AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Shrine discovered with rituals never seen to take place before in an Egyptian temple

Shrine discovered with rituals never seen to take place before in an Egyptian temple

Researchers from the Sikait Project, directed by UAB Professor Joan Oller Guzmán, recently published new findings from the excavations of the Berenike site, a Greco-Roman seaport in the Egyptian Eastern desert. The study results, published in the American Journal of Archaeology, describe the excavation of a religious complex from the Late Roman Period (between the fourth and sixth centuries) with unprecedented discoveries linked to the presence of the Blemmyes, a nomadic people.

The Sikait Project research team, directed by Professor Joan Oller Guzmán from the Department of Antiquity and Middle Age Studies at the UAB, with financial support from the Fundación PALARQ and the necessary permits from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, recently published in the American Journal of Archeology the results obtained from the January 2019 excavation season at the ancient seaport of Berenike, located in Egypt’s Eastern desert.

The paper describes the archaeological dig of a religious complex from the Late Roman Period (4th to 6th centuries CE) named the “Falcon Shrine” by researchers and located within the Northern Complex, one of the most important buildings of the city of Berenike at that time.

Research team. From left to right: Delia Eguiluz Maestro, Joan Oller Guzmán, David Fernández Abella and Vanesa Trevín Pita.

The site, which was excavated by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology and the University of Delaware, was a Red Sea harbour founded by Ptolomy II Philadelphus (3rd century BCE) and continued to operate into the Roman and Byzantine periods when it was turned into the main point of entrance for commerce coming from Cape Horn, Arabia and India.

Within this chronological period, one of the phases yielding the newest discoveries was the one corresponding to the Late Roman Period, from the fourth to sixth centuries CE, a period in which the city seemed to be partially occupied and controlled by the Blemmyes, a nomadic group of people from the Nubian region who at that moment were expanding their domains throughout the greater part of Egypt’s Eastern desert.

In this sense, the Northern Complex is fundamental in providing clear evidence of a link with the Blemmyes people, thanks to the discovery of inscriptions to some of their kings or the aforementioned Falcon Shrine.

Researchers were able to identify a small traditional Egyptian temple, which after the 4th century was adapted by the Blemmyes to their own belief system.

“The material findings are particularly remarkable and include offerings such as harpoons, cube-shaped statues, and a stele with indications related to religious activities, which was chosen for the cover of the journal’s current issue”, highlights UAB researcher Joan Oller.

The most remarkable consecrated element found was the arrangement of up to 15 falcons within the shrine, most of them headless.

Although burials of falcons for religious purposes had already been observed in the Nile Valley, as had the worshipping of individual birds of this species, this is the first time researchers discovered falcons buried within a temple, and accompanied by eggs, something completely unprecedented. In other sites, researchers had found mummified headless falcons, but always only individual specimens, never in groups as in the case of Berenike.

The stele contains a curious inscription, reading: “It is improper to boil a head in here”, which far from being a dedication or sign of gratitude as normally corresponds to an inscription, is a message forbidding all those who enter from boiling the heads of the animals inside the temple, considered to be a profane activity.  

According to Joan Oller, “all of these elements point to intense ritual activities combining Egyptian traditions with contributions from the Blemmyes, sustained by a theological base possibly related to the worshipping of the god Khonsu”. He goes on to say, “The discoveries expand our knowledge of these semi-nomad people, the Blemmyes, living in the Eastern desert during the decline of the Roman Empire”.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Pesticides May Have Contributed to Corrosion on Roman Bowl

Pesticides May Have Contributed to Corrosion on Roman Bowl

A corroded Roman bowl dated almost 2,000 years old contains traces of a modern chemical once used in pesticides.

The study highlights that soil polluted with chlorobenzenes may pose a continuing threat to the preservation of archaeological material still in the ground.

The chemicals are synthetic compounds that can be toxic at high levels and most have been banned in the UK following concerns about environmental pollution.

However, it is thought these compounds accumulated in the environment through previous agricultural and industrial use.

A Roman bowl from the late iron age

In the new study, researchers from the University of Oxford, and Conservation Science Investigations (CSI): Sittingbourne, analysed a Roman bowl from the Late Iron Age (between 43 and 410 AD).

Made of a copper alloy, the vessel was found in 2016 on a farm in Kent, a site that was known to have been used for agriculture since at least 1936.

Luciana da Costa Carvalho and colleagues analysed the green and brown-coloured corrosion on the bowl to identify their different components.

