Category Archives: WORLD

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

British Teenager Discovers Rare Bronze Age Ax Hoard

British Teenager Discovers Rare Bronze Age Ax Hoard

Milly Hardwick was searching for buried treasure in a field in Hertfordshire, England when her metal detector pinged. The 13-year-old’s father, Colin, joked that she’d found an axe. He was partially right: Hardwick had, in fact, stumbled onto a trove of 65 Bronze Age axes and artefacts dated to around 1300 B.C.E.

British Teenager Discovers Rare Bronze Age Ax Hoard
The 13-year-old discovered the cache on her third metal-detecting outing.

“I was shocked,” the teenager, who made the discovery on her third metal-detecting outing, tells Sarah Cooper of ITV News Anglia. “I almost fainted. I was like, ‘Dad, I’m going to faint!’”

Per Jacob Paul of the Express, Hardwick’s mother, Claire, adds, “A lot of people have said it’s a once-in-a-lifetime find.”

Milly Hardwick’s discovery earned her a spot on the cover of a British magazine. Courtesy of the Searcher magazine

At first, the father and daughter—residents of Mildenhall in Suffolk—dug up just a single bronze ax head. Keeping at it, they soon unearthed 20 more artefacts. Archaeologists brought in to excavate the site discovered the rest of the hoard the following day, reports BBC News.

Though she is new to the hobby, Hardwick appears to have a natural ability for locating artifacts.

“Whenever I go out, I find stuff,” she says, as quoted by Ben Turner of SWNS and Nick Wood of Suffolk Live. “I’ve found a gold-plated button and [an Elizabethan] coin. It’s just nice being in the field for hours and you get a signal and it could literally be anything.”

According to English Heritage, Britain’s Bronze Age began around 2300 B.C.E. During this period, ancient Britons mined copper and tin to smelt into axes, chisels, hammers, sickles and other tools.

The newly discovered cache dates to the Middle Bronze Age, which took place between about 1600 and 1200 B.C.E.

Hardwick and her father turned the find over to the local coroner’s office, which is responsible for determining if it qualifies as treasure. Next, reports BBC News, the cache will head to the British Museum, which manages archaeological finds made by the English public through its Portable Antiquities Scheme.

In accordance with the United Kingdom’s 1996 Treasure Act, a museum may decide to purchase the artefacts after they’ve been assessed and valued. If offered any money for the hoard, the young metal detectorist plans to split the proceeds with the field’s owner.

Hardwick’s discovery has caught the attention of other treasure seekers, even earning her a spot on the cover of the December issue of the Searcher magazine.

“The other metal detectorists are really pleased for her,” the teenager’s mother tells SWNS. Still, Claire adds, “On a couple of digs, people have gone, ‘Oh, she’s here now so we might as well go home.’”

Now bitten by the treasure-hunting bug, Hardwick wants to be an archaeologist when she grows up. In the meantime, she will continue searching for more artefacts.

“We’re going to try and find gold,” she tells ITV News Anglia. “That’s the one thing we’re aiming for, and when we do, we’re going to do a little dance.”

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Medieval gold cross found by Norwich detectorist sells for £12K

Medieval gold cross found by Norwich detectorist sells for £12K

Medieval gold cross found by Norwich detectorist sells for £12K
The 31mm-long (1.2in) cross sold for more than its estimated price at the auction

A roofing contractor who found a medieval gold cross in a muddy field said he was “over the moon” after it sold at auction for £12,400. Jason Willis, 38, from Norwich, found the 11th or 12th Century cross while metal detecting at Sutton St Edmund, Lincolnshire, in April 2019.

He said he “knew it was something special by the shining yellow colour”.

Now known as the Throckenholt Cross, it fetched more than its estimated upper limit of £8,000 at auction earlier.

Mr Willis, who took up metal detecting as a hobby with some of his friends, said: “When I came upon the cross and washed it off, I knew it was something special, and by the shining yellow colour – I knew it was gold.

“I handed it to our local finds liaison officer and after two years, of going through the treasure process, the cross was returned to me and I was told that I could now sell it.”

The cross was found by a roofer who took up detecting as a hobby

Frances Noble, head of the jewellery department and associate director of auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, said the pendant was of a “form associated with medieval Greek Orthodoxy in the eastern Baltic region” and said that a “very similar example was discovered in Denmark”.

“King’s Lynn, on the north Norfolk coast, just 20 miles from Sutton St Edmund, was a significant trading partner for the Hanseatic League [a commercial and defensive alliance of merchant guilds and market towns in central and northern Europe], and this trade link may provide a possible explanation for these two very similar cross pendants,” he said.

