Category Archives: EUROPE

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal with Nails Found in Germany

2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal with Nails Found in Germany

2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal with Nails Found in Germany

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal near an auxiliary Roman camp in Germany.

Archaeologists from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation unearthed the military-style footwear while excavating at a civilian settlement on the outskirts of a Roman military fort near Oberstimm.

The settlement would have been occupied sometime between A.D. 60 and 130, according to a translated statement from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (BLfD).

This is how the remains of the sole of the Roman sandal were found

Surprising discoveries like the Oberstimm Sole show again and again that even after archaeological excavations are completed, valuable information is gathered.

This underscores the invaluable work of our restorers, says Mathias Pfeil, general conservator of the Bavarian State Office for the Conservation of Monuments (BLfD).

The rare find was disguised by a thick layer of corrosion, giving it the appearance of two indeterminate lumps of bent metal. Even, a curved and heavily corroded metal piece was initially suspected to be the remains of a sickle.

An X-ray at the laboratory of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (BLfD) revealed that the corroded lumps were hobnails.

The shoe was a caliga, a heavy-duty, hobnailed sandal that was part of the uniform issued to Roman legionary soldiers and auxiliaries. The shoe would have been worn while the person was marching, with the nails providing traction.

The iron nails were used to reinforce and fix the leather sole. They provided stability and traction to the shoe when walking on difficult terrain, just like modern cleats do.

X-ray analysis confirmed that it is the sole of a Roman sandal studded with nails.

The discovery shows that the practices, lifestyles, and also the clothing that the Romans brought to Bavaria were adopted by the local people, says Amira Adaileh, a specialist at the Bavarian State Office for the Conservation of Monuments.

Individual shoe nails are frequently discovered at Roman sites, but only in certain circumstances are they preserved alongside remnants of the leather sole. 

Comparable findings in Bavaria are known so far from only a handful of sites and they offer important new perspectives on Roman daily life and craftsmanship.

EUROPE, WORLD

Archaeologists discover Europe’s longest prehistoric mound in the Czechia

Archaeologists discover Europe’s longest prehistoric mound in the Czechia

Archaeologists discover Europe’s longest prehistoric mound in the Czechia

Czech archaeologists in the Hradec Králové area in East Bohemia have discovered what is probably the longest prehistoric mound in Europe.

Archaeologists first uncovered an “elongated trapezoidal gutter” during road work between Dlouhé Dvory and Lípa, the Department of Archaeology at the University of Hradec Králové said in a June 19 Facebook post. The gutter was identified as a “typical” structure for an ancient burial mound known as a long barrow.

The mound, which was found along the route of a future motorway near the village of Dohalice, is about 190 meters in length and has a maximum width of 15 meters. 

The length of this gutter, and of the mound in general, is 190 m, making it one of the longest monuments of its kind in the whole of Central Europe.

Mound date back to the Eneolithic period, the Funnel-Beaker culture (3800-3350 BC), and it is in this period that burial complexes, of which the mounds are a part, first appear in this territory.

The massive ancient burial mound as seen from above.

The above-ground portion of the ancient mound was gone, likely destroyed by agricultural work, the department said.

The team has also managed to excavate the entrance to the barrow, which is preserved in the form of a posthole and a gutter.

Archaeologists discovered two central burials, which contained the individuals for whom the mound was most likely built, as well as 28 additional burials.

The graves, like the surrounding mound, are likely to be at least 5,300 years old.  More precise ages will be obtained from the burials through laboratory analysis.

Grave in a mound body.

In the statement, archaeologists said: “The burial mounds were built as monumental funerary objects and as such they contain graves, we call them central burials and assume that they are the burials of the individuals for whom the mound was built. In our case, two central burials were recorded.”

“The first central burial – a grave with an internal pit construction consisting of gutters on the longer sides and post holes at the corners, The grave offering was a ceramic vessel, the body lying on its left side facing north. The second central burial – the grave was without an internal structure, the body was also lying on the left side.”

Archaeologists discovered several objects deposited as offerings near the central burials. Pottery fragments were found in one grave, and four flint arrowheads and a flint blade were found in another.

The grave inventory of the central burials is consistent with analogous sites in Czechia and Poland.

EUROPE, SPAIN, WORLD

The world’s oldest wine discovered in liquid form, was found in a Roman tomb in Spain

The world’s oldest wine, discovered in liquid form, was found in a Roman tomb in Spain

Archaeologists discovered an urn with a reddish liquid in a family mausoleum dating to the 1st century AD in the Carmona necropolis in Seville. An archaeochemical study identified this liquid as white wine, making it the oldest wine preserved in liquid form.

