Category Archives: WORLD

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Egypt unveils biggest ancient coffin find in over a century

Egypt unveils discovery of 30 ancient coffins with mummies inside

On Saturday, the Egyptian authorities revealed 30 ancient wooden sarcophagi found in Luxor, including mummies indeed.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities secretary general Mostafa Waziri told reporters that the discovery was the country’s largest in more than a century.

After years of foreign archeological digs, it is the first cache of coffins to be found in an Egyptian venture.

Egyptian archeologist opens a coffin belonging to a man in front of Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor on October 19, 2019.

“The last one was in 1891, [led by] foreigners. 1881, [also] foreigners. But … 2019 is an Egyptian discovery,” Waziri said. “This is an indescribable feeling, I swear to God.”

The discovery was unveiled in front of Hatshepsut Temple at Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany described the 3,000-year-old coffins, which were buried in Al-Asasif Cemetery, as “exceptionally well-preserved, exceptionally well-colored.”

They contained the mummified remains of men and women, as well as two children, who are believed to be from the middle class, Waziri said.

While the mummies were found completely wrapped in cloth, their genders could be identified by the shape of the hands-on the coffin.

Coffins that were carved with the hands open meant they were female, while if the hands were balled into fists, they held males, according to Waziri.

Tourists view the newly discovered coffins at Hatshepsut Temple on October 19, 2019.

According to archaeologist Zahi Hawass, finding coffins belonging to a child is a rare occurrence. The discovery of two has caused tremendous interest “worldwide,” he said.

The coffins were sealed, stacked on top of each other and arranged in two rows about three feet below the sand, he said.

They are adorned with intricate carvings and designs, including Egyptian deities, hieroglyphics, and scenes from the Book of the Dead, a series of spells that enabled the soul to navigate the afterlife. Names of the dead were also carved onto some of the coffins, Hawass said.

The inscriptions are especially unique because of the vivid colors, which stayed intact even though the coffins were buried for thousands of years. This is because ancient Egyptians used natural colors from stones, such as limestone, red oak, and turquoise, mixed with egg whites, according to Waziri.

After painting, egg yolk was mixed with candle wax and spread over the coffin to maintain a natural shine, which is still visible. he said.
Officials said the first coffin was discovered because its head was partially exposed. When they continued to dig, 17 more coffins were found. After those coffins were excavated, the archeologists discovered an additional 12.

The cache of coffins was most likely hidden to keep tomb robbers away from them, according to Waziri.

An open coffin displayed in Luxor reveals a mummy.
An open coffin displayed in Luxor reveals a mummy.

Hawass told reporters during a press event that the discovery reveals important details about ancient Egyptian burial rights, such as how they respected the dead regardless of gender or age.
“This will enrich our knowledge as Egyptologists about the belief of the afterlife,” Hawass said.

The mummies will be restored before being moved to a museum of ancient Egyptian artifacts near the Giza pyramids. The coffins will be given their own exhibit.

“They will be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum, which will be opening at the end of 2020, as a new surprise for our visitors,” said El-Enany.

EUROPE, ROMANIA, WORLD

Unique Archaeological Discovery in Croatia: Roman Chariot With Horses!

Unique Archaeological Discovery in Croatia: Roman Chariot With Horses!

The fossilized remains of a buried Roman chariot with two horses in a burial ritual have been discovered by Archeologists in Croatia.

A large burial chamber for an ‘extremely wealthy family’ was found in which the carriage with what appears to be two horses had lain.  

Archaeologists from the City Museum Vinkovci and Institute of Archaeology from Zagreb discovered the Roman carriage on two wheels (known in Latin as a cisium) with horses at the Jankovacka Dubrava site close to the village of Stari Jankovci, near the city of Vinkovci, in eastern Croatia. 

The discovery is believed to be an example of how those with extreme wealth were sometimes buried along with their horses. 

Curator Boris Kratofil explained to local media that the custom of burial under tumuli (an ancient burial mound) was an exceptional burial ritual during the Roman period in the south of the Pannoinan Basin.

He said: ‘The custom is associated with extremely wealthy families who have played a prominent role in the administrative, social and economic life of the province of Pannonia.’

The discovery is estimated to be from the third century AD but the team of scientists is working to confirm its age.

The discovery of Roman carriage with horses. The incredible discovery of a Roman chariot complete with the fossilised remains of horses

The director of the Institute of Archaeology Marko Dizdar said that it was a sensational discovery that is unique in Croatia.

He said: ‘After this comes a long process of restoration and conservation of the findings, but also a complete analysis of the findings.

