Category Archives: EUROPE

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

Archaeologists Find 3,000-Year-Old Sword So Well Preserved It ‘Almost Still Shines’

Archaeologists Find 3,000-Year-Old Sword So Well Preserved It ‘Almost Still Shines’

Archaeologists Find 3,000-Year-Old Sword So Well Preserved It ‘Almost Still Shines’
The hilt of the recently discovered Bronze Age sword, which was extraordinarily well-preserved Archäologie-Büro Dr. Woidich / Sergiu Tifui

A rare sight greeted archaeologists excavating a gravesite in the southern Bavarian town of Nördlingen last week: Nestled near the grave’s occupants was a 3,000-year-old sword.

The weapon barely shows its age. It has remained so well-preserved that it “almost still shines,” says Bavaria’s State Office for Monument Protection in a statement, per Google Translate.

The weapon sports an octagonal bronze hilt that was cast over the blade, which few smiths were skilled enough to make at the time, according to Live Science’s Laura Geggel. Only two manufacturing regions were known to have made swords of this kind: one near the excavation site in southern Germany, and the other in northern Germany and Denmark.

The octagonal hilt was cast directly over the blade of the sword, something only certain smiths were skilled enough to do. Archäologie-Büro Dr. Woidich / Sergiu Tifui

The sword shows no wear and tear indicating use in battle, but archaeologists say “its center of gravity made it suitable for use as a real weapon, and it was capable of being used to slash opponents,” reports Newsweek’s Jess Thomson.

Bronze swords first emerged around 1600 B.C.E. and were used until roughly 600 C.E., as Smithsonian magazine’s Alex Fox wrote in 2020. Researchers say that the Bavarian artifact dates to the end of the 14th century B.C.E.

The archaeologists say that swords like this one are quite rare, particularly because “many middle Bronze Age graves were looted over the millennia,” per Live Science. 

Archaeologists have previously unearthed Bronze Age swords in burial plots in Europe, including an ornate bronze sword with an ivory and gold hilt found during excavations in Greece in 2015. 

The sword was unearthed alongside the bodies of a man, woman, and child. Archäologie-Büro Dr. Woidich / Sergiu Tifui

Given the soft nature of bronze, historians have previously wondered whether such blades served a ceremonial purpose, rather than a practical purpose on the battlefield.

A few years ago, scientists even staged sword fights in order to learn more about how the Bronze Age weapons could have been used effectively in battle, despite being much easier to damage and harder to repair than their iron successors.

The newly unearthed weapon was found alongside an assortment of Bronze Age artifacts, as well as three individuals—a man, a woman, and a child—all of whom were buried around the same time. Researchers don’t know how the three were connected, or whether they were related. 

“The sword and the burial have yet to be examined so that our archaeologists can classify this find more precisely,” says Mathias Pfeil, head of the monument protection office, in the agency’s statement. 

Researchers can say, however, that the sword’s condition is “extraordinary,” adds Pfeil. “A find like this is very rare.” 

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

Greek Farmer Stumbles Onto 3,400-Year-Old Tomb Hidden Below His Olive Grove

Greek Farmer Stumbles Onto 3,400-Year-Old Tomb Hidden Below His Olive Grove

Greek Farmer Stumbles Onto 3,400-Year-Old Tomb Hidden Below His Olive Grove
A covered coffin from the Minoan times was found in Ierapetra, Crete, Greece.

The untouched Bronze Age tomb and the skeletons inside will hopefully provide archaeologists with information about the mysterious Minoan civilization.

In an extraordinary example of being in the wrong place at the right time, a Greek farmer just made a startling archaeological discovery. A 3,400-year-old Minoan tomb was uncovered in an unnamed farmer’s olive grove near the city of Ierapetra on the Greek island of Crete.

According to Cretapost, the farmer was attempting to park his car underneath an olive tree when suddenly the ground beneath him began to sink.

