Hurriyet Daily News reports that a 2,400-year-old house, with a kitchen and a neighbouring room containing mirrors, ornaments, loom weights, and fragrance containers have been unearthed at the site of the ancient Lycian city of Patara.
The world of archaeology was delighted by the objects found during the excavations at Patara, the capital of the Lycian Union, where significant traces of human life were uncovered during the archaeological excavations.
Excavations take place in the area of Tepecik, where settlements of the city were established. The kitchen and the women’s room with mirrors, ornaments and fragrance containers have been found in this area.
Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, deputy head of Patara excavations, Associate Professor Erkan Dündar said that the Tepecik settlement in Patara is an area where the earliest finds and architectural structures of the ancient city were found.
Emphasizing that thanks to the excavations there, they reached information about the residential life during the Lycian Union period, Dündar said that besides residential buildings, there was a military garrison in Tepecik.
Stressing that Alexander the Great came to the Lycian region for a short time, Dündar said, “After he seized it, he set up a garrison as he did in many places.
The soldiers staying in the garrison brought their families here. It was a kind of military lodge. In addition to war tools such as stones, arrowheads and spears, we also found finds of residential life.”
What delighted them the most was the kitchen they found in an ancient house, Dündar said.
“We found the kitchen items in bulk. We found crush pots, storage pots, oil pots, casseroles and a hairpin.
The kitchen gave us important information about life in that period. We also found a women’s room during excavations. In a room called ‘women’s room,’ we found loom weights, small items belonging to women, mirrors, ornaments and fragrance pots. Women are women in every period. They always cared about their own beauty.”
Noting that the houses in the Tepecik region have stone foundations, Dündar said that the superstructures of the houses have flat roofs raised with mudbrick and that they resemble the highland houses in today’s Elmalı district.
Dündar said that the region does not attract much attention from visitors because it lacks aesthetics, but that academic and scientific data emerging from the region were very important for them.
Possible Roman Salt-Making Site Discovered in England
Spalding Today reports that excavations ahead of road construction in England’s East Midlands have uncovered Roman pottery, charcoal, two ditches, and holding tanks that may have been used by the Romans to make and transport salt. “Before this, it was believed that the area did not have much activity up until recent times,” said project manager Mick McDaid.
A team of archaeologists have been running an excavation in Pinchbeck as part of the preparation work for the Spalding Western Relief Road.
Lincolnshire County Council and South Holland District Council are working on the plans to create the 6.5km road to link the A1175 and A16 to the south and east of Spalding, to the B1356 to the north, via the B1172 Spalding Common.
Archaeologists at work on the site off Spalding Road as part of the Spalding Western Relief Road
Two substantial ditches and holding tanks have been uncovered during the 16-week excavation.
Project manager Mick McDaid said that this site has been a surprise.
He said: “Nothing was expected from the site prior to evaluation. There was an aerial photograph which showed a crop mark but there was no indication of the quality of the archaeology.
Archaeologists at work on the site off Spalding Road as part of the Spalding Western Relief Road
“This has really added to the knowledge of the area. Before this, it was believed that the area did not have much activity up until recent times.”
During the Roman period, Spalding and the surrounding area would have been creeks which would provide the ideal location for creating salt.
Romans would use a hearth to evaporate tidal water intobrine to create salt.
Mr McDaid said: “There are no signs that this was any sort of settlement but was purely for industrial use.
“We have what appears to be holding tanks for the brine.”
An Underground City Full Of Giant Skeletons Discovered In The Grand Canyon
In the early 20th century, chance led us to the gate of the underground town of the most prominent giants of that period. This was an unprecedented find in the Grand Canyon, which soon repeated in the press.
The Grand Canyon was the birthplace of a culture in which, according to an article published in the Gazeta de Arizona on April 5, 1909, people of cyclopean proportions existed. A civilization that only left us some structures as a testimony of its existence.
The article mentions the discovery of a huge subterranean citadel by an explorer named GE Kinkaid, who accidentally found it while rafting on the Colorado River. It is worth mentioning that Kinkaid was a recognized archaeologist and had the financial support of the Smithsonian Institution.
According to their descriptions, the entrance to this mysterious city was at the end of a tunnel that extended for something more than 1,600 meters underground.
