A 3,500-year-old bronze dagger found in a Polish forest
A rare Bronze Age dagger has been discovered in a forest near Krasnystaw in southeastern Poland. It is in good condition, with no evidence of wear on the edges. It was cast in a lenticular shape with a rib down the center.
The semi-circular base has three rivets on each side to which a handle would have been fastened. The handle, likely made out of wood, is now lost.
The dagger is believed to date to around 1500 B.C. and is the first of its kind found in the area. In fact, it is one of only a dozen or so known to have been found in all of Poland.
It was not of local manufacture but rather arrived in the region with people who inhabited the Danube area in what are now Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovakia.
It was found by a metal detectorist working with the Wolica historical association under the aegis of the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments.
They were looking for objects from the World Wars when they came across the dagger in shallow soil just a few centimeters under the surface. They took pictures and recorded the precise location to report the find, but encountered no other archaeological material at the site.
A comparable riveted dagger was discovered near Olsztyn in northern Poland in 2014. It was found in a grave just below the arable surface which, while damaged, was found to contain other valuable goods including a gold hair jewel, bronze wire beads, and glass beads.
The gold and glass were expensive imported items, and the weapon indicates this was the burial of a high-status male.
The grave was classified as one of the Smoszew type, a cemetery characterized by barrows of the Bronze Age Tumulus Culture, ca. 1600-1300 B.C.
Unfortunately, the recently-discovered dagger was not found in its original context, so we don’t know if it was part of the furnishings of a grave.
The dagger is now being analyzed and studied by the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments.
Archaeologists are exploring the find site for further information about the piece, its age, and how it got there.
A 5,400-year-old tomb discovered in Spain perfectly captures the summer solstice
Archaeologists found the 5,400-year-old stone tomb in the “neck” area of a prominent mountain that looks from some angles like the head of a sleeping giant.
Archaeologists have discovered a 5,400-year-old megalithic tomb near a prominent lone mountain in southern Spain, suggesting the peak may have been meaningful to prehistoric people there.
The area, in the countryside near the city of Antequera, is renowned for its megaliths — prehistoric monuments made from large stones — and the newly found tomb seems to solve one of the mysteries of their alignment.
The tomb was designed to funnel light from the rising midsummer sun into a chamber deep within — much like the contemporary megalithic tomb built more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away at Newgrange in Ireland, suggesting both places shared similar beliefs about the afterlife more than 5,000 years ago.
The tomb was constructed about 3400 B.C. with a passage aligned to sunrise on the summer solstice that cast light onto decorative rocks on the walls of a chamber within
“Newgrange is much bigger and more complex than the tomb we have discovered [in Spain], but they have something in common — the interest of the builders to use sunlight at a specific time of the year, to produce a symbolic — possibly magic — effect,” Leonardo García Sanjuán, an archaeologist at the University of Seville, told Live Science.
The bedrock at the site is tilted away from the position of the sunrise on the solstice at midsummer, so the builders deliberately constructed a cavity to admit its light, according to a study by García Sanjuán and his colleagues published April 14 in the journal Antiquity.
“They worked very cleverly to make an arrangement of stones, which were engraved and possibly painted,” he said. “These were sacred things placed so that the sunrise on the [summer] solstice would go straight into the back of the chamber.”
Megalithic tomb
The archaeologists found human remains in the tomb from several different burials, held there in three major phases for over 1,000 years
The new study describes excavations by García Sanjuán and his team beside a prominent limestone mountain known as La Peña de los Enamorados — the Rock of the Lovers — named after a legend that says two star-crossed lovers once killed themselves by jumping off it.
The mountain is also famous because it looks like the profile of the head of a sleeping giant, especially at times of low light such as sunrise and sunset.
García Sanjuán and his colleagues excavated the tomb in late 2020 in the “neck” region of the mountain, near the Matacabras rock shelter, which is adorned with pictographs thought to be painted about 5,800 years ago.
They think the tomb was first built a few hundred years after the rock paintings were made, and that it was used for burials for more than 1,000 years.
