Category Archives: EUROPE

Jug With 870 Silver Coins From The 17th And 18th Centuries Found In Slovakia

Jug With 870 Silver Coins From The 17th And 18th Centuries Found In Slovakia

Archaeologists in Lučivná, a village under the Tatras, dug out a small earthenware jug with 870 pieces of silver coins.

Jug With 870 Silver Coins From The 17th And 18th Centuries Found In Slovakia

“We cleaned two-thirds of the coins, so far the oldest one is from 1665 and the youngest from 1733. Hungarian mintage dominates but there are also Silesian, Tyrolean, Moravian, Lower-Austrian and mintage from the Olomouc archbishopric,” said archaeologists from the Archaeological Institute of Slovak Academy of Sciences in Spišská Nová Ves, Marián Soják, as quoted by the SITA newswire.

Archaeologists have researched systematically in Lučivná; in the past, they found unique discoveries from modern times, according to Soják.

“Some modern coin, spur or badge appeared here and there, however, this was a big surprise for us,” stated Soják for SITA.

The treasure was found in the western part of the cadastre.

“It was buried on a ridge above caves located about 15 metres from a group of rocks. The person knew where to bury it to be able to find it, even though he or she apparently did not come back,” the archaeologist noted for SITA. He added that it is hard to say what the circumstances were that led to burying the treasure.

“Maybe the person hid it because of disturbances, maybe he was attacked on a well-known postal road that leads through the village,” Soják continued for SITA.

The owner of the coins was a medium wealthy person, probably from the lower middle class.

“The nominal value is rather low; the highest value is 15 Kreutzer of Leopold I. Among all the silver coins is also a copper one, a mining emblem from Špania Dolina, that one is really precious,” the archaeologist summed up for SITA.

Secret Catacombs With Incredible Ancient Skeletons Covered In Priceless Jewelry

Secret Catacombs With Incredible Ancient Skeletons Covered In Priceless Jewelry

They call them the Catacomb Saints – ancient Roman corpses that were exhumed from the catacombs of Rome, given fictitious names and sent abroad as relics of saints from the 16th century to the 19th century. They were decorated with extreme lavishness, as you can see below.

Secret Catacombs With Incredible Ancient Skeletons Covered In Priceless Jewelry

But why – why would they be decorated with such luxury? Were they actually buried like this, or did something else happen? Well, they aren’t actually saints in the strict sense, though some of them may be early Christian martyrs.

During the 15th century, western Europe was shaken by the Beeldenstorm – the statue fury – a term used for outbreaks of the destruction of the religious image. During these spates of iconoclasm, Catholic art and many forms of church fittings and decoration were destroyed in unofficial or mob actions.

As the Catholic churches were systematically stripped of their icons, the Vatican came up with a rather strange solution. They ordered that thousands of skeletons be exhumed from the catacombs beneath Rome and installed in towns throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Few, if any, of the corpses belonged to people of any religious significance, but they were decorated like saints.

The skeletons became gruesome symbols of catholicism in areas dominated by protestants. It’s not clear if this move was effective at any time, but by the 19th century, they became an embarrassing symbol of past friction.

Although it was considered simony and forbidden to sell the skeletons or their jewellery, some ‘entrepreneur’ priests managed to make money from transporting them around the country and for some blessings.

In 1803, the secular magistrate of Rottenbuch in Bavaria auctioned the town’s two saints. 174 years later, in 1977, the residents of the town raised funds to have them returned, but for the most part, the catacomb saints were mostly forgotten and cast aside.

But it was their time to come in the spotlight again in 2013, when Paul Koudounaris revived interest in them with his new book, where he tried to photograph and document each and every one of the catacomb saints. It’s unclear if he actually did, but he certainly managed to bring them into the public eye. He explains:

‘After they were found in the Roman catacombs the Vatican authorities would sign certificates identifying them as martyrs then they put the bones in boxes and sent them northwards.  The skeletons would then be dressed and decorated in jewels, gold and silver, mostly by nuns.

‘They had to be handled by those who had taken a sacred vow to the church – these were believed to be martyrs and they couldn’t have just anyone handling them. They were symbols of the faith triumphant and were made saints in the municipalities. One of the reasons they were so important was not for their spiritual merit, which was pretty dubious, but for their social importance.

He also adds that as time passed, their significance changed, becoming from religious symbols, to city symbols.

‘They were thought to be miraculous and really solidified people’s bond with a town. This reaffirmed the prestige of the town itself.’
He added: ‘It’s impossible to put a modern-day value on the skeletons.’

