MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Lidar Survey Reveals Urban Sprawl of Ancient Maya City

Lidar Survey Reveals Urban Sprawl of Ancient Maya City

A graphic illustrating new details, uncovered using LiDAR laser technology, of the ancient Mayan city of Calakmul, Mexico, in this undated handout image.

Following years of research, Dr. Kathryn Reese-Taylor, PhD, professor in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at UCalgary, as well as her team of international colleagues, has used lidar (light detection and ranging) to help uncover more secrets of the enormous ancient Maya city of Calakmul.

As a result, researchers on the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project, a University of Calgary-led international and multidisciplinary research project directed by Reese-Taylor, can now better understand the density and landscape modifications of Mexico’s ancient Maya Calakmul settlement.

“By using lidar imagery, we are now able to fully understand the immense size of the Calakmul urban settlement and its substantial landscape modifications, which supported an intensive agricultural system,” says Reese-Taylor.

“All available land was covered with water canals, terraces, walls and dams, no doubt to provide food and water security for Calakmul residents.”

Although the number of people who lived at Calakmul during the height of the Snake King’s rule was not a complete surprise because of previous mapping and archaeological investigations by the Autonomous University of Campeche and INAH, the team was astonished at the scale and degree of urban construction.

Immense apartment-style residential compounds have been identified throughout the surveyed area, some with as many as 60 individual structures, the seats of large households composed of extended families and affiliated members.

These large residential units were clustered around numerous temples, shrines, and possible marketplaces, making Calakmul one of the largest cities in the Americas in 700 AD.

But that’s not all the team was able to see.

“We were also able to see that the magnitude of landscape modification equalled the scale of the urban population,” explains Reese-Taylor. “All available land was covered with water canals, terraces, walls, and dams, no doubt to provide maximum food and water security for the city dwellers.”

Lidar Survey Reveals Urban Sprawl of Ancient Maya City
Copyright, Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project and Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia

What’s next for the team and the technology

Going forward, the lidar survey will be used by INAH to help with policy and planning for the biosphere in anticipation of the expected increased tourism in the area.

The lidar will also continue to support the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project, which aims to investigate the causes of the rapid population increase at Calakmul and its effect on the region’s environment.

“We’re excited to see what else this technology will help us learn about Calakmul,” says Reese-Taylor. “It’s such a privilege to be unearthing the secrets of Mexico’s ancient settlements.”

Reese-Taylor and her colleagues on the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project will present their preliminary findings from the lidar survey on the INAH TV YouTube channel, on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 5 p.m. MT. 

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

Rare 1,000-Year-Old Viking Wooden Bowl Found By Young Boy

Rare 1,000-Year-Old Viking Wooden Bowl Found By Young Boy

To most children finding something unusual and unexpected is a joy, but discovering a precious, rare ancient artefact must be a memory for a lifetime! One can only guess what goes through the mind of the youngster who has unearthed a rare 1,000-year-old bowl from the Viking Age.

The artefact was discovered by ten-year-old Erik Briskerud, who was with his father in Glomma, Norway. The father and his son were on a boat when they spotted a sandbank in the middle of the river.

Erik was surprised to see something resembling a root in the sand and decided to find out what it was. When he reached the spot, he saw a wooden object stuck in the sand. He cleared the sand with his father to find out what kind of object this was.

Ten-year-old Erik Briskerud found the 1,000-year-old bowl when he was going swimming in Glomma this summer.

“When we had removed all the sand, it looked like a bowl,” he says. It would have been easy to throw away the wooden bowl, but Erik noticed someone had taken the time to create nice edges on the bowl with some carving tools.

The wooden bowl was sent to local scientists who sent a tiny sample of the object to Florida, USA, for dating. The answer came within the next few days, and everyone was excited about the results. Rooted in the sand was an 800-1,000-year-old wooden bowl dating from later Viking times.

It would be not just any bowl but one of the most special bowls found in Norway!

