Category Archives: WORLD

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

The 1,000-year-old Church was found under a cornfield in Germany

The 1,000-year-old Church was found under a cornfield in Germany

The 1,000-year-old Church was found under a cornfield in Germany

The foundation walls of the large church of the rediscovered Royal Palace of Helfta in Eisleben in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt have been unearthed by archaeologists. The church was discovered earlier this month, and the foundation walls are now completely exposed.

According to the team studying the site, there is evidence of two dwellings at the site by Otto I and his son, Otto II ‘the Red,’ with the former attending the church’s inauguration.

Otto I, often known as Otto the Great, was King of Germany from 936 to 973 and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 962 till his death in 973.

“With a length of 98 feet (30 meters) and a width of around 66 feet (20 meters), Otto had effectively built a church that resembles a miniature cathedral,” said project manager Felix Biermann.

“This is a magnificent, exceptionally large church, which proves the importance of this location in the Ottoman era,” the team said.

Uncovering medieval graves in the eastern part of the church.

The church is thought to have been dedicated to Saint Radegund, the Thuringian princess and Frankish queen who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross in Poitiers, before 968. She is also the patron saint of several churches in France and England and of Jesus College in Cambridge.

The church, which had been standing for roughly 500 years, was destroyed during the Reformation when the Western Church was split into Protestantism and what is now the Roman Catholic Church.

In addition to the foundation walls, a number of coins and a tiled stove from the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as a fragment of a bell, were found on the site.

Zenger News, A cemetery containing 70 graves was also found, as well as several stone tombs from the 10th to the 15th century, which, Biermann, was “the burial place for the aristocratic families of the region.” He said.

Enameled non-ferrous metal rectangular brooch — clasp with retracted sides from the Carolingian era.

“In addition, belt fittings, belt buckles made of bronze, coins, knives and various utensils came to light. Numerous disc brooches from the Ottoman times, made of bronze, enameled and with glass inlays in a rectangular and circular shape, were excavated,” said Biermann.

“It is amazing to me what the archeologists and excavation helpers are bringing to light during this excavation,” said the mayor of the city, Carsten Staub.

The long-lost royal palace ruins atop the Kleine Klaus were the starting point for the current discoveries, which were unearthed in 2009 by geomagnetic prospecting, with the exploration gradually moving outside.

Aside from the church, the Palatinate included residential and commercial structures with pit dwellings, as well as grand residential buildings and possibly an auditorium where meetings were held.

Biermann said that the current excavations will continue until September.

Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff said the discovery will close “an important gap in the history of the country.”

ASIA, WORLD

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

Excavations continue in Kültepe, the starting point of Anatolian written history. During the excavations, a 4,000-year-old lion jawbone was unearthed.

For the first time, a lion’s jawbone was found in Kültepe.

Prof. Dr. Fikri Kulakoğlu of Ankara University’s Faculty of Language, History-Geography, and Archeology Department said that in 2021, they discovered many animal bones and large storage logs in the basement of a large edifice in the region.

Providing information about the lion bone found in the Kültepe excavation site to journalists, Kulakoğlu said, “For the first time, a lion’s jawbone has been found in Kültepe.”

According to the news in Anadolu Agency (AA), Kulakoğlu said:

4,000-year-old lion jawbone

“During the excavations, we made this year, we found a group of bones of two lions, bears, mountain sheep, deer, and wild pigs in a trench. These bones were found in bulk.

All of these animal bones belong to large, large, and wild animals. For the first time, we found two separate jawbones from two different lions, a very large bear, and bones from a large deer in this period in Anatolia. It is necessary to evaluate them as follows, these are the animals that we will accept to be raised in this region.

Animals living around Erciyes or in mountainous areas or up to Sivas. There are no lion bones unearthed in other regions dating back 4,000 years. Of course, there are bones from several million years ago. But these are two of the earliest examples of human settlement. We date these bones to 4,000 years ago. These are wild animals, they must be hunted and brought to Kültepe..”

4,000-year-old lion jawbone.

Animal bones might be linked to the mythos

Kulakoğlu stated that the animal bones discovered at Kültepe may be connected to a myth:

“There is a tablet found in Boğazköy, its name is the Anitta tablet. According to this tablet, the king named Anitta captured Nesha with his father, and they did not touch anyone. They even built palaces and temples.

These bones were found in the area of ​​these temples and palaces. In the inscription allegedly written by this king, it is written that he went hunting. ‘I hunted and brought back more than 100 animals, including two lions, leopards, panthers, bears, deer, and wild animals.’ he writes. This is the area right next to the temple. Of course, we don’t think for sure that these bones are related to this story, but there is a high probability that they are. Because there are traces of injury among the animal bones we found, so these were brought by hunting. This must have a historical significance and a relationship with a subject in Kültepe..”