The auction house’s artefacts and antiquities consultant, Nigel Mills, suggested the cross could have been connected with the medieval hermitage and chapel at Throckenholt, which is within the Sutton St Edmund parish and existed until at least 1540.

The cross was estimated to sell for between £6,000 and £8,000, but including the buyer’s premium, the final price was £12,400.

Following the sale, detectorist Mr Willis said: “I am a roofer and I was working today, so I watched the sale over my phone while sitting on a roof.

“I am over the moon, and as I have just moved house, the money will go towards new items for the house.”

EUROPE, SCOTLAND, WORLD

Amateur Metal Detectorists in Scotland Have Unearthed a Stash of 8,400 Medieval Coins

Amateur Metal Detectorists in Scotland Have Unearthed a Stash of 8,400 Medieval Coins

New Abbey and Sweetheart Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Some used pandemic downtime to learn how to crochet or brew a batch of kombucha. In Scotland, many escaped the boredom of lockdown restrictions by taking up metal detecting—so much so the country’s Treasure Trove Unit is struggling to keep up.

Most recently, the government organization responsible for investigating, handling, and archiving the discoveries of amateur detectorists announced the Dunscore Hoard, one of the biggest discoveries in Scottish history.

Last summer, 8,400 medieval silver coins were found in a field close to Dumfries, a southwestern town 25 miles from the Anglo-Scottish border.

Named after the nearby Dumfriesshire village, the Dunscore Hoard is the largest uncovered in Scotland since the 19th century and is primarily comprised of Edward I and II pennies dating from the 13th to 14th century—a period of frequent war between England and Scotland that cast forth characters such as William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

“The hoard is still being catalogued,” Ken McNab, Senior Communications Officer at Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, told Artnet News. “It’s an ongoing process and we don’t have a timetable at this point.”

This process involves identifying, photographing, measuring, and weighing each coin before museum allocations are decided.

The hoard contains a mix of English, Irish, Scottish, and mainland European coins. Although a value is yet to be determined, the size, breadth, and rareness of the hoard means it is likely worth several hundred thousand dollars.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVDSMIOqEen/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=e9c64cb4-64d0-4dd6-9dbc-5e5068b75702

In May 2020, the Treasure Trove Unit concluded a multiyear survey of Scotland’s hobbyist metal detecting scene and estimated the number of active hobbyists at 520.

Their number seems to have ballooned since the beginning of the pandemic, with the Treasure Trove Unit reporting 12,263 artefacts found so far in 2022, compared to around 1,500 in 2019.

“The team has had to take on more staff to help process items found post-Covid,” McNab said.

Fortunately, the survey showed the hobbyists have a high awareness of the country’s heritage legislation and are keen to work more closely with the heritage sector in the coming years. Expect more finds like the Dunscore Hoard.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

Possible Medieval Shipwreck Spotted in Norway Lake

Possible Medieval Shipwreck Spotted in Norway Lake

Possible Medieval Shipwreck Spotted in Norway Lake
Sonar images reveal the existence of a shipwreck, possibly from the Middle Ages, at the bottom of Norway’s largest lake, Mjøsa

“Mjøsa is like a mini-ocean, or a really large fjord,” says marine archaeologist Øyvind Ødegård from NTNU. For centuries, ships and boats have travelled these waters. Diving archaeologists have registered around 20 wrecks in shallow water. But the lake has never been examined beyond scuba diving depth of around 20-30 metres.

“We believed that the chance of finding a shipwreck was quite high, and sure enough, a ship turned up,” Ødegård says.

The mapping of the sea bottom of Mjøsa started a couple of weeks ago. It yielded results on the very last day. At 410 metres, the autonomous underwater vehicle Hugin from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment found a shipwreck.

“If we found a medieval ship, we would really be hitting the bullseye, it would be fantastic, but we don’t dare to hope yet,” Ødegård said in an article about exploring Mjøsa two years ago. Now it seems they may have found just that.

Possibly a medieval shipwreck

The ship is about ten metres long – it’s possible that it originally was a bit longer – and 2,5 metres wide. This places it somewhere in between the categories of a large boat or a ship, according to Ødegård.

At one end, it looks as though the strakes are no longer fastened properly to the ship, which indicates that the iron nails fastening them have probably begun to rust and disintegrate.

“This tells us that the ship has probably been at the bottom of Mjøsa for a while,” Ødegård says.

The Norwegian newspaper VG excitedly announced for a brief time that the archaeologists had discovered a Viking ship, but this is not the case.

