NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

14,000-Year-Old Fossilized Poop Among Oldest Traces of Humans in North America

14,000-Year-Old Fossilized Poop Among Oldest Traces of Humans in North America

A 14,000-year-old coprolite, a dried-out piece of human faeces.

For much of the 20th century, the most solid evidence pointing researchers toward who the earliest humans in the Americas were, when they settled and how they lived were 13,000-year-old sharpened stones, known as Clovis points.

However, that timeline has been revised in recent decades, as Erin Wayman reported for Smithsonian magazine in 2012. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of pre-Clovis populations in the Americas at multiple sites, leading them to believe that humans have been here much earlier than previously thought. And in 2007, a team of working in Oregon’s Paisley Caves discovered some of the most solid evidence yet: a cache of ancient human dung.

Researchers used radiocarbon dating to estimate that the dried-out scat, preserved in the arid climate of the caves, was more than 14,000 years old—old enough to upend the “Clovis First” timeline.

Still, some researchers wondered: how could we be sure that the poop was really human? Many archaeologists claimed that the samples, known as coprolites, could have been animal faeces that were later contaminated by human DNA, reports Asher Elbein for the New York Times.

“No one doubts that the coprolites are as old as the radiocarbon dates say they are, they just doubt they are human,” environmental archaeologist John Blong of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom explains to Gizmodo’s George Dvorsky.

“If you’ve ever watched a crime show on TV, you know that DNA can get everywhere. Organisms constantly shed DNA in hair, skin cells, sweat, saliva, and so on.”

Last week, lead author Lisa-Marie Shillito, Blong and a team from the University of Newcastle published their answer in the journal Science Advances: yes, the faeces were almost certainly produced by humans.

The researchers came to their conclusion by studying the lipid biomarkers of 21 coprolite samples. These biomarkers are especially helpful because they are unlikely to contaminate nearby samples, per the New York Times.

Taking the two pieces of evidence together—the presence of lipid biomarkers associated with humans and the presence of human DNA—the team was able to confirm 13 coprolites as human samples. (Other samples in the studied batch came from a panther and a lynx, according to Gizmodo.)

Katelyn McDonough, a Texas A&M University archaeology Ph.D. candidate not involved in the research, tells Gizmodo that the use of faecal biomarkers is an exciting approach.

“This study both advances and showcases the faecal biomarker approach and makes a good case for the use of this method in tandem with DNA analysis in the future,” says McDonough.

According to the Times, the makeup of the Paisley Cave dung can also provide clues to their diet. For instance, the coprolite samples showed that early humans ate seeds, plants and rodents in addition to the occasional mammoth.

“The question of when and how people first settled the Americas has been a subject of intense debate,” Lisa-Marie Shillito says in a University of Newcastle statement. “By using a different approach, we have been able to demonstrate that there were pre-Clovis populations present in the area of the Great Basin and resolve this debate once and for all.”

Still, there’s much more to learn. Shillito tells the Times that further studies like this one will help illuminate the origins of Homo sapiens in the Americas.

“We’ll get a more detailed idea of exactly how people were moving around across the continent, and what they were doing in the environment, rather than just thinking about when they got there,” says Shillito.

In a controversial study published just last week, University of Exeter archaeologist Ciprian Ardelean published more evidence of pre-Clovis populations. Ardelean and his team used radiocarbon dating to show that stone artefacts found in Mexico’s Chiquihuite cave were possibly more than 26,000 years old, as Brian Handwerk reports for Smithsonian magazine.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

Borgund: The Lost Viking Village Uncovered with 45,000 Artifacts Hidden in a Basement

Borgund: The Lost Viking Village Uncovered with 45,000 Artifacts Hidden in a Basement

In 1953, a parcel of land located close to the Borgund church on the west coast of Norway was going to be cleared, and a lot of debris ended up being discovered during the process. Fortunately, some people were able to identify the “debris” for what it actually was—items from the Norwegian Middle Ages.

This picture shows the excavation in 1954. The Borgund fjord can be seen in the background. The site was excavated also in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as smaller excavations more recently. In total there have been 31 archaeological field seasons at Borgund.