‘In a few years, we will know a little more about the family whose members were buried in this area 1,800 years ago.

‘We are more interested in the horses themselves, that is, whether they were bred here or came from other parts of the empire, which will tell us more about the importance and wealth of this family.

‘We will achieve this through cooperation with domestic as well as numerous European institutions.’

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

Humans Reached Greek Island Nearly 200,000 Years Ago

Early humans travelled to Greek islands 200,000 years earlier than believed and could even have WALKED to them when seas were low, scientists claim

The discoveries in the journal Science Advances were based on years of excavations and challenge current thinking about human movement in the region —long thought to have been inaccessible and uninhabitable to anyone but modern humans.

The latest evidence encourages researchers to reconsider the routes followed by our earliest ancestors from Africa to Europe and reveals their ability to respond to new environmental challenges.

“Until recently, this part of the world was seen as irrelevant to early human studies but the results force us to completely rethink the history of the Mediterranean islands,” says Tristan Carter, an associate professor of anthropology at McMaster University and lead author on the study.

He conducted the work with Dimitris Athanasoulis, head of archaeology at the Cycladic Ephorate of Antiquities within the Greek Ministry of Culture.

While Stone Age hunters are known to have been living in mainland Europe for over 1 million years, the Mediterranean islands were previously believed to be settled only 9,000 years ago, by farmers, the idea being that only modern humans — Homo sapiens — were sophisticated enough to build seafaring vessels.

Scholars had believed the Aegean Sea, separating western Anatolia (modern Turkey) from continental Greece, was therefore impassable to the Neanderthals and earlier hominins, with the only obvious route in and out of Europe, was across the land bridge of Thrace (southeast Balkans).

The authors of this paper suggest that the Aegean basin was, in fact, accessible much earlier than believed.

At certain times of the Ice Age, the sea was much lower exposing a land route between the continents that would have allowed early prehistoric populations to walk to Stelida, and an alternative migration route connecting Europe and Africa.

Researchers believe the area would have been attractive to early humans because of its abundance of raw materials ideal for toolmaking and for its freshwater.

At the same time, however, “in entering this region the pre-Neanderthal populations would have been faced with a new and challenging environment, with different animals, plants and diseases, all requiring new adaptive strategies,” says Carter.

In this paper, the team details evidence of human activity spanning almost 200,000 years at Stelida, a prehistoric quarry on the northwest coast of Naxos.

Map of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea showing Naxos in the center
Map of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea showing Naxos in the center

Here early Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and earlier humans used the local stone (chert) to make their tools and hunting weapons, of which the team has unearthed hundreds of thousands.

Chert tool, Stelida, Naxos
Kathryn Killackey/Stelida Naxos Archaeological Project

Reams of scientific data collected at the site add to the ongoing debate about the importance of coastal and marine routes to human movement.

While present data suggests that the Aegean could be crossed by foot over 200,000 years ago, the authors also raise the possibility that Neanderthals may also have fashioned crude seafaring boats capable of crossing short distances.

This research is part of the Stelida Naxos Archeological Project, a larger collaboration involving scholars from all over the world. They have been working at the site since 2013.

EUROPE, FRANCE, WORLD

A postman collected pebbles every day for 33 years and what he created is astounding

A postman collected pebbles every day for 33 years and what he created is astounding

There stands an impressive building deep in the heart of rural France. The Idéal du Facteur Palace is a sculpture piece adorned with carved animals and floral décor and stands at a height of 45 feet (14 meters) high and 85 feet (26 meters) long 

The Palace Idéal is a shrine to the wonder of nature, influenced by Hindu style and Gothic architecture.

But when you remember its history, this beautiful building is even more remarkable. The Palace Idéal was designed by an untrained postman and is made of pebbles that were collected every day.

Cheval’s Palais Idéal.

According to Business Insider, Ferdinand Fernando Cheval was born in 1836 and lived and worked in Châteauneuf de Galaure, a rural village in southeastern France.

He lived a simple and quiet life as a local postman, having left school at the age of 13. However, one day as he was making his daily mail rounds, he stumbled and tripped over a strangely shaped pebble.

Ferdinand Cheval

Fascinated by the properties of the stone, Cheval began to remember a long-forgotten dream of building his own palace. The unusual shape of the stone inspired him, and he returned later to the same spot, only to discover an entire hoard of similar strange rocks.

According to Business Insider, he was so impressed with the beautiful samples of local sandstone that he felt compelled to do something extraordinary with them.