The farmer pulled his car out from under the tree and noticed that a huge hole which measured around four feet wide had opened up where his car had been sitting.

When he peeked into the hole, the farmer knew he had stumbled upon something special. He called the local heritage ministry, Lassithi Ephorate of Antiquities, to investigate.

The four-foot wide hole accidentally made by the farmer ultimately led to the Minoan Bronze Age tomb.

The archaeologists from the ministry excavated the hole. What they found next was unprecedented.

The pit was approximately four feet wide and eight feet deep was divided into three sections, and very apparently was a tomb.

In the first section, archaeologists uncovered a coffin and a variety of artifacts. The following niche held a second coffin, 14 Greek jars called amphorae, and a bowl.

According to Smithsonian.com, the archaeologists identified that the tomb was Minoan and of the Bronze Age due to the style of the coffin they found. The artifacts — funerary vases and the two coffins— were well-preserved despite their extremely old age.

The eight-foot-deep pit contained two coffins and several artifacts.

The tomb was sealed off by a stone wall and only after thousands of years of wear and tear did it deteriorate enough to buckle under the weight of the farmer’s car.

“Soil retreat was a result of the watering of the olive trees in the area as well as a broken irrigation tube,” Argyris Pantazis, the Deputy Mayor of Local Communities, Agranian and Tourism of Ierapetra, told Cretapost.

“The ground had partially receded, and when the farmer tried to park in the shade of the olive, it completely retreated.”

Pantazis also said that the fact that the tomb was untouched by thieves for millennia makes it an ideal site for archaeologists to learn as much as possible about the two people buried in the tomb and life for the Minoan civilization.

A look inside the coffin of one of the two Minoans buried in the 3,400-year-old tomb.

According to Forbes, the skeletons date back to the Late Minoan IIIA-B period in archaeological chronology, also known as the Late Palace Period.

So far, not much information is known about the Minoan civilization and their way of life, save for their labyrinth palatial complexes, showcased in classic myths like Theseus and the Minotaur.

Researchers also believe that the Minoans met their end because of a string of devasting natural disasters. Most other details of the Minoan’s history remain unclear.

Further analysis of the skeletons and artifacts in the tomb in Crete will hopefully help archaeologists fill in some blanks and answer questions about the mysterious Minoan civilization.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

Stunned Couple Finds Viking Buried Under Floor While Renovating Home

Stunned Couple Finds Viking Buried Under Floor While Renovating Home

Stunned Couple Finds Viking Buried Under Floor While Renovating Home
When the couple removed the floor, they began to find stones and pieces of iron. Archaeologists believe they are from the Viking Age.

A Norwegian couple made an unusual historic discovery during renovations of their home. First, they found a number of Viking-era artifacts, and then archaeologists declared that they had found a Viking grave, right there, under their floor. Experts have carried out a survey of the site and the grave is being hailed as a very significant find.

The couple made the find while tearing up some floorboards in their family home in Seivåg near Bodø in Northern Norway. They were laying insulation when they came across some strangely shaped rocks.

Naturally, they were curious, and then they saw something round glinting in the light. They knew that it had to be pretty old because the house had been built in 1914 and the floorboards had not been moved since. But they were not prepared for what they had actually found. The house has been in the same family for over a century.

Viking Burial Under the Boards

Based on the shape of the object “they first believed it was the wheel of a toy car” according to The Local. The couple only later realized that what they had found could be something historic.

After some further digging, the couple found an iron axe head and some other metallic objects, that were all obviously old. ‘It wasn’t until later that we realized what it could be” Mariann Kristiansen, one of the owners of the house, told The Local.

Viking ax head, a representation of the find at the Viking burial site in Norway

The couple contacted the local authorities and experts from the local Nordland county government came to inspect the finds. Martinus Hauglid told the couple that they had most likely found a grave from the Iron Age in Norway. This was the era when the Vikings ruled in Scandinavia and terrified most of the known world.