An excavation was carried out the following summer. Archaeologists unearthed a large number of artefacts. The majority of them were put in a basement archive. After that, not much more transpired.

Now, some seven decades later, experts have begun the exhaustive work of analyzing the 45,000 objects that have been kept in storage for the purpose of gaining insight into a thousand-year-old Norwegian town with a shocking lack of historical knowledge. Medieval Borgund is mentioned in a few written sources, where it is referred to as one of the “little towns” (smaa kapstader) in Norway.

Professor Gitte Hansen, an archaeologist at the University Museum of Bergen, recently gave an interview with Science Norway in which she discussed what researchers have discovered about Borgund thus far. Danish archaeologist Gitte Hansen detailed that the construction of Borgund most likely took place at some point during the Viking Age.

“The story of Borgund begins sometime in the 900s or 1000s. Fast forward a few hundred years and this was the largest town along the coast of Norway between Trondheim and Bergen. Activity in Borgund may have been at its most extensive in the 13th century. In 1349, the Black Death comes to Norway. Then the climate gets colder. Towards the end of the 14th century, the town of Borgund slowly disappeared from history. In the end, it disappeared completely and was forgotten.” – Science Norway reports.

Professor Hansen is currently researching the artefacts in collaboration with researchers from Germany, Finland, Iceland, and the United States. The project has previously received financial support from the Research Council of Norway and contributions from several other research institutions in Norway.

Researchers specializing in different areas, such as textiles and the old Norse language, have been brought together to form a team. Scientists are able to gain knowledge about the clothing worn during the Viking Age by analyzing textiles that were discovered in Borgund.

The museum basement has drawers upon drawers with remains of textiles from perhaps a thousand years ago. They can tell us more about what kind of clothes people in Norway wore during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages.

Shoe soles, pieces of cloth, slag (the by-product of smelting ores and used metals), and potsherds were among the priceless artefacts discovered by the archaeology team led by Asbjørn Herteig during excavations of the long-lost Viking village of Borgund.

According to Professor Hansen, these artefacts can tell a great deal about how Vikings lived on a day-to-day basis. A significant number of the Viking artefacts are still well-preserved and may be scrutinized in great detail. The basement may contain as many as 250 separate pieces of clothing and other textiles.

“A Borgund garment from the Viking Age can be made up of as many as eight different textiles,” Professor Hansen explained.

According to Science Norway, in the remains of Borgund down in the basement under the museum in Bergen, researchers are now discovering ceramics from almost all of Europe. “We see a lot of English, German and French tableware,” Hansen says.

People who lived in Borgund may have been in Lübeck, Paris, and London. From here they may have brought back art, music, and perhaps inspiration for costumes. The town of Borgund was probably at its richest in the 13th century.

“Pots and tableware made of ceramic and soapstone from Borgund are such exciting finds that we have a research fellow in the process of specializing only in this,” Hansen says. “We hope to learn something about eating habits and dining etiquette here on the outskirts of Europe by looking at how people made and served food and drink.”

The study of the Borgund artefacts has already produced results and Professor Hanse says “there are many indications that people here had direct or indirect contact with people across large parts of Europe.”

In addition, researchers have found evidence that inhabitants of the Viking village of Borgund enjoyed eating fish. For the people of Borgund, fishing was essential.

It is still unknown, though, whether they transported fish to the German Hanseatic League in Bergen or exchanged fish with other regions of Norway and Europe.

Scientists found “a lot of fishing gear. This suggests that people in Borgund themselves may have fished a lot. A rich cod fishery in the Borgundfjord may have been very important for them,” Hansen says.

We might infer from the ironwork remnants that the forgotten town in Western Norway had a strong foundation. Perhaps blacksmiths played a particularly significant role in this town.

And why exactly did Asbjørn Herteig and his associates discover a significant amount of waste materials from shoemakers? Up to 340 shoe fragments can provide information on shoe style and the preferred types of leather used for shoes throughout the Viking Age.

Some of the archaeological staff in Borgund.

Our knowledge of Borgund from the historians’ written sources is rather limited. Because of this, the role of archaeologists and other researchers in this specific project is crucial.

There is, however, one significant historical source. It is a royal decree from 1384 which obliges the farmers of Sunnmøre to buy their goods in the market town of Borgund (kaupstaden Borgund).

