment which was not to be passed around to other groups to minimize the risk of cross-contamination.

“I gave everyone what I called the ‘COVID stick’ which was a two-meter yellow-painted stick so they had an idea of the distance they had to stay away from another person.

“We also got a special wash portacabin which I never saw before which enabled us with hot water to wash our hands and there were sanitising stations everywhere.

“But as much as we had reservations at the start, the measures worked and the excavations have given us more questions to come back and answer next year.”

And if the Cistercians ever had to practice social distancing, it wasn’t obvious in their findings which included evidence to suggest a communal toilet and bakery at the self-sufficient site.

Last year, the excavation team discovered ‘significant’ find of a rare French building and medieval pottery which supported a long-held belief that the site was once home to a unique Cistercian monk community from Normandy. 13th-century French jugs, ceramic roof tiles, and even a corn drying kiln and dried peas which proved crop rotation was ongoing in the 13th century were found on the lands outside Drogheda, owned by local historian and author John McCullen.

Unusual features of an existing gatehouse in a field, suggesting a diagonal French buttress were described as ‘very rare, if not unique in Ireland’ according to two of Ireland’s foremost medieval building archaeologists David Sweetman and Con Manning. It is believed that the site was the home of a 13th Century medieval monastic farm associated with the French Cistercian foundation of De Bello Becco (Beaubec)

The excavations which ended in early August were the second of a €50,000 three-year project, funded by FBD Trust and administered through the Kilsharvan Community Council. Author and archaeologist Geraldine Stout has a particular interest in the Cistercians, having worked on a similar site in Bective in Meath and says they were great innovators and farmers.

“We know that Walter de Lacey gave lands to this Abbey in Beaubec before Normandy in 1201, so there would have been about 100 monks living here up until the 16th century,” she said

“De Bello Becco was flourishing in Ireland in 1302 when it had to pay a tithe of 29s 4d to the Diocese of Meath, which placed it in a group of the highest valued churches in Meath.

This year, the jackpot continued and finds included a medieval key, animal bones of cows, sheep, cats, and dog as well as mixed farming produce of peas, beans, oats, wheat, and rye. Fruits including grapes and figs which, the Stouts say, had to have been imported from France and were further evidence of mixed farming.

Medieval Monastery Excavated in Ireland’s County Meath
Pottery, animal bones, seeds, nuts, and more tell a tale of what everyday life was like in medieval times in a monastic settlement in Ireland.

“We also pushed back the dating of human settlement at Beamore with the discovery of a prehistoric ceremonial pit circle and stone tools beneath the medieval monastic farm”

Remnants of a medieval timber dash urn with a paddle that was used to church butter were also found to prove a long-held belief that the Monks were a self-sufficient community.

“In the main residential block, an impressive, communal latrine was found with thirteenth-century detailing and outside the main residential block we found evidence of a water system that supplied the needs of this community for toilets, washing and food preparation.

“We found a cellar in the ruins which suggest it could possibly have been used for toilet facilities as well as a pot that worked like a medieval air freshener,” says Matthew.

Geraldine believes: “There were between 30 and 50 monks living here. The smallest Cistercian settlement had 12 monks minimum and this is a more sizable community, looking at the scale of the building here.

“We know that each monk was given a loaf of bread for his day’s work so if we work out mathematically the size of the oven and how many loaves it could hold, it would suggest how many monks lived here.

“We were lucky to find waterlogged deposits which preserved a lot of timber and seeds for us so we can tell by the flat oats and cereal that the Monks made and ate sourdough bread – so I guess history and trends can repeat themselves,” she laughed.

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

3,000-Year-Old World’s Oldest Olive Tree on the Island of Crete Still Produces Olives Today

3,000-Year-Old World’s Oldest Olive Tree on the Island of Crete Still Produces Olives Today

One day about 3,000 years ago, at a time when the Minoan civilization still ruled over Crete and long before the rise of Classical Greece, an olive fell to the ground in the area of Vouves. Or perhaps it was deliberately planted there by a human hand.

Whichever the case, that olive seed sprouted and grew into a tree. And incredibly that tree is still alive today – and still producing fruit – one of the so-called ‘monumental olive trees’ of Crete.

