Authorities have positively identified the remains of an Army Air Forces pilot from Ohio who died when his plane was shot down over Germany during World War II, the Defense Department announced Thursday.
On May 29, 1944, 1st Lt. Carl Nesbitt was the pilot of a B-17G Flying Fortress bomber during a huge bombing mission over Leipzig, Germany, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
German fighters attacked the bomber’s formation roughly 28 miles northeast of Leipzig, and the plane was shot down.
Six of the 10 crew members were able to escape the plane before it crashed near Horst, while Nesbitt and the rest were killed. Their bodies were believed to have been buried in a local cemetery and, after the war ended, there was no evidence of Nesbitt being a prisoner of war or having survived.
Nesbitt, 23, of Lima, Ohio, was assigned to the 569th Bombardment Squadron, 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 13th Bombardment Wing, 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force.
The American Graves Registration Command, which worked to recover fallen service members in Europe after the war, found the remains of a crew member buried in a cemetery in Horst during a search in September 1946.
But after 1950, worsening diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, which then controlled that part of Germany, prevented the AGRC from investigating further, and Nesbitt was declared nonrecoverable on April 21, 1953.
In July 2012, an investigation team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a DPAA predecessor, found the crash site and recovered evidence of a B-17 crash. In 2015, the landowner allowed DPAA to excavate, and the work was done during the summer 2019.
Crews recovered possible material evidence and possible remains, which were eventually sent to a lab at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
Scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, mitochondrial DNA analysis and circumstantial and material evidence to identify Nesbitt’s remains. He will be buried May 15 in Annville, Pennsylvania.
Nesbitt was accounted for last September, DPAA officials said, but his family only recently received their full briefing on the case.
The warrior’s tomb was found at one of four archaeological sites unearthed during the construction of a motorway in southeastern Romania.
Workers building a new highway in Romania have unearthed the treasure-laden tomb of a wealthy warrior and his horse. The tomb dates to the fifth century A.D., when the region was controlled by a people known as the Huns.
The tomb is filled with more than 100 artifacts, including weapons, gold-covered objects and pieces of gold jewelry inlaid with gemstones, Silviu Ene(opens in new tab) of the Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archeology in Bucharest, Romania, told Live Science.
Ene is the lead archaeologist investigating the tomb, which was discovered late last year during the construction of a motorway near the town of Mizil in the southeast of Romania, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the Black Sea.
Four separate archaeological sites were unearthed during the road construction, and the wealthy warrior’s tomb — which the researchers described as “princely” — was just a part of the most complex site, Ene said.
“This tomb is of major importance because, in addition to the rich inventory, it was discovered at a site along with 900 other archaeological features — [such as] pits, dwellings, and tombs,” he told Live Science in an email.
The sword was made from iron and has mostly rusted away, but its scabbard is decorated throughout its length with gold-leaf.
Invading Huns
The ethnicity of the Mizil warrior still isn’t known, but the rich grave goods suggest that he belonged to the ruling class in the region’s Hunnic period, or “migration era,” when it was controlled by the Huns, Ene and his colleagues told the news outlet Hungary Posts English(opens in new tab).
The Huns were nomadic horsemen who originated in Central Asia. During the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. they invaded and occupied the far east of Europe, while displacing other peoples — such as the Vandals and the Goths — from their lands, causing them to migrate west.
The Huns were a particular problem for the Byzantine (or Eastern) Roman Empire, which until that time had controlled much of the lands west of the Black Sea — a region that now includes Romania.
But the Romans lost the region to the Huns, who went on to invade the Western Roman province of Gaul (modern France and western Germany) and even to attack Rome under their leader Attila the Hun, before losing their territory in Europe to a mixed force of Goths and other Germanic former vassals at the Battle of Nedao — a site now in Croatia — in A.D. 454.
The finds also included several pieces of solid gold jewelery, including this one decorated with gemstones.
The tomb was discovered in bad weather and the excavation had to be completed with flashlights so the road construction project could go ahead.
This part of a saddle for a horse covered with gold-leaf and other objects associated with warhorses were found in the tomb.