“This is how we know that Borgund was considered a town at the time,” Professor Hansen says. “This order can also be interpreted as Borgund struggling to keep going as a trading place in the years after the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century.” And then the city was forgotten.

WORLD

What Drove Madagascar’s Megafauna to Extinction?

What Drove Madagascar’s Megafauna to Extinction?

The demise of the dodo epitomizes humanity’s record as a destructive force on delicate island life.  Likewise, on the island of Madagascar, gorilla-sized lemurs, 3-meter tall elephant birds, and pygmy hippos went the way of the dodo following the arrival of humans within the last millennia.

Excavation at Ankatoke, near Tampolove in Southwest Madagascar.
Excavation at Ankatoke, near Tampolove in Southwest Madagascar.

But the factors behind the disappearance of these animals are not as well-known as in the case of the dodo, and there is intense debate about what caused the extinction of megafauna the world over.

Now, a new study in Scientific Reports suggests that, while humans had a hand in the extinction of these creatures, hunting alone wasn’t the main cause.

While past studies have reported the butchery of endemic animals at least 2,000 years ago, the present study correlates the disappearance of endemic megafauna around 1,000 years ago with a sharp increase in introduced species and human-driven landscape change.

To understand the disappearance of Madagascar’s large animals, Hixon et al. excavated three coastal ponds and a cave from the southwest of the island and radiocarbon dated the remains of extinct megafauna, introduced animals, and other signs of human activity.

The researchers found that Madagascar’s megafauna had endured several dry periods over the last 6,000 years, relocating as needed when local water resources were scarce.

Signs of human activity, including modified bones and shells, began appearing within the past 2,000 years.

Around 1,000 years ago, however, the researchers identified a drastic increase in charcoal and the bones of domesticated species, such as zebu cattle and dogs. The timing of these human-caused changes corresponds with the disappearance of megafauna.

 “Our results suggest that occupation and alteration of space, through the burning of forests for introduced grazing species, drove the extinction of large animals on the island, rather than the mere presence of hunters,” says Sean Hixon, lead author of the paper.

In recent years, the debate over the causes of megafauna extinctions has largely focused on past climate change and overhunting by recent human arrivals. 

The new study suggests that while both of these may have been stress factors in Madagascar, they weren’t the ultimate cause of megafauna extinctions.

The article underscores that hunting isn’t the only way, or perhaps even the main way, that humans impact other species. In order to protect biodiversity, it is equally important to consider how human activities affect animal habitats and mobility.

The researchers hope that future studies will explore paleontological and archaeological deposits in other areas of the island to form a better understanding of when humans first arrived in Madagascar and how they interacted with their environment.

ASIA, CHINA, WORLD

3,000-year-old Sanxingdui Ruins Unveil Mysterious Bronze Figure!

3,000-year-old Sanxingdui Ruins Unveil Mysterious Bronze Figure!

3,000-year-old Sanxingdui Ruins Unveil Mysterious Bronze Figure!

Deemed one of China’s most famous archaeological discoveries in the world, the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province on Friday revealed newly unearthed artefacts: a 3,000-year-old bronze figure holding a zun, a wine vessel in ancient times, on top of the head, with the height of 1.15 meters.

A total of 534 important cultural relics including ivory, bronze, gold, jade ware and nearly 2,000 pieces of broken cultural relics including another gold mask found in the eighth pit have been unearthed from six sacrificial pits of the Sanxingdui Ruins as of late May, and the bronze figure was discovered at the third pit.

Officials revealed the latest achievements of the Sanxingdui archaeological excavation at a global promotion event in the Sanxingdui Museum on Friday. The bronze figuring holding a zun vessel on top of the head can be seen as an “unprecedented” cultural relic not only in China but also in the world. UNESCO sent congratulations for the stunning new discovery through a video.

The figure is composed of two parts, the upper part being a 55 centimeter-high bronze zun with a big mouth and welded with exquisite dragon-shaped decorations, and the lower part a 60 centimeter-tall bronze figure with a kneeling posture seemingly holding something in his hands. The bronze figure reflects the spiritual world of the ancient Shu civilization sacrifices, and is a national treasure-level cultural relic, CCTV reported on Friday.