The Olive tree of Vouves is an olive tree in the village of Ano Vouves in the municipal unit of Kolymvari in Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Probably one of the oldest olive trees in the world, it still produces olives today.

The exact age of the tree cannot be determined. The use of radioisotopes is not possible, as its heartwood has been lost down the centuries, while tree ring analysis demonstrated the tree to be at least 2,000 years old.

And on the other end of the scale, scientists from the University of Crete have estimated it to be 4,000 years old. A possible indicator of its age are the two cemeteries from the Geometric Period discovered near the tree.

Current research in Crete and abroad indicates that earlier estimates of the age of olive trees are to be debated as far as their accuracy. There is not yet an agreed-upon scientific method to ascertain the age of olive trees.

In the case of the Vouves Olive, it could be much younger than earlier estimates or even than the ancient tree in Finix (Sfakia).

In 2012, the Municipality of Platanias and Terra Creta organized for the first time a harvesting event where 55 kg of olives has been collected and 5.0 kg of olive oil was produced in a specially designed olive mill.

Olive oil, Vouves

In 1997, the tree was declared a protected natural monument, and in October 2009, the Olive Tree Museum of Vouves was inaugurated in a nearby 19th-century house, displaying the traditional tools and process of olive cultivation.

Branches from the tree were used to weave victors’ wreaths for the winners of the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. A terrestrial laser scanner ILRIS 3D for the external and a Minolta Vivid 910 for internal scans were used.

The 3D model of the Monumental Olive Tree of Vouves

The final produced result is a complete three-dimensional model of the trunk of the Monumental Olive Tree of Vouves with a geometry accuracy of 0.5 cm. Thousands of tourists visit the stunning tree every summer to marvel at it and learn its history.

Mostly they are impressed by its enormous shape and the imposing volume of the trunk, but also by the fact that it remains alive and fruitful for 3,000 years without pause.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Here’s A 2,000-year-old Ancient Roman Face Cream

Here’s A 2,000-year-old Ancient Roman Face Cream

The oldest face cream in the world was discovered by archaeologists who had excavated a Roman temple on the banks of London’s River Thames, with the finger prints of their last person 2,000 years ago.

The closely wrapped cylindrical tin, measuring 6 cm by 5 cm, was opened at the London Museum to reveal a pungent-smelling white cream.

“It looks like an ointment because there are finger prints in the lid. Someone who uses it last has applied it to something with their fingertips and has used the lid as a dish to take the ointment out,” museum curator Liz Barham said as she opened the box.

Archaeologists assume that the white cream, found in a well-sealed cylindrical tub, may either be a face cream or a face paint, and the canister was probably buried in a ritual offering, they claim.
Archaeologists assume that the white cream, found in a well-sealed cylindrical tub, may either be a face cream or a face paint, and the canister was probably buried in a ritual offering, they claim.

The superbly made canister, now on display at the museum, was made almost entirely of tin, a precious metal at that time. Perhaps a beauty treatment for a fashionable Roman lady or even a face paint used in temple ritual, the cream is currently undergoing scientific analysis.

“We don’t yet know whether the cream was medicinal, cosmetic or entirely ritualistic.

We’re lucky in London to have a marshy site where the contents of this completely sealed box must have been preserved very quickly – the metal is hardly corroded at all,” said Nansi Rosenberg, a senior archaeological consultant on the project.

“This is an extraordinary discovery,” Federico Nappo, an expert on ancient Roman cosmetics of Pompeii. “It is likely that the cream contains animal fats. We know that the Romans used donkey’s milk as a treatment for the skin. However, it should not be very difficult to find out the cream’s composition.”

The pot, which appears to have been deliberately hidden, was found at the bottom of a sealed ditch in Southwark, about two miles south of central London.

Placed at the point where three roads meet near the river crossing – Watling St from Dover, Stane St from Chichester and the bridgehead road over the Thames – the site contains the foundations of two Roman-Celtic temples, a guest house, an outdoor area suitable for mass worship, plinths for statues and a stone pillar.

The complex, which last year revealed a stone tablet with the earliest known inscription bearing the Roman name of London, dates to around the mid-2nd century. It is the first religious complex to be found in the capital, rare evidence of organized religion in London 2,000 years ago.