Kinkaid was impressed that the cavern was almost inaccessible. The entrance was about 450 meters under the wall of the steep canyon. The place was in a zone protected by the government and the access was penalized under fine.
“Above a shelf that could not be seen from the river was the entrance to the cave. When I saw the chisel marks on the wall inside the entrance, I got interested, I got my gun and I went in. “Kinkaid said.
The architecture found suggested that the builders of that subterranean city possessed advanced engineering skills.
The central axis of the underground city made it a gigantic camera from which radiated passages similar to the radii of a wheel. The walls of the main chamber were adorned with copper weapons and tablets covered with symbols and hieroglyphic characters very similar to those we know in Egypt.
Another interesting finding was the discovery of mummified bodies inside the citadel. None of the mummies found were less than 2.74 meters and all were wrapped in dark linen. Kinkaid said he had taken photographs of one of them with a flashlight, however, none of those photos were found.
Further explorations revealed interesting data on the beliefs of these alleged giants of the city.
More than 30 meters from the entrance is a room with a cross-shaped plant several tens of meters long and where an idol was found that could have been the main god of his religious system.
He was sitting cross-legged and with a lotus or lily flower in each hand. His face had oriental features as well as the carving of the cave. This idol had a certain resemblance to Buddha, although the scientists of the time did not finish assuring that it represented that religious cult.
The article also talks about the discovery of ceramics and other artifacts with trademarks having been manufactured in other parts of the world. Perhaps a rare mixture of cultures that scarcely occurs in archaeological finds, so this discovery would be of unprecedented importance.
The last camera they found on the exploration was what Kinkaid and his partner, Professor SA Jordan, a ceremonial crypt, believed to be at the end of the great hall where they found the mummies.
Unfortunately, the article does not give many more details about this discovery. Nor are there any official versions or references to this enigmatic subterranean city. The Smithsonian Institute denies having knowledge of the existence of this underground city.
After 3,300 Years, king tuts Coffin Leaves His Tomb for the First Time Ever
The outermost coffin that once held the body of King Tutankhamun had never left the 3,300-year-old tomb since the time he was first laid to rest. Even after archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb in 1922, the wooden coffin remained in the Valley of the Kings — until now.
The golden outer coffin of Tutankhamun has been removed from its sterilization tent before it undergoes a painstaking eight-month restoration process.
The gilded sarcophagus of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh now lies in the restoration laboratory of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, which lies on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt.
Restoration of the outer coffin will take at least eight months, Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany said.
Pictures reveal the intricate reliefs on the foot of the golden sarcophagus which were carved into the outer wood covering of the coffin.
Inside the box-like structure of the sarcophagus were three coffins to house the body of the king. The innermost coffin is made of solid gold, while the middle coffin is made with gilded wood, inlaid with multi-colored glass. The outer coffin is made from wood with a gold covering and stretches to 7.3 feet long.
This is the first time the outer coffin of ‘King Tut’ has been removed from the 3,300-year-old tomb since it was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter.
Tutankhamun, known as the ‘Golden Pharaoh’, was an 18th dynasty king who ruled from the age of eight to 19. He died in 1324BC and is best known for being the first royal tomb to be discovered almost entirely intact.
He was buried in the Valley of the Kings and discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. His tomb was filled with royal treasures, including a dagger made from a meteorite.
His tomb contained three coffins nestled within one another. Shortly after it was discovered both the inner and middle caskets were transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, while the outer gilded coffin was left behind.
In July, the casket was removed in tight security operation and fumigated for seven days. Restoration will now continue using non-invasive equipment to repair cracks to the golden layers and fix weakened areas
A woman looks at the golden sarcophagus belonging to Tut, who died at the age of 19.
After mechanical and chemical engineering has taken place, any layers of plaster that have broken away will be replaced in their original location.
Once the work has been completed, the coffin will be on display in the Grand Egyptian Museum – the first time the three caskets have been displayed together since their discovery.
Some of the stunning artifacts are going on display at the Saatchi Museum in London in November to raise funds for a new Egyptian museum, giving members of the public opportunity to see them before they are stowed away forever.
The linen-wrapped mummy of King Tutankhamun displayed in his climate-controlled glass case in the underground tomb KV62.