The bronze figuring holding a zun vessel on top of the head can be seen as an “unprecedented” cultural relic not only in China but also in the world.

The archaeological team has almost finished its work to extract all the ivory relics at the third and fourth areas of the site, and are carrying out further research, including the DNA of ivory relics, Tang Fei, dean of the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archeology Research Institute, told the Global Times.

“As the bronze-made relics are buried under the ivory relics, the next stage for us is to excavate the bronze ware. But it is still unknown how long that will take as it depends on the integrity of the relics,” said Tang, adding that they could extract four to five relics per day if the relics are complete, while one fragile or incomplete bronze relic might take two to three days.

“The latest achievement at the Sanxingdui Ruins site is we have confirmed that the silk relics were used in sacrificial offerings in the ancient dynasty,” Tang said.

Organized by the State Council Information Office, the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government, the global promotion event for the Sanxingdui Ruins also aims to introduce the great culture to the world to enhance exchanges and learning between Chinese and other civilizations.

An international project to promote Sanxingdui culture has been launched, including the animated film Gold Mask, documentaries, books and games themed on the Sanxingdui Ruins.

“Sanxingdui Ruins will become an international tourism site after the completion of the Sanxingdui Ruins Park, and we are preparing to apply it as a world cultural heritage site with the Jinsha site in Chengdu, Sichuan Province,” said Luo Qiang, vice-governor of Sichuan Province.

According to Zhu Yarong, deputy curator of the Sanxingdui Museum, exhibits from Sanxingdui Ruins have been held in 21 countries, covering five continents. But during the post-COVID-19 era, the exhibits of the current discoveries will be mainly held in digital form.

As of late May, more than 1,000 important cultural relics have been unearthed at the Sanxingdui Ruins, and a newly discovered golden mask is under restoration, officials said at a global promotion event on Friday.

Compared with Troy

First discovered in 1929, the Sanxingdui Ruins site, which dates back to the Bronze Age over 3,000 years ago, has been the source of one pleasant surprise after another following decade of digging and archaeological research. It is the largest and highest-ranking centralized site ever found in the Sichuan Basin, and is believed to date back to the Xia (c.2,070 BC-c.1,600 BC) and Shang (c.1,600 BC-1,046 BC) dynasties.

In March, Chinese archaeologists unearthed more than 500 relics in six ancient sacrificial pits, stunning archaeologists and history buffs in China and the rest of the world. The cultural relics included a mysterious bronze mask, a more than 2-meter-tall bronze statue, and a mask made of gold, giving modern people a peak into the ancient cultures that existed in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Huo Wei, dean of the School of Archaeology, Culture and Museum at Sichuan University and curator of the Sichuan University Museum, told the Global Times on Friday that the archaeological discoveries of Sanxingdui Ruins will become one of the most famous archaeological discoveries in the world.

“The academic value of the Sanxingdui Ruins site to the history of Chinese bronze culture can be compared with the value of the Troy and Nineveh site, which has great significance to the origins of early European civilization,” said Huo.

According to Huo, the Sanxingdui civilization has a unique contribution to the origin and formation of Chinese civilization. For example, the 112 bronze wares that were excavated from the two sacrificial pits in 1986 showed that people living in the ancient kingdom of Shu not only made some similar artifacts that imitated the bronzes of the Central Plains area of China, but also had another hierarchy and worshiping system which can be seen in their relics including a gold mask, bronze standing figure and bronze tree that are totally different with those from the Central Plains area of China.

The bronze figuring holding a zun vessel on top of the head can be seen as an “unprecedented” cultural relic not only in China but also in the world.

“The discovery of the Sanxingdui Ruins site has greatly enriched the cultural connotation of the origin and formation of Chinese civilization. For the first time, people realize that besides the ritual system represented by the rigorous and standardized bronze wares in the Central Plains area of China, there were also some alternative ways, similar to the Bronze Age of Eurasia, in expressing people’s worship and beliefs,” said Huo.

He said the Sanxingdui civilization was likely based on the traditional Central Plains civilization and the prominent Bashu culture, and it also extensively absorbed certain factors from other ancient civilizations around it. It had the characteristics of the integration of Eastern and Western civilizations.

