Category Archives: WORLD

An ancient statue of Hercules emerges from Rome sewer repairs

An ancient statue of Hercules emerges from Rome sewer repairs

An ancient statue of Hercules emerges from Rome sewer repairs
The statue of Hercules found in the Appia Antica park.

An ancient Roman statue of Hercules has been discovered during repairs to the sewerage system underneath a park in Rome.

The statue, which apparently dates back to the Roman imperial period (27BC to AD476), emerged from the ground around the second mile mark along the ancient Appian Way, a famed historic road.

The Appia Antica Park announced on Facebook that the area “has reserved a great surprise for us: a life-size marble statue which, due to the presence of the club and the lion’s coat covering its head, we can certainly identify as a figure representing Hercules”.

The discovery was made during repair work on some sewer pipes that had collapsed, causing chasms and landslides.

The excavations reached a depth of 20 metres and, as often happens in Rome, were carried out with the presence of archaeologists.

In November last year an “exceptional” trove of bronze statues, preserved for thousands of years by mud and boiling water, was discovered in a network of baths built by the Etruscans in Tuscany.

The 24 partly submerged statues, which date back 2,300 years and have been hailed as the most significant find of their kind in 50 years, include a sleeping ephebe lying next to Hygeia, the goddess of health, who has a snake wrapped around her arm.

Do the Great Apes Share a Common Language?

Do the Great Apes Share a Common Language?

Humans share elements of a common language with other apes, understanding many of the gestures that wild chimps and bonobos use to communicate.

That is the conclusion of a video-based study in which volunteers translated ape gestures.

It was carried out by researchers at St Andrew’s University.

It suggests the last common ancestor we shared with chimps used similar gestures, and that these may have been a “starting point” for our language.

The findings are published in the scientific journal PLOS Biology.

Lead researcher, Dr Kirsty Graham from St Andrews University explained that this gesture-based way of communicating is shared by other species of great apes, including gorillas and orangutans.

“Human infants use some of these same gestures, too,” she told BBC News.

“So we already had a suspicion that this was a shared gesturing ability that might have been present in our last shared ancestor.

“We’re quite confident now that our ancestors would have started off gesturing, and that this was co-opted into [our] language.”

This study was part of an ongoing scientific mission to understand this language origin story by carefully studying communication in our closest ape cousins.

This team of researchers has spent many years observing wild chimpanzees. They previously discovered that the great apes use a whole “lexicon” of more than 80 gestures, each conveying a message to another member of their group.

Messages like “groom me” are communicated with a long scratching motion; a mouth stroke means “give me that food” and tearing strips from a leaf with teeth is a chimpanzee gesture of flirtation.

Translating apes

Scientists used video playback experiments, because the approach has traditionally been used to test language comprehension in non-human primates. In this study, they turned the approach on its head to assess humans’ abilities to understand the gestures of their closest living ape relatives.

Volunteers watched videos of the chimps and bonobos gesturing, then selected from a multiple choice list of translations.

The participants performed significantly better than expected by chance, correctly interpreting the meaning of chimpanzee and bonobo gestures over 50% of the time.

“We were really surprised by the results,” said Dr Catherine Hobaiter from St Andrews University. “It turns out we can all do it almost instinctively, which is both fascinating from an evolution of communication perspective and really quite annoying as a scientist who spent years training how to do it,” she joked.

The gestures people can innately understand may form part of what Dr Graham described as “an evolutionarily ancient, shared gesture vocabulary across all great ape species including us”.

High-Tech Scans Reveal 17th-Century Dental Work

High-Tech Scans Reveal 17th-Century Dental Work

Scientists have discovered the long-buried secret of a 17th-century French aristocrat 400 years after her death: she was using gold wire to keep her teeth from falling out.

The body of Anne d’Alegre, who died in 1619, was discovered during an archaeological excavation at the Chateau de Laval in northwestern France in 1988.