What was Otzi the Iceman’s last meal, 5,300 years ago?

What was Otzi the Iceman’s last meal, 5,300 years ago?

In 1991, German tourists discovered, in the Eastern Italian Alps, a human body that was later determined to be the oldest naturally preserved ice mummy, known as Otzi or the Iceman.

What was Otzi the Iceman's last meal, 5,300 years ago?
This photograph was taken during the stomach content sampling campaign in November 2010 in Bolzano, Italy.

Now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on July 12 who have conducted the first in-depth analysis of the Iceman’s stomach contents offer a rare glimpse of our ancestor’s ancient dietary habits. Among other things, their findings show that the Iceman’s last meal was heavy on fat.

The findings offer important insights into the nutritional habits of European individuals, going back more than 5,000 years to the Copper Age. They also offer clues as to how our ancient ancestors handled food preparation.

“By using a complementary multi-omics approach combined with microscopy, we reconstructed the Iceman’s last meal, showing that he has had a remarkably high proportion of fat in his diet, supplemented with wild meat from ibex and red deer, cereals from einkorn, and with traces of toxic bracken,” says Frank Maixner of the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italy. Bracken is a genus of large ferns.

Maixner and colleagues, including Albert Zink, explain that the analysis hadn’t happened earlier because scientists were initially unable to identify the Iceman’s stomach. That’s because it had moved up during the mummification process. In 2009, his stomach was spotted during a re-investigation of CT scans, and an effort to analyze its contents was launched.

“The stomach material was, compared to previously analyzed lower intestine samples, extraordinarily well preserved, and it also contained large amounts of unique biomolecules such as lipids, which opened new methodological opportunities to address our questions about Otzi’s diet,” Maixner says.

The Iceman’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract preservation and content texture. The radiographic image shows the completely filled stomach (asterisk) and the intestinal loops of the lower GI tract (arrows). Content samples of the stomach (left, asterisk) and of two different sites in the lower GI tract (middle, right) that were re-hydrated in phosphate buffer are shown below the radiographic image.

The researchers combined classical microscopic and modern molecular approaches to determine the exact composition of the Iceman’s diet prior to his death.

The broad-spectrum approach allowed them to make inferences based on ancient DNA, proteins, metabolites, and lipids.

The analysis identified ibex adipose tissue as the most likely fat source. In fact, about half of the stomach contents were composed of adipose fat.

While the high-fat diet was unexpected, the researchers say it “totally makes sense” given the extreme alpine environment in which the Iceman lived and where he was found.

“The high and cold environment is particularly challenging for the human physiology and requires optimal nutrient supply to avoid rapid starvation and energy loss,” says Albert Zink, also at the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies. “The Iceman seemed to have been fully aware that fat represents an excellent energy source.”

Two large bundles of muscle fibers. Confocal laser scanning microscopy image. The scale bar indicates 1mm. Magnified image of one muscle fibre bundle. The scale bar indicates 20μm. The long cylindrical unbranched muscle cells often appear in bundles and still display striated fiber structures running perpendicular to the long fiber axis characteristic for cardiac and skeletal muscle tissue.

The analysis indicated that the wild meat was eaten fresh or perhaps dried. While the presence of toxic bracken particles is more difficult to explain, the researchers say it’s possible that the Iceman suffered from intestinal problems related to parasites found earlier in his gut and took the bracken as a medicine. On the other hand, he may have used the fern’s leaves to wrap food and ingested toxic spores unintentionally.

Their analysis also revealed traces of the original gut bacterial community present in the Iceman’s intestinal contents.

The researchers say they plan to conduct further studies aimed to reconstruct the ancient gut microbiomes of the Iceman and other mummified human remains.

Archaeologists have found a previously unknown Roman city with buildings of monumental proportions in Spain’s Aragon Region

Archaeologists have found a previously unknown Roman city with buildings of monumental proportions in Spain’s Aragon Region

Archaeologists from the University of Zaragoza in Spain have discovered a previously unknown Roman city with buildings of monumental proportions.

Archaeologists have found a previously unknown Roman city with buildings of monumental proportions in Spain’s Aragon Region

The urban complex, which existed between the first and second centuries, had “buildings of immense sizes” as well as public facilities including baths, water supply, streets, and sewers.

Researchers thought the 10-acre site, also located at Artieda, in the Aragon region of northeastern Spain, was home to several separate archaeological sites, including San Pedro and the Rein Hermitage.

