EUROPE, POLAND, WORLD

A pendant made of mammoth bone with ‘mysterious dots’ could be the oldest known example of ornate jewelry in Eurasia

A pendant made of mammoth bone with ‘mysterious dots’ could be the oldest known example of ornate jewelry in Eurasia

A pendant made of mammoth bone with ‘mysterious dots’ could be the oldest known example of ornate jewelry in Eurasia

The fragments of an ancient pendant made of mammoth ivory were unearthed in Poland, and are regarded to be the oldest known example of intricate jewelry ever uncovered in Eurasia.

Archaeologists discovered it in the Stajnia cave in southern Poland in 2010, and new radiocarbon analysis has dated it to roughly 41,500 years ago from when Homo sapiens were in Europe.

The Stajnia Cave is one of the most important archaeological sites due to the finds of the first remains of Neanderthals in Poland, and several tens of thousands of flint artifacts from the Middle Palaeolithic.

Researchers said the Stajnia Cave plate is a piece of personal ‘jewelry’ that was fashioned 41,500 years ago (directly radiocarbon dated). It is the earliest known of its sort in Eurasia, and it marks a fresh beginning for a practice that is closely related to the expansion of modern Homo sapiens in Europe.

The oldest evidence of body decoration in Europe is found about 46 ka BP in the Initial Upper Paleolithic strata of Bacho Kiro, where multiple carnivore teeth were fashioned into pendants.

The Stajnia Cave is one of the most important archaeological sites due to the finds of the first remains of Neanderthals in Poland, and several tens of thousands of flint artifacts from the Middle Palaeolithic.

A new novel accessory—the alignment of punctuations—appeared on certain ornaments in south-western France and figurines in the Swabian Jura (Germany) as part of these revolutionary accessories.

Researchers wrote, so far the majority of these distinctive adornments have been found during earlier digs, with little identification of site formation histories or post-depositional disruption. They said As a result, rather than direct dating, their chronological attribution has relied only on stratigraphic context.

Reporting their discovery in Scientific Reports, the archaeologists said The first news: “The decoration of the pendant included patterns of over 50 puncture marks in an irregular looping curve and two complete holes.”

They added that each puncture could represent a successful animal hunt or cycles of the moon or sun.

Sahra Talamo, who led the study, said: “Determining the exact age of this jewelry was fundamental for its cultural attribution, and we are thrilled with the result.

The archaeologists said: “The decoration of the pendant included patterns of over 50 puncture marks in an irregular looping curve, and two complete holes.” They added that each puncture could represent a successful animal hunt or cycles of the moon or sun.

“This work demonstrates that using the most recent methodological advances in the radiocarbon method enables us to minimize the amount of sampling and achieve highly precise dates with a very small error range.

“If we want to seriously solve the debate on when mobiliary art emerged in Palaeolithic groups, we need to radiocarbon date these ornaments, especially those found during past fieldwork or in complex stratigraphic sequences.”

Co-author Wioletta Nowaczewska added: “This piece of jewelry shows the great creativity and extraordinary manual skills of members of the group of Homo sapiens (Homo neanderthalensis) that occupied the site.

“Plakanın kalınlığı yaklaşık 3,7 milimetredir ve delikleri ve onu takmak için iki deliği oyma konusunda şaşırtıcı bir hassasiyet gösterir.”

To read the article…

MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Ceremonial cave site from Postclassic Maya period discovered in Yucatán Peninsula

Ceremonial cave site from Postclassic Maya period discovered in Yucatán Peninsula

Ceremonial cave site from Postclassic Maya period discovered in Yucatán Peninsula

Archaeologists have discovered a ceremonial cave site in Chemuyil on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, that dates from the Postclassic Maya period.

As is known during the pre-Hispanic era diverse cultures existed throughout the territory of Mexican, but it was the Maya one of the most prevalent and the one that left the greatest records of its passage.

The Maya believed that the universe was split into three parts: heaven, earth, and the underworld, with caverns serving as a conduit or gateway to Xibalba, a realm governed by the Maya death gods and their assistants.

The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) was notified of the site by personnel from the civil association Círculo Espeleológico del Mayab and the Urban Cenotes Project of Playa del Carmen, who identified archaeological remains whilst mapping cave systems in the region.

A team led by archaeologist Antonio Reyes was despatched to the site, where they discovered two vessels, one entire and the other broken, as well as a tripod bowl dating from the Late Postclassic Maya (1200–1550 AD).

The first is a Navulá-type monochrome vessel that still has one of its two handles, whilst the second is a globular pot, which was found fragmented because of tree roots that crushed the vessel against some rocks.