“The analysis and interpretation of the finds have only just begun, and I’ve no doubt there are further discoveries to be made as we piece together the jigsaw puzzle we’ve excavated,” Rosenberg said. “But it already alters our whole perception – Southwark was a major religious focus of the Roman capital.”

Since excavation work was completed, the site will now become a residential development housing 521 apartments.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

1,800-year-old Roman penis carvings discovered near Hadrian’s Wall

1,800-year-old Roman penis carvings discovered near Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian’s Wall was a barrier constructed by the Romans to protect them from enemy hordes of barbarians. What remains of the structure is millennia old, and it remains a testament to its structural integrity to this day.

Repairs were often required, of course, for which loyal soldiers dutifully lugged sandstone materials around and patched up areas threatening to crumble. When these Romans got bored enough, however, it seems they left their mark in more ways than one.

Newcastle University and Historic England archaeologists have partnered with each other to record the newly discovered inscriptions — including caricatures, phrases, and even penis rendering, Historic England reported.

This phallic graffiti from A.D. 207 was discovered at a quarry near Hadrian’s Wall by archaeologists from the University of Newcastle.

Colloquially known as “The Written Rock of Gelt,” researchers have learned a lot by descending down the Thirty-foot quarry in Cumbria, as the sandstone’s illustrative markings explore the military mindset involved in these repair works and how they passed the time.

One inscription, “APRO ET MAXIMO CONSVLIBVS OFICINA MERCATI,” dates the carving back to 207 AD when Hadrian’s Wall underwent extensive repairs and renewals under the consulate of Aper and Maximus.

Roman writing carved into the wall.

The phallus — used as a symbol of good luck by the Romans of the time — is only one of many carvings still being found. “The Written Rock of Gelt” was previously thought to consist of 9 Roman inscriptions, and while only 6 of them are currently legible, more are expected to be found.

The insight provided by this historical piece of stone also points to the army’s personal feelings about their superior, with the caricature of an officer presumably in charge of repairs making up one of the wall’s carvings.

“These inscriptions are probably the most important on the Wall frontier of Hadrian at Gelt Forest,” said Mike Collins, Historic England’s Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Hadrian’s Wall.

“They provide insight into the organization of the vast construction project that Hadrian’s Wall was, as well as some very human and personal touches, such as the caricatures of their commanding officer inscribed by one group of soldiers.”

A caricature carved into the wall, likely a commanding officer.

These discoveries are particularly exciting to those at the site because access to view these carvings was essentially shut down in the 1980s after the established path collapsed into a gorge of the adjacent Gelt River.

Unfortunately, the wall has been exposed to a great deal of water erosion since then — which makes recording its carvings all the more important.

“These inscriptions are highly vulnerable to further gradual decay,” said Ian Haynes, Newcastle University professor of archaeology.

“This is a great opportunity to record them in 2019, using the best modern technology to protect their ability to study them in the future.”

Practically speaking, this means using ropes to descend into the quarry — and using laser scanning technology to record inscriptions as much as possible in detail.

These scans are then processed for further study by computers into digital, three – dimensional models. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this historic venture is that, for the first time in nearly 40 years, the public will be able to see these carvings closely, albeit digitally.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Rare mosaics of a Christian church were unearthed in Turkey

Rare mosaics of a Christian church were unearthed in Turkey

Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have launched excavations to unearth the mosaics of a 1,600-year-old church in the village of Göktaş in the southeastern Mardin province.

Traces of the church were discovered on Sept. 18, 2019, with the area later being declared an archaeological site.

Abdülgani Tarkan, head of the excavation team and director of the Mardin Museum, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the church took a basilica form with mosaic flooring.

The base of the church is inscribed with nine lines of Estrangelo, or Ancient Syriac, script, Tarkan said.

“The mosaics also show depictions of animals, geometric shapes and human figures, as well as scenes depicting people hunting,” he said. “The months of April and June are also inscribed on the human figures.”

Tarkan said the church, built-in 396 A.D, contained names of the spiritual figures who contributed to its construction.

In the excavation area, archaeologists also discovered a number of liturgical works that, in Christianity, instruct on the correct order of church service and prayer.

Tarkan said the excavation area would be open to the public after restoration work was completed.