On the lion’s jawbone and bone finds of other animals, a member of the Kültepe Excavation Committee, zooarchaeologist Prof. Dr. Claudia Minniti does scientific studies.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

Ruins of the 700-year-old wharf, possibly used by royalty, were found in Oslo

Ruins of the 700-year-old wharf, possibly used by royalty, were found in Oslo

Ruins of the 700-year-old wharf, possibly used by royalty, were found in Oslo

An excavation by NIKU archaeologists in Oslo’s seaside neighborhood of Bjørvika has uncovered the remains of a long section of a medieval wharf believed to have been built by a medieval king of Norway.

Under the dense clay of the Oslofjord seabed, more than 26 feet of the pier’s foundations have persisted in excellent condition.

Archaeologists knew from preliminary surveys that something was buried at a port in Oslo, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) said in a Thursday, March 2, news release. The ruins of a medieval wharf were discovered when excavations got underway.

The wharf consisted of massive logs lashed together to form bulwarks. The logs were dotted with impressions of barnacles and mussels, signs of having once been exposed to the sea.

Over time, the structures built on top of the foundations pressed them deeper into the clay, where they remained even after the surface structures were lost.

The pier was most likely built in the early 14th century and has since sunk into the clay seabed under its own weight, according to the release.

A close-up photo of the accumulated layers of clay.

Archaeologists believe this wharf was probably the king’s, based on its location and estimated age. Another nearby dock is known to have been used by royalty from the 11th to 13th centuries, according to the release.

A small mystery is that archaeologists unearthed layers of food waste, fish bones, dung, and peat in the clay around the massive logs. Archaeologists don’t know how these materials ended up around the pier.

“This is very mysterious,” says Håvard Hegdal, archaeologist and project manager from NIKU, “How has this come into what has been a closed construction? There has been a floor above us, and probably a building, and it shouldn’t be possible to throw food scraps and other things down here.”

“There was also a lot of dirt from a boat inside these layers. And it shouldn’t have come in here in any case. So ‘King’s wharf’ may have had a reasonably short lifespan, and that is quite strange.”

Researchers will cut a portion of the wood off the pier and send it to a lab to be more specifically dated dendrochronologically, the release said.

The most likely candidate to build the wharf was Haakon V (reigned 1299–1319). Oslo overtook Bergen to become the capital of Norway during his reign, and Haakon had the Akershus Fortress built to protect the city and serve as a royal residence. The pier’s foundations were discovered right next to the ruins of the royal palace that stood before Akershus Fortress.

The remains of the wharf have been scanned to create a 3D model. And excavations are ongoing.

AFRICA, SUDAN, WORLD

Archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs in Sudan

Archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs in Sudan

Archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs in Sudan

Polish archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs during excavations at Old Dongola in Sudan.

Recent excavations have uncovered over 100 blocks of white sandstone, inscribed with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics from the period of the 25th dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Nubian Dynasty.

The blocks found in Old Dongola were originally part of a structure, possibly a temple, built in the first half of the 1st millennium BC, which is the earliest example of human activity on a site identified so far.

Egyptologist Dr. Dawid F. Wieczorek said: “This is a huge discovery, because despite the 60-year Polish archaeological presence in Old Dongola, no evidence of such early construction activity on the site has been identified so far.

It is impossible to say whether this material is local or was brought from some other site. Nevertheless, it is surprising that there are so many of these blocks, and from different parts it seems of the same temple.”

Some of the blocks are from the flooring, outer walls, and from a pylon (a tower flanking the entrance to the temple). “This would push back the known history of this city by over 1000 years,” said Dr. Wieczorek.

Within a radius of more than 100 kilometers from Old Dongola, there are no other known examples of sites with Egyptian-style architecture.

The closest is Gebel Barkal (about 150 km up the Nile), and Kawa (about 120 km down the Nile). Both were leading urban and religious centers established during the New Kingdom in the 16th and 14th centuries BC.

The Kushite king Kashta came to Egypt amid political turmoil to run for the office of pharaoh, apparently in Thebes and apparently peacefully.

He was the first of the Nubian line of kings who ruled as the 25th dynasty of Egypt (747–656 BC). Piye, the next king, led the conquest of Egypt into the Nile Delta, reacting dramatically to the threat of a combination of powerful northern dynasty. He created an empire that stretched from the 6th cataract to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Kushite rulers presented themselves as pharaohs who could return Egypt to its former glory. They assimilated into society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions, temples, and artistic forms, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Iron Age comb found made from a human skull in the UK

Iron Age comb found made from a human skull in the UK

Iron Age comb found made from a human skull in the UK

Researchers from the London Archaeological Museum (MOLA) determined that an Iron Age comb they found during an archaeological dig that ended in 2018 was made from a human skull and was most likely used as a talisman rather than styling hair.