Both vessels were positioned in natural niches where water dripped down from stalactites, whilst the tripod bowl was placed face down and covered with stones.

The researchers believe that the bowl was a ceremonial offering, whilst the two vessels were used for the ritual collection of water from the stalactites.

Although there are no major Maya centers within Chemuyil, the people living in the area between Playa del Carmen and Tulum often used many of the natural cavities, cenotes, and cave systems for ceremonial purposes.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

After 1,300 years, water to again flow from monumental fountain in the City of Gladiators in Turkey

After 1,300 years, water to again flow from monumental fountain in the City of Gladiators in Turkey

After 1,300 years, water to again flow from monumental fountain in the City of Gladiators in Turkey

The approximately 2,000-year-old monumental fountain in the ancient city of Kibyra in Golhisar, Burdur in southwestern Turkey will start flowing with fresh water again thanks to the restoration project of the ancient city.

After four months of dedicated restoration work by a Turkish excavation team, the fountain in the ancient city of Kibyra will come back to life.

The restoration of the fountain with two pools, including over 150 original architectural fragments found among the ruins on the third terrace of the city and 24 imitation blocks produced from the original type of stone, was completed with contributions from the Burdur Governorship with an expert team of 17 people, including archaeologists, restorers, and architects.

Visitors to Kibyra, known on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List as the “city of Gladiators,” can reach the fountain by walking along a stone-step path that has already been restored.

Sukru Ozudogru, an archaeologist at Mehmet Akif Ersoy University and head of the ancient city’s dig team, told Anadolu Agency that Turkey boasts two large ancient monumental fountains that have been restored, and both of them are in Burdur.

The colossal fountain which was built in 23 BC, with a diameter of 15 meters (50 feet) and towers 8 meters high (over 26.2 feet), was used in Kibyra for some 600-700 years, he said.

Explaining that fresh drinkable water will again flow from the fountain through the work they have done, Ozudogru said Kibyra will be the second ancient city in Turkey after Sagalassos to have a fountain with water flowing through it.

“We want to bring water from the ancient spring this May and restore the fountain to its original function,” he emphasized.

“Just like in ancient times, water will flow into the pool from the mouths of the lion and panther statues in the lion’s hide where the mythological hero Hercules laid down, and the panther’s hide where the god of wine Dionysus lay down,” he added.

The ancient city of Kibyra, in the Gölhisar district of Burdur, once was one of the most important cities in Lydian and Roman civilization. Located at an altitude of 1100-1300 meters with juniper and cedar forests covering it, the 2300-year-old city can be seen from all parts because it’s on hilltops that offer a view over its surroundings.

Strabo, an Amasian traveler, recorded that the inhabitants of Kibyra were originally Lydians who moved to the Kabalis region. Soon they changed their settlement areas and established a city with a circumference of 100 stadiums.

The archaeological monuments and resources of this city were excavated in 2006, revealing a militaristic character with over 30 thousand infantry and more than 2,000 cavalry units. This is the place with the largest gladiator reliefs from ancient times in Turkey.

The strategic location of the city made it a regional center for justice, and its fame as a horse breeding town in ancient times has led to it being called simply “The City of Fast-Running Horses”. The city was at its most prosperous during the Roman period, and all of the architectural remains that can be seen today date from that time.

AUSTRALIA, WORLD

World’s oldest heart preserved in 380 million-year-old armored fish

World’s oldest heart preserved in 380 million-year-old armored fish

Researchers have discovered a 380 million-year-old heart—the oldest ever found—alongside a separate fossilized stomach, intestine, and liver in an ancient jawed fish, shedding new light on the evolution of our own bodies.

A team of Australian scientists has discovered the world’s oldest heart, part of the fossilized remains of an armored fish that died some 380 million years ago. The fish also had a fossilized stomach, liver, and intestine.

All the organs were arranged much like similar organs in modern shark anatomy, according to a recent paper published in the journal Science.

As we’ve reported previously, most fossils are bone, shells, teeth, and other forms of “hard” tissue, but occasionally fossils are discovered that preserve soft tissues like skin, muscles, organs—or even the occasional eyeball. This can tell scientists much about aspects of the biology, ecology, and evolution of such ancient organisms that skeletons alone can’t convey.

For instance, earlier this year, researchers created a highly detailed 3D model of a 365 million-year-old ammonite fossil from the Jurassic period by combining advanced imaging techniques, revealing internal muscles that had never been previously observed. Among other findings, the researchers observed paired muscles extending from the ammonite’s body, which they surmise the animal used to retract itself further into its shell to avoid predators. 

And last month, British researchers described their experiments monitoring dead sea bass carcasses as they rotted over the course of 70 days to gain insights into how (and why) the soft tissues of internal organs can be selectively preserved in the fossil record.