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

Ancient Germanic lord was buried with a circle of six women

Ancient Germanic lord was buried with a circle of six women

In Saxony-Anhalt, close to Brücken-Hackpfüffel Archaeologists have discovered the complex grave of a Germanic lord or prince who lived 1,500 years ago during the Great Migration.

Experts claim that for 40 years the site has been the most valuable archaeological discovery in the world and have kept the exact location of the dig a secret to stave off thieves. Excavations got underway when builders were clearing land for a new chicken farm, and stumbled across the cemetery of a royal court.

Considering the high value of the person in the crypt, the researchers have yet to locate the remains of the prince they suspect was laid to rest there.

They speculate his ashes may be inside a bronze cauldron in the central tomb, which is around 13 feet by 13 feet in size. The cauldron, the focal point of the mounded tomb, is surrounded by six women buried in a radial alignment from the pot, like the hands of a clock, The Times reports.

Researchers say these may well have been concubines or widows belonging to the person being buried, but it remains a mystery as to whether they were slain for the burial or sacrificed themselves.  

Speculation is rife about the cause of the bizarre arrangement, but researchers say it is too soon to talk of a ritualistic cult death.  

Ancient Germanic lord was buried with a circle of six women
This aerial picture shows the central tomb of the burial. This shows the remains of 11 animals, including cattle. horses and dogs
The site (pictured) has been unearthed in Saxony-Anhalt, near Brücken-Hackpfüffel accidentally by builders hoping to create a new chicken farm. Experts have kept its exact location a secret

It also holds the remains of eleven animals, including cattle, horses and dogs.  Beyond this central tomb, believed to be of a high-ranking individual, are around 60 other graves, subsequently buried in the cemetery to honour the Lord. 

The cauldron, believed to be central to the tomb’s history, was block lifted out of the ground and will be carefully analysed in a laboratory.  

‘We haven’t found the prince himself yet. But maybe his ashes are in the bronze cauldron, ‘ archaeologist Susanne Friederich from the Landesmuseum Halle said. 

Also inside the central tomb are the remains of 11 animals, including cattle, dogs and horses. These animals were reburied at this location, further indication the site was created to honour a high-ranking person in society. 

Ms Friederich adds: ‘The unique finds suggest that high-ranking personalities were buried here.’ 

It is thought the central burial chamber would have been part of a mounded tomb, with the dozens of surrounding graves added later.

These incredibly detailed and well-preserved clasps were some of the ornate grave goods found at the royal cemetery. Archaeologist Arnold Muhl shows artistic vestment clasps in his workshop. The objects are 1,500 years old and come from 60 undamaged graves alongside the tomb of a Germanic lord who lived during the Great Migration
This gold coin features the head of the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno who lived around 480 and was found at the burial site

Initial estimates date the site as being from between AD480 and AD530, a period of time following the fall of the Roman Empire which saw many Germanic tribes, such as the Huns, invade territories which were no longer under Roman protection.   

‘The cemetery has almost 60 graves,’ said archaeologist Arnold Muhl.

‘In the graves, among other things, a glass decorated bowl, a spindle whorl made of glass, several silver-gilded robe clips, a sword and a shield boss made of iron as well as a gold coin of the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno around 480 were found. 

‘The pieces of glass come from the Gallo-Roman workshops along the Rhine, only they mastered this technique.’ 

Other finds include an immaculate pointed glass beaker adorned with curved grooves which would have housed a floating wick lamp and garment clips. 

The clips, which include pieces of snagged textile, are thought to indicate the presence of a Germanic tribe, either the Longobards, Alemanni or Thuringians. 

The site is in immaculate condition due to its unique location, which inadvertently protected it from damage. The burial ground was in a natural hollow which, over time, was covered by around four feet (1.20 meters) of sediment, which provided a protective layer. 

This protected it from any ploughing and also hid it from the view of any treasure hunters or grave robbers. By analysing the bones and artefacts, the scientists hope to gain concrete insights into people’s lives at the time of the Great Migration.

EUROPE, FRANCE, WORLD

Possible Remains of 16th-Century French Philosopher Examined

Possible Remains of 16th-Century French Philosopher Examined

The AFP reports that researchers are examining human remains recovered from a tomb discovered in late 2019 in the basement of the Aquitaine Museum, which is located in southwestern France.