From a geographical perspective, the Sanxingdui civilization was located in the so-called “Huaxia Fringe” zone. It had a fixed transportation route with the ancient Silk Road to the northwest, and the road in its south led directly to South Asia, Southeast Asia, and all parts of the coast of China. It even had contact and connections with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as early as the prehistoric Neolithic period.

“The openness and tolerance of the ancient kingdom of Shu with the outside world provided the Sanxingdui civilization with a lavish cultural environment,” Huo said.

NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Human skeleton Covered in crystals found Intact

Human skeleton Covered in crystals found Intact

The Mayans were a civilisation known for their architecture, mathematics and astronomical beliefs, who date back to as far as 2000BC. Many of their impressive constructions can still be seen in the jungles of southeast Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and western parts of Honduras.

Even to this day, archaeologists are constantly battling against local looters to get their hands on some of the most exquisite finds to learn more about this advanced society. 

However, there is one discovery that has topped them all over the years, it was revealed during Amazon Prime’s “Mayan treasure hunters” series. 

The 1990 documentary featured an interview with a Guatemalan criminal who told a tale of a “priceless find”.

The man, who did not reveal his name, detailed: “Picking sapodilla leaves [to make chewing gum] is the only job that pays money out here – at least eight or nine dollars a day. 

“You compare that with finding a good piece, maybe worth $20,000 (£15,560) – that’s a fortune and you could live happily forever. 

Human skeleton Covered in crystals found Intact
A skeleton discovered during a temple excavation
Mayan temples are still being discovered today

The price? You couldn’t say – priceless – it would be in the millions

Local looter

“Eight years ago a find was sold for $90,000 (£70,000).

“And before that, an archaeologist at the site of El Mirador took away a human skeleton made of jade – the whole skeleton was intact.

“The price? You couldn’t say – priceless – it would be in the millions”.

Archaeologists are constantly battling against local looters in a bid to salvage any remains left behind by this intriguing civilisation.

A 36-year-long Guatemalan Civil War, which ended in 1996, left more than 200,000 people dead and half a million driven from their homes in the jungle. 

A local looter says one skeleton was discovered intact
Skeleton remains were discovered previously.

The genocide against the Mayan people largely took place during the reign of Efraín Ríos Montt.

The Guatemalan President instituted a campaign of state terror intended to destroy the Mayans in the name of countering “communist subversion” and ridding the country of its culture. 

Also known as Operation Sofia, the military followed through with “scorched earth policies” which allowed them to destroy whole villages, including killing livestock, destroying cultural symbols, destroying crops, and murdering civilians.

In some areas, government forces killed about 40% of the total population as the campaign destroyed at least 626 Mayan villages.

Now looters try to get their hands on ancient artefacts left behind that can be sold to American buyers.

MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Mayan DISCOVERY: How find in 2,000-year-old city ‘reveals story of creation’

Mayan DISCOVERY: How find in 2,000-year-old city ‘reveals story of creation’

The Mayans were a civilisation known for their architecture, mathematics and astronomical beliefs, who date back as far as 2000BC. However, thanks to a discovery made at the El Mirador site in northern Guatemala, historians are able to know more about their theories over how human beings ended up on Earth. Archaeologist Richard Hansen took Morgan Freeman to see a spectacular discovery deep in the jungles during the filming of “The Story of God”.

He told Mr Freeman in 2017: “We like to think of Los Angeles and New York as being modern cities, but these guys had the same perspective of their own city. 

“They had water delivery systems. they had freeways – the very first in the world. 

“This is one of the most interesting excavations we have ever had. 

“This is art that was carved in stucco hundreds of years before Christ and it has an incredible scene showing the entire pantheon of the Mayan religion.

Mayan DISCOVERY: How find in 2,000-year-old city ‘reveals story of creation’
Richard Hansen pointed out the strange artwork
The team travelled deep into the jungles

This is one of the most interesting excavations we have ever had

Richard Hansen

“This is the Mayan Bible, the Mayan Genesis story with all the deities that are needed to tell the story.”

Mr Hansen went on to reveal what he believed the stonework represented. 