They found elements that were indicative of the changes over time in the soil caused by human activities.

Researchers found chlorobenzenes present in the green-coloured corrosion.

The authors also found diethyltoluamide (also known as DEET) in the brown-coloured corrosion, a modern compound that is still used in insect repellents.

They suggest that the chlorobenzenes were associated with increased corrosion in the Roman bowl.

They say that even though the chemical is no longer used in the UK, polluted soil may still threaten the preservation of archaeological material still buried and more research needs to be undertaken to better understand the processes involved.

Writing in the Scientific Reports Journal, the authors said: “Chlorobenzenes are common soil contaminants in rural areas from the use of pesticides, many of which were banned more than 50 years ago.

“Here we show that their presence is associated with accelerated corrosion and this provides a threat to the preservation of archaeological metal objects in the ground.”

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Archaeologists find a 1,800-year-old military medal in Türkiye’s Perre

Archaeologists find a 1,800-year-old military medal in Türkiye’s Perre

A 1,800-year-old military medal that was given to successful soldiers and troops in the Roman army has been unearthed in an ancient city in southeastern Türkiye, according to archaeologists.

Archaeologists find a 1,800-year-old military medal in Türkiye's Perre
A 1,800-year-old military medal engraved with the head of Medusa in the ancient city of Perre, in Adıyaman, Türkiye, Oct. 5, 2022.

During excavations this year, which has been periodically conducted since 2001, in the ancient city of Perre – one of the five largest cities of the ancient Kingdom of Commagene – in the Adıyaman province, archaeologists found the bronze military medal bearing the head of Medusa, a monster in the form of a woman with snakes for hair, the very sight of which would turn a person to stone.

Mehmet Alkan, director of the Adıyaman Museum, told reporters that excavations continue in the area with mosaics and in the section called the “infinity ladder.”

“The medal with a Medusa head appears as an award given to a soldier for his success,” he explained.

“As it is known, a bronze military diploma, which was given to a Roman soldier named Calcilius Antiquus after he served in different legions of the empire for 20 years, during the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian, was unearthed in 2021.

This diploma was very important in terms of showing that Roman retired soldiers were placed in the city of Perre during the Roman Empire period,” Alkan said.

“The bronze phalera and the iron sword unearthed during the 2022 excavations are finds that support this thesis. Military phaleras, which have examples made of gold, silver, bronze and sometimes glass, can be explained as a kind of medal given to soldiers and troops who were successful in the Roman army,” he explained.

“They can be attached to the breastplates of the soldiers and sometimes to the banners of the troops.

The head of Medusa was carved in relief on the bronze phalera unearthed in the ancient city of Perre. The head of Medusa also functions as a kind of apotropaic symbol, that is, as a protector.”

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Suspected Roman ford unearthed near Evesham during waterworks

Suspected Roman ford unearthed near Evesham during waterworks

Suspected Roman ford unearthed near Evesham during waterworks
The cobbled road would have been used as a crossing, said, archaeologists

Archaeologists say a cobbled ford uncovered near Evesham could be the finest Roman example of its type in Britain. The 10m-stretch, believed to extend to a depth of 3m, was discovered during routine waterworks by Severn Trent.

Aidan Smyth, archaeology officer from Wychavon District Council, said the discovery “took his breath away”.

If confirmed to originate from the first century AD, it would be “beyond rare”, he added.

A team from Historic England is expected to analyse the excavations.

The ford carries marks presumed to have been made by carts

The discovery, at an as yet undisclosed location, aligns with the dating of a nearby villa complex.

A spokesperson for Severn Trent Water said network improvement works were halted as soon as the ford was uncovered.

“Our teams… are working closely with Historic England, with representatives due to attend the site following further excavations,” they added.

Mr Smyth said the ford, which crosses a brook, carries marks to suggest it was used by carts.

The discovery was made during network improvements, said Severn Trent Water

“The stonework is absolutely perfect,” he said. “It just ticks every box for being Roman,” he said.

“When I came down to look at it, honestly, I thought it’s too good to be true.

“But then you look at the alluvium [a deposit of silt] that it’s filled up, so that hasn’t happened in one or two centuries. That’s taken millennia to be able to get that deep.

“The only place I can see similar when I was doing some research is in Pompeii. I can’t find anything else anywhere like that.”

Mr Smyth will work with a field archaeologist to dig a small area at the ford’s side on Monday for a typological assessment.