Princely tomb
The latest archaeological finds at the Mizil tomb included an iron sword in a gilded scabbard, a dagger, bundles of iron arrowheads and decorated braces of bone that were once fitted to a wooden bow, Ene said.
The dagger is especially ornate, with a gold-covered hilt inlaid with gemstones, he noted.
Archaeologists also unearthed the remains of a gilded saddle, a bronze cauldron, several decorated “sconces” — fittings to hold candles on a wall — and pieces of gold jewelry, he said.
Several weapons were found in the tomb, including a sword, a dagger, parts of a bow and a bundle of iron arrowheads that seem to have been gathered together in a quiver.
The complete skeleton of the warrior and the skull and leg bones of his horse were found in the tomb. The man seems to have been buried wearing a gold mask.
The sword and the dagger found in the tomb are especially ornate; the scabbard of the sword and the hilt of the dagger are decorated with gold leaf.
The hilt of the dagger is covered with gold leaf and decorated with semi-precious gemstones.
The tomb held the warrior’s complete skeleton, and his face seems to have been covered with a gold mask, the remains of which were also unearthed. However, only a leg and the head of his horse have been unearthed so far, Ene said
The archaeologists told Hungary Posts English that the styles of the newfound objects suggest they are from about the fifth century A.D., when most of Europe north of the Danube River was under the control of the Huns.
The excavation of the tomb had to be completed in bad weather and sometimes with flashlights so that the motorway project could go ahead.
The archaeological investigation is now about “half finished,” Ene said. Over the next few months, the bones and artifacts will be cleaned, investigated and put on public display, while the site of the tomb itself will be built over by the motorway project.
World’s oldest runestone found in Norway, archaeologists say
Archaeologists in Norway have found what they claim is the world’s oldest runestone, saying the inscriptions are up to 2,000 years old and date back to the earliest days of the enigmatic history of runic writing.
The discovery of millennia-old runic writing is a ‘sensational’ find, say archaeologists.
The flat, square block of brownish sandstone has carved scribbles, which may be the earliest example of words recorded in writing in Scandinavia, the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo said.
It said it was “among the oldest runic inscriptions ever found” and “the oldest datable runestone in the world”.
“This find will give us a lot of knowledge about the use of runes in the early iron age. This may be one of the first attempts to use runes in Norway and Scandinavia on stone,” said Kristel Zilmer, a professor at the University of Oslo, of which the museum is part.
Older runes have been found on other items, but not on stone. The earliest runic find is on a bone comb found in Denmark. Zilmer said that maybe the tip of a knife or a needle was used to carve the runes.
The runestone was discovered in late 2021 during an excavation of a grave near Tyrifjord, west of Oslo, in a region known for several monumental archaeological finds. Items in the cremation pit – burned bones and charcoal – indicate that the runes were likely inscribed between AD1 and AD250.
“We needed time to analyse and date the runestone,” she said to explain why the finding was first announced on Tuesday.
Measuring 31cm by 32cm (12.2in by 12.6in), the stone has several types of inscriptions and not all make linguistic sense. Eight runes on the front of the stone read “idiberug” – which could be the name of a woman, a man or a family.
Zilmer called the discovery “the most sensational thing that I, as an academic, have had”.
There is still a lot of research to be done on the rock, dubbed the Svingerud stone after the site where it was found.
“Without doubt, we will obtain valuable knowledge about the early history of runic writing,” Zilmer said.
The runestone will be exhibited for a month, starting on 21 January, at the Museum of Cultural History, which has Norway’s largest collection of historical artifacts, from the stone age to modern times.
Runes are the characters in several Germanic alphabets that were used in northern Europe from ancient times until the adoption of the Latin alphabet. They have been found on stones and different household objects.
City Under a City: Metro Reveals Thessaloniki’s Ancient Past
The metro construction in Greece’s Thessaloniki has brought ancient ruins from the city’s life back in the 4th century BC to the surface. The excavation has brought to light Thessaloniki’s central 6th-century highway, a marble plaza, a fountain and a headless statue of Aphrodite.
Thousands of ancient finds such as coins, mosaics and statues have also been uncovered.
