GUATEMALA, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

The Discovery Of A Maya Shrine Reveals Arrival Of “New World Order”

The Discovery Of A Maya Shrine Reveals Arrival Of “New World Order”

Researchers are surprised with a new discovery consisting of fragments of an ancient Maya shrine which reveals “previously unknown” details of a “Cold War” in the Maya Empire. The fragment of the carved stone monument was discovered at El Achiotal, an ancient Maya site located that depicts the face of an ajaw vassal lord.

This incredible new discovery at the Maya site in Guatemala has made it possible for researchers to understand new details regarding a fierce rivalry which ruled over two great Ancient Maya superpowers some 1500 years ago.

This discovery was announced in Guatemala City and was presented by The La Corona Regional Archaeological Project, co-directed by Marcello Canuto, director of Tulane’s Middle American Research Institute, and Tomás Barrientos, director of the Department of Archaeology at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.

The Discovery Of A Maya Shrine Reveals Arrival Of “New World Order”

According to researchers and their preliminary study, forces belonging to Siyaj K’ahk’s arrived at the Maya lowlands somewhere around 378 D.C., overturning the rulers of the great Maya city-state of Tikal.

They established among other things, a new political order across the ancient Maya empire.

Siyaj K’ahk’, also referred to as “Fire is Born” was A prominent Ancient Maya political figure commonly mentioned in the Classical Period Glyphs. He is believed to have been the general of the Teotihuacan ruler Spearthrower Owl.

National Geographic Young Explorer and Tulane graduate student Luke Auld-Thomas said:

“We were looking for a stairway and digging test units.” He added, “when an excavator working on a unit backed out of the hole he had dug and told us he found what looked like a stela.”

“We gasped and looked in, and there’s the face of a king just staring straight out at us,” says Auld-Thomas. “It had been very carefully placed by the ancient Maya so that it was looking out a doorway, like a museum piece in a display case.”

“We never expected to find a stela at El Achiotal,” says Canuto, who began research there in 2009 with a National Geographic Society/Waitt grant and considered it primarily a Late Preclassic (400 B.C. – 250 A.D.) site.

As researchers continued with their excavation duties, they came upon two stelae fragments, a discovery that they did not expect.

According to archaeologists, the two stelae fragments were from the top and bottom of a monument, the stelae are believed to have been removed from their original location which is, according to archaeologists, most likely in front of a temple.

According to National Geographic; The top fragment of the stelae features the partial image of a man holding a serpent bar, a traditional symbol of a ruler.

After the discovery was made, Davit Stuart from the University of Texas at Austin, who is an expert Maya epigrapher flew to El Achiotal to study and try to decipher the hieroglyphs located on the back of the stelae.

According to Stuart, the hieroglyphs revealed that the stelae were in fact erected to celebrate the 40th anniversary of an “ajaw.”

Regrettably, the newly found stelae are incomplete so researchers could not figure out the name of the ajaw and the leader.

The Ajaw or Ahau has two meanings in the history of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization.

It is believed to represent a political title attested from Mayan epigraphic inscriptions but it could also designate the concluding, the 20 named day of the tzolk’in or the divinatory calendar on which a king’s k’atun-ending rituals would fall.

According to Stuart, there was a date inscribed on the stelae, but Stuart states that reading it was one of the most difficult translation jobs that he has ever been part of.

Stuart also states:

“Scribes were very tricky and they wrote one of the date elements in a super-ambiguous way.”

Researchers believe that the anniversary date depicted on the stelae, could be connected with four potential dates, and Stuart believes the date everyone would be looking for is November 22, 418 A.D. Counting back 40 years from November 22, 418 A.D. marks an anniversary of an event in 378 A.D. the date when Siyaj K’ahk’ installed new rulership in Tikal setting off a series of changes both in the Maya political and cultural system.

“We know that when Siyaj K’ahk’ came on the scene in Tikal he was installing subject rulers all around that region,” Stuart explains. “We just had no idea that El Achiotal was sucked into this new world order.”

NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

A Rock With Mastodon Carving Discovered At The Underwater Stonehenge Of Lake Michigan

A Rock With Mastodon Carving Discovered At The Underwater Stonehenge Of Lake Michigan

Another incredible discovery has been made as researchers have found a rock with a carving of a Mastodon at the underwater Stonehenge of Lake Michigan. In 2007, at a depth of twelve meters, researchers found a peculiar set of aligned stones that are believed to be over 10,000 years old.