World’s oldest heart preserved in 380 million-year-old armored fish
The arthrodire placoderm fossil from the Gogo Formation in Australia where the 380 million-year-old mineralized heart was discovered.

One of the best ways that soft tissue can turn into rock is when it is replaced by a mineral called calcium phosphate (sometimes called apatite). Specifically, muscles, stomachs, and intestines tend to “phosphatize” much more frequently than other organs like kidneys and gonads. The authors concluded that the phosphorus content of specific organ tissue contributes to this unusual selection bias for which soft tissues are preserved in the fossil record.

The fossilized specimens examined in this latest paper were collected from the Gogo Formation in Western Australia, which was once a reef and is rich in exceptionally well-preserved Devonian fossils, such as the class of armored prehistoric fish known as placoderms. That preservation includes soft tissues, including nerves.

In 2005, paleontologists even excavated a new species of placoderm, dubbed Materpiscis (“mother fish”), with an embryo still attached by an umbilical cord—evidence that at least some species of armored fish gave birth to well-developed live offspring.

According to the authors of this latest paper, placoderms were among the earliest jawed vertebrates, the evolution of which involved significant changes to skeletal structure and soft anatomy. Because the preservation of soft tissue is so rare in the fossil record, the samples collected at the Gogo Formation (and now housed in the public collections of the Western Australian Museum and the Museum of Victoria) could hold clues about how this transition occurred—specifically, how the head and neck region changed to accommodate jaws.

Reconstruction of a Devonian arthrodire placoderm.

“What’s really exceptional about the Gogo fishes is that their soft tissues are preserved in three dimensions,” said co-author Per Ahlberg of Uppsala University.

“Most cases of soft-tissue preservation are found in flattened fossils, where the soft anatomy is little more than a stain on the rock. We are also very fortunate in that modern scanning techniques allow us to study these fragile soft tissues without destroying them. A couple of decades ago, the project would have been impossible.”

Paleontologists collected the samples by splitting limestone concretions in the field, then taping the broken pieces together for transport. The researchers were able to scan the intact samples using neutron beams and synchrotron radiation. Then, they constructed 3D images of the soft tissues preserved within based on the different densities of minerals deposited by bacteria and the surrounding matrix of rock.

Artist’s representation of the now-extinct armored fish to which the 380 million-year-old heart belonged.

The result: the first 3D model of a complex, flat s-shaped heart with two distinct chambers. The team also imaged a thick-walled stomach with intact intestines and a liver, separated from the heart; they also noted the absence of lungs. The fossilized liver was quite large and likely helped the fish stay buoyant, per the authors. It’s the first time scientists have been able to see the arrangement of organs inside a primitive jawed fish.

“As a paleontologist who has studied fossils for more than 20 years, I was truly amazed to find a 3D and beautifully preserved heart in a 380 million-year-old ancestor,” said co-author Kate Trinajstic, a vertebrate paleontologist at Curtin University.

“Evolution is often thought of as a series of small steps, but these ancient fossils suggest there was a larger leap between jawless and jawed vertebrates. These fish literally have their hearts in their mouths and under their gills—just like sharks today.”

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Additional Mummies Uncovered Near Vizier’s Tomb in Luxor

Additional Mummies Uncovered Near Vizier’s Tomb in Luxor

A group of Egyptologists from Spain have discovered two tombs that housed almost 60 mummies at site in the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor.

Additional Mummies Uncovered Near Vizier’s Tomb in Luxor
An exterior view of the tomb of vizier Amenhotep Huy where almost 60 mummies have been unearthed by Spanish Egyptologists.

“The most important thing this year is the discovery of two tombs, almost six meters deep,” made up of “two chambers each and housing around 60 mummies and remains of mummies,” Francisco J. Martin, the president of the Vizier Amenhotep Huy Project, told Efe.

Martín, who leads a team of 22 Spanish Egyptologists and eight Egyptian experts, said the tombs were dated after Vizier Amenhotep-Huy’s tomb (18th dynasty).

The site is a rich example of the architectural style and “evidence that the vizier’s tomb at some point became a necropolis,” the expert added.

The two secondary tombs are connected via two burial chambers and are characterized by a lack of epigraphs that were found in Vizier Amenhotep Huy’s tomb, which is a chapel that contains 30 columns with epigraphs, according to Martín.

“They began to build other tombs from different dynasties within the vizier’s tomb, since the place was sacred,” Martín continued from the mission’s headquarters in the southern city of Luxor. “It is a very rich site and we are discovering many things.”

Amenhotep Huy was vizier to pharaoh Amenhotep III during the last third of his reign.