” I think it’s very cool. I didn’t think it was entirely from the Viking Age. Quite amazing that it is so old, Briskerud told the NRK in an interview.

“It is almost difficult to explain how special this find is, says an archaeologist at Innlandet county municipality Mildri Een Eide.

Rare 1,000-Year-Old Viking Wooden Bowl Found By Young Boy
Considering its age and condition, this wooden bowl is most likely the only one of its kind.

Some wooden bowls have previously been found in Norway from the Viking Age, but they are often only in small pieces or fragments.

“So this one is very special. Considering the age, she says that we do not know of any other finds of this kind in Norway. We think it is most likely made from a ball of wood or a wooden knot found on many trees and hollowed out.

We had to pinch ourselves a couple of times. We guessed the 18th century, but it turned out to be much older.”

As reported by the NRK, the “bowl is also special because it is roughly carved, which may indicate that it does not originate from the richest or most powerful.

Archaeologist Een Eide promises ten-year-old Erik that the cultural history museum in Oslo will take good care of the bowl.

“It is rare to find objects that belonged to ordinary Viking Age people. This is not an ornamental object”, says Een Eide.

The bowl will now be sent to the Cultural History Museum in Oslo, which will look after it for posterity. The reason why the bowl is so well preserved is most likely due to the sand.

“There is quite a little oxygen in the sand in Glomma, so it has been lying safely and well in the sand. A bit like a marsh corpse. But how it ended up there is not known. Glomma may have looked different, or it may have come with the flow.

She thinks the probability of finding more in the sandbank is small. In addition, it is challenging to dig in water. So it probably won’t happen at first,” Een Eide explained.

She praises ten-year-old Erik for realizing that this was something special.

“So we owe him a big thank you,” Een Eide says.

EUROPE, SWEDEN, WORLD

Unexpected Discovery Of Two Viking Swords In Upright Position In Sweden

Unexpected Discovery Of Two Viking Swords In Upright Position In Sweden

It does not happen very often that archaeologists find Viking swords. Swords were extremely important to ancient Vikings, but these weapons were expensive to produce, and only the richest warriors and chiefs could afford a sword.

As previously explained on AncientPages.com, the loss of a sword was a catastrophe for a Viking. Vikings believed a man and his sword were bound together.

The sword gave power to the warrior, but the warrior’s strength could also be transferred to the sword.

One of the Viking swords found in Köping.

A Viking sword was a deadly weapon and symbol of power. It was jewellery for a man, with ‘magical properties’. How the Vikings named, their sword was a matter of heritage. Swords were given names and passed from father to son for generations.

Viking swords are rare, and scientists are naturally excited whenever they come across them.

Archaeologists in Sweden now report that two Viking Age swords have been found during an archaeological examination of a grave field in Viby / Norrtuna outside Köping. The swords were buried in graves over 1200 years ago.

“We could see the handle of one of the swords sticking out of the ground, directly under the grass turf,” says Anton Seiler, at the Archaeologists at the State Historical Museums.

A stone’s throw from Köping in Västmanland lies the large grave field with about 100 graves – including two grave piles – dating to the younger Iron Age, about 600-1000 e. Cr.

“It was in the one grave pile that the sword was unexpectedly found. Over a later period of time, perhaps 200–300 years after it was built, humans have returned to the pile and laid three new graves built in the first one. It is about three stone laying, ie, graves built of stone.

In one stone setting, there were a large number of beautiful glass beads. In the other two, the swords have been stabbed into the ground in the middle of each grave. Something that is very unusual,” says archaeologist Anton Seiler.

A total of more than 20 Viking Age swords have been found in Västmanland in the past. Finding two specimens on the same burial ground as we have done, and also untouched in the graves, is a bit of a sensation. Especially as they are positioned the way they are, ” Seiler explains.