The Palais Idéal, south side. Realized by the postman Ferdinand Cheval (Hauterives, France).

He remarked in his diary, “It was a stumbling block shape so bizarre that I put it in my pocket to admire at my ease. The next day I went back to the same place.

I found more stones, even more beautiful… I said to myself: since Nature is willing to do the sculpture, I will do the masonry and the architecture.”

For 33 years, Cheval collected pebbles and brought them back to his home. He often worked at night, by the light of an oil lamp, collecting stones in his wheelbarrow. Gradually, piece-by-piece, he began to construct a lavish structure, originally called ‘The Temple of Nature’. He bound together each of the stones painstakingly with mortar and lime to make cement.

The starting point – the unusually-shaped stone that Cheval tripped over.

The result was nothing short of a miracle. Cheval constructed an elaborate palace drawing on both European and Indian influences, adorned with sculpted animals, intricate pillars and columns, and a stunning terrace.

He drew inspiration from the images and postcards he found on the mail that he delivered every day, conjuring a pleasure palace that was inspired by a wide variety of cultures and architectural styles.

Cheval’s mausoleum.

Cheval’s success is all the more remarkable given that he had no formal training in any kind of masonry or architecture. According to Business Insider, he constructed the palace by himself, stone by stone, learning the skills he needed as he went along. As a result, the Palace is known as one of the finest examples of Naïve art in existence.

When the Palace finally opened to the public in 1907, Cheval was delighted. Although it was initially regarded as a bizarre curiosity, it soon began to attract wider attention, particularly from surrealist artists such as Andre Breton. It was even the subject of an essay by Anaïs Nin.

Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval.

Even when the Palace was finished, Cheval was not content to put down his wheelbarrow. He wished to be buried inside his epic structure, but French laws prevented him from making such a request in his will.

As a result, he decided to build his own mausoleum, using the same design and principles as he had employed in the construction of his lavish palace.

Cheval’s tomb stands a short distance from the palace and was completed just one year before his death at the age of 88. It is known as the ‘Tomb of Silence and Endless Rest’, and rivals the Palace Idéal in its elaborate design and creativity.

After a lifetime devoted to creating such marvelous monuments, endless rest is surely what this talented postman deserves.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Ancient temple found under Lake Titicaca in peru

Ancient Hidden City Discovered Under Lake Titicaca in Peru

Archeologists discovered the remains of an ancient civilization under the waters of the lake five minutes far from the town of Tiquina on the shores of Titicaca Lake.

Christophe Delaere, an archeologist from the Free University of Belgium, made the discovery 10 years ago using the information provided by local residents. Under the lake, according to the BBC 24 submerged archeological sites were found.

Santiago de Ojjelaya, the most prominent of these places, has recently been decided by the Bolivian Government to build a museum on the site that preserves both the submerged structures and those which are on land.

Lake Titicaca.
Lake Titicaca.

The project is supposed to be finished in 2020 and will cost an estimated $10 million. The Bolivian government is funding the project with help from UNESCO and is backed by the Belgian development cooperation agency.

The proposed building will have two parts and cover an area of about 2.3 acres (9,360 square meters). One part of the museum will be on the shore, and it will display artifacts that have been raised from the lake bottom.

The second part will be partially submerged, with enormous glass walls that will look out under the lake, allowing visitors to see the “hidden city” below.

Old pottery from Tiwanaku at the Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem.

According to the Bolivia Travel Channel, the museum will facilitate the beginning of an archaeological tourism enterprise, which “will be a resort and archaeology research center, geology and biology, characteristics that typified it unique in the world [sic],” according to Wilma Alanoca Mamani, holder of the portfolio of the Plurinational State.

Christophe Delaere said that the building’s design incorporates elements of architecture used by the Andean cultures who inhabited the area.

Jose Luis Paz, who is the director of heritage for Bolivia’s Ministry of Culture, says that two types of underwater ruins will be visible when the building is complete: religious/spiritual offering sites, primarily underwater, and places where people lived and worked, which were primarily on the shoreline. He went on to say that the spiritual sites were likely flooded much later than the settlements.

Chullpas from the Tiwanaku epoch.

A team of archaeological divers and Bolivian and Belgian experts have located thousands of items in the underwater sites. Some of these pieces will be brought up, but the majority will remain underwater as they are quite well-preserved.

Wilma Mamani said that more than 10,000 items have been found including gold and ceramic pieces and various kinds of bowls and other vessels.

The items are of pre-Inca Tiwanaku civilizations. Some of the artifacts have been estimated to be 2,000 years old, and others have been dated back to when the Tiwanaku empire was one of the primary Andean civilizations.