Smallest Dinosaur ever Found Preserved in 99- million-year-old Piece of Amber
The head of a flying dinosaur that is hardly bigger than a bee hummingbird has been discovered in 99-million-year-old amber. The piece of polished amber, just 31mm by 20mm by 8.5mm, was found in Kachin Province of northern Myanmar, an area becoming increasingly well-known for its remarkable amber-encased fossils.
The piece of amber measures only 1.25 inches (31.5 millimeters) in length. The skull is a mere 0.6 inches (11 millimeters).
The amber contains the skull of Oculudentavis khaungraae, a newly described dinosaur and one of the smallest ever discovered. Its tiny stature is forcing paleontologists to rethink the lower limits of body size in birds, and the nearly 100-million-year-old fossil is challenging the current understanding of when and how dinosaur giants shrank into the birds of today.
A Mysterious Transformation
Tiny Oculudentavis may have occupied a unique ecological niche in the ancient world.
The evolutionary transition of dinosaurs to modern birds is one of the most astounding transformations in the history of life: large, bipedal and mostly carnivorous dinosaurs morphed into small, flying birds. Famous discoveries like Archaeopteryx and more recently the fossils from the Jehol Biota in China have given researchers some hints about the process. But finds from this evolutionary phase — which researchers think began about 200 million years ago — are rare.
Paleontologists are far from having a complete picture of the evolution of birds, and even farther from a full inventory of Earth’s ecosystems in the age of dinosaurs. Our research on the tiny Oculudentavis, published in the journal Nature, adds valuable information to the puzzle of when, how, and to what extent dinosaurs shrank.
Clues in Bone
This high-resolution scan allowed us to see the intricacies of a bone structure unlike any before seen in birds or dinosaurs.
This high-resolution scan allowed us to see the intricacies of a bone structure unlike any before seen in birds or dinosaurs.
Our team needed to see the minute details of the skull, and we needed to do it without cracking or ruining the specimen – a difficult task with a skull encased in 99-million-year old amber from Myanmar. To do that, we scanned the skull with high-resolution X-rays and created a digital model with very fine anatomical detail. What emerged was a picture of overall bird-like anatomy. But in some interesting ways, Oculudentavis is unlike any bird or dinosaur that has ever been found.
The obvious curiosity of the fossil is its size: Oculudentavis rivaled the smallest bird living today, the bee hummingbird, and likely was no more than 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) from beak to tail. We considered whether the skull possibly belonged to a very young animal, but the extent and pattern of bone growth and the proportional size of the eye pointed to a mature bird.
With a total skull length of just about 0.6 inches (1.5 centimeters), Oculudentavis pushes against what is considered the lower limit of size in birds: the head still had to hold functional eyes, a brain, and jaws. The small size is especially surprising if one considers that Oculudentavis lived during the same time as giant plant-eating dinosaurs like Argentinosaurus.
Small and Specialized
The small size of Oculudentavis is striking, but to a trained eye, there are other extremely unusual features, too.
First of all, the skull seems to be built for strength. The bones show an unusual pattern of fusion and the skull lacks an antorbital fenestra, a small hole often found in front of the eye.
The eyes of Oculudentavis also surprised us. The shape of the bones found within the eye, the scleral ossicles, suggests that it probably had conical eyes with small pupils. This type of eye structure is especially well adapted for moving around in bright light. While daytime activity might be expected for an ancient bird from the age of dinosaurs, the shape of the ossicles is entirely distinct from any other dinosaur and resembles those of modern-day lizards.
Adding to the list of unexpected features, the upper jaw carries at least 23 small teeth. These teeth extend all the way back beneath the eye and are not set in deep pockets, an unusual arrangement for most ancient birds. The large number of teeth and their sharp cutting edges suggest that Oculudentavis was a predator that may have fed on small bugs.
The sum of these traits — a strong skull, good eyesight, and a hunter’s set of teeth — suggests to us that Oculudentavis led a life previously unknown among ancient birds: it was a hummingbird-sized daytime predator.
One of the Earliest and Tiniest Birds?
Placing Oculudentavis in the tree of life is, given its strange anatomy, challenging. Our phylogenetic analysis — the investigation of its relationships to other dinosaurs — identifies Oculudentavis as one of the most ancient birds. Only Archaeopteryx branched off earlier.
