500-year-old gold coins discovered in a German monastery were ‘hastily hidden’ during a ‘dangerous situation’
Archaeologists in Germany have uncovered a handful of 500-year-old gold coins buried among the ruins of a medieval monastery.
One of the four gold coins was discovered at a monastery in Germany.
Known as Himmelpforten, the Augustinian Hermit monastery housed monks from its founding in 1253 into the 16th century.
The archaeologists think the four coins were “hastily hidden” by one of the monks in 1525 during an uprising in which farmers stormed the monastery in Wernigerode, a town in central Germany, according to a translated article in Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper.
“The gold coins were of great value, and the small fortune was probably hidden by a monk in an acutely dangerous situation,” Felix Biermann, a project manager and archaeologist from the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology told Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. “It didn’t end well because the coins couldn’t be recovered.”
Classified as guilders (guldens), a type of currency used during the Holy Roman Empire, the coins include one that was minted in Frankfurt before 1493, during the reign of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III; another coin minted in Schwabach, outside Nuremberg, sometime between 1486 and 1495; and two coins produced in Bonn by the Archdiocese of Cologne around 1480, according to Newsweek.
In addition to the coins, researchers discovered an array of artifacts, including brass book clasps from the monastery’s library, ceramics, animal bones, a cavalry spur, and lead seals that were used to stamp cloth for commerce, all of which provide insight into the large-scale trade and prosperity of the monastery, according to Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
All that remains of the monastery itself is the foundations of some buildings, including the main chapel and refectory where the monks would have dined.
300,000-year-old double-pointed stick among oldest record of human-made wooden tools
Archaeologists have unearthed the oldest large collection of wooden tools made by humans at a site in Schöningen, Germany. The artefacts date back to about 300,000 years ago.
Perspective photograph of the double-pointed throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany.
Included in what ancient people left behind are wooden spears and shorter throwing sticks that have been sharpened at both ends.
It is unclear exactly which hominin is responsible for producing the tools, but their age suggests either Homo heidelbergensis or Homo neanderthalensis.
The collection has been analysed before, but further analysis has been required to gain deeper insight into how the tools were used.
The 300,000-year-old tools found at Schöningen were analysed using micro-CT scanning, 3D microscopy and infrared spectroscopy to better understand how they were made and their potential uses. The results are published in the PLOS ONE journal.
The double-pointed stick in particular reveals new human behaviours for the time period. Made from spruce, the branch was debarked and shaped for aerodynamics and ergonomics.
It is believed the wood was seasoned to prevent it from cracking and warping.
New insights from the detailed multi-analytic techniques suggest that the main purpose of the tool was as a throwing stick for hunting. This indicates “potential hunting strategies and social contexts including for communal hunts involving children,” the researchers write.
“The Schöningen throwing sticks may have been used to strategically disadvantage larger ungulates [hooved animals such as deer and antelope], potentially from distances of up to 30 metres.”
“In illustrating the biography of one of Schöningen’s double-pointed sticks, we demonstrate new human behaviours for this time period, including sophisticated woodworking techniques,” the authors write.
These are also not the only ancient tools that have been found at the site. In 2012, researchers found that 171,000-year-old tools found at Schöningen were probably made using fire.
Though it is the oldest collection of wooden tools anywhere in the world, the Schöningen spears are not the oldest known tools made from wood.
In 1911, an artefact now known as the “Clacton spear” was discovered near the English seaside town of Essex. It is believed to be the 400,000-year-old tip of a spear, making it the oldest known wooden tool.
Woman who died in deadly Vasa warship’s wreck 400 years ago reconstructed in lifelike detail
The new reconstruction shows Gertrude wearing a gray jacket and red hat, as pieces of these items were found by her skeleton on the Vasa shipwreck in Sweden.
When researchers raised the Vasa — a 17th-century Swedish warship that sank in Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage — in the 1960s, they recovered nearly 20 skeletons. Scientists determined that one of those skeletons, dubbed G, was a male they called Gustav.
Earlier this year, a genetic analysis determined that G wasn’t male but female. Now, a new reconstruction of G, whose new nickname is Gertrude, reveals her likeness before the deadly 1628 shipwreck.
According to the new genetic analysis, “she was about 25-30 years of age when she died, her eyes were blue, her hair blonde and her skin pale,” Oscar Nilsson, a Sweden-based forensic artist who created the reconstruction, told Live Science in an email.
Forensic artist Oscar Nilsson layered plasticine clay on a 3D vinyl printed skull to create Gertrude’s reconstruction.
Nilsson had crafted a reconstruction of Gustav in 2006 and was surprised when he learned that G was female, but he was glad he could help correct the record with a new reconstruction for the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.