In 2018, Artieda City Council asked the University of Zaragoza’s Department of Archeology for help in examining some of the remains found around the San Pedro hermitage, known variously as El Forau de la Tuta, Campo de la Virgen, or Campo del Royo.

And after 3 years of research, experts have confirmed that these sites form one large single archaeological complex. El Forau de la Tuta is the name for everything now, since the team realized they’re all one interconnected city. Until the real name of the city is revealed, of course!

A Corinthian capital and fluted drum with a shaft located in Artieda’s San Pedro hermitage.

The team published the results of their 3 years of work in a report, El Forau de la Tuta: A Hitherto Unknown Roman Imperial City on the Southern Slopes of the Pyrenees.

The team detected two phases of occupation on the surface of the site: one during the Roman imperial period (the 1st to 5th centuries) and another during the early-medieval Christian era (the 9th to 13th centuries).

The researchers discovered two streets, the whispers of sidewalks, four rudimentary cement sewer outlets, one life-sized marble hand of a presumed public monument, and even the reception room of a thermal bath—complete with mosaics preserved by the collapsed sandstone ceiling.

They did this by combining remote sensing techniques like georadar and aerial images with conventional methods.

This magnificent find features two cupids riding seahorses and is decorated with shell and scallop designs.

A detail of the black and white mosaic was found at the Forau de la Tuta site in 2021.

The report states that the settlement was “of urban character—the city’s name is currently unknown—and it developed during the [Roman] imperial period”.

The researchers also learned that the settlement had another life as a rural habitat during the Visigoth and early Andalusian periods. A medieval peasant village sat atop the Roman ruins from the ninth to 13th centuries.

The El Forau de la Tuta location lies 1.5 kilometres from Artieda’s city centre, in the lush Aragón River plain.

It is located within a 390-meter long and 140-meter broad agricultural area.

It is four hectares in size, but it’s likely that the site is significantly bigger and that it encompasses other, as-yet-undiscovered agricultural areas.

Portuguese scientists discover a 100,000-year-old case of deafness

Portuguese scientists discover a 100,000-year-old case of deafness

Around 100,000 years ago somewhere in Morocco a hunter-gatherer started stumbling about suffering vertigo and hearing loss.

Portuguese scientists discover a 100,000-year-old case of deafness

Now, almost 50 years since parts of his skeleton were found as fossils, scientists in Coimbra University have announced the discovery of the “oldest case of deafness in a human being”.

Indeed, from the symptoms, it sounds suspiciously like the hunter-gatherer in question was suffering not just from deafness, but from chronic ear infection.

Explains Lusa, the fossil, tagged as ‘Dar-es-Soltane II H5′ was studied using what is called a micro-CT scan, “also known as computer-assisted microtomography.

“It is similar to a hospital CAT scan, but with a better resolution and which allows a more detailed observation. The observation of the micro-CT and the 3D  reconstruction was done with specific software,” says Dany Coutinho Nogueira, a researcher at the Centre for Research in Anthropology and Health (CIAS) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC).

According to Coutinho Nogueira, the temporal bone (where the auditory system is housed) is very important.

“One part of this bone, the ‘pars petrosa’, is made up of the densest bone in the human body, which sometimes allows better preservation in ancient fossils. This part contains the organs of hearing (cochlea) and balance (semicircular canals), which are studied in paleoanthropology to distinguish human groups (the morphology of this structure in Homo Sapiens is different from those of Neanderthals),” he explained.

When observing the semicircular canals of this fossil (a skull, complete with jawbone), to confirm which human group it belonged to, the FCTUC researcher noticed that “the canals were partially ossified, that is, they had bone in parts where they should not have”.

The study revealed that the individual suffered from ‘labyrinthitis ossificans’, a disease “that causes the ossification of the semicircular canals and the cochlea”.

This condition “implies balance problems, dizziness, vertigo and hearing loss. This pathology is very incapacitating for a hunter-gatherer – limiting the ability to hunt and find food”, said Coutinho Nogueira.

The limited survival time of the individual after the onset of the disease calls into question the cause of death, he added.

The individual died a few months after the onset of the pathology. He could not have survived that long without help from other individuals because he would not have been able to acquire food and hunt, “which indicates to us that there was a form of monitoring from the rest of the group, at least for a few months,” said the scientist.

According to Coutinho Nogueira, this study provides new information about the state of health of past populations, “in particular hunter-gatherers, and also shows that recent technologies allow discovering new information and detecting pathologies on fossils discovered almost 50 years ago”.