Scientists consider the nectar-feeding hummingbirds — which appeared 30 million years ago — the smallest dinosaurs on record. But if our placement of Oculudentavis holds true, the miniaturization of dinosaurs may have peaked far earlier than paleontologists previously thought. In fact, the largest and the smallest dinosaurs may have walked and flown the same earth nearly 100 million years ago.
Our work demonstrates how little scientists know about the little things in the history of life. Scientists’ snapshot of fossil ecosystems in the dinosaur age is incomplete and leaves so many questions unanswered. But paleontologists are eager to take on these questions.
What other tiny species were out there? What was their ecological function? Was Oculudentavis the only visually guided bug hunter? To better understand the evolution of the diversity of life we need more emphasis and recognition of the small.
Amber holds strong potential to fill that gap. Maybe one day a scientist will hold up another piece, and let sunshine reveal a complete Oculudentavis, or even a previously unknown species. More finds in amber will help illuminate the world of the tiny vertebrates in the age of dinosaurs.
Ancient Egyptian Coffin Contains Oldest Known “Map” Of The Underworld
Even those who know little of ancient Egypt’s mysteries have heard of the infamous Book of the Dead. And now, researchers have found a similar text that not only predates that one, but may also be the oldest illustrated book ever uncovered.
According to The New York Times, Egyptologists found parts of an illustrated “book” that served as a guide to reaching Rostau — the Underworld ruled by Osiris, the Egyptian god of death.
The incredible discovery, published in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, happened at the village Dayr al-Barsha (or Deir el-Bersha) where the cliff-side necropolis of the region’s governors who ruled during Egypt’s the Middle Kingdom was laid to rest inside elaborately decorated tombs.
Fragments from a Book of Two Ways discovered on the coffin of a woman named Ankh inside the necropolis of Deir el-Bersha.
It was guided by archaeologist Harco Willems from the Belgium’s University of Leuven, a team of researchers investigated one of the five burial shafts located inside the tomb complex of Ahanakht.
Twenty feet down inside the burial shaft, the team found the remains of a sarcophagus that appeared to be completely undisturbed despite the previous presence of grave robbers and other archaeologists at the site.
Judging by the remains and the setup of the sarcophagus, it belonged to an elite woman named Ankh who was related to an elite government official. Her cedar coffin had deteriorated due to being overrun by fungi but upon closer inspection, the crumbling casket revealed something unexpected.
Inside the sarcophagus were remarkable etchings explicitly quoting from the Book Of Two Ways, which is made up of hieroglyphs and illustrations describing Ankh’s wayward journey into the afterlife.
“These ‘coffin texts’ tend to situate the deceased in the world of the gods,” Willems said. “Sometimes they are combined with drawings. At Deir el-Bersha, one frequently encounters Books of Two Ways.”
Markings on the floor of a coffin showing the “two ways” of the ancient Egyptian afterlife referred to in the Book of Two Ways.
“The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with life in all its forms,” explained Rita Lucarelli, an Egyptology curator at the University of California, Berkeley. “Death for them was a new life.”
Now, researchers have yet again uncovered evidence that ancient Egypt’s elaborate death customs sometimes included providing the dead with these “coffin texts” so that they could make their way to the underworld. Remarkably, each person had their own version of the text that was customized based on their status and wealth.
Ankh’s guide texts incorporated incantations to help her ward off the demons she encountered on her journey. The arduous trip to reach Rostau, the markings proclaimed, would be plagued by obstacles of fire, demons, and spirits that she would have to overcome.
“This one begins with a text encircled by a red line designated as ‘ring of fire,’” Willems said. “The text is about the sun god passing this protective fiery ring to reach Osiris.”
Judgment scene from the Book Of The Dead, the corpus of Egyptian funerary texts that the Book Of Two Ways predates.
Researchers estimated the age of Ankh’s sarcophagus texts based on inscriptions and other relics found nearby that referred to the reign of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II, who ruled until 2010 B.C.E. That means the original manual from which these texts were copied would be at least 4,000 years old, likely making it the world’s oldest illustrated book ever found.