“Thessaloniki is unique in that from its foundation in the 4th century BC until today there is city under a city,” Tania Protopsalti, an archaeologist told Greek Reporter.
The city of Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon. An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1430, and passed from the Ottoman Empire to Greece on Nov. 8, 1912.
Most of the findings relate to the Byzantine era. However, Protopsalti says that, as excavations continue, new findings from the Roman era come to the surface.
“Eventually we hope to reach the remnants of the city when it was founded in the Cassander-era,” the Greek archaeologist said.
She added that some wall paintings and small sections of floor mosaics from the 4th century BC have already been uncovered.
The headless statue of Aphrodite
The excavations, filling in gaps in the city’s long history for archaeologists, have focused on the site of Hagia Sophia where a central metro station is being built.
It was there where a central 6th-century highway and marble plaza, two of the most exciting finds, were uncovered.
“The discovery of the marble plaza located south of the central highway gave us an invaluable insight into the urban planning in the 6th century,” archaeologist Stavroula Tzevreni told Greek Reporter.
The marbles have been carefully removed to be reinstated when the metro works are completed at Hagia Sophia.
The square was surrounded by impressive buildings decorated by mosaics that remain in good condition.
They were found in the south entrance of the station Hagia Sophia and are believed to be part of a nearly 315 square meter urban villa dated to the first half of the 4th century AD to the 5th century AD.
Decoration of the mosaic floors consists of geometric patterns, while one includes a central medallion, possibly depicting Aphrodite. The mosaics will be extracted, cleaned and exhibited at the same station they were excavated in.
At the southeast end of the square archaeologists found a 15-metre (nearly 50-foot) fountain structure believed to be one of the largest in the Roman world.
Alongside the stone-paved highway, the Decumanus Maximus, the remains of mud-bricked workshops were uncovered where jewellers plied their trade — as they still do today, in blocks of flats above the subway dig.
Scheduled to be operational in late 2020, the €1.5-billion ($1.7 billion) Thessaloniki metro will at first have 13 stations and run a distance of 9.6 kilometres (six miles).
A future expansion is planned to include the city airport.
3 mummified skeletons were found in Iznik, western Turkey
Archaeologists discovered mummified skeletons dating from the 2nd century A.D. within two sarcophagi at the Hisardere Necropolis in Bursa’s Iznik district.
The excavation is being conducted out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism under the direction of Aygün Ekin Meriç, an academic at Dokuz Eylül University’s Archeology Department in western Izmir province.
Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Letters, Archeology Department Lecturer Assoc. Dr. Aygün Ekin Meriç told reporters the necropolis was extensively used during the second and third centuries, and that they have found six sarcophagi in total in the region to date with the addition of the two recent findings.
Unique chamber tombs dating back to the third century were also discovered, he said, noting how spectacular the two newly discovered sarcophagi are.
“Along with the sarcophagi, there are chamber tombs, especially from the 3rd century, unique to Iznik, unmatched anywhere else, with painted interiors and decorated with ornaments.
At the same time, these two latest sarcophagi are very ostentatious.
The sarcophagi were made during the Roman Imperial Period, in the 2nd century. The two came out side by side. Very showy sarcophagi decorated with Eros reliefs on three sides,” he said.
Meriç stated that sarcophagi were unearthed in the illegal excavations carried out in the region since 1989 and that the area was expropriated in 2018 and scientific excavations began in 2019.
Meriç also added that they are excavating a holy basilica built in the cemetery area.
A view from two sarcophagi found in Hisardere Necropolis, Iznik, Bursa, northwestern Turkey.
Pointing out that they also found a small inscription on the mosaic in the basilica, Meriç said, “A woman’s name is mentioned.
The basilica was built in honor of the woman. No name, only the feminine epithet preserved. Excavation of the apse part of the basilica has not been completed.
We will more or less reveal the plan of the basilica in the next period of excavations,” used the phrases.
Meriç said that the basilica is 30 meters wide and 50 meters long, and they think that it was built in a plan similar to the basilica in Lake Iznik from the course of the walls.
Iznik Archaeology Museum reveals 2,500-year-old love letter
Iznik is an ancient habitation that hosts various civilizations due to its fertile lands, trade routes, and many other reasons.