The archaeologists also found stone tools and pieces of pottery in the tomb. They are particularly interested in any residues on the pottery, which could show what they held as grave goods.
The archaeologists have found several deposits of human remains in the newfound tomb, dating from three major phases of its use, as well as pieces of pottery.
Ancient landscape
The tomb was found beside the prominent mountain known as La Peña de los Enamorados — the Rock of the Lovers — because legends say two star-crossed lovers once killed themselves by jumping off it.
The Antequera area is famed for its natural rock formations like La Peña and the megalithic monuments in the region, which may have been influenced by the local geography. The most famous is the Dolmen of Menga — one of the largest and oldest megalithic structures in Europe, which was built between 3800 B.C. and 3600 B.C.
But the passage in Menga is not aligned to a solstice sunrise or sunset, as might be expected — instead, Menga points toward La Peña de los Enamorados, about 4 miles (6.5 km) to the northeast. (The other two megaliths in the region were built later and seem to point elsewhere.)
The alignment suggests La Peña was an important focus for local prehistoric people and solves a mystery of where Menga was pointing: to the location of both the rock art and the newly found tomb at La Peña, while the tomb at La Peña itself pointed to the solstice sunrise, García Sanjuán said.
The inner chamber of the newfound tomb is decorated with a distinctive stone with ripple marks on its surface, which was taken from a region that had once been a beach or part of the seabed.
A passage in the tomb is aligned with the rising sun on the day of the summer solstice. Similar alignments have been seen at megalithic tombs elsewhere in Europe.
The stone was placed so that the light from the rising midsummer sun fell upon it; the part of the burial chamber in front of it seems to have been kept clear of human remains, García Sanjuán said.
“These people chose this stone precisely because it created these waving, undulating shapes,” he said. “This was very theatrical… they were very clever in producing these special visual effects.”
He noted that megalithic structures have been found from Morocco to Sweden and that the people who built them seem to have had similar beliefs.
“There are differences as well, but one common element is the sun,” García Sanjuán said. “The sun was at the center of the worldview of these people.”
A pair of scissors, a razor, and a folded sword were some of the grave goods found at a Celtic cremation tomb in Germany.
Archaeologists in Germany have unearthed a stash of grave goods — including a folded sword that may have been used in battle and an “exceptionally good” pair of scissors — inside a 2,300-year-old Celtic cremation tomb.
Based on the variety of the artifacts, which also include a portion of a shield, a razor, a fibula (clasp), a belt chain, and a spearhead, researchers think that a man and a woman were buried there.
Between the third century B.C. and second century B.C. the Celts — who lived in mainland Europe — burned their dead and buried their remains in pits alongside their belongings, according to a translated statement.
An excavation team searching for explosive devices leftover from World War II discovered the items by chance, according to the statement.
The burial is a remarkable find, however, one grave good caught the attention of researchers: the pair of left-handed scissors.
“The scissors in particular are in exceptionally good condition,” Martina Pauli, an archaeologist with the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Munich, told Live Science in an email. “One would almost be tempted to cut with it.
The scissors were used — as they are today — for cutting, but could also be used in the craft sector, for example in leather processing or sheep shearing.”
While the nearly 5-inch-long (12 centimeters) shears were likely used for day-to-day tasks, Pauli thinks that the weaponry, including the folded sword, was “most likely used in battle.” It is “quite typical” to find Celtic swords folded in graves in this fashion, she added.
Prior to the burial, the sword “was heated, folded and thus rendered unusable” and would have measured 30 inches (76 cm) in length, according to the statement.
“There are different interpretations [that] range from a very profane point of view, namely that the sword simply had [a] better place in the grave, to a cultic interpretation,” Pauli said.
“There could be a variety of motivations for permanent disabling: prevention of grave robbers, fear of revenants [bodies rising from the dead], and the like.”
Pauli added, “The burial objects indicate socially superior people to whom these heavy metal finds were added. The men’s burial could be that of a warrior, as indicated by the weapons.