Embalmed in a lead coffin, her skeleton — and teeth — were remarkably well-preserved.

At the time the archaeologists noticed that she had a dental prosthetic, but they did not have advanced scanning tools to find out more.

Thirty-five years later, a team of archaeologists and dentists have identified that d’Alegre suffered from periodontal disease that was loosening her teeth, according to a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports this week.

“Beyond the only therapeutic care and far from the only coquetry, this study shows also the importance of the appearance for aristocratic women submitted to strong social constraints (like stress or widowhood),” the study’s authors wrote. 

A “Cone Beam” scan, which uses X-rays to build three-dimensional images, showed that gold wire had been used to hold together and tighten several of her teeth.

She also had an artificial tooth made of ivory from an elephant — not hippopotamus, which was popular at the time.

The scientists said their paper “provides the first demonstration of a link between a diagnosis and a therapy on an identified individual using new digital technologies used in modern dentistry.”

But the ornate dental work only “made the situation worse,” said Rozenn Colleter, an archaeologist at the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research and lead author of the study.

The gold wires would have needed repeated tightening over the years, further destabilizing the neighboring teeth, the researchers said.

D’Alegre likely went through the pain for more than just medical reasons. There was huge pressure on aristocratic women at a time when appearance was seen as related to value and rank in society.

Ambroise Pare, a contemporary of d’Alegre’s who was the doctor for several French kings and designed similar dental prosthetics, claimed that “if a patient is toothless, his speech becomes depraved,” Colleter told AFP.

A nice smile was particularly important for d’Alegre, a “controversial” twice-widowed socialite “who did not have a good reputation,” Colleter added.

D’Alegre lived through a troubled time in French history.

She was a Huguenot, Protestants who fought against Catholics in the French Wars of Religion in the late 1500s. By the age of 21, she was already widowed once and had a young son, Guy XX de Laval.

When the country plunged into the Eighth War of Religion, d’Alegre and her son were forced to hide from Catholic forces while their property was seized by the king.

Her son then converted to Catholicism and went to fight in Hungary, dying in battle at the age of 20. After being widowed a second time, d’Alegre died of an illness aged 54.

D’Alegre’s teeth “shows that she went through a lot of stress,” Colleter said.

The researcher said she hopes that the research “goes a little way towards rehabilitating her.”

Severe periodontal diseases are estimated to affect nearly a fifth of the world’s adults, according to the World Health Organization.

Egypt discovers 4,300-year-old tombs in ancient burial ground

Egypt discovers 4,300-year-old tombs in the ancient burial ground

Egypt on Thursday said it uncovered several 4,300-year-old tombs in Saqqara as it continues a series of discoveries in the ancient burial ground.

The tombs date back to the Fifth and Sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 B.C.), officials said in Saqqara, which lies some 19 miles south of Cairo.

Egypt discovers 4,300-year-old tombs in the ancient burial ground
Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the director of the Egyptian excavation team, works at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 15 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who led the team that made the discovery in Saqqara’s Gisr Al-Mudir area, said “12 beautifully carved statues” were also found as well as two deep burial shafts, one of which includes what he described as possibly the “most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”

“The most important tomb belongs to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of the officials, a supervisor of the nobles, and a priest in the pyramid complex of Unas, the last king of the fifth dynasty. The tomb is decorated with scenes of daily life,” Hawass said.

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the director of the Egyptian excavation team, speaks during a press conference at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 15 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

“The second largest tomb belonged to Meri, who held many important titles, such as keeper of the secrets and assistant of the great leader of the palace.”

Another tomb featured a handful of statues of unidentified individuals, including two couples.

Egyptian antiquities workers watch recently discovered artifacts at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 24 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

Hawass said the main highlight was the uncovering of a 15-meter-deep burial shaft where a “large rectangular limestone sarcophagus” was found at its bottom.

The mummy of a man called Hekashepes was found inside, he revealed. It is covered with gold leaf.