The accessory dubbed the Bar Hill Comb was among 280,000 items of interest collected between 2016 and 2018 during the A14 improvement scheme.

The comb is around 2 inches long with a curved top and teeth carved into the bottom.

The reconstruction drawing created by the MOLA researchers suggests that the comb was originally rectangular with a circle carved out in the middle for attaching to clothing.

“The Bar Hill Comb may have been a highly symbolic and powerful object for members of the local community,” Michael Marshall, a prehistoric and Roman finds specialist at MOLA said in a statement.

Iron Age comb
MOLA Find specialist Michael Marshall examining the Bar Hill comb.

“It is possible it was carved from the skull of an important member of Iron Age society, whose presence was in some way preserved and commemorated through their bones.”

He said only two other comparable examples have ever been found in Britain – both within 15 miles (24km) of the Bar Hill Comb.

The lack of wear on the comb’s teeth distinguishes this bone from other finds, suggesting that it was possibly worn as an amulet rather than used to brush the hair at all.

Many people in the British Isles during the Iron Age revered human skulls, according to historians.

Both carved stone heads and skulls served as talismans, as evidenced in ritual practices documented by archaeologists and in folklore.

The comb’s tines show no signs of use or deterioration, and traces of a hole that was drilled into its top indicate that it was once attached to a string for wearing.

EUROPE, WORLD

Minoan civilization may have used celestial navigation techniques

Minoan civilization may have used celestial navigation techniques

Minoan civilization may have used celestial navigation techniques

According to a study done by an American researcher at the University of Wales, ancient civilizations may have used celestial navigation methods to travel.

Alessandro Berio, a skyscape archaeologist, discovered new evidence that the ancient Minoan civilization developed significant nautical technologies to aid in international sea trade, which is linked to the wealth and expansion of the culture throughout the Mediterranean.

Because of its location, Minoan culture was based on open sea navigation and international trade cycles.

The Minoan civilization may have relied heavily on celestial star paths above to help them navigate the Mediterranean.

According to a study, the Minoan palaces were even placed to face the rising or setting of a few notable stars, serving as their guide to important commercial centers.

“It is hypothesized that the orienting of palatial architecture toward star paths and specific sea lanes may have symbolized the special relationships between the palaces and distinct foreign emporia, while also being a source of legitimization of power for the local elite who controlled the ideological and technological frameworks of maritime knowledge,” Berio wrote in the paper.

Berio focused his research on the Minoan civilization, a Bronze Age Aegean people who lived on the island of Crete between 2600 – 1100 BC.

The Pelusiac branch of the River Nile was exactly parallel to the central court of the Minoan trading post. The study found that Knossos, the largest Minoan palace, was perfectly positioned on a “star path” with the constellation of Virgo and the commercial center of Sidon.

This alignment may have played a critical role in guiding Minoan sailors to critical trading destinations in Egypt and the Levant.

Indeed, the orientation of various palaces toward specific star paths and sea lanes may have symbolized the unique relationship between these palaces and distinct foreign commercial hubs. Furthermore, they may have legitimized the power of the ruling elite, who controlled maritime navigation knowledge and technology, as well as specific sea routes.

The research discovered that Minoan sailors may have used star paths or linear constellations to guide them to Mediterranean cities where Minoan artifacts and frescoes bear evidence of trade links between them.

The discovery could call into question the previous theory that Homer’s Odyssey was the first historical signal of celestial navigation. We now have more evidence that we need to rewrite history and push back the timeline of human development.

The research was published in the Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry.

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

800-Year-Old Hoard Unearthed in Northern Germany

800-Year-Old Hoard Unearthed in Northern Germany

The front of one gold earring in the Byzantine style that a metal detectorist found in Germany.

A trainee metal detectorist in northern Germany recently hit on something his mentor never expected: an 800-year-old hoard of gold jewelry and silver coins that hints at the area’s trade connections.

The large hoard contained a dazzling collection of artifacts. “The hoard consisted of two very high-quality gold earrings set with semi-precious stones, a gilded pseudo-coin brooch, two gilded stone-studded finger rings, a ring fragment, a small formerly gilded perforated disc, a ring brooch, and about 30 silver coins, some of them heavily fragmented,” Ulf Ickerodt, director of the State Archaeological Department of Schleswig-Holstein (ALSH), told Live Science in an email. 

For decades, amateur and professional archaeologists have been working together to investigate the region of Schleswig-Holstein, and in particular the UNESCO world heritage site of Haithabu.