The belt chain from the woman’s grave served as a belt that held together and adorned the robe, perhaps a dress, at the hips. The singular fibula from the woman’s grave was also used to fasten a coat together on the shoulder.”
The items were recovered and brought to the state office for monument protection for safekeeping.
A papal bull discovered in a former cemetery dated to the 14th century
A medieval bull found in 2021 in Budzistów village (Kołobrzeg district), Poland has been restored and placed on display in the Museum of Arms in Kołobrzeg.
Found by the PARSĘTA Exploration & Search Group two years back, the decree was uncovered in the area of the former cemetery in Budzistowo.
“This is the most valuable find we have made in our six years of existence,” said Jan Orliński from the PARSĘTA Exploration and Search Group.
Continuing, Orliński added: “I’ve always been interested in papal bulls and I was intrigued as to why there was nothing like that in Kołobrzeg… When I saw what I had found, I was really excited.”
The group immediately recognized what it was and handed it over to the Museum of Arms in Koobrzeg, with whom they had been working for several years. It was then transported to a specialist workshop in Kraków for a meticulous conservation process.
Dating from the 14th century, the papal bull was found in 2021 in a former cemetery by the PARSĘTA Exploration & Search Group.
It was during this that scientists determined that it dated from the reign of Pope Boniface IX (1350-1404).
Dr. Robert Dziemba, the head of the Kołobrzeg History Department, said: “By studying the physio-chemical compositions of the bull, we were able to find it was original.
The most important thing for us was the reverse as it contained information as to which Pope issued the decree. Because of this, we now know that it was issued by Pope Boniface IX.”
Dziemba added: “Even the most interesting artifacts take on a different meaning when they are placed in the right historical context. We knew we had made a great discovery, but we wanted to establish its links to Kołobrzeg.”
According to historians, the bull was possibly kept in the Budzistowo monastery. Chemical compounds used in its manufacture, which were mostly pure lead, were traced to Sardinia, Cyprus, Greece, and Spain.
The bull also features the images of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
The bull’s potential connections to the former monastery in Budzistowo, though, have piqued researchers’ interest. It was Johann Friederich Wachsen who noted that Pope Boniface IX granted a letter of indulgence to the resident Benedictine nuns in 1397, according to the chronicles he wrote in the 18th century.
Usually attached by silk strings, papal bulls were hung on parchment and scrolls on which papal edicts, privileges, and indulgences were written as a means of authentication. Also featuring images of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Dziemba speculates that this particular papal bull may have been lost in the 16th century.
Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered an unusual mosaic. It depicts a mythological hero from Troy
A large mosaic depicting the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid” and the ancestor of the Roman people, has been unearthed in the southern Turkish city of Osmaniye.
The mosaic was discovered during a foundation excavation of a construction site revealing the remains of a Roman villa.
There is no other example of this mosaic in the world, according to the experts. The mosaic area is thought to have been built in the first and second centuries A.D. to adorn the floor of a villa from that time period.
Cezmi Yurtsever, a historian and an author, described the Aeneas mosaic as “unique in the world.”
“In 2015, it was announced that historical artifacts and mosaics were found on the floor of a building in the center of Kadirli district. Then many archaeologists came here and carried out excavations in the area.
During these excavations, mosaic scenes were found on the floor of the building. In one scene, a warrior was riding a horse holding a spear, and there was a woman depiction with the inscription of Dido, the reputed founder of Carthage, who was going on a lion hunt with the warrior.
The name of this warrior is Aeneas, a great Trojan hero. He was an important figure after Hector, the prince of Troy,” he said.
Yurtsever also noted that the scene depicting Aeneas fighting with Leon was discovered in the same area.
“This place was the ancient Flaviapolis city built during the Roman era and according to our determinations, this mosaic was made in the A.D. 3rd century. For this, after the Trojan War, about 1,500 years ago, the discovery of a mosaic in the ancient Flaviapolis city during the Roman period depicting a hero of the Trojan War is a peerless discovery for archeology and history.”