While searching for shipwrecks, archaeologists from Northwestern Michigan College came across something interesting at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

Mysteriously aligned rocks which were placed there by human beings before the area was covered with water. When the discovery was made, researchers couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It’s America’s Stonehenge.

A Rock With Mastodon Carving Discovered At The Underwater Stonehenge Of Lake Michigan

According to researchers, the stones located at the bottom of Lake Michigan all measure the same distance across, something that wouldn’t be present if we were looking at a natural formation.

The rock formation found at the bottom of Lake Michigan resembles other structures found in England and France, and even those at Nabta Playa, making it very unlikely to be a natural formation.

As if the mysterious rock formation wasn’t enough, after a diving expedition to look at the stones, underwater photographer Chris Doyle found a mysterious stone with an incredible depiction: A Mastodon. This means that the carving must have been made way before the Mastodons were extinct.

The Mastodon rock is perhaps one of the most incredible features of the underwater Stonehenge. Researchers speculate that the rock is made out of granite, a very hard material.

For people to carve something onto this rock, they had to use a tool harder than granite. So the logical question is: What could ancient mankind have used 10.000 years ago to carve something onto a granite rock?

Researchers stress that the marks and lines that make out the mastodon figure were precisely carved, the lines were not just “scratched” onto the rock.

The incredible rock formation and the precisely aligned stone circles clearly indicate a man-made structure. The areas around Michigan are witnesses of early human presence in the American continent which is believed to date back over 25.000 years.

In the distant past, the Lake itself did not exist since an Ice Age ruled over the lands and what is not located at the bottom of one of the five Great Lakes of North America, was located on dry land.

The man responsible for this incredible underwater discovery is Mark Holley, professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan College. In 2007, he searched for shipwrecks but found, 12 meters below the surface a series of stones arranged in a circle.

Adding to this amazing discovery is a relatively large rock which has, on its surface a depiction of a mastodon, an animal that became extinct around 8000 BC.

In the region near Lake Michigan, researchers have previously discovered menhirs and petroglyphs. When the first Europeans arrived in the seventeenth century they found that Michigan had thousands of prehistoric mounds.

Scholars also found “sacred stones” across the geography of the Great Lakes, stones according to the natives were placed by another race who lived there before. Statues and stone idols erected in various parts were discovered weighing over 100 kilograms.

The underwater Stonehenge of Lake Michigan must have been created before the last Ice Age, when the lake bed was dry and that is, according to researchers, over 12.000 years ago, a time that according to history, mankind couldn’t erect such elaborate constructions.

What does this tell us about history? Is this another piece of evidence that points to the fact that history books, as we know them should be re-written? We believe yes.

WORLD

The 500-Million-Year-Old Dorchester Pot Should Not Exist

The 500-Million-Year-Old Dorchester Pot Should Not Exist

Contrary to popular belief, it is not uncommon for archaeologists to find old items that seem to indicate a level of technology that, according to mainstream science, should not yet exist at the point in time in which they are carbon-dated to. These are called ooparts (out-of-place artefacts) and unfortunately, more often than not, they are thoroughly studied but then forgotten.

Could this be done purposefully? Science may seem forever extensive but apparently, it’s not advanced enough to answer the puzzles that ancient civilization’s inadvertently left behind.

So now we come to the very interesting part: The Dorchester Pot. This pot is an exquisite metal vessel measuring 4.5 inches in height and 6.5 inches in diameter.

The 500-Million-Year-Old Dorchester Pot Should Not Exist

It displays a geometrical design in which brilliant silvers are embossed. It would take great skill and attention to create something this beautiful. However, the main reason that The Dorchester Pot is such a big source of mystery and attention is not simply because it is such a stunning piece of work.

The Discovery

The first point of contention about the pot is where or how it was located before it was discovered. As the name suggests, this was found in Dorchester in 1852. The pot was blasted off into two pieces during the explosion that destroyed the Roxbury Conglomerate.

The argument here is that the pot was embedded into the pudding-stone inside of a rock or boulder. A few American Scientific Articles originally published strong suggestions to support these claims.

Of course, if this was the case, how exactly did this happen? Note that the rock where the Dorchester Pot came from is dated to be at least 500 million years old. Does that mean that the pot itself is at least 500 million years old as well?