He is expecting to confirm its origin by the end of next week.

“If it is of a Roman date, it’s the only one of its kind in Britain,” he said.

MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Pre-Hispanic Images Revealed on Early Convent Walls in Mexico

Pre-Hispanic Images Revealed on Early Convent Walls in Mexico

A restoration team that, under the supervision of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), an institution of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico, recovers the posa chapels of the atrium of the Temple and Ex-convent of the Nativity, in Tepoztlán, Morelos, found on the walls of three of them a mural painting from the 16th century, which alludes to an emblem of pre-Hispanic iconography, composed of the symbols of a plume, an axe, a shield or chimalli and a flower stick.

Specialists analyze if the attributes of the image are linked to the patron god Tepoztécatl or to some other deity; Beyond that, they say, it is a historical element that can connect the current population of Tepoztlán with their ancestry. 

This discovery opens the door to a different way of understanding, over time, the transformations of Tepoztecan society.

This revelation is the result of the restoration work in the atrium of the convent complex, which is part of the “First monasteries of the 16th century on the slopes of Popocatépetl”, inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco), which are possible thanks to the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Hungary, in matters of cultural heritage affected by the earthquakes of September 2017.

The Mexican company José Morales executes the tasks in the movable property associated with the historic building, which are supervised and coordinated by INAH personnel, through the National Coordination for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (CNPCC) and the INAH Morelos Center.

The coordinator of the associated movable property project, Frida Itzel Mateos González, indicates that the tasks have included historical flattening, mural painting and carved stones and, at present, those corresponding to the attrial walls and access arches, the posh chapels 2, 3 and 4, the open chapel, the atrium cross, the baptismal font and the Plateresque portal of the Temple of the Nativity.

To do this, a delicate mechanical cleaning is carried out with the use of scalpels, so it is a surgical task, and injections of lime and sand to consolidate and repair the painted flattening.

Despite the damage caused by the earthquakes of five years ago, the chapel posed 4 was revealing the clearest pre-Hispanic emblem to the restorers María Regina Pierrelus Díaz de León, Katherine Salas Ramos and Valeria López Mancera, as well as the visual artist Mónica Morales Zuniga.

The layers of lime that covered the mural painting were removed after verifying, through microscopic observation, that there were no subsequent paint layers. What could be seen with the naked eye were parts of the red circle that, initially, they supposed should contain the hagiographical attributes of Marian or Jesus Christ, but it did not.

The team narrates that “as we worked, we discovered a well-preserved red circle. Then we saw some triangles, we thought they corresponded to the crown or splendour of the Virgin Mary, but the feathers of a plume appeared. In the centre we saw a well-defined red fret within a circle, a wand with flowers, and a tepoztli (axe), similar to the one in the Tepoztlán glyph. It was not a Christian representation, but a chimalli (pre-Hispanic shield)”.

The ancient emblem discovered in Chapel 4 was painted freehand in a diluted red, filled with glazes, and then outlined in the same colour. The circle, 11 centimetres thick and just over a meter in diameter, encloses these pre-Hispanic symbols, equal in size to the Marian shield that was also painted in the 16th century in the Posa chapels.

The image, which is repeated, less clearly, in chapels 2 and 3, has generated questions about the reason for the presence of this emblem in such an important place and, even, next to the anagram of the Virgin Mary, and about the relationship between pre-Hispanic culture and Christian worship, a few years after the Spanish invasion.

In search of understanding the meaning of these attributes, an interdisciplinary investigation has been set up involving the restorers Lucía de la Parra de la Lama and Frida Mateos González, the restorers José Morales Zúñiga and Iván Reynoso Pérez, the museologists Alejandro Sabido Sánchez Juárez and Víctor García Noxpango, the ethnohistorian Marcela Tostado Gutiérrez and the archaeologist Laura Ledesma Gallegos.

EUROPE, POLAND, WORLD

Traces of Original Manor Found at Poland’s Branicki Palace

Traces of Original Manor Found at Poland’s Branicki Palace

Traces of Original Manor Found at Poland’s Branicki Palace

A fragment of the floor of a large 15th-16th century building, probably from the times of the first owners of the Białystok estates was discovered by archaeologists during the work in the parade courtyard of the historic Branicki Palace in Białystok. They believe that it is an important discovery in the history of the city.