G’s sex suggests that she was married, he noted. “From written sources we know that only married women, and married to a man on board the ship, were allowed on board this maiden voyage.”
Nilsson still had the CT (computed tomography) scan and a 3D plastic print of G’s skull from the 2006 reconstruction, and he built on this by determining Gertrude’s tissue thickness, which he pulled from a chart of modern Scandinavian and North European women who were roughly the same age and weight as Gertrude.
The size of Gertrude’s mastoid process indicated that she had larger than usual ears.
These tissue measurements informed the height of the pegs he placed on the replica skull, which he then used as a guide as he layered muscles made out of plasticine clay on her head. Scientific techniques guided the size and shape of the nose, eyes and mouth.
“The ears are more speculative, but relies a lot on the size and surface of the mastoid process located behind the ears,” Nilsson said. “A big mastoid process means a big ear. And in Gertrude’s case, she certainly has prominent mastoid processes.”
This 2006 reconstruction of G’s skeleton shows Gustav, a 45-year-old man.
Although he was “careful of trying to give her an expression as close to Gustav’s as possible,” the two reconstructions have a few differences. Previously, Nilsson had tipped Gustav’s nose downward, but a new cranial analysis resulted in a more typical nose for Gertrude. Plus, Gustav was thought to be 45 years old. Because Gertrude is younger, “I provided her with more volume in her lips,” he said.
Despite her youth, Gertrude probably lived a hard life; a skeletal analysis of her back indicates that she lifted heavy objects repeatedly. “So just being 25-30, her face must give an impression of hard work,” he said.
As such, Nilsson crafted her face to show a woman marked by strenuous work but with an awareness of the tragic event that marked her end.
The skeleton of G, who was previously called Gustav until a genetic analysis revealed the absence of a Y chromosome, which almost all men carry. G’s new nickname is Gertrude.
Nilsson worked with Anna Silwerulv, a textile expert at the Vasa Museum, to dress the reconstruction with a dark gray jacket and hat, as pieces of these items were found by her remains.
A microscopic analysis indicated the hat was bright red. “And the original design was striking: a very high hat, reminding [us] of the traditional festive dressing of the Swedish peasantry, and the Samic ones as well,” Nilsson said. (The Sami are Indigenous people in Sweden.)
Gertrude’s seriousness was “further enhanced when Anna and I put the bright red tall hat on Gertrude’s head.” But as to what Gertrude is thinking about in this reconstruction, “I leave that to all visitors to the museum,” Nilsson said.
Gertrude went on display at the Vasa Museum on June 28 and will be the main attraction when the museum’s new “Face to Face” exhibition opens in about a year.
Elite Roman man buried with a sword may have been ‘restrained’ in death
The burial of the elite Roman man dates to the third or fourth century A.D.
In an isolated field near a Roman villa in Wales, archaeologists have discovered the skeleton of a man buried facedown. Adorned with a silver pin and a sword, he may have been a Roman soldier — but large nails near his neck, back and feet offer tantalizing evidence that he was restrained at death.
This burial and four others, which date to the mid-third to the late-fourth centuries, were discovered by Red River Archaeology, a U.K.-based archaeological firm, during a road improvement project near the town of Barry in south Wales.
Archaeologists think the burials may be associated with the Whitton Lodge Roman villa, which was originally excavated half a century ago.
The man, estimated to be between 21 and 25 years old at death, was placed in a rock-cut grave that may have been edged with wooden planks, based on the discovery of nails at the top and bottom of the pit, according to Mark Collard, managing director of Red River Archaeology.
In an email to Live Science, Collard noted that “the prone [facedown] position and very large nails at the back of the neck, shoulder and between the feet may indicate restraints.”
Archaeologists found a silver crossbow-style brooch in the man’s burial. It was likely used to fasten a cloak.
Contrary to an interpretation of a non-elite or enslaved individual, though, the man’s personal ornaments — an iron sword, hobnailed boots, and a silver crossbow-style brooch — suggest he may have been an elite member of the Roman military.
Evan Chapman, senior curator of archaeology at Amgueddfa Cymru — Museum Wales, said in a statement that “this is the first example of a Roman silver crossbow brooch to be found in Wales.” These brooches, likely used to fasten a cloak, were often associated with the Roman military.
“The presence of the sword would support the military connection in this instance,” Chapman said.
The remains of the sword and the brooch are visible between the man’s legs.
Direct analysis of the man’s bones and teeth revealed more details about his life. For example, he was suffering from mastoiditis, a bacterial infection of the mastoid bone behind the ear, when he died. This condition can be cured easily with antibiotics today, but in Roman times, it could have been a death sentence.