The Contemporary Theory

The current and most boring theory with regards to the Dorchester Pot is that it is a candlestick holder utilized during the Victorian Era. This Era is known to be one of the most luxurious in history so it is not actually surprising to find elegant household items designed with silver. As to the way of the Pot’s discovery, they argue that the people who found the item were mistaken.

They say it is very probable that the Pot didn’t come from amid the rock and was simply in the rubble following the explosion.

What is the Mystery?

As mentioned, oopart is an item that seems to be made from the time incongruent with the technology making it. To make this more understandable and to give an analogy: you would not expect to find a mobile phone during the Victorian Era, right?

Because during that time, the technology to make mobile phones were non-existent – so this is in essence what oopart is all about. Accepting the logic that the Pot came from inside a rock 500 million years old, it stands to reason that the Dorchester Pot itself is at least 500 million years old and not from the Victorian Era.

But then, the technology to make exquisite silver items was not available during that time.

500 million years ago, there was no animal life on dry land. These creatures were the most advanced life forms on Earth at that time.

Just a little background history here: according to studies, the earth only contained simple animals around 600 million years ago. Simple animals refer to water life forms with just a front and a back. According to our history, humans only appeared on earth roughly 250,000 years ago. So by all accounts, The Dorchester Pot should not ever come close to existing 500 million years in the past!

The Plant Engraving

Of course, let us not forget the actual design of the Dorchester Pot which features a type of plant that according to botanists, disappeared from Earth over 100,000 years ago. That does not exactly narrow down the timeline since the pot could still be made 500 million years ago.

Michael Cremo’s Theory

Michael Cremo is a popular Hindu creationist and according to him, the existence of the pot does prove that there were metal workers more than 600 million years ago in North America where the item was found.

Michael Cremo: The Forbidden History of Our Planet

Young Earth Creationists

Others theorize that the Dorchester Pot is actually the creation of an ancient civilization that happened before the Noachian Flood. In case you are wondering why that sounds familiar, that is essentially what the Bible describes as “Noah’s Flood”. The theory is that the flood really happened but it did not encompass the whole earth.

Scientific American

Of course, do not forget the theory published in Scientific American which was the first paper that actually recognized the item. According to them, The Pot was possibly owned by Tubal Cain who happens to be the Ancestor of Cain from the Bible. It further suggests that Tubal Cain was a metal worker and perhaps had a hand in creating the artefact itself. Of course, there is always a chance that this is mere speculation on the part of the writer.

Other Theories

Thanks to the dissenting facts on the Dorchester Pot, there are numerous theories attributed to its existence. The contemporary one is mentioned above wherein experts suggest that it could be a candlestick holder. The shape and dimensions of the pot certainly fit the general pipe holder design back in the day.

Others speculate that the Pot is indeed the product of an old civilization that had the technology as well as capacity to create something this exquisite. Following this theory, there is an argument that life on Earth simply follows a cycle and once the peak is reached, it degrades only to rise up again and grow.

Essentially, the Dorchester Pot is the alleged relic of an old civilization that already reached its peak, 600 million years ago.

Here’s a big list of out-of-place artefacts, bringing further evidence that an advanced civilization once thrived on Earth, before being wiped out by a planetary cataclysm.

EUROPE, WORLD

Archaeologists uncover ‘new secrets’ of the lost ancient city

Archaeologists uncover ‘new secrets’ of the lost ancient city

Archaeologists who discovered the remains of two large ancient stone buildings at the top of a hill in Albania say they have now started excavating its highest point.

Archaeologists uncover 'new secrets' of the lost ancient city
The hill near Bushat during archaeological research.

According to research leader Professor Piotr Dyczek, they have already uncovered the foundations of ‘two extensive buildings’. 

The original discovery of the lost city near today’s Shkodër by the village of Bushat was made unexpectedly in 2018 when excavations first started. 

Archaeologists uncover 'new secrets' of the lost ancient city
The hill near Bushat during archaeological research.

The new location for excavations was based on geophysical research from 2018 which revealed solid walls. 

During excavations, the researchers uncovered the remains of a large structure with an area of almost 20 by 12 m. Next to it was another building of similar size, and a little further a slightly smaller one, 10 by 7 m.

Dyczek said: “The city was abandoned. There were no traces of its violent end in the form of damage and burning. After being abandoned, it eroded over the last approx. 2 thousand years and its walls slid down the slopes.”

He added that it also served as a local quarry. The walls of many surrounding houses are built with cut large blocks from the archaeological site.