The archaeologist told The Local that the couple had found an “ax dated between 950 and 1050 AD”. They also found a  bead of glass, which was revealed to be blue, and dates from the same period.

A glass bead was among the first objects discovered in the Viking grave.

Viking Cairn

It is believed that the stones found underneath the flooring came from a burial, and were likely part of a cairn. In this type of burial, a mound of stones and rocks is erected over the deceased which was a very common burial practice in the Iron Age.

A number of similar cairns were found in the Lendbreen Mountain Pass in Norway when a glacier melted. This was an important trade route in the Middle Ages.

Martinus congratulated the couple on their find and stated that they had done a good job by reporting things so soon. The archaeologist said that it was the first instance of a Viking grave being found under a private dwelling in his 30-year career.

Archaeologists investigated the grave. Forbes reported that under Norwegian Law any human artifacts or “activity before 1537 are automatically preserved”. The items found by the couple were transported to a museum for conservation and safekeeping.

These stones formed the top of what archaeologists believe is a Viking burial cairn.

End of the Viking Age

Martinus was quoted by Forbes as stating that the finds under the floorboards date back to a time “when Norway transitioned to Christianity to become one kingdom”. This was the time when kings like Olaf Tryggvason, attempted to dominate the many chiefdoms and create a centralized state.

Some of these monarchs sought to impose Christianity on the pagan Norse as part of their efforts at state-building and this led to many civil wars. The grave is helping researchers to better understand this crucial period in Norwegian history which saw the demise of the Viking Age.

It appears that the original builders of the house, over a century ago, were not aware that they were building a private residence on a grave. It is quite possible that they unearthed items and simply discarded them. This raises the possibility that some Viking-era grave goods were lost or destroyed during the construction of the family home.

Viking-era grave goods are displayed at the National Museum of Iceland.
EUROPE, FRANCE, WORLD

Neanderthals May Have Created Cave Art in France

Neanderthals May Have Created Cave Art in France

Study researchers Trine Freiesleben and Jean-Claude Marquet discuss the fingerprints and where to take optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples so they can date the artwork.

The oldest-known engravings in Europe, discovered in a French cave sealed up for tens of thousands of years, likely weren’t crafted by modern humans but rather Neanderthals, a new study finds. 

Within the cave of La Roche-Cotard 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Paris, the researchers analyzed a series of non-figurative markings thought to be made by ancient human fingers, according to a study published Wednesday (June 21) in the journal PLOS One. 

The cave had been sealed up by sediments until the late 19th century. Modern excavations at the site have yielded numerous stone tools whose style is associated with the Neanderthals, suggesting they created the art. 

Ancient figurative art, including wall paintings, is well-known from European sites, with drawings of horses, lions, and handprints representing famous examples of Upper Paleolithic culture dating back 35,000 years.

For decades, researchers thought that these creations were hallmarks of modern human behavior, but recently, researchers have unearthed older examples of non-utilitarian objects and art in Europe and in other areas of the world, such as a 51,000-year-old chevron-engraved bone in Germany created by Neanderthals; however, Homo sapiens are credited with a 45,500-year-old drawing of a warty pig in Indonesia and a 73,000-year-old hashtag drawing in South Africa.

Examples of engravings discovered in the Roche-Cotard cave (Indre et Loire – France). On the left, the “circular panel” (ogive-shaped tracings) and on the right the “wavy panel” (two contiguous tracings forming sinuous lines).

At the cave of La Roche-Cotard, researchers found eight panels with more than 400 traces of abstract lines and dots. The researchers call these traces “engravings” because they represent the deliberate removal of material carried out with a tool or finger. “This removal of material is neither accidental nor utilitarian,” they wrote in their study, but rather “intentional and meticulous.”

To figure out how the engravings were made, the researchers set up an experiment at a similar cave, in which one person created marks using their fingers, bone, wood, antler, flint and metal points against the rock wall.