An Egyptian archaeologist restores antiquities after the announcement of new discoveries in Gisr el-Mudir in Saqqara, in Giza, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

“This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date,” Hawass added.

Wooden and stone statues were also uncovered in another 10-meter-deep shaft, as was a stone sarcophagus that included a mummy of a man called Fetek, according to the inscriptions found on the coffin.

Recently discovered artifacts at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 15 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 2023.

Egypt hopes a string of discoveries will help revive its ailing tourism industry, a key source of hard currency.

Extensive excavation efforts in Saqqara in recent years have led to several high-profile archaeological discoveries, including the unearthing of a 4,400-year-old tomb of royal priest Wahtye in 2018 and the discovery of hundreds of mummified animals and statues a year later.

Egyptian Tomb Carving May Be Earliest Depiction Of Circumcision… Or Something Far More Painful

Egyptian Tomb Carving May Be Earliest Depiction Of Circumcision… Or Something Far More Painful

Egyptian Tomb Carving May Be Earliest Depiction Of Circumcision… Or Something Far More Painful
The tomb of Ankhmahor is pretty gnarly to say the least.

We humans have been messing with our willies for thousands of years, and while penis science has come a long way in that time, getting the snip in Ancient Egypt was apparently a rather crude affair.

Thought to represent the earliest ever depiction of a circumcision, a scene carved into a 4,300-year-old-tomb shows a male figure having his sphinx sculpted, although some scholars say the engraving may actually portray a considerably more excruciating procedure.

Located in Giza, the tomb of Ankhmahor belongs to a political advisor to King Teti of the Sixth Dynasty and has been dated to 2340 BCE.

Though there is no evidence to suggest that Ankhmahor was himself a physician, his crypt has been nicknamed the “doctor tomb” because of the various medical scenes carved on its walls.

The most famous of these is the circumcision scene, which has been the subject of multiple interpretations since its discovery by Victor Loret in 1897. Sliced into two sections, the scene shows two stages of an operation, though exactly what is going on is still up for debate.

A copy of the original relief, not for the squeamish.

On the left, a man is apparently being physically restrained by another man, while a third character chisels away at his artifact and says (in hieroglyphs) “hold him still. Don’t let him faint.”

On the right, however, the fella having his old geezer chopped is left unrestrained and tells the operator to “sever, indeed, thoroughly.” To this ballsy command, the guy holding the knife promises to “proceed gently”.

According to a recent analysis of the carving, the scene might portray two separate techniques for performing a circumcision.

The unfortunate chap on the left, the author says, could be having a trim without any painkillers, which might explain why he needs to be restrained and prevented from passing out.

Meanwhile, the surprisingly relaxed guy on the right may have received some sort of analgesic and is therefore in less discomfort.

“We do not have information about the nature of the material that was used to avoid struggling of the person who had the circumcision,” writes the author, who concludes that “it is possible that the ancient Egyptians had knowledge about local anesthetics.”

A separate interpretation holds that the right-hand side of the scene shows a young man acting tough while preparing to be circumcised, while the left-hand side depicts the same person on the verge of fainting during the procedure a few moments later.

Yet another reading of the scene proposes that the person on the left is actually having his penis rubbed with a stone. It has been suggested that the rock in question may be the so-called Stone of Memphis, which is made of carbonate of lime and has a painkilling effect when mixed with acid. Thus, it may be that the man on the left is actually the one receiving a local anesthetic.

Finally, and most disturbingly, the left-hand part of the scene might not be a circumcision at all, and could instead show a surgical treatment for a horrible condition called paraphimosis. This occurs when an infected foreskin swells up and retracts to below the head of the penis, cutting off blood flow and potentially leading to gangrene. 

This would certainly explain the extreme pain experienced by the patient on the left, while the circumcision depicted on the right could be seen as an instruction for preventing paraphimosis.

Quite the epitaph, you have to say.