An analysis of isotopes — elements with varying numbers of neutrons in their nuclei — of the man’s bone and tooth enamel also showed that he “likely grew up further east, possibly from the Welsh borders or beyond,” Rachel Morgan, a project archaeologist for Red River Archaeology, said in the statement. “So what was this rich man doing on a farm in south Wales when he died?”
A smattering of hobnails from the man’s shoes were found in the burial in Wales.
It is not unusual to find Roman burials outside of formal cemeteries. But the man’s prone position — as well as the discovery of a nearby grave with a decapitated individual whose skull was placed at their feet — is notable, Collard said, as other Roman Britain burials also suggest a “clear association between the occurrence of prone and decapitated burials.”
For example, another set of Romano-British cemeteries at Knobb’s Farm, just north of Cambridge, was found in 2021 to have had a very high number of burials out of the norm.
Out of the 52 total burials there, 13 (25%) were prone, while 17 (33%) were decapitated. Researchers have begun to pay more attention to patterns of atypical burials in Western Europe during the Roman period, but so far, no single explanation for these kinds of burials has been found.
Whether it was for low-status individuals, criminals, or those their communities wanted to ensure “stayed dead,” cross-culturally, prone burials are never seen as a positive way of disposing of the deceased.
This Roman soldier is therefore something of a mystery — one that may never be solved. “It is interesting that he was buried prone but still with his ‘regalia,'” Collard said. “Raises more questions than answers!”
2,500-Year-Old Chariot Found – Complete with Rider And Horses
For the second time in two years, an Iron Age chariot has been found buried in a Yorkshire community. The discovery was made in the town of Pocklington, England, at a construction site where more than 200 homes are being built.
As of early October 2018, archaeologists are working to fully excavate the find. Media reports say that not only a chariot but also horse and human remains were discovered.
Simon Usher, managing director at Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, said: “We can confirm that a significant archaeological discovery, featuring an Iron Age horse-drawn chariot, has been made at our development, The Mile in Pocklington.
Careful excavation is ongoing by our archaeologists and a thorough investigation is in the process to date and detail the find.”
View from Pocklington to Burnby Lane.
In a bizarre twist, 18 months ago, another Iron Age chariot was found, along with two horses, at a different construction site in Pocklington. Archaeology Arts reported in 2017: “The chariot was buried as part of a funerary practice that was not uncommon in the Iron Age. However, the horses were a rather surprising addition for archaeologists.”
The Telegraph said that “the find of the remains dating back to 500 BC is the first of its kind in the last 200 years and one of only 26 chariots ever excavated in the UK.”
Chariot burial, illustration.
Archaeologists say it is highly unusual for a horse and chariot to be buried together and with a human.
In 2017, Paula Ware, managing director at MAP Archaeological Practice Ltd, told a reporter, “The chariot was located in the final square barrow to be excavated and on the periphery of the cemetery.”
She continued, “The discoveries are set to widen our understanding of the Arras (Middle Iron Age) culture and the dating of artifacts to secure contexts is exceptional.”
Bronze snaffle bit from the King’s Barrow burial in Yorkshire, now in the British Museum. The tag on the exhibit reads Bronze bridle-bit from the chariot burial known as the King’s Barrow, Arras, East Yorkshire, 200-100 BC. Presented by Sir A. W. Franks. Photo by Ealdgyth CC BY-SA 3.0
A chariot was the possession of a high-status individual. The rite of including horses as part of the burial is being puzzled over by researchers. Before finding the chariot, the dig at the Burnby Lane site revealed artifacts including a sword, shield, spears, brooches, and pots.
The excavations give insight into life over 2,500 years ago. These are thought to be people of the Arras culture.
Yorkshire continues to be the place where astoundingly well-preserved remains of the Arras culture are found. In 2016, some 150 skeletons and their personal possessions were discovered in a small market town at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds.
Illustration of a chariot burial.
Some of the 75 square barrows, or burial chambers, contained personal possessions such as jewelry and weapons, according to The Guardian.
Archaeologists also discovered a skeleton with a shield.
Media reports say those remains were of a man in his late teens or twenties, who died with his sword at his side. Before his death, he reportedly had six spears pressed into him “like a hedgehog.”
It is believed these sites all date to the Iron Age, which in Britain lasted from 800 BC until the time of the Roman conquest, beginning in 43 AD.
An in-depth study will focus on whether the population is indigenous or were recent arrivals from the Continent. Archaeologists also hope to reveal how those buried at the site died and whether or not they are related in any way, as well as potential DNA analysis.