He was originally from northern Egypt and was considered the “opposition leader” amid new religious trends promoted by Akhenaten, the Pharaoh’s son and heir.

“He is a very important person,” Martín added.

Teresa Bedman, co-director of the project, told Efe that, so far, all mummies buried in the area “were senior officials of the clergy of Amun of Thebes.”

Because the bodies were mummified, experts can be sure they belonged to “higher social classes,” according to Bedman.

Once the vizier died and was martyred, his burial site became a prestigious one where many others wanted to be buried: “a necropolis inside the vizier’s tomb,” Bedman added.

The Spanish mission has launched an exhibition of the contents of the vizier’s necropolis with the Luxor museum which will continue into 2023.

ASIA, CHINA, WORLD

Hundreds of 4,500-yr-old tombs found in central China

Hundreds of 4,500-yr-old tombs found in central China

Hundreds of 4,500-yr-old tombs found in central China
This undated file photo shows a piece of pottery ware excavated at the Suyang relics site in the city of Luoyang, central China’s Henan Province.

Archaeologists have found more than 300 tombs dating back around 4,500 years in central China’s Henan Province, which are of great significance to studying the burial system and social structure of prehistoric China.

Located in the Suyang relics site in the city of Luoyang, the tomb complex covers an area of about 15,000 square meters, and all of the tombs are earth pits in a rectangular shape, according to the Luoyang Municipal Institute of Archaeology.

“The tomb cluster is large in size and can be traced back to the transition period from Yangshao Culture to Longshan Culture. It is extremely rare to see this in Zhongyuan, a region known as the central plain area,” said Ren Guang, head of the excavation project on the Suyang site.

Archaeologists have unearthed nine tombs so far, and the skeletons of 10 people have been found in the tombs. Some of the tombs show evidence of having been seriously damaged by tomb raiders.

Preliminary excavation showed that the tomb complex can be traced back to the early stage of the Longshan Culture, Ren said.

The discovery of the tomb cluster has great academic value, Ren said, adding that it can help researchers better understand the burial system during this period, while also providing important clues for the study of social complexity and the civilization process in the Longshan Culture.

The Suyang relics site spans more than 600,000 square meters. The Luoyang Municipal Institute of Archaeology launched excavation work at the site in early 2021, and it is still in progress. 

This undated aerial file photo shows the Suyang relics site in the city of Luoyang, central China’s Henan Province.
This undated file photo shows a piece of jade excavated at the Suyang relics site in the city of Luoyang, central China’s Henan Province.
EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Medieval gold ‘lynx’ earrings from Ani Ruins

Medieval gold ‘lynx’ earrings from Ani Ruins

A pair of lynx-shaped gold earrings have been unearthed near the ruins of Ani, the once great metropolis known as the “city of a thousand and one churches”, on Turkey’s eastern border, across the Akhuryan River from Armenia.

The Medieval earrings, which weigh 22 grams and have engraved star, droplet, and crescent motifs, are now preserved in the Kars Archaeology and Ethnography Museum.

The priceless artifacts, which astounded archaeologists with their exquisite engravings, are scheduled to be displayed briefly at the Kars Archaeology and Ethnography Museum in 2023 after having been carefully stored in a warehouse up until then.

Yavuz Çetin, director of Kars Archaeology and Ethnography Museum, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Kars has hosted many civilizations throughout history as it is located on the border of countries and is on the historical Silk Road’s route.

A pair of lynx-shaped gold earrings was discovered near the Ani Ruins, in Kars, Türkiye.

Stating that it is possible to see the cultural assets of many civilizations in Kars, Çetin said that there are many historical immovable pieces of cultural heritage such as the Köşevenk and Mağazberk archaeological sites in and around the Ani Ruins.

Çetin noted that people have benefited from animals throughout history and attributed physical or characteristic meanings to them.

“The lynx from the feline family is one of these animals. People were influenced by the ferocity and power of this animal and used it in artistic elements,” he said.

“The existence of the lynx is also known in our Kars region. A couple of lynx-shaped earrings in our museum were found in the village of Subatan, about 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) north of Ani, and brought to us in 1994.”

Çetin said that they would exhibit the earrings next year.

A pair of lynx-shaped gold earrings was discovered near the Ani Ruins, in Kars, Türkiye.

“Our earrings are kept in the warehouse. We plan to temporarily display them to our public in 2023. I invite everyone to see this magnificent work. Our earrings are lynx-shaped, highly decorated earrings … The motifs on them show the artistic elegance of the earrings.”

Ani, which was founded more than 1,600 years ago, was located on several trade routes and grew to become a walled city with over 100,000 residents by the 11th century.