Dany Coutinho Nogueira stressed that only two fossils of Homo Sapiens hunter-gatherers present this pathology, “the other was from Singa (a skull discovered in Sudan in 1924 and the target of a scientific study in 1998)”.

“They are the two oldest identified cases of acquired deafness in our species,” he stressed.

The results of the University of Coimbra researchers’ study were recently published in the International Journal of Paleopathology.

7.5 Million Annual Elephant Skulls Fossil Were Found in Turkey “Choerolophodon Pentelic”

7.5 Million Annual Elephant Skulls Fossil Were Found in Turkey “Choerolophodon Pentelic”

A complete skull fossil from 7.5 million years ago was discovered on the bank of the Yamula Dam in the central Kayseri Province of Turkey. This is a major discovery. The skull belongs to Choerolophodon Pentelic, known as the ancestor of elephants.

7.5 Million Annual Elephant Skulls Fossil Were Found in Turkey “Choerolophodon Pentelic”

The study of the fossils found last year was carried out by one of the few experts on Proboscidea – the taxonomic order of African mammals – in the world, Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality said in a statement.

The statement stated that Juha Saarinen, a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and Geography at the University of Helsinki, came to Kayseri and completed the final examination of the skull.

Okşan Başoğlu, head of the excavation team which continues working at the discovery site, said the Finnish scientist Saarinen “worked on the big and complete skull for two full days.”

“This will be published in a very respected journal abroad because it is a very significant fossil,” she quoted Saarinen as saying.

Juha Saarinen works on the elephant skull, Kayseri, central Turkey, (AA Photo)

Başoğlu said it would be a benchmark for them and soon the names of Kayseri and Yamula would take their place in the world’s literature on the subject.

“For this reason, it is a very essential development for us. Kayseri, in one sense, will be a centre of palaeontology,” she said, referring to the study of the history of life on Earth based on fossils.

She said studies in the laboratory are continuously ongoing.

Saarinen, who has worked in many areas from Europe to the Middle East and China to the US, stated that the complete skull fossil belonging to Choerolophodon Pentelic is the only specimen in the world and it is larger in mass than any fossil elephant found in other contemporary fossils. localities of the world.

When it comes to the fully preserved and unique skull specimens and other fossils found in the province, he said that Kayseri will become a reference point for international palaeontology.

In previous studies in the region, samples of giraffes, 4-5 species known as the ancestors of elephants, rhinoceros, triple hoofed horses, and wasp were found.

Ancient grave found right under kindergarten

Ancient grave found right under kindergarten

Builders found human bones when doing reconstruction on a kindergarten in Brestovany, a village near Trnava. They called archaeologists from the Monuments Board of Trnava and the Western Slovakia Museum in Trnava who found that the builders had discovered a grave.

More detailed research showed that it is a 4,000-year-old grave from the Early Bronze Age containing women’s jewels, such as bone beads, a copper bracelet and two willow-shaped earrings, the Monuments Board Trnava informed.

The skeleton belonged to a woman buried in a curled position on her left side.

Ancient grave found right under kindergarten

Based on the found objects and the character of the grave, archaeologists were able to classify the discovery as from the Early Bronze Age, specifically to the bearers of the so-called Nitra culture.

It belongs to the oldest culture of the Bronze Age in Slovakia and its representatives are characterised by the gradual introduction of bronze production, an alloy of already used copper with tin, which resulted in the metal of better strength and hardness. 

“Uncovering the grave was a bit different than usual because all the classes of the local primary school and kindergarten arrived to watch our research and discoveries,” archaeologist Peter Grznár said.

Uncovering the grave thus changed to a live exhibition of archaeologists’ work and lessons about the life and tradition of our ancestors.

The kindergarten is located in the area of the national cultural monument manor house and park in the cadastral area of Malé Brestovany.

The manor house dates to the period of classicism from the first half of the 19th century. However, its location on a slight ridge is interesting, which could have also been attractive as a prehistoric settlement.

Severe Drought Unveils Ruins of Hidden Ancient ‘Bridge of Nero’ in Rome

Severe Drought Unveils Ruins of Hidden Ancient ‘Bridge of Nero’ in Rome

After a period of unusually hot weather and low rainfall, it’s now possible to see the resurfaced remains of an ancient bridge in the Tiber River in Rome, Italy.

A severe drought in Italy has revealed an archaeological treasure in Rome: a bridge reportedly built by the Roman emperor Nero that is usually submerged under the waters of the Tiber River. 