Why the swords stand upright is difficult to determine, but they have been placed very shallowly in the ground. Seiler suggests that it was a way of venerating and remembering their relatives by visiting where the swords were found and touching them.

“We do not know why several individuals have been buried later in the mound, whether this was about kinship or if you wanted to mark some belonging. Hopefully, the osteological analyses can provide answers to whether it is male or female graves.

“Cremated bones from humans and animals, a game piece, parts of a comb, and Bear Claws, which may have been part of a bear trap, are other finds made in the graves. A little unusual about the burial ground in Viby / Norrtuna is that it seems to be built on top of an older Farm, says archaeologist Fredrik Larsson.

Unexpected Discovery Of Two Viking Swords In Upright Position In Sweden

According to the press release issued by Arkeologerna, the area was explored in stages. Under the grave field, there are farm remains that are older, from the Bronze Age or the older Iron Age. There is evidence that iron production has also been involved, so it is a very complex place.

The major archaeological excavations along the E18 in Västmanland have been going on for two years. They are being done in connection with widening the motorway between Köping and Västjädra. The excavations are now completed, and the swords are submitted for preservation.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

History buffs on 2,000-year-old Roman road discovery near Evesham

History buffs on 2,000-year-old Roman road discovery near Evesham

The possible Roman ford was found near Evesham.

History buffs have shared their thoughts on a possible Roman road found near Evesham. Severn Trent workmen came across what some believe to be a nearly 2,000-year-old ford when completing sewerage works several weeks ago.

Aidan Smyth, the archaeology advisor for Wychavon District Council, thinks it could have global significance and now history fans from around Worcestershire have weighed in on the discovery.

Paul Harding, who runs Discovery History with his wife Helen, thinks it could put Evesham ‘on the map’.

He said: “The recent find of a possible Roman Ford in Worcestershire is really exciting.

“A surviving Roman Ford is extremely rare in what was once the Roman Empire.

“It looks like a well-made Roman road surface and may have taken over from an earlier trackway or route that the Britons were using before the Romans.

“We had simple roads before the Romans, and these sometimes followed traditional routes.

“This will put the area on the archaeological map and allow for further study in this kind of structure.”

Severn Trent workmen made the discovery whilst completing sewerage works.

Richard Ball, trustee at Vale of Evesham Historic Society, is equally enthused about the discovery.

He said: “There are some traces of Roman times in the Vale but in general these are few and far between, and this is by far the most important that has been found for a long time.

“I am hopeful that Aidan Smyth and his archaeology team will have an opportunity to examine it thoroughly and expect that the VEHS will wish to keep on close touch with developments and help in any way appropriate.”

Meanwhile, metal detectorist Stephen Grey is no stranger to uncovering the area’s history, having dug up a ‘Viking’ axe just a few weeks ago himself.

He said: “It could well be Roman as there’s been plenty of Roman items found by archaeologists and metal detectorists in the area.

“I myself have found a first-century silver roman coin albeit closer to Pershore but that does prove the Romans were in the general area at that time.

“I’ve also found a second-century Roman brooch much nearer to the site.

“If it proves to be a first-century Roman road leading into a ford, I think that’s very exciting.

“I know the experts are hoping it is and if true they seem to think it’s fairly unique in this country.”

EUROPE, WORLD

Ship’s Cargo Offers Clues to Medieval Trade Routes

Ship’s Cargo Offers Clues to Medieval Trade Routes

Research at the University of Gothenburg has shown that the Skaftö wreck had probably taken on cargo in Gdańsk in Poland and was heading towards Belgium when it foundered in the Lysekil archipelago around 1440.

Modern methods of analysis of the cargo are now providing completely new answers about the way trade was conducted in the Middle Ages.

“The analyses we have carried out give us a very detailed picture of the ship’s last journey and also tell us about the geographical origins of its cargo. Much of this is completely new knowledge for us,” says Staffan von Arbin, a maritime archaeologist.