Another person then recorded what those marks looked like and used photogrammetry methods — a technique that uses hundreds of photos to create virtual 3D models — to compare the experimental marks with the prehistoric ones. 

The researchers concluded that the experimental finger markings were most similar to the prehistoric engravings.

The researchers also found no direct link between the numerous stone tools discovered in the cave and the engravings, further supporting the finding that Neanderthals created the engravings with their fingers, just as the researchers did. For the most part, the engravings on the cave wall are lines called “finger flutings,” made when someone swiped their fingers flat along the silt-covered wall, the team concluded.

To further refine the date the cave was used and figure out if the finger flutings were those of modern humans or Neanderthals, the researchers used optically stimulated luminescence of the sediments to determine when they were last exposed to daylight.

The analysis revealed that the cave closed up at least 57,000 years ago and possibly as long as 75,000 years ago. 

These early dates mean it’s “highly unlikely” that anatomically modern humans had access to the inside of the cave, the researchers wrote in their study, as current evidence suggests they were not present in France until at least 54,000 years ago, whereas Neandertals appeared there around 330,000 years ago. “We conclude that the LRC engravings are unambiguous examples of Neanderthal abstract design,” they wrote.

April Nowell, a paleolithic archaeologist at the University of Victoria in Canada who was not involved in this study, told Live Science in an email that “this study is important because it extends the antiquity of digital [finger] tracings and, for the first time, associates them with a hominin species other than Homo sapiens.” 

But the significance of these engravings remains unclear. “Although the finger tracings at La Roche-Cotard are clearly intentional,” the researchers wrote, “it is not possible for us to establish if they represent symbolic thinking.” 

Nowell agreed that “these tracings do not have to be symbolic any more than when someone traces their fingers in the sand on a beach.” The engravings are, however, important new information about the behavior of our Neanderthal relatives, whose culture was more complex and diverse than previously realized.

CROATIA, EUROPE, WORLD

Underwater Archaeologists Discover a 7,000-Year-Old Road in Croatia

Underwater Archaeologists Discover a 7,000-Year-Old Road in Croatia

Underwater Archaeologists Discover a 7,000-Year-Old Road in Croatia

A team of underwater archaeologists from the University of Zadar has discovered the sunken ruins of a 7,000-year-old road that once linked an ancient artificial landmass to the Croatian island of Korčula.

The road is located at a depth of 5 meters in sediment deposits at the submerged archaeological site of Soline, an artificial landmass and Neolithic settlement of the island Korčula and along with several other artifacts, belonged to a lost maritime culture known as the Hvar, who occupied this area during the Neolithic Era.

By radiocarbon analysis of preserved wood found in the last campaign, the entire settlement was dated around 4,900 years before Christ.

A four-meter-wide linear road made of stone slabs was discovered during a recent underwater survey of the site. People walked on this road almost 7,000 years ago.

Over the weekend, the University of Zadar released new footage of the underwater passage, which was made of stacked stones and measured some 12 feet across.

“In underwater archaeological research of the submerged neolithic site of Soline on the island of Korčula, archaeologists found remains that surprised them,” said the University of Zadar in a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday.

“Namely, beneath the layers of sea mud, they discovered a road that connected the sunken prehistoric settlement of the Hvar culture with the coast of the island of Korčula.”

According to the university, several scientists and organizations are working together on underwater research, which is being directed by archaeologist Mate Parica, who has been studying the location for a while.

The team also found fragments of millstones, flint blades, and stone axes among the underwater ruins.

The artifacts shed light on the enigmatic Hvar peoples, who first appeared on the islands and coasts of the northeast Adriatic Sea around 7,000 years ago.

Korčula is part of an archipelago in the Adriatic that was once a part of the continent.

The coastal valleys of the Dinaric Mountains began to flood as a result of the Earth’s ice cap melting after 12,000 BC, and by 6000 BC the archipelago had roughly reached its current configuration.