Aeneas is a legendary Trojan hero in Greek and Roman mythology. According to legend, Aeneas was a Trojan prince and a son of the goddess Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology).
During the Trojan War, Aeneas fought on the side of the Trojans and was one of the few Trojan warriors to survive the fall of Troy. After the war, he led a group of Trojan on a long journey, eventually landing in Italy where he founded the city of Lavinium.
Aeneas is best known as the protagonist of Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid, which tells the story of his journey and the founding of Rome.
1,500-year-old secret underground passage uncovered in Istanbul
During the ongoing excavations in the ruins of Saint Polyeuktos Church in Istanbul’s Saraçhane neighborhood, which was destroyed during the Latin invasion, a 1,500-year-old underground passage has been discovered.
A previously unknown underground passage about 20 meters (65 feet) from the nearby Haşim Işçan Passage was discovered.
The carved marble blocks and reliefs in the underground passage, which contains mosaics and stone inlays, have impressed researchers.
Mahir Polat, Deputy Secretary-General of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), stated that the structure is an excellent example of the city’s architecture that has withstood the test of time and the wrath of earthquakes.
“What is one of the most important aspects of this discovery of a 1,500-year-old passage? Dozens of tremors have passed in these 1,500 years in Istanbul, which is currently struggling with earthquake risk.
This structure has managed to survive all these earthquakes. Türkiye should learn the secret and have knowledge of this,” Polat explained.
The 1,500-year-old underground tunnels discovered in Istanbul, Türkiye. Photo: DHA Photo
Polat pointed out that the main structure of St. Polyeuktos was destroyed, but its infrastructure remains intact.
“The earthquake memory of the city is also here. If you want to see Istanbul’s earthquake memory, what happened in the Fatih district is a good example,” he added.
Reminding that civil engineers and scientific consultants who specialize in earthquakes also assisted in the municipality’s excavation works, Polat stated that the experts would also share a report documenting the earthquakes the area witnessed in the past.
“The mortar with a mixture known as Horasan mortar from the period.
We know it is important in terms of the technology of that period.
We also examined the surface samples of the structure, such as stone, plaster, and possible gypsum, in the laboratory to determine their composition and archaeometry,” Polat added.
During the excavation works in the area, apart from the statue, the teams also found 681 bronze coins, stamped bricks, marble pieces, ceramics, oil lamps, glass, and metal artifacts.
Roman Incense Container Unearthed in Northern England
Archaeologists working on a Cockermouth site uncovered some “particularly spectacular finds” in the final days of their nine-week project.
The nine-strong team of experts has been working in riverside fields off Low Road and behind the Lakes Home Centre.
The Ecus team, from Barnard Castle, was called in by landowner Bob Slack who is keen to put some flood defences in the area.
In the first few weeks they discovered evidence of a Roman foundry, marching camp and small village, said Mr Slack.
They later discovered a bust, steelyard weight, coins, pottery and also the foundations of a building and flagged floors.
In the final week, they came across a copper-alloy incense container, which Ecus project officer Julie Shoemark described as “an exceptionally rare find”.
“The site has produced a wealth of information about the Roman inhabitants of the vicus and last week revealed some particularly spectacular finds,” she said.
“Firstly, we have a highly polished tiny stone figurine which has unfortunately not survived intact. What remains depicts a naked male rendered in typically ‘Romano-British’ style with simply carved large almond eyes and a distinctive spiked hairstyle.
“Secondly, a stone sculpture of a seated female figure was recovered from a rubble deposit. She has unfortunately lost her head, however, enough remains to tell us who she is.
“She wears a pattered mantle and carries a patera (a shallow bowl used for libations) in her right hand and a cornucopia containing an ear of wheat in her left. These attributes identify her as the goddess Fortuna, the goddess of luck, but also closely associated with the harvest in agricultural communities.”
The most striking find was a copper-alloy balsamarium (incense container).
“This is an exceptionally rare find, being one of only a handful excavated in Britain to date,” said Ms Shoemark.
“It is in the form of a bust of the youthful Bacchus, the god of wine, although the features appear to have been modelled after depictions of Antinous, the lover of Emperor Hadrian.