The Spanish urn was recovered in 2019 after a family having some work done on their house in Carmona stumbled across a sunken tomb on their property. This tomb, dated to the early 1st century AD, contained eight niches, six of which housed cinerary urns with cremated remains and various objects typical of Roman funeral rituals.

The tomb contained eight burial niches, six of which held urns made from limestone, sandstone, or glass and lead. Each urn contained the cremated bone remains from a single individual and two of the urns were inscribed with the names of the deceased: Hispanae and Senicio.

The urn in Niche 8 was what set this discovery apart. Inside an oval lead box with a flat-domed lid was this urn, a glass ossuary pot with M-shaped handles.  Inside it, five liters of a reddish liquid were discovered, presumed to be part of the original content along with the cremated bone remains.

Analysis by experts at the University of Córdoba has established that the ancient tawny liquid inside the urn is a local, sherry-like wine.

The world’s oldest wine, discovered in liquid form, was found in a Roman tomb in Spain
The liquid in the urn was reddish-brown because of the chemical reactions that have taken place in the 2,000 years since the white wine was poured in.

“The wine turned out to be quite similar to wines from here in Andalucía: Montilla-Moriles; sherry-type wines from Jerez, and manzanilla from Sanlúcar,” said José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola, an organic chemist at the University of Córdoba who led the analysis of the wine.

By using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), scientists were able to identify the chemical components of the wine’s mineral salts, which included common elements found in old wines like potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

Additionally, they identified polyphenols—compounds found in grapes and, consequently, in wine—using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry or HPLC-MS. Researchers were able to identify the liquid as white wine due to the presence of specific polyphenols and the mineral salt profile.

The remarkable longevity of the wine in its liquid state bears witness to the sophisticated Roman methods of preservation and storage, as well as the distinct climatic circumstances that permitted its preservation for nearly two millennia.

(a), (b) Funeral chamber. (c) Urn in niche 8. (d) Lead case containing the urn. (e) The reddish liquid contained in the urn.

Before the discovery, which is reported in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the oldest wine preserved in a liquid state was the Speyer wine bottle, which was excavated from a Roman tomb near the German city of Speyer in 1867 and dated to about AD 325.

According to the researchers, the use of wine in Roman funeral rituals is well-known and documented. Therefore, once the cremated remains were deposited in it, the urn must have been filled with wine in a kind of libation ritual during the burial ceremony or as part of the funeral rite to help the deceased in their transition to a better world.

They conclude that the results obtained in this work strongly suggest that the reddish liquid in the ash urn was originally wine that decomposed over time and that it was about 2,000 years old, making it the oldest wine found to date.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

One of its kind, 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor restored

One of its kind, 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor restored

One of its kind, 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor restored

The 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor, the only known example in the world, found in the ancient city of Satala in the village of Sadak in the Kelkit district of Gümüşhane in the Black Sea region of Türkiye, was restored.

Archaeological excavations continue in the ancient city of Satala, the only surviving castle on the eastern border of the Roman Empire and the only Roman Legion castle in Anatolia that can be excavated. and this unique artifact was unearthed during the 2020 excavation season.

The ancient city of Satala, where the 15th Legion of the Roman Empire, also known as the Apollinaris Legion, ruled for 600 years, is a well-known castle visited by Rome’s five emperors.

In a remarkable feat of preservation, the only known example of a “Lorica Squamata” model Roman legionary armor, dating back 1,500 years, has been successfully restored in Türkiye.

The completion of the restoration was announced by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism on its social media account.

The armor was first found and removed from the location in 2021 with assistance from the Ankara Regional Laboratory.

It was then moved to the  Erzurum Restoration and Conservation Regional Laboratory.  Erzurum Atatürk University carried out a thorough examination, which included tomography and X-rays, to record the armor in its soil-encrusted state.

X-ray results revealed that almost the entire armor was intact. Micro CT imaging of a three-plate block taken from the edges helped determine the armor’s full measurements and partial metallurgical properties.

The conservation and restoration procedures were finished after three years of painstaking labor by the Erzurum Regional Directorate of Restoration and Conservation Laboratory. The armor was then resewn, returning it to its original form.

According to the ministry’s statement, the armor dates back to the Late Roman Period. It is a significant example of the Lorica Squamata type, noted for being the first known to the world.