China’s Mysterious “Heavenly Pit”: The World’s Deepest Sinkhole

China’s Mysterious “Heavenly Pit”: The World’s Deepest Sinkhole

First discovered by specialists in 1994, the world’s deepest sinkhole can be found in Fengjie County, Chongqing Municipality, China. Xiaozhai Tiankeng, or the Xiaozhai Heavenly Pit, measures roughly 537 meters (1,762 feet) in diameter and sinks between 511 and 662 meters (1,667-2,172 feet) into the Earth.

China's Mysterious "Heavenly Pit": The World's Deepest Sinkhole
The hole is so vast you can skydive straight into it.

With near vertical walls, the volume of this momentous geological feature is a whopping 119.349 million cubic meters (around 4.2 billion cubic feet). During heavy rains, a waterfall can sometimes be seen cascading down the hole’s steep walls.

The structure is double nested, meaning it’s comprised of two distinct “bowls” dissecting it into two layers, with each bowl measuring over 300 meters (984 feet) deep.

The Difeng cave, which the sinkhole sits atop, was formed by a powerful underground river. This river can now be seen in the depths of the pit where it carries clear water through the inner cave systems.

The river runs for approximately 8.5 kilometers (5.3 miles) from the underground Tianjing fissure gorge before reaching daylight at the vertical cliff of the Migong River where the underground water system forms a 46-meter (151-foot) high waterfall.

There are 1,285 species of registered plant in the depths of the Xiaozhai sinkhole, creating its own thriving, unique, and rare ecosystem. Ginkgo biloba, a rare species of tree, can be found living in the pit, as well as rare animal species like the clouded leopard, of which there are estimated to be fewer than 10,000 in the wild. 

Found in a large karst area, the sinkhole is comprised of Triassic limestone found in thick pure blocks. It is believed to have formed gradually throughout the last 128,000 years, making it relatively young in age when compared to other sinkholes in the area.

In fact, China is home to a number of sinkholes, referred to generally as “tiankeng”. The word tiankeng means “heavenly pit” or “sky hole” in Chinese, and refers to a very specific group of geological structures.

To be a tiankeng, the sinkhole must be at least 100 meters (328 feet) deep and wide, with a river flowing through the bottom. All tiankeng are comprised of carbonate rock, with the exception of two Venezuelan structures that consist of sandstone. They’re formed through a karst process when their composition is carbonate rock, and a suffusion process when made of sandstone.

The conditions required to form a tiankeng are very specific, making their formation rare.

The rock must be above sea level, and be thick with no layers of impurities. Heavy rain is also required to form these structures, which in turn helps form their underground rivers.

Although the term refers to any sinkhole within these criteria, of the 75 identified, 50 of the largest are found in China, hence the Chinese term becoming the commonplace name for such structures.

1.2-Million-Year-Old Obsidian Axe Made By Unknown Human Species Discovered In Ethiopia

1.2-Million-Year-Old Obsidian Axe Made By Unknown Human Species Discovered In Ethiopia

1.2-Million-Year-Old Obsidian Axe Made By Unknown Human Species Discovered In Ethiopia
An obsidian handaxe, made by an unknown hominid 1.2 million years ago.

Forged in magma and capable of producing the sharpest blades on Earth, obsidian is without a doubt one of the most badass materials ever imagined (there’s a reason George RR Martin made it the weapon of choice to kill White Walkers).

The jet-black volcanic glass is also extremely delicate and dangerous to work with, and was not mastered by humans until the latter part of the Stone Age… or so we thought.

Reporting on the latest findings from the Melka Kunture archaeological site in Ethiopia, a team of researchers has described the discovery of an obsidian handaxe workshop within a layer of sediment dated to 1.2 million years ago.

This represents a staggeringly early example of obsidian shaping, and, according to the study authors, is the only handaxe factory ever dated to the Early Pleistocene.