The dropping water levels of the Tiber, which according to Reuters(opens in new tab) is flowing at multi-year lows, have exposed the stone remains of the Pons Neronianus (Latin for the Bridge of Nero), WION News, a news agency headquartered in New Delhi, India, reported. 

Emperor Nero, who ruled as the Roman Empire’s fifth emperor from A.D. 54 to 68, was a controversial sovereign who built public structures and won military victories abroad, but also neglected politics and instead focused much of his time and passion on the arts, music and chariot races.

Rome’s coffers were also drained during his rule, partly as a result of building the “Domus Aurea” (the Golden Palace), which Nero built in the centre of Rome after the great fire. During his reign, he killed his mother and at least one of his wives, and he struggled to rebuild Rome after a huge fire ravaged the city in A.D. 64. Nero killed himself in A.D. 68 at the age of 30 after being declared a public enemy by the Roman senate.

Live Science talked to several experts, who noted that the remains of this bridge have become visible in the past due to low water levels. They also note that, despite its name, it’s not certain if this bridge was built by Nero. 

“The remains of this Roman bridge are visible whenever the water level of the Tiber falls, therefore whenever there are lengthy periods — like now — of very low rainfall,” Robert Coates-Stephens, an archaeologist at the British School at Rome, told Live Science in an email. 

Multiple sources told Live Science that the bridge was possibly built before Nero’s rule. “The origins of the bridge are uncertain, given that it is likely a bridge existed here before Nero’s reign and therefore the Pons Neronianus was probably a reconstruction of an earlier crossing,” Nicholas Temple, professor of architectural history at London Metropolitan University, told Live Science in an email.

The name Pons Neronianus “appears for the first time only in the 12th-century catalogues of Rome’s monuments,” Coates-Stephens said. “It’s true that Nero had extensive gardens and properties in the area of the Vatican, and so a bridge at this point would have given easy access to these.”

Bad place to build?

Hidden ancient Roman 'Bridge of Nero' emerges from the Tiber during severe drought
After a period of unusually hot weather and low rainfall, it’s now possible to see the resurfaced remains of an ancient bridge in the Tiber River in Rome, Italy.

A number of scholars told Live Science that the bridge was constructed on a poorly chosen site. 

The bridge “was built on a tight bend in a floodplain,” which is “a terrible idea,” Rabun Taylor, a classics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Live Science in an email.

“River bends cutting through pure sediment tend to wander and change shape, so their banks are prone to losing contact with bridge abutments” that connect the bridge to the ground, Taylor said. 

He noted that “that’s probably what happened to Nero’s bridge — and it may well have happened by the mid-200s A.D., less than two centuries after Nero’s death.” Taylor’s research into the bridge’s history “suggests the bridge was dismantled at about that time, and the stone piers were reassembled to create a new bridge in a more stable area downstream.

The Pons Neronianus connected Rome to an area that didn’t have a lot of development at the time. While one side of the river had the Campus Martius, a drained wetland that at this point in time had some public buildings (such as baths and temples), and was used to organize military parades, the other side connected to an area where the Vatican is now that had some large houses.

“It was always good to connect the two banks of the Tiber,” but “the Vatican area was mostly private estates until the Fire of 64,” Mary Boatwright, a professor emerita of classical studies at Duke University, told Live Science in an email. Boatwright noted that it wasn’t until the 130s A.D. that development picked up in the area. 

The bridge did, however, have some military and religious importance for Rome, Temple argued. “The Pons Neronianus was both strategically and symbolically important,” Temple told Live Science.

One side of the bridge was located near an area where Roman troops would assemble to march in a triumph (a politically and religiously significant victory parade) and was likely part of the parade route. “The precise route of this procession is uncertain but it seems probable that the Pons Neronianus [and any bridge that preceded it] served as the bridge crossing for this purpose,” Temple said.  

This bridge may also have been used to transport high-profile prisoners, Temple added, noting that the crossing may have been “used by St. Peter when he was taken in chains” after his trial to the Vaticanus, where he was crucified in around A.D. 64, Temple said. 

“The Pons Neronianus has potentially a double significance, as the crossing point into Rome of triumphal armies, and in the opposite direction for St. Peter’s journey to the site of the crucifixion,” Temple said. 

Depending on how climate change affects the Tiber’s water levels, it’s possible that the remains of the bridge may become visible more often. It probably will be visible more often, Boatwright said, adding that “I’d personally rather it be submerged, and Italy not be threatened with drought.”