Archaeological work in the parade courtyard of the Branicki Palace began last week as a result of an agreement between three universities in Białystok: the Medical University of Białystok, which is located in the palace, the Białystok University of Technology and the University of Białystok. This is the first such research project at the place.

Later last week, the Museum of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Medical University of Białystok informed on social media about the discovery of 15th-16th century relics. “It is a fragment of a stone and clay floor of a large building, probably dating from the times of the first owners of the Białystok estates,” the museum reports.

The discovery was confirmed by the head of the archaeological work, Dr. Maciej Karczewski from the University of Białystok.

He told PAP: “During these four days of work, we managed to uncover a very large part of the previously unknown history of this place. I am very pleased with that result.”

He added that it was a real ‘time travel’ from the 20th to the 15th-16th century, with fragments of prehistory.

According to Karczewski, the 5 by 5 meters excavation was dug in a place where previous GPR surveys had shown a number of anomalies (differences in the density of layers indicating human intervention).

He continued: “This outline anomaly turned out to be a very solid floor made of clay and field stones, which probably supported the structure with wooden walls that have not survived.”

Dating back to the 15th-16th century, the floor fragment is part of a manor belonging to the Raczkowicz family, the first owners of the Białystok estates.

Karczewski said: “The layout of the manor complex remained completely unknown until now. The size of this anomaly indicates that it must have been a large building, and the tiles found in this place may indicate that the building could have been located close to the manor house.”

Three hundred years were lost during the exploration of the layers, directly under the layer from the first half of the 20th century/end of the 19th century, the 15th-16th-century layer immediately appeared. 

According to Karczewski, it is most likely the result of cleaning the area during the Russian partition or in the interwar period. He added that although there were no surviving layers from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, individual fragments of relics from that period were found, including ceramic tiles from the time of the court of Piotr Wiesiołowski, a glass vessel and a John II Casimir copper shilling called boratynka.

In the part of the excavation where there is no floor, archaeologists also found traces of a prehistoric settlement. According to Karczewski, the oldest discovered relic is a Mesolithic burin. It is a hard material tool made of flint. Karczewski estimates that it comes from the 5th-7th millennium BCE.

In addition, the archaeologists found traces of the early Iron Age, the stroke-ornamented ware culture, a population that participated in the ethnogenesis of the Slavs but is recognized in the areas of today’s Belarus, and Podlasie was the western periphery of this population’s range. 

Karczewski said: “In the place of today’s palace courtyard they had their settlement, camp.”

For now, the dig is 70-80 cm deep. Drilling is to be carried out by the Białystok University of Technology, and archaeological work will resume.

The two-week research in the parade courtyard is conducted as a survey. As previously reported by the Medical University of Bialystok, it will cost approx. PLN 20,000.

The Branicki Palace is one of the most iconic places in the city and the region. The beginnings of the palace and garden complex date back to the 16th century. The place achieved its greatest splendour during the time of Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki in the 18th century. At that time, Białystok had one of the most beautiful baroque gardens in Poland, and even in Europe.

Previous archaeological research in the vicinity of the palace was carried out mainly in gardens; the entrance courtyard and gardens were revitalized a few years ago.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Rendlesham: 1,400-year-old royal hall unearthed

Rendlesham: 1,400-year-old royal hall unearthed

Rendlesham: 1,400-year-old royal hall unearthed
Volunteers working with Suffolk County Council fully excavated post holes on the east side of the hall

A royal hall of “international importance” that dates back 1,400 years has been unearthed on private land. The Hall of the first Kings of East Anglia was discovered in Rendlesham, Suffolk, over the summer.

Prof Christopher Scull said it was the “most extensive and materially wealthy settlement of its date known in England”.

It was discovered by a community dig as part of Suffolk County Council’s Rendlesham Revealed project.

An Anglo-Saxon iron knife was excavated from the boundary ditch in Rendlesham

The authority said the hall was “recorded in the writings of The Venerable Bede of the 8th Century”.

The hall, which was 75ft (23m) long and 33ft (10m) wide, was set within a larger settlement of more than 124 acres (50 hectares).

For 150 years, between AD 570 and AD 720, it was the centre from which a major province of the East Anglian kingdom, focused on the valley of the River Deben, was ruled.

Bede’s writings identified Rendlesham as the place where the East Anglian King Aethelwold stood sponsor at the baptism of King Swithelm of the East Saxons, between the years AD 655 and 663.