The custom of burying the deceased with their chariots within squares is unknown in the rest of the British Iron Age. Interestingly, the Arras vehicles were usually disassembled, a practice less common in the Continental chariot burials.
Scientists Discover Beheaded Man’s Brain Self-Preserved For 2,600 Years
Researchers worked carefully the Heslington brain.
One of the oldest human brains ever to be discovered was probably preserved for more than 2,000 years thanks to mud, archaeologists claim. The intact Iron Age organ was discovered inside a decapitated skull in York seven years ago and since then experts have conducted tests to explain how the tissue could have stood the test of time.
Tests have revealed that the brain and other remains are 2,600 years old and have survived because the head was buried in a sealed clay pit devoid of oxygen, soon after its owner’s death.
The oldest human brain ever to be discovered, was probably preserved for over 2,000 years thanks to mud, archaeologists claim. The intact organ (pictured) was discovered inside a decapitated skull in York seven years ago and since then experts have conducted tests to explain how the tissue could survive
In 2009, archaeologists from York Archaeological Trust uncovered a skull with the jaw and two vertebrae still attached to it, in Heslington, York. The skull was found face-down in a pit without any evidence of what had happened to the rest of the body.
At first, archaeologists thought they had found a normal skull and it was not until the bones were cleaned that they came across ‘something loose’ inside.
Rachel Cubitt, the Collection Projects Officer said: ‘I peered through the hole at the base of the skull to investigate and to my surprise saw a quantity of bright yellow spongy material.
‘It was unlike anything I had seen before.’
An archaeologist at the University of Bradford confirmed the tissue was the brain and experts from York Hospital’s Mortuary they were able to remove the top of the skull in order to reveal the astonishingly well-preserved human brain.
The skull (pictured) was found face-down in a pit without any evidence of what had happened to the rest of the body. In this image it is still covered in mud, protecting the contents inside
Archaeologists first thought the skull was unremarkable, but upon closer examination, saw the ‘bright yellow spongy material’ which turned out to be a brain. Here, Dr O’Conner examines the remains
They have now carbon-dated the jaw bone to confirm the man probably lived in the 6th century BC. An examination of the teeth and skull revealed he was between 26 and 45 years old when he died.
It appears that he was first hit hard on the neck, which was then severed with a small sharp knife, according to marks on the vertebrae, but experts can only guess why the man died such a violent death.
There has previously been a suggestion that he was hanged, but experts have largely ruled out his head being used as a trophy – which was a grim practice in Iron Age societies – because there are no signs of preservation or smoking.
Speaking two years ago, Sonia O’Connor, research fellow in archaeological sciences at the University of Bradford, said: ‘The hydrated state of the brain and the lack of evidence for putrefaction suggests that burial, in the fine-grained, anoxic sediments of the pit, occurred very rapidly after death.
Scientists said there was no trace on the brain of the usual preservation methods such as embalming or smoking. This x-ray shows the position of the shrunken brain inside the skull
Speaking two years ago, Sonia O’Connor, research fellow in archaeological sciences at the University of Bradford, said: ‘The hydrated state of the brain (pictured) and the lack of evidence for putrefaction suggests that burial, in the fine-grained, anoxic sediments of the pit, occurred very rapidly after death’
‘This is a distinctive and unusual sequence of events, and could be taken as an explanation for the exceptional brain preservation.’
However, the larger mystery is how his brain was preserved naturally, when bodies buried in the ground typically rot because of a mixture of water, oxygen, as well as a temperature allowing bacteria to thrive.
When one or more of these factors is missing, preservation can occur. In the case of the Heslington Brain, the outside of the head rotted as normal, but the inside was preserved. Experts believe the head was cut from the man’s body almost immediately after he was killed and buried in a pit dug in wet clay-rich ground.
This environment provided sealed, oxygen-free burial conditions.
In 2009, archaeologists from York Archaeological Trust uncovered the skull with the jaw and two vertebrae still attached to it, in Heslington, York, (marked on this map)
The skull was found face-down in a pit without any evidence of what had happened to the rest of the body. This image shows archaeologists sifting through the muddy pit at the site near the University of York where the brain was found
While over time, the skin, hair, and flesh of the skull rotted away, the fats and proteins of the brain tissue linked together to form a mass of large complex molecules.
This resulted in the brain shrinking, but it also preserved its shape and many microscopic features only found in brain tissue, they explained.
As there was no new oxygen in the brain and no movement, it was protected and preserved, allowing scientists to study it today.
Speaking two years ago, Sonia O’Connor, research fellow in archaeological sciences at the University of Bradford, said: ‘It is rare to be able to suggest the cause of death for skeletonised human remains of archaeological origin.