Ødegård explains that Viking ships usually have the steering oar on the side of the ship. During the Middle Ages, the steering oar was rather placed right at the back of the ship – and judging by the images obtained, this is what the shipwreck in question has.

“If this is correct, it is highly likely that the ship is not older than from the 1300s,” Ødegård says.

The ship is clinker built, a Nordic tradition of ship building also known from the Viking ships and listed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“This tradition is recognized as a very important part of our cultural heritage,” says Ødegård.


The autonomous underwater vehicle Hugin on its way to map the bottom of lake Mjøsa.

Naval battles and trade routes

The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment was given the task of mapping Mjøsa by The Norwegian Environment Agency. The job was to find possible explosives and ammunition that may have been dumped in the lake by an ammunition factory which is said to have done so between the 1940s and up until the 70s. Researchers from NTNU had simultaneously started up a project about Mjøsa, and so a collaboration came about.

“We realized that the entire lake is more or less unknown territory,” says Ødegård.

NTNU has therefore started up a research project about Mjøsa starting next year, which will go on for about five years.

Vice principle for NTNU, in Gjøvik, Gro Dæhlin, says to the newspaper VG that Mjøsa is a treasure trove for old ships.

Director of Mjøsmuseet, Arne Julsrud Berg, is also very excited about the find.

He tells VG that there were huge naval battles on Mjøsa in the 1100s and 1200s, when large fleets including ships the size of the famous Gokstad Viking ship met in battle on the water.

“Even during the Viking Age there were huge sea battles on Mjøsa,” Berg says to VG.

The areas surrounding Mjøsa were wealthy farm areas, and goods have been transported across Mjøsa to and from Oslo throughout the centuries.

More to come

Raising the ship would probably pose a very complex task.

“I don’t know if that has ever been done with robots,” says Ødegård.

On Thursday evening this week, having discovered the shipwreck in the sonar images from FFI, Ødegård and the team went out to try and get better images with a different robot, but the waters were too rough.

“What we want to do now is to get data from cameras and other sensors. We can blow away some sand from sediments with the propels on the robot, and we can use manipulator arms, but it will be what we call a non-intrusive investigation at first,” says Ødegård.

The two-week mapping only covered around 40 square kilometres of the 360 sqare kilometre large lake. More ships may turn up – within the next few days, when the researchers analyse more of the data collected, or sometime during next spring, when the next field trip will take place.

“Because this is a freshwater lake, the wood in such a ship is preserved. The metal may rust, and the ship may lose its structure, but the wood is intact. A similar ship to the one we now found, would not have survived for more than a few decades if it had gone down on the coast,” Ødegård says.

“So if we are going to find a Viking shipwreck in Norway, then Mjøsa is probably the place with the most potential for such a find,” he says.

EUROPE, WORLD

Were Europe’s Early Humans Connected to Each Other?

Were Europe’s Early Humans Connected to Each Other?

Were Europe’s Early Humans Connected to Each Other?
Part of the tibia of an early human believed to be Homo heidelbergensis was discovered at the Boxgrove archaeological site in West Sussex.

Piecing together the story of human evolution is an undeniably complex task. However, new research has brought us closer to understanding how early humans in Britain may have been related to other European populations over 400,000 years ago. In the 1990s, part of a lower leg bone and two fossil teeth were unearthed at an archaeological site in Boxgrove, West Sussex.

Dating to around 480,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene, the Boxgrove fossils are the oldest human remains discovered in the UK and were identified as most likely belonging to the ancient human species Homo heidelbergensis. Scientists are now trying to determine if the Boxgrove humans belong to the same population as other early human fossils discovered at Sima de Los Huesos (meaning ‘pit of bones’) at the Archaeological site of Atapuerca in Spain, which date to a similar time period.

The new study, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, found that the incisor teeth from Boxgrove fit comfortably within the range of fossil teeth found at the Sima site in Spain. Therefore, they could potentially represent similar populations. However, the Boxgrove leg bone, or tibia, differed significantly from those discovered in Spain, suggesting it could be from entirely separate populations.

Professor Chris Stringer, an expert in human evolution at the Museum and co-author of the study, says, ‘We’ve got two options. First, suppose the Boxgrove incisors and tibia are from the same population. In that case, they belong to a different population than the sample in Spain because the Boxgrove tibia has more primitive features.’

‘However, because the Boxgrove incisors were found lower and therefore earlier in the sequence of deposits than the tibia, the other option is that those individuals at Boxgrove represent two different populations. In other words, the incisors at Boxgrove and Sima could represent the same population, but the Boxgrove tibia people are different. So that’s the issue.’

Four human species are represented here (H. erectus, H. heidelbergensis, H. neanderthalensis, H. sapiens).