In the sixteenth century, the building housed a convent where the remains of philosopher Michel de Montaigne, who served as mayor of Bordeaux from 1581 to 1585, may have come to rest after his body was moved several times following his death in 1592. 

The Musee d’Aquitaine in the southwestern city of Bordeaux had in November launched work to examine the remains in the tomb a basement of the museum, which occupies the premises of a convent where Montaigne, famed for his lofty but highly readable “Essays”, was buried.

The bones found are those of a “single individual. It is an adult and it is probably a man,” Helene Reveillas, an archaeo-anthropologist for the Bordeaux region, told reporters.

“We have elements which do not go against the idea that this is de Montaigne. But we also have nothing which allows us to affirm it with certainty”, she added.

This file photo was taken on March 20, 2018, shows the cenotaph of the late French writer Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) displayed following restoration works at the Musee d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux.

“The mystery remains,” she said.

Montaigne was one of the city’s most famous sons and served as its mayor from 1581 to 1585. Speculation that his remains are housed already within a museum in Bordeaux had caused huge excitement last year.

The opening of the tomb last year revealed a wooden coffin with the word “Montaigne” written in large brown letters.

The lead coffin was opened this week, revealing “a well-preserved skeleton” and a skull “with almost all of its teeth” as well as the remains of tissue, pollens and insects, according to the archaeologist.

Laboratory research, including using carbon 14 dating, will now be carried out by about twenty scientists.

They will particularly be on the lookout for evidence of the kidney stones from which the writer was known to have suffered.

Reveillas added: “We know that his heart was removed after his death” at the request of his widow, noting that “operation leaves its traces”.

Other techniques set to be used in the follow-up include “facial reconstruction” and genealogical research on possible descendants, Reveillas said.

Results are expected next year.

There has long been confusion over the location of the remains of de Montaigne after the body was shifted between numerous sites after his death in 1592 at the age of 59.

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

Archaeology Intern Unearths Spectacular, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger

Archaeology Intern Unearths Spectacular, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger

Nico Calman actually had a particularly good internship. During his time in Germany last year, with the Westphalia Department of Protection & Field Monuments, 19-year-old Calman discovered a 2,000-year-old silver dagger that may have helped the Romans battle a Germanic tribe in the 1st century A.D.

The dagger as it was originally found.

However when he found it was nothing more than a lumpy, rusty clump that was noted to look like a “chicken tender”.

It took nine months of careful restoration work for the dagger’s true beauty to be revealed.

The restored dagger and sheath is a night and day difference between how it looked when it was first unearthed.

Likely used in battles against the Germanic tribes in the first century AD,  It was an extremely rare find for the team of archaeologists, and one made even more special for the well-preserved state in which the dagger was found.

“The discovery of the dagger was emotional. We were lost for words,” Bettina Tremmel, an archaeologist working for the Westphalie Department told Live Science.

“Imagine: Though thousands of Roman soldiers were stationed in Haltern over almost 15 years or more, there are only a few finds of weapons, especially complete and intact ones.”

The dagger was corroded to the point of being unrecognizable when Nico Calman, the 19-year-old man on work-study unearthed it and the remains of a decorated leather belt from the grave of a soldier.

But after a rigorous restoration effort that lasted nine months, conservators in Germany unveiled the ornate 13-inch-long weapon and its bejeweled sheath underneath the grime this week.

The dagger inside its sheath after 9 months of restoration work.

Silver and brass adorn the dagger’s handle, while its iron scabbard features inlaid wood, glass, and red enamel.

The weapon likely belonged to a legionary or auxiliary infantryman or a centurion officer in the Roman army, Tremmel says. But why the weapon was buried with its owner remains a mystery, she says, explaining that “it was not the normal practice for Roman soldiers to be buried with their military equipment.” 

Located at the edge of the Roman empire, Haltern am See was home to a large military camp during the Augustan period (27 BC to AD 14), where three legions of soldiers, each consisting of some 5,000 men, were slain by Germanic tribes. Roman fighters killed during the battles were buried at a cemetery nearby.

Despite archaeological digs taking place at the site for nearly 200 years, a weapon as sophisticated and well-preserved as the dagger has never before been found.

The newly restored dagger will go on view in Haltern’s Roman history museum beginning in 2022.