The team furthermore found two dozen extant texts of the Book Of Two Ways maps inside the burial shaft. Most etchings have been difficult to make out but the scientists believe the depictions likely illustrate rituals to bring deceased gods or dead humans back to life, symbolizing rebirth in Egyptian culture.
Perhaps further study will only help unravel more of the mysteries stirred up by this fascinating find.
Researchers Discover 14,800 Years Old Petroglyphs, the Oldest one in U.S.A
A recent high-tech study performed by a bouldering researcher of the University of Colorado showed the oldest recorded petroglyphs in North America, which were carved into a series of boulders in West Nevada at least 10,500 years ago and perhaps even as far back as 14,800 years ago.
Researchers found that petroglyphs discovered in western Nevada are at least 10,500 years old, making them the oldest rock art ever dated in North America.
Petroglyphs found on the petroglyphic site of the lake at Winnemucca 35 kilometers northeast from Reno consist of large, deeply sculpted grooves and dots that form intricate patterns on several large limestone boulders that have been known about for decades, said CU-Boulder researcher Larry Benson, who led the new effort.
Although there are no people, animals, or handprint symbols depicted, the petroglyph designs include a series of vertical, chain-like symbols and a number of smaller pits deeply incised with a type of hard rock scraper.
Benson and his colleagues used several methods to date the petroglyphs, including determining when the water level the Winnemucca Lake subbasin — which back then was a single body of water connecting the now-dry Winnemucca Lake and the existing Pyramid Lake — reached the specific elevation of 3,960 feet.
The elevation was key to the study because it marked the maximum height the ancient lake system could have reached before it began spilling excess water over Emerson Pass to the north.
When the lake level was at this height, the petroglyph-peppered boulders were submerged and therefore not accessible for carving, said Benson, an adjunct curator of anthropology at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.
A paper on the subject was published this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Co-authors on the study included Eugene Hattori of the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, Nev., John Southon of the University of California, Irvine, and Benjamin Aleck of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Museum and Visitor’s Center in Nixon, Nev. The National Research Program of the U.S. Geological Survey funded the study.
According to Benson, a white layer of carbonate made of limestone precipitated from the ancient, overflowing Winnemucca Lake had coated some of the petroglyph carvings near the base of the boulders. Previous work by Benson showed the carbonate coating elsewhere in the basin at that elevation had a radiocarbon date of roughly 11,000 years ago.
Benson sampled the carbonate into which the petroglyphs were incised and the carbonate that coated the petroglyphs at the base of the limestone boulder. The radiocarbon dates on the samples indicated the carbonate layer underlying the petroglyphs dated to roughly 14,800 ago.
Two images trace the shapes of some of the petroglyphs more clearly and show their relative size
Those dates, as well as additional geochemical data on a sediment core from the adjacent Pyramid Lake subbasin, indicated the limestone boulders containing the petroglyphs were exposed to air between 14,800 and 13,200 years ago and again between about 11,300 and 10,500 years ago.
“Prior to our study, archaeologists had suggested these petroglyphs were extremely old,” said Benson, also an emeritus USGS scientist. “Whether they turn out to be as old as 14,800 years ago or as recent as 10,500 years ago, they are still the oldest petroglyphs that have been dated in North America.”
While Native American artifacts found in the Lahontan Basin — which encompasses the Winnemucca Lake subbasin — date to the time period of 11,300 to 10,500 years ago, it does not rule out the possibility that the petroglyphs were carved as early as 14,800 years ago, Benson said.
The oldest dates calculated for the Winnemucca Lake petroglyph site correspond with the time frame linked to several pieces of fossilized human excrement found in a cave in Oregon said Benson, who also is affiliated with CU’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.
The caves, known as the Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon, held not only fossilized human coprolites that dated to roughly 14,400 years ago but also bones of horses and camels that went extinct in North America prior to 13,000 years ago.
The younger time interval calculated for the Winnemucca petroglyphs corresponds to dates obtained from a second significant archaeological finding in the region — Spirit Cave Man, who was discovered more than 70 years ago some 60 miles east of Reno and whose hair, bones, and clothing were dated to about 10,600 years ago. The remains of the man, who was found partially mummified in a shallow grave in Spirit Cave, Nev., were discovered with a fur robe, a woven marsh plant shroud, and moccasins.