Gateway of the Sun, Tiwanaku, drawn by Ephraim Squier in 1877.

Tiwanaku was a major civilization in Bolivia, with the main city built around 13,000 feet above sea level, near Lake Titicaca, which made it one of the highest urban centers ever built.

The city reached its zenith between 500 AD and 1000 AD, and, at its height, was home to about 10,000 people. It’s unclear exactly when the civilization took hold, but it is known that people started settling around Lake Titicaca about 2,000 BC.

The Gateway of the Sun from the Tiwanaku civilization in Bolivia.

According to Live Science, the city’s ancient name is unknown, since they never developed a written language, but archaeological evidence suggests that Tiwanaku cultural influence reached across the southern Andes, into Argentina, Peru, and Chile, as well as Bolivia.

Tiwanaku began to decline around 1,000 AD, and the city was eventually abandoned. Even when it fell out of use, it stayed an important place in the mythology of the Andean people, who viewed it as a religious site.

Besides the obvious benefits of being able to study and share the artifacts of ancient civilizations, the project has another benefit as well. Most of the people who currently live in the area make their living in agriculture or fishing.

This project brings the possibility of new jobs for local residents, which can keep people from leaving the area due to a lack of opportunities, helping revitalize local communities.

EUROPE, WORLD

Hoards Of Viking Coins Discovered On The Island Of Saaremaa, Estonia

Hoards Of Viking Coins Discovered On The Island Of Saaremaa, Estonia

On the island of Saaremaa, weeks after a big shipment, which includes a 1,700-year-old gold bracelet, came to light, there was another archaeological discovery.

According to the Heritage Protection Board (Muinsuskaitseamet) and the Saaremaa Museum, the recent find dates from the Viking era contains a large number of silver coins. The ERR’s online news in Estonian reports.

As with the earlier treasure trove, the latest find was the work of a metal detector hobbyist, who, in line with Estonian law, informed the authorities.

Some of the silver coins and other finds dating from Viking-era Saaremaa.

“We are grateful for the licensed hobby detector, who reported the findings to the Heritage Protection Board, which can now preserve some of the crucial histories of Saaremaa,” Saaremaa Museum stated on its social media page.

Archaeologist and Tallinn University Archeology Research Collection nusimatics curator Mauri Kiudsoo said that the find was highly significant for in understanding of Saaremaa’s Viking-era history, as well as running against the trend of hobbyists not handing over finds to the state on Saaremaa itself.

Archaeologist and Tallinn University Archeology Research Collection nusimatics curator Mauri Kiudsoo said that the find was highly significant for in understanding of Saaremaa’s Viking-era history, as well as running against the trend of hobbyists not handing over finds to the state on Saaremaa itself.

Two separate hoards were found. One of these dating to the second half of the 10th century contained silver coins that came via the Viking trade route which crossed the Baltic from the present-day Swedish island of Gotland to Saaremaa’s southern coast, and then on to Lääne County and on to present-day Tallinn.

These were likely to have been buried during upheaval or conflict in the region, as was the case with the other hoard from the Lümanda-Kihelkonna area. 

Both point to destruction and upheaval in particular parts of Saaremaa in the second quarter of the 11th century, according to the article.

Kiudsoo added very few coin hoards from the same era that have been found elsewhere in Estonia.

In September, metal detector hobbyist Jegor Klimov found a substantially-sized gold bracelet, amber brooches, locally-made luxury amber brooches, silver, and silver-plated brooches and a Scandinavian silver-plated belt, at a 1,700-year-old sacrificial site.

The find similarly filled in knowledge gaps on the iron age on Saaremaa, as the more recent find has done for the later Viking era.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Ancient images of gladiators unearthed at the city of Pompeii

Ancient images of gladiators unearthed at the city of Pompeii

Archeologists in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii have uncovered a well-preserved fresco showing fighting gladiators.

This scene marks the end of a war between a murmullo and a Thracian form of gladiator, one victorious and the other losing. Both types are described by weapons and armor.

It is the latest discovery in Regio V, a 21.8-hectare (54-acre) site to the north of the archaeological park that is yet to open to the public.

A detail from the fresco of two gladiators fighting that was found at a site north of Pompeii’s archaeological park

The fresco was found on a wall beneath the stairwell of what was probably a tavern frequented by gladiators and which provided accommodation on a higher floor for them to sleep with sex workers.

“It’s very probable that this place was frequented by gladiators,” said Massimo Osanna, the director-general of Pompei’s archaeological park.