“In addition to being exceptionally rare, this artefact is in superb condition, missing only the lid which would have sat atop the head.”
The only other example of a balsamarium of similar design was recovered from the River Eden, Carlisle and is on display at Tullie House.
Landowner Bob Slack and archaeologist Eddie Dougherty on the site
Bacchus is most widely known as the god of winemaking but is also associated with agriculture, particularly orchards, and fertility.
“We previously had an exquisite steelyard weight depicting Silenus, the satyr companion of Bacchus, so we now have a nice group of finds carrying the running theme of agriculture and fertility, which would have been central to the lives of this community,” said Ms Shoemark.
“Together these and the other artefacts from the excavation are allowing us to build a picture of the history of the site and its inhabitants.
“We look forward to sharing the full results following specialist research and assessment of the assemblage in due course.”
The land, which will be covered with soil and reseeded, is in a flood zone so cannot be developed. Mr Slack has planning permission for 27 homes adjacent to the Lovells development on Low Road.
Neolithic Ritual Cache Discovered in Ukrainian Cave
Mykhailo Sokhatskyi investigating Verteba Cave: Artifacts suggest it was a hiding place because who would want to live here.
Caves have provided shelter for humans and our predecessors for at least two million years. They served as dwellings, hiding places, possibly shrines, and for the last 50,000 years, as a canvas for our art. Now new discoveries in the uninviting Verteba Cave in Ukraine bring us a new glimpse into human history, at the dawn of agriculture in Eastern Europe.
The discoveries, dating to about 5,000 years ago, were made in March by archaeologists from the Borschivskyy Local History Museum in Ukraine, led by Sokhatskyi Mykhailo, a leading scholar of the Trypillian culture and director of the museum. They shed rare light on the enigmatic Cucuteni-Trypillian culture that dominated territories in Ukraine, Romania and Moldova for over 2,000 years.
The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture is known to have been highly developed for its time, the late Neolithic and Chalcolithic. Some of their settlements were extraordinarily large; they farmed and husbanded domestic animals and had pottery and metallurgical skills.
Little however is known about their ritual life due to the scarcity of Trypillian burials. But now some hints have been unearthed at Verteba Cave – including a hidden collection of female figurines.
Beautifully ornamented Trypillian pottery found in Verteba Cave
‘Pompeii on the Dniester’
Verteba Cave is about 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) long and features occasional small stalactites and stalagmites in maze-like tunnels. Its entrance is near the village of Bilche-Zolote, north of the Dniester River in western Ukraine. In fact, the cave has been undergoing archaeological investigation since its discovery in 1829 and gained the soubriquet of “Pompeii on the Dneister” not because of volcano-stricken bodies strewn about but because of the sheer abundance of material from antiquity.
Finds over the years included elaborately ornamented pottery vessels, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic clay figurines, tools made of flint, bone, and stone, copper knives, and various ornaments made of bones and shells. Many are on display inside the cave, which has effectively become an underground museum of Trypillian culture, complete with guided tours.
The team excavating inside the cave Cave Verteba
However, the earlier excavations were not systematic. Archaeological layers got mixed in the process, and valuable data was lost. (Archaeology is the art of destruction, some say, which is why modern archaeological research never excavates whole sites but rather only a slice of them, leaving the rest for future archaeologists equipped with advanced techniques and knowledge.)
Then excavations starting in 1996 found layers undisrupted by previous research, which could be studied using modern methods, guided by almost 200 years of acquired data on the cave.
Female figurines found in previous excavations at Verteba Cave
Stressful times and ‘talking bones’
The unique quality of the Verteba Cave for scholars of the Trypillians is the discovery of three layers of the culture, each separated by a sterile layer. The research concluded that between 6,000 to 4,600 years ago, various groups associated with this culture, differentiated mainly by pottery style, used the cave intermittently, altogether occupying the cave for about 800 years.
What brought these early farmers here, to this unpleasant maze of darkness?