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Despite the erosion and human activity within the ancient city, archaeologists managed to find fragments of old ceramic vessels. Their analysis established that the hill had already been inhabited in the second millennium BCE and abandoned probably at the turn of the era or a little later.

Inside the buildings, the researchers found fragments of amphorae, mainly from Italy and dated to the 3rd and 2nd century BCE, as well as skyphoi – Greek two-handled deep wine cups.

Dyczek said: “Most of them are very small. In antiquity, such miniature vessels were either toys or cult items. It is difficult to determine the functions they had in this place.”

So far, scientists have not been able to determine the function of the discovered buildings. They believe that they are not similar to any other buildings in this area, which hinders their identification. 

But considering that they were exposed on the hill, they had to be prestigious.

The buildings had solid, 90 cm wide foundations. Local raw material, conglomerate rock, was used. The builders did not use mortar. The roofs were covered with specially profiled Greek-style tiles.

Dyczek said: “This means that they were not ordinary residential houses, in addition, they are in the dominant location in the city. We could make different guesses, but we have to wait for the results of further research.”

All data indicate that the discovered buildings come from the Hellenistic period, the end of the 3d and the 1st half of the 2nd century BCE.

In 2018, archaeologists uncovered solid, Cyclopean defensive walls, two gates with bastions and fragments of buildings. Scientists estimate that the fortress had an area of nearly 30 acres. The fortified city was located between two important Illyrian (present-day Albania) centres – Scodra (the capital of Illyria) and the Greek city of Lissos. Perhaps it was Bassania, but archaeologists are still looking for convincing evidence to support this hypothesis.

The city was described by a Roman historian, Livy (59 BCE – 17 CE) in the context of the battles between the Roman troops and the last Illyrian king, Gentius.

The Albanian team leader was Dr. Saimir Shpuza from the Institute of Archeology in Tirana.

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

Hercules’ head found in the treasure hoard of a 2,000-year-old shipwreck

Hercules’ head found in the treasure hoard of a 2,000-year-old shipwreck

The Roman ship is thought to have sunk near Antikythera, a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea in the second quarter of the first century B.C. While divers first found a number of stunning artefacts from the wreck 100 years ago, a wealth of new treasures has been discovered after experts created the first phases of a precise digital 3D model of the shipwreck.

Scientists used made the model using thousands of underwater photographs of the seafloor site in a technique known as photogrammetry.

And more discoveries are likely on the way thanks to this new model, but this is not the only thing that helped experts to uncover the treasure trove.

An earthquake is thought to have occurred sometime after the sinking of the ship, and archaeologists had to remove several large boulders that were strewn over the wreck as a result of the event.

In May and June this year, experts used underwater lifting equipment of pressurised airbags to remove the boulders, some of which weighed about 9.5 tons (8.5 metric tonnes).

Hercules' head found in the treasure hoard of a 2,000-year-old shipwreck
A marble model depicting Hercules’ head has been found in a 2000-year-old Roman shipwreck
“It’s a most impressive marble piece”

After this, the huge wealth of treasure that was contained within what was once the ship’s hull was then revealed. While carrying this out, the marine archaeologists were reportedly working at depths of 50 metres so they could access the areas that had never been explored before.

The ship is thought to have once been around 180ft long, but experts say the wooden hull has since rotted away. Amongst the treasure was a huge marble head of a sculpture likely depicting the Greek/Roman demigod Hercules.

Prof Lorenz Baumer, an archaeologist at the University of Geneva, said: “It’s a most impressive marble piece. 

Archaeologists had to remove several large boulders that were strewn over the wreck

“It is twice lifesize, has a big beard, a very particular face and short hair. There is no doubt it is Hercules.”

Experts suspect that this head was once attached to a sculpture with the rest of Hercules’ body that was in fact first found by divers way back in 1900.

During this time, they also discovered the Antikythera Mechanism – a mechanical model of the sun, moon and planets that is now on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Prof Lorenz Baumer said that both finds were likely made in the same area of the ship.

He told Live Science: “The site is quite big.

The research team also discovered two human teeth inside marine deposits

“It’s some 50 meters [164 feet] across, and it’s covered by rocks. It’s possible that [more fragments] are hiding in the rocks, but they could be anywhere.”

The ship also contained Greek artworks, a number of bronze statues, and over 38 marble sculptures. The research team also discovered two human teeth inside marine deposits and fragments of copper and wood.