What is Homo heidelbergensis?

Homo heidelbergensis is a species of early human first described from a fossil jawbone discovered near Heidelberg in Germany in 1907. It’s often argued that this species not only lived in Europe but also in Africa and probably Asia between 700,000 and 300,000 years ago. However, some researchers feel that the name has been applied to too wide a range of fossils from this period of time.

The discovery of stone tools more than 700,000 years old from sites in Suffolk and Norfolk shows that humans were living in Britain long before those from Boxgrove. However, the Boxgrove fossils are the earliest human remains in Britain for which there is currently physical rather than archaeological evidence. But trying to define whether they belong to H. heidelbergensis is not easy.

‘The whole heidelbergensis story has become much more complicated,’ says Chris. ‘Since the Boxgrove discovery, many more fossils have been attributed to heidelbergensis and they show a lot of variation. When the fossils at Sima de los Huesos started to be found in the 1990s, they were also called Homo heidelbergensis.’

‘If a fossil didn’t appear to belong to Homo erectus, Homo sapiens or Neanderthals, it was often placed into the category of Homo heidelbergensis. But more work has since been done on the Sima sample, which showed it was much more likely to be early Neanderthal based on physical features and DNA analysis.’

Why are the fossils at Boxgrove compared with those in Spain?

The fossils found at Sima de los Huesos represent the biggest sample of early human fossils ever discovered from the Middle Pleistocene epoch.

Many of these fossils are unusually well preserved and are thought to come from around 29 separate people. Therefore, this site can reveal a lot about this population that existed about 430,000 years ago.

‘Trying to piece together how human populations were similar during the Middle Pleistocene is tricky as fossils are very rare and scattered,’ says Chris. ‘It’s hard to piece the evidence together when we’re trying to match a jawbone from Germany with a leg bone from Britain.’

‘The sample of fossil humans from Spain is by far the biggest from this time period from anywhere in the world. So we can compare the two incisors and tibia from Boxgrove with the 22 incisors and seven tibiae from the Sima sample.’  

‘We found that the Boxgrove incisors fitted within the Sima sample comfortably, and hence might also represent an early Neanderthal population rather than heidelbergensis, but the tibia did not match with those from the Sima. Hence the tibia is something different, but whether it represents heidelbergensis or something else, we cannot tell from this research. ‘

Scaffolding covers the hillside of an archaeological site at Atapuerca in Spain.

How were the fossils analysed?

To determine the relationship between the fossils, the team studied external features and used CT scanning for a more in-depth analysis.

Dr Lucile Crété, Museum researcher and co-author of the study, says, ‘Advances in the field of 3D imaging and virtual reconstruction analysis over the last few years has helped to further our knowledge of fossil teeth and bone morphology and structure across the complex Middle Pleistocene hominin fossil record.’

‘CT data acquired for this study has been essential to compare the Boxgrove and Sima de los Huesos fossils and other comparative material to help make a coherent story.’

Since the discovery of the Boxgrove fossils, more material from the Middle Pleistocene has been analysed in even more detail. However, the story of human evolution and how populations were related has been revealed to be even more complex.

Dr Matthew Pope, a co-author on the paper, says, ‘This research brings us a step closer to understanding how the Boxgrove people were related to other European populations in the Pleistocene.’

‘The picture is complex, given the teeth appear close to those from Sima and the tibia a little more distant. But we must remember that they were found in different sediments at the Boxgrove site. Establishing how separated in time these sediments are from each other is now an important research question for science to address.’

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Colonnaded Hall Discovered in Egypt’s Nile Delta

Colonnaded Hall Discovered in Egypt’s Nile Delta

Remains of the colonnades hall of Butu Temple were uncovered during excavations carried out by an Egyptian archaeological mission at Tel Al-Farayeen, Kafr El-Sheikh in the northern Nile Delta.

Colonnaded Hall Discovered in Egypt’s Nile Delta

A collection of pots used in religious rituals was unearthed along with decorated stone engravings depicting scenes that date back to the 26th Dynasty Saitie period.

The hall, has three aligned columns in ruins with a probable papyrus on the top – emblematic of the of prevailing art forms in that period – could be associated withe deity Wadjet who is the master of Butu Temple.

The mission also unearthed a limestone relief showing a deity with a bird head wearing a white crown surrounded by feathers – possibly Nekhpet or Mut.

“This is a very important discovery,” said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

“It shows a major part of the temple, which sheds light on the original plan of the temple and the architectural design of the surrounding area extending for 11 feddans,” Waziri added.