Children from Rendlesham Primary School came to help with the dig…
and got stuck in and learned new skills

Prof Scull, the project’s principal academic advisor, said: “The results of this season’s excavation are of international importance.

“Rendlesham is the most extensive and materially wealthy settlement of its date known in England, and excavation of the hall confirms that this is the royal residence recorded by Bede.

“Only at Rendlesham do we have the wider settlement and landscape context of an early English royal centre, together with an assemblage of metalwork that illuminates the lives and activities of its inhabitants across the social range.”

The work was a “major advance in our understanding of the early East Anglian kingdom and the wider North Sea world of which it was a part,” he added.

A cattle skull was also found in a boundary ditch

The excavations also revealed a perimeter ditch enclosing the royal compound, remains of food preparation and feasting that showed the consumption of vast quantities of meat – mainly beef and pork – and dress jewellery, personal items, fragments of glass drinking vessels and pottery.

Traces of earlier settlements from the Roman period (1st Century AD) and the early Neolithic period (4th Millennium BC) were also found.

Hundreds of volunteers worked on the dig during the summer

Conservative councillor Melanie Vigo di Gallidoro, the authority’s cabinet member for protected landscapes and archaeology, said: “It can’t be underestimated how important this part of Suffolk is to understanding our local and national heritage.”

The area is close to Sutton Hoo where an Anglo-Saxon burial ground was founded in 1939.

The land has now been backfilled, the council said

More than 250 volunteers, including young adults from Suffolk Family Carers and Suffolk Mind, and primary school children from Rendlesham, Eyke and Wickham Market, were involved.

The excavations are finished in the summer and an analysis of the finds is expected next year.

Local primary school children helped to clean excavated animal bones
CROATIA, EUROPE, WORLD

Traces of Roman Pier Found Off Croatia’s Coast

Traces of Roman Pier Found Off Croatia’s Coast

Traces of Roman Pier Found Off Croatia’s Coast

October 3rd, 2022 – There are frequent archaeological finds all over Croatia, with most of them involving the Roman Empire being discovered in Dalmatia. One such find is yet another in a series of impressive relics which transport us back to the time of Roman rule over Istria.

As Morski writes, an impressive archaeological find was discovered down on the seabed of Barbariga bay in Istria recently. A large Roman pier, almost 60 metres long, where two thousand years ago some of the best olive oils of the Roman Empire were loaded up has been unearthed.

The sea always hides many stories both on the surface and below it, and this one, in particular, is a story that takes us straight back to the time when Istria was ruled by the ancient Romans.

Ida Koncani Uhac, head of the underwater archaeology collection from the Archaeological Museum of Istria, said that they are investigating a Roman jetty in Barbariga bay, and at a depth of a mere three metres, archaeologists found a monumental structure – the aforementioned almost 60-metre-long Roman pier constructed with three rows of stone blocks. 

”We as divers are here to help the archaeologists in their work and to take care of the safety of diving because diving needs to be done in pairs. This is the rule in diving,” said Sandra Kamerla Buljic, a local diving instructor. This particular dive takes us back two thousand years, to the times of the mighty Roman Empire, and when the sea level was a full two metres lower than it is today

”Back during that time, one of the largest oil mills in the entire Roman Empire was located on the coast, and there were also impressive villas and a large jetty as part of the commercial port.

There were no roads, and maritime traffic dominated. These ships would dock and load up the olive oil, which Pliny the Elder wrote was the second best in quality in the entire Empire, and it was then transported in amphorae.

These amphorae were produced in Fazana, also in Istria, and they were then transported to the pier. This is where oil was stored and then shipped on, mainly to the Northern Adriatic, to Aquileia, the river port of Aquileia and further inland to supply the Roman army that guarded the borders of Histria,” explained Koncani Uhac.

Discovering a story that was forgotten for thousands of years is the job of archaeologists, and Dolores Matika, an archaeologist, stated that they are interested in whether any seeds and fruits have been preserved.

More will be known after they conduct further research into these findings, but given the fact that they have found olive pits, they expect satisfactory results in this regard.

Remains of amphorae, dishes, glass and ceramics have already been found, and Koncani Uhac has claimed that they also found an interesting bowl that they managed to date to the period 15-25 years after Christ.

The research is being carried out as part of the “Istrian Undersea” project, in which as many as seventeen diving clubs are participating.

All of them are exploring their areas in search of archaeological traces, and ancient remains of Roman ports have been found throughout Istria, as HRT reported.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

All In One Magazine