Now, experts are hoping to analyse isotopes in the enamel of the teeth as this can help to uncover the geochemistry of the environment at the time that the teeth were formed.

Experts suspect that the head was once attached to a sculpture with the rest of Hercules’ body

This can help to reveal things such as a person’s diet or place of origin, and they can also contain DNA.

Stratos Charchalakis, the mayor of Kythira, said: “The ship could have gone down anywhere but, that said, every discovery puts us on the map and is exciting.

“The truth is that for an island with just 30 inhabitants, the wreck has had a huge social and economic impact. It has helped keep its shops and people going.”

EUROPE, SCOTLAND, WORLD

Archaeologists track the Scottish whisky story from the black market to the global export

Archaeologists track the Scottish whisky story from the black market to the global export

Archaeologists have returned to the site of the first legal distillery in Speyside to track how whisky went from a black market operation woven into the fabric of Scotland’s rural communities to one of the country’s biggest exports.

The original Glenlivet site, which was operated by farmer George Smith from 1824 after he made his underground whisky-making operation legal, is being excavated by archaeologists from National Trust for Scotland (NTS), who are working in conjunction with the distillery.

The site is around one kilometre from today’s home of Glenlivet, which Smith opened in 1859 to expand production and take advantage of a greater run of water off the hill.

Archaeologists track the Scottish whisky story from the black market to the global export
© Derek Alexander, Head of Archaeology at National Trust for Scotland and Alan Winchester, Glenlivet’

The Pioneering Spirit project is now focusing on the original Glenlivet distillery after archaeologists spent months examining sites of illegal stills across the Highlands.

Derek Alexander, head of archaeological services at NTS, said: “The distillery we are working on here is a nice bridge between the small-scale illicit distilling and large-scale industrial production.”

Today’s Glenlivet site is modelled on Smith’s original distillery, which was set up on his farm.

Such was Smith’s unpopularity in the local community after he was granted a legal distilling licence under the 1823 Excise Act, which sanctioned distilling for a £10 licence fee and set payment per gallon of proof spirit, that he acquired two pistols to defend his property.

Mr Alexander said the aim of the dig was to find archaeology for each stage of the distilling process, with the operation set up around a courtyard.

Earlier, a piece of exciseman’s padlock was found at the site with pieces of the barrel now recovered.

Mr Alexander said: “We have also found the outline of the fireplaces where the stills were sitting.”

One may have been used for the wash still and the other for the spirit still, it is believed, with hopes that remain of grain drying still will also be found. Pieces of copper sulphite, a waste product of the distilling process, have been discovered.

The excavation will run for two weeks and will be assisted by NTS volunteers and members of the surrounding community, including schoolchildren.

Mr Alexander said: “It’s much easier to dig this site than those much harder to reach places, where we are carrying our equipment up a hill track for maybe an hour and then into a gully. These places are quite inaccessible by their nature and not that safe.

“We were using the same techniques as the excisemen would when they were out looking for illicit stills. You basically follow the burn line.”

Robert Athol, the newly appointed archivist for Chivas Brothers, which owns Glenlivet, said Smith risked “life and liberty” to produce whisky at his farm.

“His courage and conviction not only defined the path for The Glenlivet but was also influential on the development of Scotch whisky in general.”

NTS estimates there are at least 30 illicit stills across its 129 sites, including at Torridon, Kintail, Grey Mare’s Tail and the Mar Lodge Estate in western Aberdeenshire.

ASIA, IRAN, WORLD

Archaeologists unearth ‘great’ Sassanid fire temple in northeast Iran

Archaeologists unearth ‘great’ Sassanid fire temple in northeast Iran

Archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of what they believe was one of the greatest fire temples in Iran during the Sassanid age.

“We have probably discovered the third greatest fire temple that existed in ancient Iran,” ILNA quoted archaeologist Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki as saying on Wednesday.

Labbaf-Khaniki leads the fifth season of an areological survey, which is currently underway in a valley near the village of Robat-e Sefid/Bazeh Hur, northeast Iran.

“During this archaeological season, we have gathered considerable evidence such as engraved plasterwork and inscriptions that suggest the ruins are related to an important fire temple.”

Inscriptions and their fragments that bear Pahlavi scripts should first be arranged and categorized till they could be read (and deciphered) by linguists and cultural heritage experts, he explained.

These fresh discoveries are expected to open a new chapter in the history of Iranian arts during the Sassanid epoch, the archaeologist said.