He added: “This is the oldest version of the Mayan’s sacred story of creation that has ever been found.

“The focus is on two swimmers carrying a severed head.

“It’s this head right here that gave us the clue who this might be a the first place. 

They visited El Mirador site in Northern Guatemala
The site is home to ancient Mayan structures

“We think this is Hunahpu – one of the hero twins that serves the whole process of creation.”

The Mayan Hero Twins are the central figures of the oldest Mayan myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Hunahpu and Xbalanque are portrayed as complementary forces – life and death, sky and Earth or day and night.  The pair need each other to balance out the other and balance out the two sides of a single entity. It comes after another discovery was revealed when the truth was over when the Mayans thought the world would end. 

The team uncovered inscriptions

In 2012, there was a brief frenzy after it was claimed that December 21 would mark the end of the world because it was the end-date of a 5,126-year cycle on the Mayan calendar. However, thanks to the discovery of a stone slate in Tikal, Guatemala, archaeologists are able to understand more about this key date. Stanley Guenter, a world-leading decoder of Mayan inscriptions, revealed during the same series: “This is stela 10, you can see we’ve got a king – there is his head and big headdress full of feathers, [his] shoulders, all of his jewellery and down to his feet.

“If you look down below, we can actually see we have a captive and we can see his hands and even legs – all tied up for sacrifice.

“[On the back] we have a date that gives us a specific point in time – 11 years and 360 days, then we have three katuns – which are 20 years each. 

“So that is another 60, and then we have nine b’ak’tuns, because this is a date of about 525AD.

“So if you remember we had 13 b’ak’tuns ended in 2012, but the really interesting thing is the monument does not stop there.”

Mr Guenter then went on to reveal how the entirety of the discovery reveals the 2012 prediction was just a single cycle inside a number of bigger cycles.

Archaeologists believe it is one of the Mayan Heroes Twins

He continued: “It tells us there were 19 of the higher unit – the pictun – and even higher, 11 at the next unit.

“Each one of those units is 20 times larger than the previous, so what we see on this monument is that 13 b’ak’tuns was not the end of any calendar – just one cycle. 

“It was just the start of a new cycle, a new beginning, that would go on for almost eternity.

“We have never found the end for the Mayans.”

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

A 2,000-year-old theatre found 25 metres below Pompeii ruins revealed

A 2,000-year-old theatre found 25 metres below Pompeii ruins revealed

Herculaneum, like its neighbouring city of Pompeii, was buried under volcanic ash and pumice during the tragic event 2,000 years ago. Now found below the modern-day town of Ercolano, the city was rediscovered by chance in 1709 during the digging of a well. 

Tunnels were soon added at the site by treasure hunters, and some artefacts were removed but now, 200 years later, TV cameras explored the area during Channel 5’s “Pompeii: The New Revelations”.

Historian Dan Snow detailed how an incredible discovery was made.

He said earlier this month: “In 1709, a well was dug in this town that had grown up on the coast eight miles north of Pompeii.

“The workers started to pull up slabs of beautiful marble.

Dan Snow explored the ancient city
Dan Snow headed down the well

“A French aristocrat, Emmanuel d’Elbeuf, was building a mansion nearby, so he was in the market for marble.

Quite quickly he realised this must have been a Roman theatre

Dan Snow

“He decided to cut out the middleman and bought the well for himself.

“First a worker, and then d’Elbeuf himself were strapped into slings and lowered 15 metres down the well.”

Mr Snow went on to detail how an ancient Roman theatre was uncovered, in a remarkable breakthrough.

He added: “At the bottom, he discovered this cavity and he started crawling around and found broken bits of marble and statues.

“Quite quickly he realised this must have been a Roman theatre, it could only be a theatre from the lost town of Herculaneum that the Roman authors had talked about.

A series of tunnels have been dug

“A group of convicts were sent down here and told to tunnel through and mine it for treasure.

“They’ve left us with this warren of tunnels that they hacked out.

“Luckily, they didn’t take all the murals, they left some here, you can still see some of the beautiful Roman paintings.”

Mr Snow explored the theatre, detailing how key features could still be made out today,

He continued: “Look at that, it’s been underground ever since that invasion in 79AD, the colours still perfect.