Ani was in steep decline by the 1300s, and it was completely abandoned by the 1700s.

NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

Stone Points Found in Idaho Dated to 15,700 Years Ago

Stone Points Found in Idaho Dated to 15,700 Years Ago

Stone Points Found in Idaho Dated to 15,700 Years Ago
Stone projectile points discovered buried inside and outside of pit features at the Cooper’s Ferry site, Area B. Credit: Loren Davis

Oregon State University archaeologists have uncovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any previously found in the Americas, helping to fill in the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.

The 13 full and fragmentary projectile points, razor sharp and ranging from about half an inch to 2 inches long, are from roughly 15,700 years ago, according to carbon-14 dating. That’s about 3,000 years older than the Clovis fluted points found throughout North America, and 2,300 years older than the points previously found at the same Cooper’s Ferry site along the Salmon River in present-day Idaho.

The findings were published today in the journal Science Advances.

“From a scientific point of view, these discoveries add very important details about what the archaeological record of the earliest peoples of the Americas looks like,” said Loren Davis, an anthropology professor at OSU and head of the group that found the points. “It’s one thing to say, ‘We think that people were here in the Americas 16,000 years ago’; it’s another thing to measure it by finding well-made artifacts they left behind.”

Previously, Davis and other researchers working the Cooper’s Ferry site had found simple flakes and pieces of bone that indicated human presence about 16,000 years ago. But the discovery of projectile points reveals new insights into the way the first Americans expressed complex thoughts through technology at that time, Davis said.

The Salmon River site where the points were found is on traditional Nez Perce land, known to the tribe as the ancient village of Nipéhe. The land is currently held in public ownership by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The points are revelatory not just in their age, but in their similarity to projectile points found in Hokkaido, Japan, dating to 16,000–20,000 years ago, Davis said.

Their presence in Idaho adds more detail to the hypothesis that there are early genetic and cultural connections between the ice age peoples of Northeast Asia and North America.

“The earliest peoples of North America possessed cultural knowledge that they used to survive and thrive over time. Some of this knowledge can be seen in the way people made stone tools, such as the projectile points found at the Cooper’s Ferry site,” Davis said. “By comparing these points with other sites of the same age and older, we can infer the spatial extents of social networks where this technological knowledge was shared between peoples.”

Overview of the Area B excavations at the Cooper’s Ferry site in 2017. Credit: Loren Davis
Excavator at work recording artifacts excavated from a pit feature at the Cooper’s Ferry site. Credit: Loren Davis

These slender projectile points are characterized by two distinct ends, one sharpened and one stemmed, as well as a symmetrical beveled shape if looked at head-on. They were likely attached to darts, rather than arrows or spears, and despite the small size, they were deadly weapons, Davis said.

“There’s an assumption that early projectile points had to be big to kill large game; however, smaller projectile points mounted on darts will penetrate deeply and cause tremendous internal damage,” he said. “You can hunt any animal we know about with weapons like these.”

These discoveries add to the emerging picture of early human life in the Pacific Northwest, Davis said. “Finding a site where people made pits and stored complete and broken projectile points nearly 16,000 years ago gives us valuable details about the lives of our region’s earliest inhabitants.”

Overview of the Cooper’s Ferry site in the lower Salmon River canyon of western Idaho, USA.
Overview of pit feature 78 during the process of excavation.
(A) map showing the location of the Cooper’s Ferry site in the context of Pacific Northwest environments at 16,000 years ago; (B) aerial image (from Google Earth) showing the Cooper’s Ferry excavations; (C) site map showing the locations of excavation Area A and Area B.

The newly discovered pits are part of the larger Cooper’s Ferry record, where Davis and colleagues have previously reported a 14,200-year-old fire pit and a food-processing area containing the remains of an extinct horse. All told, they found and mapped more than 65,000 items, recording their locations to the millimeter for precise documentation.

The projectile points were uncovered over multiple summers between 2012 and 2017, with work supported by a partnership held between OSU and the BLM. All excavation work has been completed and the site is now covered. The BLM installed interpretive panels and a kiosk at the site to describe the work.

Stratigraphic model of the Cooper’s Ferry site, showing the distribution of cultural features (e.g., fire hearths, pits), radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence ages, sediment layers and buried soils as exposed by excavations in Area A and Area B.

Davis has been studying the Cooper’s Ferry site since the 1990s when he was an archaeologist with the BLM. Now, he partners with the BLM to bring undergraduate and graduate students from OSU to work the site in the summer.

The team also works closely with the Nez Perce tribe to provide field opportunities for tribal youth and to communicate all findings.

All In One Magazine