CROATIA, EUROPE, WORLD

Mine-clearance divers discovered an ancient shipwreck dating from the 3rd century BC

Mine-clearance divers discovered an ancient shipwreck dating from the 3rd century BC

Mine-clearance divers discovered an ancient shipwreck dating from the 3rd century BC

As a result of collaborative training exercises between Croatian and Italian naval mine-clearance divers, one of the earliest fully preserved shipwrecks in the eastern Adriatic seabed has been discovered.

A previously undiscovered shipwreck containing a cargo of ancient amphorae from the 3rd century BC has been found in the waters of the Šćedra Island archipelago, just off the southern coast of Hvar island, the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media announced in a statement on Friday.

The discovery was made as part of a long-standing collaboration in which Croatian divers have been operating from Italian minehunter vessels in a NATO mine counter-measures group in recent years.

The first of two weeks’ joint training had covered mine-clearance procedures using ROVs and AUVs near Čiovo Island, before the naval divers turned their attention to the Šćedra Island archipelago off Hvar during the week of 15-21 June. 

Amphora above 3rd-century BC shipwreck.

Using mine clearance procedures and various types of equipment such as underwater autonomous vehicles and remotely operated underwater vehicles, the first week focused on joint conditioning training in the waters near Čiovo Island, while the second week involved diving activities in the waters around Hvar Island.

The success of the cross-border cooperation was viewed as an opportunity to involve bodies other than Croatia’s Ministry of Defence, so the conservation department of the Ministry of Culture and Media provided the military with information about existing and potential archaeological sites.

Despite the adverse weather conditions, a multi-layered seabed scanning operation was completed.

Several potential marks were identified, and these were followed up using a sonar- and camera-equipped ROV before scuba diving was carried out by both Croatian and Italian mine-clearance personnel.

One of these investigations resulted in finding the previously unsuspected wreck.

Underwater archaeologists from the Ministry of Culture and Media, Saša Denegri, and from the University of Split, Tea Katunarić Kirjakov, conducted dives at the specific location and confirmed that the shipwreck is fully preserved and dates back to the 3rd century BC, containing a cargo of ancient amphorae. It rests at a depth of 50 meters.

This is one of the earliest fully preserved shipwrecks on the eastern Adriatic Sea coast, taking into account the dating and preservation of the site.

Plans for the site’s protection, conservation, and presentation will be developed based on the precise context, extent, and characteristics of the site, which will be determined by future archaeological research.

EUROPE, NETHERLANDS, WORLD

Archaeologists unearth 4,000-year-old ‘Stonehenge of the Netherlands’

Archaeologists unearth 4,000-year-old ‘Stonehenge of the Netherlands’

Archaeologists unearth 4,000-year-old ‘Stonehenge of the Netherlands’
The Tiel sanctuary featured a solar calendar that was used to determine important events including festivals and harvest days, say archaeologists.

Dutch archaeologists have unearthed an approximately 4,000-year-old religious site – nicknamed the “Stonehenge of the Netherlands” – that includes a burial mound that served as a solar calendar.

The mound, which contained the remains of about 60 men, women and children, had several passages through which the sun shone directly on the longest and shortest days of the year.

The town of Tiel, where the site was discovered, said on its Facebook page: “What a spectacular archaeological discovery! Archaeologists have found a 4,000-year-old religious sanctuary on an industrial site.”

It added: “This is the first time a site like this has been discovered in the Netherlands.”

Digging on the so-called open-air sanctuary started in 2017 in the small village, about 31 miles (50km) south-east of Utrecht, and the results were made public on Wednesday.

Studying differences in clay composition and colour, the scientists located three burial mounds on the excavations, a few miles from the banks of the Waal River.

An artist’s recreation of the intact sanctuary.

The main mound is about 20 metres (65ft) in diameter and its passages are lined up to serve as a solar calendar. “People used this calendar to determine important moments including festival and harvest days,” the archaeologists said.