Ship’s Cargo Offers Clues to Medieval Trade Routes
In 2003, the Skaftö wreck was found at the bottom of the sea off Lysekil, north of Gothenburg. The photo shows the Copper ingots.

For example, it was not previously known that calcium oxide (CaO), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, was exported from Gotland in the 15th century.

In 2003, the Skaftö wreck was found at the bottom of the sea off Lysekil, north of Gothenburg. But it is only now that researchers have been able to carry out analyses of its cargo using new, modern methods.

An international research team, headed by maritime archaeologist Staffan von Arbin at the University of Gothenburg, has succeeded in mapping the origins of its cargo and the probable route of the ship. The study contributes new knowledge about the goods traded in the Middle Ages and the trade routes in that period.

The cargo included copper, oak timber, quicklime, tar, bricks and roof tiles. Samples of the cargo have been taken up from the wreck during previous underwater archaeological investigations carried out by the Bohusläns museum. But it’s only now that analyses of its cargo have been possible using modern analysis methods.

From Gotland in Sweden

With these analyses, the researchers have been able to establish that the copper was mined in two areas in what is currently Slovakia, for example. The analyses also show that the bricks, timber and probably also the tar originated in Poland, while the quicklime is apparently from Gotland.

According to medieval sources, copper was transported from the Slovakian mining districts in the Carpathian Mountains via river systems down to the coastal town of Gdańsk (Danzig) in Poland. In the Middle Ages, Gdańsk was also the dominant port for exporting Polish oak timber.

“It is therefore very likely that it was in Gdańsk that the ship took on its cargo before it continued on what would be its final voyage.”

Heading for Belgium

The composition of the cargo indicates that the ship was on its way to a western European port when, for unknown reasons, it foundered in the Bohuslän archipelago. Here, too, the research team have drawn conclusions from historical sources. 

“We believe that the ship’s final destination was Bruges in Belgium. In the 15th century, this city was a major trading hub. We also know that copper produced in Central Europe was shipped on from there to various Mediterranean ports, including Venice.”

The study presents recent investigations of the composition of the cargo. These results were then compared with other sources from the same period, archaeological and historical. The study has been published in the article Tracing Trade Routes: Examining the Cargo of the 15th-Century Skaftö Wreck, in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 

Facts in brief

  • The Skaftö wreck, which was discovered in 2003, dates back to the late 1430s and is believed to have sunk around 1440. The wreck was the subject of archaeological examinations between 2005 and 2009 by the Bohusläns museum under the leadership of maritime archaeologist Staffan von Arbin.
  • ‘The study just published is part of Staffan von Arbin’s upcoming doctoral thesis in archaeology at the University of Gothenburg, which deals with medieval maritime transport geography in the now-Swedish region of Bohulän, which during this period was part of Norway.
EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Late-Roman Ruins and Pottery Uncovered at Antioch

Late-Roman Ruins and Pottery Uncovered at Antioch

Late Roman-era rooms and earthen offering vessels have been discovered by archaeologists in southern Türkiye amid ongoing excavations of the ancient city of Antiocheia, the head of the dig said on Friday.

Late-Roman Ruins and Pottery Uncovered at Antioch

Excavations around the Church of St. Pierre, a pilgrimage site for many Christians, began on Oct. 10 in the province of Hatay, launched by a 12-person team led by the local archaeology museum.

“During the excavations, we found rooms and many offering vessels belonging to the settlement from the late Roman era,” said Ayse Ersoy, head of the Hatay Archeology Museum.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ersoy said: “We think that at that time, people who visited the church on pilgrimage bought offering vessels from here, and filled it with holy water in the Church of St. Pierre”

Touching on the historical significance of the site, Ersoy said: “Antiocheia was founded by Seleukos I in 300 BC, and then this region was inhabited during the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods.”

The ancient city was situated on the foothills of Mount Starius, also known as Habib-i Neccar, and the Asi River, including the cave church, carved into the mountainside at the place where St. Pierre first preached, according to UNESCO.