“[Archaeological] sites described as ‘knapping workshops’ are only recorded in the second half of the Middle Pleistocene and only in Europe so far,” write the researchers. Located predominantly in France and the UK, the most notable Stone Age axe workshops were all associated with the creation of flint blades.

“Generally speaking, obsidian is extensively used only from the Middle Stone Age onwards,” write the study authors.

However, during the course of their excavations, the team came across an ancient layer of sediment containing a cache of 578 stone tools, all but three of which were sculpted from obsidian. “We show through statistical analysis that this was a focused activity, that very standardized handaxes were produced and that this was a stone-tool workshop,” they write.

Describing the axes, the researchers repeatedly marvel that “the morphological standardization is remarkable,” and while they don’t know which species of human crafted the tools, they say that whoever created them diligently applied “secondary retouches” and was highly “focused on the final regularization of the artifacts.”

Achieving such homogeneity would have required highly sharpened skills and a fair amount of dexterity, as obsidian is a fragile rock that must be knapped with considerably more finesse than flint or basalt.

“Accordingly, manufacturers had to accurately evaluate the strength of the blow to avoid producing flakes of little use, or just to avoid smashing the core,” explain the researchers.

Techniques for shaping obsidian are believed to have first emerged during the Upper Paleolithic, and even modern knappers wear protective gloves to avoid shredding their hands when working with the razor-sharp material. And yet, when describing tools from over a million years ago, the study authors say that “the standardized obsidian handaxes provide ample evidence of the repetitive use of fully mastered skills.”

The emergence of such abilities marks a surprisingly massive cognitive leap for such an ancient group of humans.

According to the authors, the adaptation of existing flint knapping techniques to create more challenging obsidian tools can be seen as an example of “convergent thinking”, which is associated with creative problem-solving.

Hailing this remarkable achievement, the researchers say the old axe makers “creatively solved through convergent thinking technological problems such as effectively detaching and shaping large flakes of the unusually brittle and cutting volcanic glass.”

All without any protective gloves. Over a million years ago.

The study is published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Mesolithic Human Remains Discovered in Northern England

Mesolithic Human Remains Discovered in Northern England

Mesolithic Human Remains Discovered in Northern England
Analysis of material discovered in the cave found some of it was much older than estimated

Human remains unearthed in a cave in Cumbria have been dubbed the “oldest northerner” after being found to date back 11,000 years.

Bone and a shell bead discovered at Heaning Wood Bone Cave, near Great Urswick, were analysed by the University of Central Lancashire.

Dr Rick Peterson said the site had been used for burials.

He described it as evidence of “some of the earliest dates for human activity” in northern Britain after the Ice Age.

A periwinkle shell bead was one of the discoveries found to be about 11,000 years old

The site had been excavated since 2016 by local archaeologist Martin Stables with the university brought in to “try to interpret the evidence”.

Dr Peterson, who teaches archaeology and cultural anthropology, led the academic team.

He said several bodies from the cave had been dated and the group was amazed when one set of remains was found to be much older than thought.

“The caves have been dug before, in the 1950s, and work by Liverpool John Moores University about 10 years ago dated some of the material to the early Bronze Age [about 4,000 years ago].

“There were at least eight people buried in this cave. Some of them came back [dated] from the Bronze Age, some of them were Neolithic which is about 6,000 years ago.

“One individual and one piece of shell bead buried with him came back with a date roundabout 11,000 years ago which is astonishingly early for the north.

“To put it in perspective, the last Ice Age lasted until about 11,600 years ago. After that period, the global temperature warmed rapidly over about 100 years to give us the climate we’ve got today.

“These people are just about as early as we could expect them to be – the pioneers reoccupying the land after the Ice Age.”

Archaeologist Martin Stables has been excavating the site since 2016

Earlier human remains have been discovered in southern England and Wales but the destructive effect of past glaciations means such finds are rare in northern Britain, the university said.

Before this discovery, the “earliest northerner” was a 10,000-year-old burial from the nearby Kent’s Bank Cavern discovered in 2013.