During the Roman era, legionary armor was not made to order; instead, it was repaired and reused as needed. Surviving examples are extremely rare these days because, once damaged beyond repair, they were melted down and used for new purposes.

During the height of the Roman Empire, the Lorica Squamata was a common type of armor worn by military officers and specialists such as musicians or standard bearers. In certain provinces, it may have also been used to outfit entire regiments of Auxilia infantry, archers, and cavalrymen. Later in the Empire’s history, troops frequently used scaled armor as a form of protection.

Scaled Armor was very difficult to cut through and offered a strong, reliable defense for the wearer. In addition, the armor’s overlapping scales provided some absorptive qualities against concussive force. Usually, the scales were between.5 and.8 mm thick to keep the armor’s total weight under control.

Highlighting the achievement, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said: “The ‘Lorica Squamata’ model armor, revived by expert hands at the  Erzurum Regional Directorate of Restoration and Conservation Laboratory, has reached us almost perfectly preserved.”

EUROPE, HUNGARY, WORLD

Lost 14th Century Church Discovered under a Tennis Court in Hungary

Lost 14th Century Church Discovered under a Tennis Court in Hungary

During an archaeological excavation in  Visegrád, a fortified medieval castle on a hill overlooking the Danube in northern Hungary, the ruins of the Church of the Virgin Mary, built during the reign of King Sigismund, were found under a tennis court.

Traces of a clash from hundreds of years ago were also discovered in the area surrounding the crypt in front of the excavated high altar.

Sigismund of Luxembourg founded a Franciscan monastery that included the Church of the Virgin Mary, which was constructed next to his palace.

Charles IV’s son, Sigismund, ruled as king of Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia before ascending to the throne as Holy Roman Emperor in 1433 and dying in 1437.

“No doubt, most promising for archaeologists was the excavation of the tennis court next to the royal palace, where the Franciscan monastery founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg once stood.”

The former tennis court became a development area of the Visegrad Renaissance program.

On the first day, the church’s remnants were discovered, and in front of the high altar, a crypt was discovered. Among the debris of the collapsed crypt lay the remains of three bodies.

The objects found beside them, such as a spur and several shots (pellets made of lead), suggested that they were soldiers. There was a copper bowl near them, which may have been used for defense, as its surface shows indentations made by weapons.

This could suggest that the church was not only the scene of looting, but also of a bloody clash.

After the beginning of the archaeological work, the foundation of the buttress of the sanctuary of the church belonging to the monastery was found.

After the Ottomans captured  Visegrád in the sixteenth century, the building is believed to have collapsed. The lower, fortified part of  Visegrád also revealed traces of an Ottoman settlement, including coins, an Ottoman cemetery, and an oval-shaped oven.

In 2021, the Visegrád Renaissance Development Program was initiated with the goal of revitalizing  Visegrád Castle and its environs. The Royal Palace, the  Visegrád Citadel, and Solomon’s Tower will all be rebuilt in the upcoming years in addition to the Lower Castle.

The lower, fortified part of Visegrád also revealed traces of an Ottoman settlement, including coins, an Ottoman cemetery, and an oval-shaped oven.

The castle system’s upper and lower levels will be connected, and the complex will be made pedestrian-friendly. In order to allow for visits to the citadel, lower castle, and portions of the Royal Palace during the reconstruction, the work will be done in stages.

EUROPE, HUNGARY, WORLD

Archaeologists Discovered Medieval Silver Communion Set and 70 Silver Coins in Hungary

Archaeologists Discovered Medieval Silver Communion Set and 70 Silver Coins in Hungary

Archaeologists Discovered Medieval Silver Communion Set and 70 Silver Coins in Hungary

A 14th-century silver communion set (chalice and wafer holder) and a treasure trove of 70 silver coins were discovered in a research project by the Hungarian National Archaeological Institute (Nemzeti Régészeti Intézet) near Lake Tisza.

The discovery was announced on the Institute’s Facebook page. In 2023, experts from the National Archaeological Institute of the Public Collection Centre of the Hungarian National Museum discovered the remains of a medieval Benedictine abbey founded by a clan during their microregional research near Lake Tisza, a unique cultural heritage.

The main purpose of the ten-year research plan of the National Archaeological Institute is to identify all the sites in the country within the framework of the “Archaeological Topography Programme”. To this end, micro-regional pilot projects have been launched, one of which can also provide the basis for developing tourism in the southeastern region of Lake Tisza based on its historical and cultural heritage.