Dank, pitch black, and altogether unwelcoming, but also small stalactites in Verteba Cave
Verteba is not hospitable in any way. It consists of narrow pitch-black labyrinths, and is very humid. Nobody with options would have wanted to live there or stay long. The requisite conclusion, scholars suggest, is that its primary function was as a refuge; but based on the amounts and density of the materials retrieved in the cave, when people did come, it was in large numbers.
Many scholars believe that the late Trypillian period was a turbulent time and indeed the occupation layers in the cave correlate with known migrations to the area by adjacent tribes. Many Trypillian settlements from that time were fortified and surrounded by moats, or were built on high terraces next to rivers.
Cave Verteba
Moreover, the biological evidence found over the years may be scanty but it’s telling. Analysis of 21 Trypillian skulls found between 2008 to 2012 revealed that 12 had head traumas that had to have occurred at death or close to it, because they showed no signs of healing.
Theoretically, at least some of the traumas could have resulted from accidents. Still, osteological research on the position of the injuries and comparison to known markers of violent trauma says violence is the more plausible cause in most cases.
Furthermore, examination of the inhabitants’ teeth and long bones suggested they led a stressful life, at least more so than their predecessors. Their remains indicate that the Verteba cave dwellers were shorter and experienced significantly more enamel defects than Ukraine’s earlier Mesolithic and Neolithic populations, which is indicative of malnutrition and/or disease early in life, during tooth formation.
Bone plate amulet from Verteba Cave
The Trypillian economy was based on agriculture and husbandry alongside hunting and foraging. The Neolithic revolution brought a new way of life, with new stresses. As populations grew and resources became limited, the evidence indicates that people suffered from malnutrition and illness associated with living in dense conditions.
Based on all this, the archaeologists think the cave served to hide in times of conflict likely arising from migration episodes, driven partly by the new way of life. Supporting this thesis, the cave mouth is inconspicuous, at the bottom of a sinkhole in the middle of a flat plateau, making it a perfect hiding spot. Nowadays, the cave has only one entrance but Sokhatskyi and the team discovered that it had several during the Neolithic period.
The entrance to Verteba Cave
The Trypillians weren’t the only ones to hide in the cave system. Around 3,000 years later, others would find refuge in it again – Jews hiding from the Nazis during World War II. An exhibition of items they left behind, like the Trypillians before them, is in process in the underground museum in this extraordinary cave, no place to spend one’s life but a wonderful place to hole up.
An interlude with boars
All that said, hiding wasn’t the only thing the Trypillians did inside Verteba, Sokhatsky surmises. It was also a place of worship and burial. Throughout history, people have sought sanctuary in holy sites, such as churches and temples, he adds.
Among the finds in March, the archaeologists found an enormous clay storage jar with white organic material on its bottom that has yet to undergo analysis. And they noticed a niche in a wall that had been missed, a small one into which only a hand could fit.
Finding the storage jar in Verteba Cave.
Inside it they revealed five female clay figurines, placed closely together, Sokhatskyi says.
“Female figurines are not rare in Trypillian contexts, and hoards of figurines are known, but these were sheltered by the tusks of a wild boar,” he says.
Adult and baby boars in Haifa
Searching the literature produced no parallels, he says.
In general, boar remains are rare within Trypillian complexes. Their tusks have been found within some Early and Middle Trypillian graves but this culture’s rituals seemed to have been focused more on domesticated animals like cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs. When wild animals were represented, they are usually bears or deer.
Verteba is “late Trypillian” and in that context, this find is unique, the archaeologist explains. In Verteba, the team also found jewelry and tools (for pottery production) made of boar teeth, and in 2016, they found a small clay boar figurine.
Boar tusk with perforations suggesting it had been used as a pendant or other item of adornment
For some reason, the boar may have played an important role for the people in the cave. One possibility is the persistence of old traditions, also suggested by the habit of the Trypillians returning to old pottery ornamentation traditions, Sokhatskyi suggests. Perhaps it is that very thing, preserving tradition, that enabled them to preserve their culture for all these years.