Ancient Nicaea, now called İznik, is a farming town surrounded by massive medieval walls set on the shore of a broad lake 39 miles (63 km) southeast of Yalova. Two Christian ecumenical councils were held here, the 1st in 325, and the 7th in 787.
The seventh council took place at the Hagia Sophia Church, which is located in the heart of the city.
The historical city of Iznik, which has been the capital of four civilizations and a contender for UNESCO’s preservation list, is getting ready to open its Iznik Archaeology Museum and host special exhibitions of priceless antiquities.
The museum has attracted the attention of many local and foreign tourists with its artifacts spanning a 5,000-year-old history. In particular, an ancient message engraved on the sarcophagus of Antigonus I, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, has aroused particular interest around the world.
The emotional 2,500-year-old message, translated by expert archaeologists, reveals the grief over Antigonos I’s death.
“I, the sad Arete, cry out with all body and soul from the tomb of Antigonos. I pull my hair out from grief and I express myself by crying. This ill luck, the death, has captured me instead of emancipating this precious man,” the engraving reads.
Iznik Archaeology Museum.
Unsurpassed museum
The foundation of the Iznik Archaeology Museum was laid in 2020. With the completion of the construction, the museum’s inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place shortly and surely will be one of the prominent museums of Europe with its rich data and ancient artifacts dating back to the Neolithic Age.
Speaking to Ihlas News Agency (IHA), former museum director and archaeologist Taylan Sevil said: “The new museum contains quite significant movable cultural assets.
There are artifacts of many civilizations from prehistoric times to the present. In that sense, the museum fills a huge gap here. It invites people to witness world civilization.”
The museum also has a marble board game from the Roman era, a sarcophagus of the Greek hero Achilles with spectacular engravings, and sarcophagi of Antigonos I and noble families with dazzling engravings.
Archaeological Treasure Trove! 21 Royal Han Tombs Unearthed in China
Photo from the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences via Xinhua
Along a mountainside in China, a collection of tombs with a potentially regal past lay buried for millennia—but not anymore.
Archaeologists excavating an archaeological site in Changsha unearthed 21 vertical pit tombs containing over 200 artifacts, the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a Tuesday, Jan. 10 news release via Xinhua, China’s state-affiliated news outlet.
Many of the tombs were found side-by-side, aerial photos of the site show. On one end of the site, three tombs are in a row. On the other end, four tombs are lined up together. Pairs of tombs may have been the joint burial of a husband and wife, the release said.
A tomb filled with grave goods unearthed at the Changsha site.
All of the tombs are about the same age, dating back 2,000 years to the Western Han Dynasty, the release said.
The Western Han Dynasty was the earlier half of the Han dynasty and lasted from about 200 B.C. to 25 A.D., according to Britannica.
Because of the particular arrangement and similar age of the burials, archaeologists concluded the collection of tombs is likely a family buried together in an ancient mausoleum.
The tombs were found on a mountainside near a royal tomb, the Taohualing Han Tomb, and a burial area.
Considering this proximity, the 21 tombs may be the royal family, archaeologists said.
The ruins of a double layer tomb.
One of the rare tombs unearthed in Changsha had relatively complete traces of an outer coffin shaped like “Ⅱ” or like double ‘I’s, the release said.
A line of five decaying pillars was also found in the tomb, photos show. These ruins indicate the tomb might be a double layer structure, a tomb structure rarely found in the Hunan province.
The collection of tombs can be grouped into two types: tombs with passageways and tombs without, archaeologists said. The tombs mainly contained pottery artifacts, researchers said.
However, also unearthed were: two iron relics, walls covered in glaze, a mineral known as talc, and a tan-colored talc disk with a rhombus and circle pattern. Photos show the talc disk.
The talc disk, or bi, found in one of the tombs.
In addition, archaeologists found coins, pottery stoves, pots, and utensils at the site, according to a news release from the Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.
Other sections of the Changsha archaeological site have not yet been excavated but may contain more findings, Hunan officials said. Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province and about 665 miles southwest of Shanghai.