Known as Hedeby in Danish, the site was the second-largest Nordic town and was important to the Vikings between the eighth and 11th centuries.

Haithabu was destroyed and abandoned around 1066, ending the Viking era in the region, but a century or two later someone purposefully buried the bag full of valuables nearby.

A selection of silver coins was found in the hoard. They date to the time of King Valdemar II.

The detectorists came across the hoard while walking a well-studied patch of land. They reported the find to the ALSH, and a team of archaeologists then excavated the site to reveal items including silver and gold objects with preserved textile fragments adhering to them.

Perhaps the most remarkable items in the hoard are the two earrings. “They probably date to the time around and after 1100 and are in the tradition of Byzantine goldsmiths,” Ickerodt said.

The hoard also contained an imitation of an Islamic coin — an Almohad gold dinar — that had been made into a brooch. The Almohad caliphate was a Muslim dynasty that ruled over southern Spain and northern Africa between the 12th and 13th centuries.

The 30 silver coins, minted during the time of Danish King Valdemar II, suggest that the hoard was buried sometime after 1234. 

The front of the second gold earring in the Byzantine style.
The back of the second gold earring in the Byzantine style
The back of one gold earring in the Byzantine style.

The combination of Danish coins and western Mediterranean jewelry is particularly interesting and hints at the cosmopolitan nature of the area. 

“Islamic coins were well known in southern Scandinavia between the 9th and 11th centuries,” Marjanko Pilekić, a numismatist in Germany who was not involved in this study, told Live Science by email.

The money may have “reached this area en masse through long-distance trade contacts, robbery, tribute, among others,” he said. “It was a popular practice to pierce or loop the coins and wear them.”

A gilded pseudo-coin fibula. This imitation Islamic coin was fashioned into a brooch.

The discovery of hoards is rare in Schleswig-Holstein, and it’s unclear whether these items were personal property or stolen, if they were meant to be delivered to someone else, or if they were buried for ritual reasons.

“Especially in times of crisis,” Ickerodt said, “the resulting danger leads to the hiding of possessions.” The Haithabu area was not abandoned for long after its destruction in the mid-11th century.

Across the inlet of Schlei, Schleswig had begun developing as a settlement and trading center. “An extensive north-south and east-west trade network have developed here since the early Middle Ages, in which the Mediterranean region, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea were integrated,” Ickerodt said. “The hoard was certainly not put down by chance.”

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Camera Glimpses Hidden Corridor in Egypt’s Great Pyramid

Camera Glimpses Hidden Corridor in Egypt’s Great Pyramid

Camera Glimpses Hidden Corridor in Egypt’s Great Pyramid
Video footage from an endoscope showed an empty corridor with a vaulted ceiling

Egyptian antiquities officials say they have confirmed the existence of a hidden internal corridor above the main entrance of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Video from an endoscope showed the inside of the corridor, which is 9m (30ft) long and 2.1m (7ft) wide.

The officials say it could have been created to redistribute the pyramid’s weight around the entrance or another as yet undiscovered chamber.

It was first detected in 2016 using an imaging technique called muography.

A team of scientists from the ScanPyramids Project were able to sense density changes inside the pyramid by analysing how it was penetrated by muons, which are by-products of cosmic rays that are only partially absorbed by stone.

The non-invasive technique detected an empty space behind the northern face of the Great Pyramid, about 7m above the main entrance, in an area where there is a stone chevron structure.

Further tests were carried out with radar and ultrasound before a 6mm-wide (0.24in) endoscope was fed through a tiny joint in-between the stones that make up the chevrons.

The endoscope was pushed into the empty space behind a chevron structure on the pyramid’s wall

The footage from the camera was unveiled at a news conference beside the pyramid on Thursday. It showed an empty corridor with walls made out of roughly-hewn stone blocks and a vaulted stone ceiling.

“We’re going to continue our scanning so we will see what we can do… to figure out what we can find out beneath it, or just by the end of this corridor,” said Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The Great Pyramid, which is 146m high, was built on the Giza plateau during the fourth dynasty by the pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops, who reigned from around 2609BC to 2584BC.

Despite being one of the oldest and largest monuments on Earth, there is no consensus about how it was built.

The Great Pyramid, seen in the background, is the largest of the three pyramids located at Giza

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said the corridor represented a “major discovery” that would “enter houses and homes of people all over the world for the first time”.

He also said that it might help reveal whether the burial chamber of King Khufu still existed inside the pyramid.

He speculated that there might be “something important” in the space below the corridor, then added: “I’m sure in a few months from now we can see if what I’m saying is correct or not.”

A second, larger void inside the pyramid was detected using muography in 2017. It is estimated to be 30m long and several meters in height and is located directly above the Grand Gallery.