In October 2023, in the village of Tomajmonostora, the remains of the former Benedictine abbey church were revealed during a trial excavation of the archaeological work carried out by archaeologists on the site of the former monastery.

Photo: Hungarian National Archaeological Institute

“Last year the layers of the three-nave monastic basilica and the early round church were also clarified. So we have found the medieval Benedictine abbey and the church of the settlement that preceded it,” he said. Excavation leader Gábor Virágos, archaeologist, deputy director general of the Public Collection Centre of the Hungarian National Museum, and president of the National Archaeological Institute.

A special discovery made during this year’s excavation was a communion set that was in the deceased person’s hand at the time of burial.  The ceremonial vessels are thought to be from the 13th or 14th century and include a wafer holder and a silver chalice.

They were put into the hands of a deceased individual. Although more excavation is required to determine the precise findings, it is most likely a burial component.

The micro-regional research, including the excavation at Tomajmonostora, also produced other outstanding results.

The National Archaeological Institute of the Public Collections Centre of the Hungarian National Museum also pays special attention to the sites of key, fate-transforming events in Hungarian history.

Photo: Hungarian National Archaeological Institute

One of the milestones of this work is the identification of key sites of the battle of 1596 near Mezőkeresztes, and the collection and interpretation of artefactual material related to the battle.

Here, archaeologists have found a treasure trove of 70 silver coins of the Viennese penny (denar). The hidden treasure, dating back to the 13th-14th centuries, was uncovered during a search by volunteers from the Community Archaeology Programme, led by archaeologist Gábor Bakos.

The Viennese denarii that make up the treasure were issued by the Austrian princes, contrary to their common summary name, not only from the Viennese mints but also from the Enns and Bécsujhely mints. Due to the intensive trade relations, their traffic also extended to the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 1200s and 1300s.

Photo: Hungarian National Archaeological Institute

“Their presence is attested by the presence of coins such as the one just discovered, mainly from the western part of the country and along the trade route through Kassia to Cracow.

The latter includes the medal material found in the Mezőkeresztes area,” said Enikő Kovács, numismatist and research associate.

Research continues with the participation of volunteers and local people.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

Viking sword with ‘very rare’ inscription discovered on family farm in Norway

Viking sword with ‘very rare’ inscription discovered on family farm in Norway

Viking sword with 'very rare' inscription discovered on family farm in Norway
A farmer in Norway’s southwestern Rogaland district found the clay-encrusted remains of the Viking Age sword in a field he was clearing.

While clearing a field on his farm, a Norwegian man discovered a rare Viking Age sword that’s thought to be 1,000 years old.

“We were about to start sowing grass on a field that has not been plowed for many years,” Øyvind Tveitane Lovra, who found the weapon, said in a translated statement. 

When a piece of old iron turned up, he was about to throw it away. But a closer inspection revealed that it was most of a centuries-old sword, so he contacted archaeologists with the local government, as Norwegian law requires.

“I quickly realized that this was not an everyday find,” said Lovra, who is a part-time farmer, ferry engineer and local politician in the Suldal municipality of Norway’s southwest Rogaland county. “It’s about our history, and it’s nice to know what has been here before.”

Rogaland government archaeologists recovered the artifact from his farm last week and have now confirmed that it is the remains of an iron sword from the Viking Age (A.D. 793 to 1066).

X-rays of the ancient iron weapon have revealed the contours of what appears to be an inscription inlaid on the blade.
The inscription suggests this may be a rare Ulfberht sword, which were made at this time in the Frankish Empire (modern Germany and France).

Notably, the sword seems to be of the rare type of Frankish origin known as Ulfberht swords, which are distinguished by inscriptions inlaid along their blades.

“This is very rare,” said Rogaland archaeologist Lars Søgaard Sørensen. “The sword was the greatest status symbol in the Viking Age, and it was a privilege to be allowed to wear a sword.”

Ancient sword

The remnant of the sword is about 14.5 inches (37 centimeters) long and consists of the handle, the cross guard and part of the blade. The rest of the blade is missing — about half its length — but archaeologists consider it surprisingly well preserved for Rogaland, where the soil generally has poorer conditions for preservation than other parts of Norway.

The sword was discovered by local man Øyvind Tveitane Lovra, who was clearing a field on his farm with his son Haakon.
Local folklore tells of a visit by a Viking ship to a fjord near the farm, and that the Vikings gave gifts to the farm’s landowners.