These were the first scientific excavations in the residential areas of Antiocheia, noted Ersoy.

She also said the team was working on a project to turn the site of the Church of St. Pierre and the nearby Necmi Asfuroglu Archeology Museum into an open-air museum.

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

17th-Century Toddler May Have Died from Lack of Sunlight

17th-Century Toddler May Have Died from Lack of Sunlight

17th-Century Toddler May Have Died from Lack of Sunlight

Scientists used a ‘virtual autopsy’ to examine the mummy of a child found in an aristocratic family crypt, revealing him most probably as Reichard Wilhelm (1625-1626). Despite his wealthy background, the child experienced extreme nutritional deficiency and tragically early death from pneumonia.

A team of scientists based in Germany have examined a 17th-century child mummy, using cutting-edge science alongside historical records to shed new light on Renaissance childhood.

The child was found in an aristocratic Austrian family crypt, where the conditions allowed for natural mummification, preserving soft tissue that contained critical information about his life and death.

Curiously, this was the only unidentified body in the crypt, buried in an unmarked wooden coffin instead of the elaborate metal coffins reserved for the other members of the family buried there.

The team, led by Dr Andreas Nerlich of the Academic Clinic Munich-Bogenhausen, carried out a virtual autopsy and radiocarbon testing, and examined family records and key material clues from the burial, to try to understand who the child was and what his short life looked like.

“This is only one case,” said Nerlich, lead author of the paper published today in Frontiers in Medicine, “but as we know that the early infant death rates generally were very high at that time, our observations may have considerable impact in the over-all life reconstruction of infants even in higher social classes.”

Well fed, but not well nourished

The virtual autopsy was carried out through CT scanning. Nerlich and his team measured bone lengths and looked at tooth eruption and the formation of long bones to determine that the child was approximately a year old when he died.

The soft tissue showed that the child was a boy and overweight for his age, so his parents were able to feed him well – but the bones told a different story.

The child’s ribs had become malformed in the pattern called a rachitic rosary, which is usually seen in severe rickets or scurvy. Although he received enough food to put on weight, he was still malnourished. While the typical bowing of the bones seen in rickets was absent, this may have been because he did not walk or crawl.

Since the virtual autopsy revealed that he had inflammation of the lungs characteristic of pneumonia, and children with rickets are more vulnerable to pneumonia, this nutritional deficiency may even have contributed to his early death.

“The combination of obesity along with a severe vitamin-deficiency can only be explained by a generally ‘good’ nutritional status along with an almost complete lack of sunlight exposure,” said Nerlich. “We have to reconsider the living conditions of high aristocratic infants of previous populations.”

The son of a powerful count

However, although Nerlich and his team had established a probable cause of death, the question of the child’s identity remained. The deformation of his skull suggested that his simple wooden coffin wasn’t quite large enough for the child. However, a specialist examination of his clothing showed that he had been buried in a long, hooded coat made of expensive silk.

He was also buried in a crypt exclusively reserved for the powerful Counts of Starhemberg, who buried their title-holders — mostly first-born sons — and their wives there. This meant that the child was most likely the first-born son of a Count of Starhemberg.

Radiocarbon dating of a skin sample suggested he was buried between 1550-1635 CE, while historical records of the crypt’s management indicated that his burial probably took place after the crypt’s renovation around 1600 CE. He was the only infant buried in the crypt.

“We have no data on the fate of other infants of the family,” Nerlich said, regarding the unique burial. “According to our data, the infant was most probably [the count’s] first-born son after the erection of the family crypt, so special care may have been applied.”