Petroglyphs near Long Lake in central Oregon — which were previously thought to be the oldest examples of rock art in North America — share similar features with some of the rock art the Winnemucca site, said Benson. At least one of the petroglyph panels from Long Lake was buried by ash from an eruption of the nearby Mount Mazama volcano roughly 6,700 years ago, proof that it was carved sometime before the eruption.
Close-ups of the Winnemucca Lake petroglyphs
“We have no idea what they mean,” Benson said of the Winnemucca Lake petroglyphs. “But I think they are absolutely beautiful symbols. Some look like multiple connected sets of diamonds, and some look like trees or veins in a leaf. There are few petroglyphs in the American Southwest that are as deeply carved as these, and few that have the same sense of size.”
Benson obtained permission to non-invasively examine the petroglyphs from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, which owns the land. Study co-author John Southton, a faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, radiocarbon dated the material for the study.
Potential Royal Statue Fragment Unearthed in England
The Guardian reports that a team of researchers led by archaeologist Julian Richards unearthed a carved stone head at the site of Shaftesbury Abbey, which was founded as a religious house for women in southwestern England in the late ninth century by Alfred the Great and dissolved in the sixteenth century by Henry VIII during the English Reformation.
At first, Julian Richards, who led the dig in Dorset, thought the head, caked in soil, was topped by some sort of cap. “I thought: ‘This is strange,’” he said. “Who could this be, wearing that sort of headgear? Then someone pointed out it wasn’t a cap, but a crown. There are raised bits around the headband representing jewels.”
Painstaking detective work has led to the conclusion that the head dates back to the 1340s and might – we may never know – be that of Edward II.
Dr Julian Richards with the head at Shaftesbury Abbe
Richards said it was an exciting find. “It is definitely a royal figure. It might be Edward II, but we’re not sure. It could be a stylized image of a Saxon king, possibly even Alfred. The quality of the carving is absolutely stunning. You can even see the eyelids.”
The reign of Edward II from 1307 to 1327 is sometimes characterized as a failure. Lowlights included a defeat by Scottish forces at Bannockburn and being forced to relinquish the crown in favour of his 14-year-old son. He was also probably murdered. His close, possibly sexual, relationship with Piers Gaveston was depicted in the 16th-century Christopher Marlowe play Edward II.
For Richards, the identity of the figure is not the point. It is what the statue tells us about the history of the abbey that he is most interested in.
Shaftesbury Abbey was founded by Alfred the Great, the King of the Anglo-Saxons, in 888. It was the first religious house solely for women and Alfred installed his daughter Æthelgifu as its abbess.
The abbey prospered for centuries, but it was closed down in 1539 by order of Henry VIII and, over the next few years, it crumbled.
Archeologists have concluded that the stone head would have formed part of a previously unknown royal gallery of statues of monarchs, and would have screened the nuns from other worshippers.
When the abbey was destroyed, local people carried off stonework to build houses and walls. The head would have been useless to them. “They just wanted stone blocks to build houses. They didn’t want things like this head. It wasn’t any use to them,” said Richards.
It may be that the statue was deliberately targeted by Henry VIII’s people. “Somebody has taken a sledgehammer and smashed this up because it’s broken across the neck,” said Richards. “Or maybe they just pushed it over, it fell and the nose got broken.”
The head was found during a dig in 2019. Since then, the focus has been on dating and trying to identify it. The Covid-19 crisis has prevented the head from going on display, but it is hoped that members of the public will be able to visit it at the abbey museum in the spring.
Other objects that have been found ranging from clay pipes and industrially produced pottery of the last three centuries down to rare shards of late Saxon pottery, worked flints from 7,000 years ago, and three medieval silver pennies.
Another find close to the stone head that thrilled Richards just as much as a single large black bead made of a jet from Kimmeridge on the Dorset coast.
Richards said it was believed to have once been part of a nun’s rosary, worn smooth from years of pious handling. He wonders if the bead was lost when she was thrown out of the abbey during the dissolution.
“Think about it; it would have been one of this nun’s very few possessions. Was the rosary broken when she was evicted? She was living a life of quiet prayer, and then suddenly her whole world was destroyed and she lost everything. For me, that is a very powerful object.