The fresco was discovered on a wall in what was probably a tavern frequented by gladiators.

“We are in Regio V, not far from where there were barracks for gladiators, where among other things, there was graffiti referring to this world.

“Of particular interest in this fresco is the very realistic representation of wounds on the wrist and chest of the unsuccessful gladiator … we don’t know the outcome of the fight, he could have died or was given grace.”

A well-preserved ‘fast food’ counter was unearthed in March.

Excavations at Regio V have yielded dozens of discoveries since work began last year as part of the EU-funded Great Pompeii Project.

A frescoed “fast food” counter, or thermopolium, was found in March and another depicting the mythological hunter Narcissus enraptured by his own reflection in a pool of water was discovered in February.

Human remains have also been found, including the skeletons of two women and three children huddled together in a villa, as well as the remains of a harnessed horse and saddle.

Much work has been done across the entire park, which has attracted almost 4 million visitors a year since 2013 when Unesco threatened to place it on its list of world heritage sites in peril unless Italian authorities improved on preservation.

“A few years ago the archaeological site of Pompeii was known throughout the world for its negative image: the collapses, the strikes and the queues of tourists under the sun,” said Italy’s culture minister, Dario Franceschini.

“Today’s story is one of redemption and millions of more tourists. It is a welcoming site, but above all, we have returned to doing research through new digs.

“The discovery of the fresco shows that Pompeii is an inexhaustible mine of research and knowledge for today’s archaeologists and for those of the future.”

ASIA, RUSSIA, WORLD

Scientists discover unique carcass of extinct ‘pygmy’ woolly mammoth on island off Siberian coast

Frozen pygmy woolly mammoth carcass unearthed in Siberia could be proof of a new species of ice age beast

Scientists have discovered relics of Mammuthus exilis, or what they’re calling a “Golden mammoth”, named after the color of its seemingly strawberry blonde colored hair.

The discovery of the carcass proves the existence of a miniature or “dwarf” species of a woolly mammoth — something that’s never been seen by scientists before.

The remains of this “Golden mammoth” was about two meters (or about six and a half feet) in height, which is extremely small when compared to a typical woolly mammoth that was on average three meters (or around ten feet) tall.

The mammoth was found on Kotelny island in the Siberian region of Russia. Scientists have heard reports of smaller mammoths being found in this particular area before, but the discovery of this carcass solidified their existence.

Dr. Albert Protopopov of the Yakutin Academy of Sciences said that scientists “have had reports about small mammoths found in that particular area, both grown-ups and babies. But we had never come across a carcass. This is our first chance to study it.”

Dr. Protopopov working on Kotelny Island.
It has been preserved in permafrost for between 22,000 and 50,000 years. Picture: Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha

Scientists have more to figure out, namely whether the discovery of the animal is a one-off or if mini woolly mammoths were specific to the region where the carcass was found.

The bones of what scientists believe were pygmy-sized woolly mammoths have been discovered in the Arctic region of Russia, but Dr. Protopopov believes that this “Golden mammoth” is an entirely new species of pygmy mammoth.

He believes that this species roamed the earth earlier and was not a rare breed, but an evolutionary adaptation specific to the location where it was found.

Dr. Protopopov was joined by a team of “paleontologists, archeologists, zoologists, botanists, entomologists and permafrost experts” on this expedition to Kotelny Island where the “golden mammoth” was discovered.

He told The Siberian Times, “I believe that this mammoth is related to the period of the heyday of the species, which was supposed to be in the Karginsky interglacial time (between 50,000 and 22,000 years ago).

Our theory is that in this period the mammoths significantly rose in numbers –  and this led to the biggest diversity of their forms. So we want to check this theory.”

Where the new species of the woolly mammoth was discovered makes this find all the more interesting. Koletny island, as well as much of the Russian Arctic region of Siberia, is completely frozen in the winter — including the sea.

An Arctic expedition was undertaken by Russia’s Defence Ministry on Kotelny Island.

The mammoth was found in what Dr. Protopopov describes as “an inaccessible place, and is almost completely buried in the ground in a tidal area,” making this discovery particularly remarkable.

Europe has been experiencing one of the hottest summer’s of record, and the extreme temperatures could have enabled the ice to melt enough to make this discovery possible.

It’s a find that has scientists extremely excited, and it’s quite possible that they have the unusually hot summer season to thank for that.

Excavation of the “Golden Mammoth” has been set to start in the summer of 2019, and it’s likely that scientists will be able to find more animals that have been as well preserved underneath the ice as this latest discovery.