‘The preservation of the brain in otherwise skeletonised remains is even more astonishing but not unique.
‘This is the most thorough investigation ever undertaken of a brain found in a buried skeleton and has allowed us to begin to really understand why a brain can survive thousands of years after all the other soft tissues have decayed.’
Giant 1,100-pound bone belonging to sauropod found in France
The femur of a giant dinosaur was found this week by French paleontologists at an excavation site in southwest France where, since 2010, remains of some of the largest animals ever to live on land have been excavated.
Maxime Lasseron inspects the femur of a Sauropod
The thigh bone of a giant dinosaur was found this week by French paleontologists at an excavation site in southwestern France where remains of some of the largest animals that ever lived on land have been dug up since 2010.
The two-meter-long femur at the Angeac-Charente site is thought to have belonged to a sauropod, herbivorous dinosaurs with long necks and tails which were widespread in the late Jurassic era, over 140 million years ago.
“This is a major discovery,” Ronan Allain, a paleontologist at the National History Museum of Paris told Reuters. “I was especially amazed by the state of preservation of that femur.”
“These are animals that probably weighed 40 to 50 tonnes.”
Allain said scientists at the site near the city of Cognac have found more than 7,500 fossils of more than 40 different species since 2010, making it one of the largest such finds in Europe.
The scientists believe that the bones are from a sauropod, which is the largest herbivorous dinosaur and first appeared in the late Triassic Period.
These reptiles were the largest of all dinosaurs and the largest land animals that have ever lived, they had a small head a long neck, and a very long tail.
Scientists believe they would spend their time wallowing in shallow water that would help support their bodies.
The dinosaur bone was found covered in clay by volunteers from the National Museum of Natural History.
Dublin hotel dig unearths 1,000-year-old burial site
A member of the archaeology team examines skeletal remains discovered during preparatory works for a new hotel in central Dublin
About 100 skeletal remains from the Middle Ages have been unearthed during excavations for a Northern Ireland firm’s new hotel in Dublin. Burial sites dating back more than 1,000 years were found at Capel Street where an abbey, St Mary’s, once stood.
At least two of the remains are believed to date back to the early 11th Century. The excavations have been commissioned by Beannchor, which is building its new Bullitt Dublin hotel on the site.
The abbey used by the Savigniac and Cistercian orders opened in the 12th Century. Carbon dating of one of the discovered graves predates that by 100 years, indicating the presence of a Christian settlement on the site prior to St Mary’s being built.
The archaeological investigations at the site, which formerly housed Boland’s Bakery, also unearthed the foundations of buildings dating back to the 1600s.
Edmond O’Donovan, director of excavations for Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy (CDHC), at the Capel Street site
The finds were discovered close to a former Presbyterian meeting house dating from 1667. Parts of a domestic house known as the ‘Dutch Billies’ have also been found.
It was constructed in about 1700 by settlers who came to Dublin after William of Orange ascended to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1689.
Incorporated into design
While the skeletal remains will be painstakingly excavated, cleaned and sent for further analysis, before ultimately being given to the National Monuments Services, the other structures found during the examination of the site are set to be incorporated into the design of the new hotel complex.
It said the Dublin project is by far its biggest and most complex project to date.
The 17th Century Presbyterian meeting house will be central to the development of a new bar and restaurant concept.
The ‘Dutch Billies’ house will also be preserved while a building with surviving ovens from the Boland’s Bakery dating from 1890 will be renovated and repurposed.
Edmond O’Donovan, director of excavations for Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy (CDHC, said St Mary’s Abbey was Ireland’s largest and most wealthy medieval abbey in its day.
Archaeologists examine remains at the site of the medieval St Mary’s Abbey
“It was demolished after 1540 when the monastery was disbanded by Henry VIII and was later the site of a 17th Century Presbyterian meeting house.
“One of the things that was intriguing and exciting about the excavation is that we found an early burial or at least a number of burials that we suspect to be quite early.
“We have one that’s carbon dated to the 11th Century and we have a second burial that was found with a diagnostic stick pin from the 11th Century.
“And that suggests that there was an earlier Christian and potentially monastic foundation here which predates the Savigniac and Cistercian Abbey.”
Bill Wolsey, managing director of Beannchor, said it was impossible to have foreseen what the project would entail at its outset in 2017.
“As time went on, we began to understand just how complex this project may be,” he said.
Skeletal remains unearthed at the site of a new hotel being developed by Belfast-based Beannchor Group in Dublin
“Great care has been taken to preserve and incorporate elements of these early surviving buildings into the new development, on what we now know is one of the most significant heritage sites in the city.”
The new Bullitt Dublin hotel is expected to open in 2025.