Sørensen said the sword seems to have been embedded in dense clay, which prevented the iron remains from being exposed to more oxygen and rusting away.

When the archaeologists X-rayed the sword in an attempt to find out more about it, the scans revealed the contours of an inscription on the blade.

“This means that it could be a so-called VLFBERHT [Ulfberht] sword from the Viking Age or the Early Middle Ages,” Sigmund Oehrl, a professor of archaeology at the University of Stavanger, said in the statement. “These are high-quality swords produced in the Frankish Empire [now Germany and France] that are marked with the weapon manufacturer’s name.” 

He noted that up to 4,000 swords from the Viking Age have been found throughout Europe, but only about 170 — 45 from Norway — have Ulfberht inscriptions.

“We are not aware of similar swords being found in Rogaland before,” he said.

The archaeologists estimate that the sword was made between 900 and 1050, which corresponds to the late Viking Age — roughly from 800 to 1066. 

Lovra thinks the sword arrived at the farm, which bears the family name, with Vikings bringing gifts — an event described in local folklore.

“I know that the Vikings sailed into the fjord and decorated the lady of the house at Lovra with nice things, including from Ireland,” he said in the statement.

EUROPE, POLAND, WORLD

1,600-year-old Hunnic double burial found in Poland

1,600-year-old Hunnic double burial found in Poland

1,600-year-old Hunnic double burial found in Poland

In 2018, archaeologists uncovered a 1,600-year-old double burial in the village of Czulice near Krakow, Poland, containing the remains of two young boys.

This discovery, reported in the June issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, provides some of the earliest evidence of Hunnic presence in Europe. Radiocarbon dating placed the burial between CE 395 and 418, making it the oldest known Hunnic burial site in Poland.

As warriors, the Huns inspired almost unparalleled fear throughout Europe. Attila was the last sole king of the Huns. He ruled a vast empire, that from its firm center in Pannonia extended to the Baltic Sea and the “islands of the Ocean” in the north, and to the Caspian Sea in the east. Attila’s military prowess was so formidable that both the Eastern (Byzantine) and Western Roman empires paid him tributes to avoid his wrath.

The grave was discovered thanks to an excavation led by Polish Academy of Sciences archaeologist Jakub Niebylski. This site contained the remains of two boys aged between 7 and 9 years, buried alongside an assortment of grave goods and animal remains.

The grave contained numerous artifacts, including gold and silver trinkets, an iron knife, a clay pot, and the remains of various animals. Notably, one of the boys exhibited an artificially deformed skull, a practice common among Hunnic elites.

The Huns took up the practice of cranial deformation as a sign of aristocracy and elite status from the Alans, an ancient Iranian nomadic tribe. As a result, this burial site in Czulice provides a glimpse into the cultural practices and social hierarchies of the Huns, as well as their interactions with local populations during their migrations into Europe.

Facial reconstructions of the boys who were found buried at the site.

The boys’ bones were scattered in the oval-shaped grave, which was slightly over two feet below the surface. DNA testing revealed the boys’ separate ancestries. One boy, identified as Individual I, was of local European origin, likely connected to the Pannonian Plain in modern-day Hungary.

The other, identified as Individual II, was found to be of Hunnic origin and showed genetic similarities with modern Asian populations, especially nomads from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Hunnic boy’s remains were buried with several valuable items, including a gold earring, silver buckles, a clay vessel, and an iron knife, indicative of his high status. In contrast, the European boy, who lacked grave goods, was found buried on his stomach, suggesting a lower social status, possibly as a servant or companion to the Hunnic boy.

The double burial also included the remains of a dog, a cat, and a crow, which were thought to be the boys’ animal companions on their journey to the afterlife. This aspect of the burial is unusual for the Huns and may indicate a borrowing from Roman funerary practices.

More information about the lives and origins of the boys was discovered through isotope and ancient DNA testing, CT scans, X-rays, and further examination of the human bones.

The Hunnic boy’s lesions in his eye sockets suggested chronic anemia or another disease that may have contributed to his early death. Isotopic analysis of the boys’ diets indicated that both had protein-rich diets, but the lack of grave goods for the European boy hinted at his lower social status.

Scientists extracted and sequenced genes from the skeletons of the deceased and compared them with available genetic material. The genes have been deposited in a genetic database and will be compared with further material obtained from other graves across Europe.