A 2,000-year-old theatre found 25 metres below Pompeii ruins revealed
A theatre was uncovered
Dan Snow said it could have housed 2,500 people

“Look up there on the arches, just beautiful, they stripped whatever they could find.

“Slowly, these convicts hollowed out more and more of this structure, until they’d uncovered pretty large parts of the theatre.

“They revealed the stage, the steps to the auditorium and some of the rows of seats – in total would have accommodated up to 2,500 people.

“This is where the people of Herculaneum would have sat side-by-side, watching the action on the stage below.  (video link below)

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/9OEHtK1X

“It’s a Roman theatre buried under 25 metres of volcanic rock.”

Although it was smaller than Pompeii, Herculaneum was a wealthier town.  It was a popular seaside retreat for the Roman elite, which is reflected in the extraordinary density of grand and luxurious houses with a marble finish.

Famous buildings of the ancient city include the Villa of the Papyri and the so-called boat houses in which the skeletal remains of at least 300 people were found.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

How researchers unearthed 20 cities – ‘welcome to Armageddon’

How researchers unearthed 20 cities – ‘welcome to Armageddon’

Researcher Eric H. Cline has studied the excavation sites of Israel for decades, and writes in his book ‘Digging up Armageddon: The Search for the Lost City of Solomon’ of the fascinating finds made in a historic region.

The most revealing excavations were made between 1925-1939, when Egyptologist James Henry Breasted went to Israel in search of artefacts linked to the legend of Armageddon.

In the New Testament, Armageddon witnesses the ultimate battle between the forces of good and evil before the Day of Judgement — evolving into its use today as a term describing the end of the world.

At the site of Tel Megiddo, located just southwest of Nazareth, the remains of more than 20 cities have been unearthed. Megiddo is the Hebrew word for Armageddon, and is home to a mound in Northern Israel on which ancient forts were built.

The region according to some was built by King Solomon, and in 1928, researcher Breasted claimed he found stables belonging to the legendary king.

He cited the Old Testament, which states that Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen stationed in “chariot cities”.

Mr Cline acknowledged in his book that today tour guides will welcome visitors to the site saying “welcome to Armageddon”.

How researchers unearthed 20 cities - ‘welcome to Armageddon’
The excavation site in Megiddo
An ancient church being discovered at the same site

The Tel Meggido site remains date back from about 5000 BC to the fourth century BC, and tourists often go to the region to pray and sing hymns. But the discoveries made there have also sparked debate between historians.

The stables of King Solomon were no different, as no remains from horses such as bones or conclusive evidence of grains have ever been shown.

Some excavators think the structure is not stable, but storehouses or barracks. Overall, Cline cautions: “Solomonic Megiddo has been extremely difficult to find.”

Some also believe the construction date of the stables was in the first half of the eighth century BC. Even the destruction of the city of Meggido has caused debate, as some scholars have proposed that Alexander the Great destroyed the city.

Megiddo is the Hebrew word for ‘Armageddon’

However, Cline highlights in his book that there is “no evidence for such a cinematic finale.”

Another revealing excavation site in Israel lies at Tel Lachish, where between 2013 and 2017, archaeologists were overwhelmed with stunning discoveries as they dug through a Canaanite temple from 12th century BC.

Among the artefacts was a pair of “smiting gods”, which took the form of unhewn standing stones representing temple deities.

According to the project report titled ‘The Level VI North-East Temple at Tel Lachish’, they were discovered inside the temple’s inner sanctum.

Over 20 cities have been discovered
Engraving by Gustave Doré (1832 – 1883) of King Solomon

The author of the report, archaeologist Professor Yosef Garfinkel, tells of how the figurines are commonly identified with two Canaanite gods, Baal or Resheph, who are both known as war gods.

Mr Garfinkel said: “They are made of bronze with remains of a silver coating, especially on their faces.

“Both figurines represent a male figure in a marching stance with his right hand raised.

“Figurine A’s arm was preserved; it holds a weapon that seems to be a mace or club that is attached to the figure’s forehead. Both figurines wear a short kilt and a tall hat.

“Below their feet are pegs that were used to attach the figurines to wooden stands, as attested by the remains of wood.”

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