Mystery Of The Unbreached Burial Chamber Inside A Little-Known Pyramid In The Dashur Complex
The enduring mysteries of ancient Egypt keep fascinating archaeologists, historians, and the public alike. The Land of the Pharaohs refuses to give up its secrets, and despite countless magnificent archaeological finds, we tend to encounter riddles all over Egypt.
Buried beneath the sands lie the tremendous treasure of one of the most powerful ancient civilizations of all time, the ancient Egyptians.
Dashur pyramid.
Sometimes archaeologists arrive too late at the site, leaving us with ancient mysteries that may never be solved. That is the beauty but tragedy of ancient Egyptian history. Magnificent ancient tombs have long been looted, and we may never know to whom the burial places belonged.
Located about 15 miles south of Cario, the Dashur complex is famous for its incredible structures constructed during the era of the Old Kingdom. Dashur complex consists of pyramids, mortuary temples, and other unexplored buildings.
Archaeologists have long argued that sites such as Dashur, Giza, Lisht, Meidum, and Saqqara are as significant as archaeological findings.
The site where the previously unknown pyramid was discovered.
It “would confirm or adjust the entire time frame of the extraordinary developmental phase of Egyptian civilization that saw the biggest pyramids built, the nomes (administrative districts) organized, and the hinterlands internally colonized – that is, the first consolidation of the Egyptian nation-state. ”
In addition to this information, the results of such excavation projects would naturally fill in the historical gaps and provide a more comprehensive picture of the lives and deaths of pharaohs and ordinary people in ancient Egypt.
Many ancient Egyptian pyramids have been destroyed, but still, several are hidden beneath the sands awaiting scientific exploration. One such intriguing ancient structure is the newly-discovered pyramid in Dashur, Dahshur, a previously inaccessible site relatively unknown to the public.
Dashur is an ancient cemetery known mainly for several pyramids, two of which are among the oldest, largest, and best-preserved in Egypt, built from 2613–2589 BC. Two of the Dahshur Pyramids, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid, were constructed during the reign of Pharaoh Sneferu (2613-2589 BC).
The Bent Pyramid was the first attempt at a smooth-sided pyramid, but it was not a successful achievement, and Sneferu decided to build another called the Red Pyramid.
Inside the little-known Dashur pyramid.
Several other pyramids of the 13th Dynasty were built at Dahshur, but many are covered by sand, almost impossible to detect.
In 2017, Dr. Chris Naunton, President of the International Association of Egyptologists, traveled to Dashur together with the crew of the Smithsonian Channel and documented the exciting findings of one particular pyramid.
What the team discovered is a bit like an ancient detective story. Local archaeologists had found heavy blocks of finely cut limestone buried deep in the sand. Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquity was informed about the discovery, and archaeologists were sent to the site to excavate.
The burial chamber was sealed but some had been inside and looted.
Having worked long and hard, archaeologists finally uncovered a previously unknown pyramid. Still, the most exciting part was the discovery of a secret passage that led from the pyramid’s entrance to an underground complex at the very heart of the pyramid. The heavy and huge limestone blocks protected the chamber, ensuring no one could pass easily and explore whatever was hidden inside the mysterious ancient pyramid.
The obstacles did not discourage archeologists, who successfully managed to enter the pyramid’s interior after some days of work. Everything seemed to indicate the unknown pyramid at Dashur contained ancient treasures and most likely a mummy.
When scientists found themselves inside the burial chamber, they were astounded to see someone had visited this ancient place long before them. The Dashur pyramid had been robbed about 4,000 years ago. Looting pyramids in the past was quite common, and the Dashur pyramid was one of many robbery victims.
One can understand Dr. Naunton’s disappointment when he glanced into the empty burial chamber, but this discovery is intriguing and raises specific questions.
“There are two questions here that we need to start trying to answer. One is who was buried here? Who was this pyramid built for? And then secondly, how is it that an apparently completely sealed, unbreached burial chamber comes to have been disturbed?” Dr. Nauton says.
Was a mummy stolen from the Dashur pyramid? Maybe or maybe not. How did looters get past the untouched seal? Did the original ancient builders plunder the burial chamber before they sealed it? These are some of the many questions this ancient Egyptian mystery pose.