NOS, the national broadcaster, added: “This hill reminded one of Stonehenge, the well-known mysterious prehistoric monument in Britain, where this phenomenon also occurs.”

Scientists also discovered two smaller mounds. The three mounds were used as burial sites for about 800 years, the archaeologists said.

They made another fascinating discovery: a single glass bead inside a grave, which after analysis was shown to have originated in Mesopotamia – present-day Iraq.

“This bead travelled a distance of some 5,000km four millennia ago,” the chief researcher, Cristian van der Linde, said.

“Glass was not made here, so the bead must have been a spectacular item as for people then it was an unknown material,” added Stijn Arnoldussen, a professor at the University of Groningen.

He told the NOS the Mesopotamian bead may have been around for a long time before eventually ending up in the area around Tiel, called the Betuwe in Dutch.

“Things were already being exchanged in those times. The bead may have been above ground for hundreds of years before it reached Tiel, but of course, it didn’t have to be,” Arnoldussen said.

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

U.S. Repatriates Ancient Coins to Greece

U.S. Repatriates Ancient Coins to Greece

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago, alongside distinguished representatives from Greece and the National Hellenic Museum, conducted a repatriation ceremony on June 16 to return to Greece the largest number of stolen ancient coins seized by U.S. law enforcement officials in recent HSI history.

Federal agents, National Hellenic Museum conduct the largest repatriation of ancient coins to Greece in recent HSI history
U.S. Repatriates Ancient Coins to Greece

The artifacts included 51 ancient Greek coins that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intercepted via four separate examinations of merchandise entering the United States.

“Trafficking in antiquities is a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise, but when traffickers steal these antiquities from a country, they’re robbing from the cultural heritage of a nation – solely for their potential to generate profit,” said HSI Chicago Special Agent in Charge R. Sean Fitzgerald.  “HSI possesses the unique skills and determination necessary to disrupt this concerning practice.  At HSI Chicago, we have a dedicated unit with agents specially trained to track down lost and stolen pieces, ultimately contributing to approximately 20,000 artifacts that HSI has recovered and returned to over 40 countries since 2007.”

As a result of the original shippers’ and consignees’ inability or unwillingness to provide proper documentation of ownership, CBP seized the coins and turned them over to HSI.

The distinguished guests present at the repatriation included the Ambassador of Greece to the United States Alexandra Papadopoulou, Consul General Emmanuel Koubarakis, and Consul Georgia Tasiopoulou.

“This is a successful example of how when we join forces, we can make miracles,” said Papadopoulou.

“As these coins get back to Greece where they belong, I’m sure it will make an exciting, powerful display as part of our culture, as part of our shared identity, and as part of our close relationship with the United States.”

This return of these ancient coins was made possible by the investigative efforts of HSI Chicago, HSI’s Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities (CPAA) program, and law enforcement partners at CBP.

One of the primary goals of the CPAA program is to protect and preserve the world’s cultural heritage and knowledge of past civilizations.

CPAA conducts training and outreach, supports cultural property investigations, and enhances international relations by working with foreign governments and citizens to return their nation’s looted cultural heritage and stolen artwork.

“It is often extremely difficult to put a specific monetary value on an ancient historical coin,” said Fitzgerald. “That notwithstanding, as tokens of the world’s oldest democracy, Greece’s cultural property — in HSI’s view — is considered priceless.”

Since 2007, HSI investigations have led to the repatriation of over 20,000 objects to more than 40 countries and institutions. The repatriated objects have included paintings, sarcophagi, statues, coins, and illuminated manuscripts.

In the fiscal year 2022, HSI’s CPAA program repatriated cultural property to more than 15 countries, including France, India, Iraq, Italy, and Mali.

Among the repatriated items were cuneiform tablets, religious artifacts, and architectural drawings stolen from Jewish communities during the Holocaust.