This meant that there was only one likely candidate for the little boy in the silk coat: Reichard Wilhelm, whose grieving family buried him alongside his grandfather and namesake Reichard von Starhemberg.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

UK’s oldest human DNA obtained, revealing two distinct Palaeolithic populations

UK’s oldest human DNA obtained, revealing two distinct Palaeolithic populations

UK’s oldest human DNA obtained, revealing two distinct Palaeolithic populations

Published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the new study by UCL Institute of Archaeology, the Natural History Museum and the Francis Crick Institute researchers reveals for the first time that the recolonisation of Britain consisted of at least two groups with distinct origins and cultures.

The study team explored DNA evidence from an individual from Gough’s Cave, Somerset, and an individual from Kendrick’s Cave, North Wales, who both lived more than 13,500 years ago. Very few skeletons of this age exist in Britain, with around a dozen found across six sites in total. The study, which involved radiocarbon dating and analysis as well as DNA extraction and sequencing, shows that it is possible to obtain useful genetic information from some of the oldest human skeletal material in the country.

The authors say that these genome sequences now represent the earliest chapter of the genetic history of Britain, but ancient DNA and proteins promise to take us back even further into human history.

The researchers found that the DNA from the individual from Gough’s Cave, who died about 15,000 years ago, indicates that her ancestors were part of an initial migration into northwest Europe around 16,000 years ago. However, the individual from Kendrick’s Cave is from a later period, around 13,500 years ago, with his ancestry from a western hunter-gatherer group. This group’s ancestral origins are thought to be from the near East, migrating to Britain around 14,000 years ago.

Study co-author Dr Mateja Hajdinjak (Francis Crick Institute) said: “Finding the two ancestries so close in time in Britain, only a millennium or so apart, is adding to the emerging picture of Palaeolithic Europe, which is one of a changing and dynamic population.”

The authors note that these migrations occurred after the last ice age when approximately two-thirds of Britain was covered by glaciers. As the climate warmed and the glaciers melted, drastic ecological and environmental changes took place and humans began to move back into northern Europe.

Study co-author Dr Sophy Charlton, who undertook the study whilst at the Natural History Museum, said: “The period we were interested in, from 20-10,000 years ago, is part of the Palaeolithic – the Old Stone Age. This is an important time period for the environment in Britain, as there would have been significant climate warming, increases in the amount of forest, and changes in the type of animals available to hunt.”

As well as genetically, the two groups were found to be culturally distinct, with differences in what they ate and how they buried their dead.

Study co-author Dr Rhiannon Stevens (UCL Institute of Archaeology) said: “Chemical analyses of the bones showed that the individuals from Kendrick’s Cave ate a lot of marine and freshwater foods, including large marine mammals.

“Humans at Gough’s Cave, however, showed no evidence of eating marine and freshwater foods, and primarily ate terrestrial herbivores such as red deer, bovids (such as wild cattle called aurochs) and horses.”

The researchers discovered that the mortuary practices of the two groups also differed. Although there were animal bones found at Kendrick’s Cave, these included portable art items, such as a decorated horse jawbone. No animal bones were found that showed evidence of being eaten by humans, and the scientists say that this indicates the cave was used as a burial site by its occupiers.

In contrast, animal and human bones found in Gough’s Cave showed significant human modification, including human skulls modified into ‘skull-cups’, which the researchers believe to be evidence of ritualistic cannibalism. Individuals from this earlier population seem to be the same people who created the Magdalenian stone tools, a culture known also for iconic cave art and bone artefacts.

Gough’s Cave is also the site where Britain’s famous Cheddar Man was discovered in 1903, dated to 10,564-9,915 years BP. In this study, Cheddar Man was found to have a mixture of ancestries, mostly (85%) western hunter-gatherers and some (15%) of the older type from the initial migration.

Co-author Dr Selina Brace (Natural History Museum) said: “We really wanted to find out more about who these early populations in Britain might have been.

“We knew from our previous work, including the study of Cheddar Man, that western hunter-gatherers were in Britain by around 10,500 years BP, but we didn’t know when they first arrived in Britain, and whether this was the only population that was present.”

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