He noted that the area was surrounded by a huge mud brick wall built during the New Kingdom.

More height was added to the wall during the Saitie period, he explained.

A small limestone shrine, pots, and vessels were also discovered in the temple area.

“The shrine might have been built to preserve small statues sacrificed for the temple,” said Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, adding that excavations will continue to reveal more secrets of the site.

The mission had earlier uncovered a huge stone building with tools used in religious rituals and a collection of distinguished scenes carved in ivory and inlaid with gold and hieroglyphic engravings.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

46 Eagles in vivid colour revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

46 Eagles in vivid colour revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

A joint German/Egyptian archaeological mission at the Temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile, 35 miles south of Luxor in Egypt, has revealed some original colours and patterns in the part of the temple complex during restoration work.

Sand dust, filth, salt efflorescence, and bird and bat guano and bones had collected on the walls, ceilings, and columns over the ages, obscuring the inscriptions to the point that they were almost invisible to the human eye.

The construction of the Esna Temple dates from Ptolemaic times, however, most of the parts that survive today are from the Roman period.

The Esna Temple is dedicated to the Ancient Egyptian god, Khnum, and his consorts Menhit and Nebtu, their son, Heka, and the goddess Neith.

46 Eagles in vivid colour revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling
46 eagles in vivid colour revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

The restoration project found the original colours and patterns under the middle ceiling above the entrance to the temple.

A careful process of cleaning revealed a painting that depicts 46 eagles in a row, 20 of which have an eagle head (representing Upper Egypt), whilst the remainder is the head of a cobra (representing Lower Egypt).

The murals on the middle ceiling over the entry hall are particularly noteworthy. The ceiling is more than 45 feet high and decorated with 46 eagles in two rows.

The goddess Nekhbet and Upper Egypt are represented by twenty-four of them, which have eagle heads. Wajit, the goddess of Lower Egypt, is represented with twenty-two cobra heads. Between 1963 and 1975, French Egyptologist Serge Soniron studied and photographed the temple inscriptions, but the ceiling with the 46 eagles was never recorded or published.

Dr. Hisham El-Lithy, head of the Central Administration for Egyptian Archaeology Registration and Head of the Egyptian Archaeological Mission said: “The colourful inscriptions have suffered over the past centuries from the accumulation of thick layers and impurities.”

Researchers also discovered Greek inscriptions written in red ink while cleaning the western wall of the temple.

It was discovered in the temple axis’ western wall frieze, totally buried in layers of black soot.

The inscription specifies the date and month, Epiphi 5, which corresponds to late June or early July during Emperor Domitian’s reign (81-96 A.D.) Archaeologists think that this is the date when the Esna Temple was finished.

ASIA, SAUDI ARABIA, WORLD

Hima, a rock art site in Saudi Arabia, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

Hima, a rock art site in Saudi Arabia, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

The rock art site Hima in Najran has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming the sixth registered site in Saudi Arabia.

Hima, a rock art site in Saudi Arabia, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

The site is located in southwestern Saudi Arabia and has one of the largest rock art complexes in the world.

Saudi Arabia’s rock art has gained popularity in recent years and is considered to be one of the richest in the world, in addition to other rock paintings in Australia, India, and South Africa.

Hima was a conduit for caravans on the Hajj and trade routes going to and from the southern parts of Arabia, to the ancient world markets of Arabia, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Egypt.

People who passed through the area between prehistoric and post-historic times have left behind a substantial collection of rock art depicting hunting, wildlife, plants, symbols, and tools used at the time, as well as thousands of written inscriptions in various ancient writings including Musnad, Thamudic, Nabataean, and the early Arabic.

Hima a rock art site in Najran has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, becoming the sixth Saudi site to find a place in the coveted list.

Dr. Jasir Alherbish, CEO of the Heritage Commission, stated, “The region has great global significance, providing us with numerous lessons regarding the evolution of human civilization and life in ancient times.” (Saudi Gazette)

“We are thrilled to have this exceptional ancient site recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

“We are working to preserve the area and conduct research to further understand the rock inscriptions, and are looking forward to welcoming more local and international visitors to come and see this historic cultural site for themselves.”

The Kingdom’s 2030 Vision prioritizes the preservation and protection of the Kingdom’s cultural and natural assets.

A slew of fresh finds, overseen by the Heritage Commission, has reinforced the country’s status as a go-to destination for archaeologists, historians, and scientists interested in regional human history.

The Kingdom has also taken significant steps to safeguard national and international cultural assets.

The Ministry of Culture signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNESCO in 2019, agreeing to donate $25 million to the organization’s global heritage protection plan.