Exquisite stuccoworks embellish capital columns that support the main hall of the fire temple, he said.

Since 2014, Labbaf-Khaniki has taken part in previous excavations conducted at the ancient site. In 2018, a joint Franco-Iranian mission was tasked to study the whole valley, its human occupations, its geomorphology, and its implication in the large territory of Khorasan Razavi province.

The Sassanid age is of very high importance in the history of Iran. Under Sassanids, Persian architecture in addition to arts experienced a general renaissance.

Architecture often took grandiose proportions such as palaces at Ctesiphon, Firuzabad, and Sarvestan which are amongst the highlights of the ensemble.

Sassanid archaeological designs typically represent a highly efficient system of land use and strategic utilization of natural topography in the creation of the earliest cultural centres of the Sassanid civilization.

READ ALSO: PRESERVED BY NATURE: STUDYING THE SPECTACULAR SALT MUMMIES OF IRAN

In 2018, an ensemble of Sassanian historical cities in southern Iran, titled “Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region”, was named a UNESCO site. The ensemble is comprised of eight archaeological sites situated in three geographical parts of Firuzabad, Bishapur, and Sarvestan.

The World Heritage reflects the optimized utilization of natural topography and bears witness to the influence of Achaemenid and Parthian cultural traditions and of Roman art, which later had a significant impact on the architecture and artistic styles of the Islamic era.

Aside from architecture, crafts such as metalwork and gem-engraving grew highly sophisticated, yet scholarship was encouraged by the state. In those years, works from both the East and West were translated into Pahlavi, the language of the Sassanians.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Pre-Roman Settlement Excavated in Southern England

Pre-Roman Settlement Excavated in Southern England

Archaeology students from Bournemouth University have found the remains of prehistoric people and animal sacrifices in a recently discovered Iron Age settlement in Dorset.

Pre-Roman Settlement Excavated in Southern England

The site, which consists of typical Iron Age round houses and storage pits was discovered by archaeology students last September in Winterborne Kingston, Dorset. It dates from around 100 years BC, well before the Roman invasion of Britain.

Over the course of the last three weeks, a team of 65 students from the university have been excavating the site. During this time, they uncovered the bodies of women and men as well as animal body parts in storage pits originally used to hold grain.

“Sites across Dorset in the Late Iron Age are unique because the communities here buried their dead in defined cemeteries,” explained Dr Miles Russell, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University who is leading the dig. “Elsewhere in the country they would either be cremated or placed in rivers, but in Dorset, it seems they did things rather differently.”

The bodies were found in crouched positions in oval-shaped pits and had been buried with joints of meat and pottery bowls originally containing drinks.

The discovery of prehistoric people who lived on the site and items from their everyday lives is providing the team with fascinating new clues about the Iron Age lifestyle.

“We know a lot about life in Britain during and after the Roman invasion because so much has been written down,” said Dr Russell. “But we do not have anything written about life before, the answers to how they lived come solely from what we find in the ground.”

Teams of students and staff from the University have been surveying and excavating sites in the local area for several years.

In 2015 they carried out an excavation of a large iron age town which they named “Duropolis” after the Durotriges tribes who lived in the region. The settlement they are working on today is situated about half a mile to the north of Duropolis.

A cow skull with vertebrae and separated jaw bones uncovered in an oval pitt

In particular, the latest discoveries will help archaeologists understand more about religious practices in communities at the time.

“The animal remains that we’re finding placed in the bottom of pits would have provided weeks of food for this settlement, so it’s a significant sacrifice to their gods to bury so much in the ground. In some pits, animal parts had been placed onto and together with other animals, for example, we found a cow’s head on the body of a sheep.

“We don’t know why they would have done this, to us it’s frankly bizarre, but it’s a fascinating new insight into their belief systems,” explained Dr Russell.

Animal bones uncovered and cleaned

Archaeology student Nathan Sue has been cleaning and preserving the finds from the settlement, including pottery, animal bones and items of jewellery.

“Some of the most exciting finds we have excavated from the dig include a ring that we found on someone’s finger in an associated burial. It is a copper alloy, perhaps bronze and it’s nice to find that as rings of this age are not common,” Nathan said.

Sarah, also studying Archaeology at Bournemouth University, is part of the dig team. She said, “We’ve learnt that the people who lived here two thousand years ago back filled these storage pits with their rubbish and we have found pottery, bone, charcoal and flint. We know that they were burying their dead here and all their limbs are articulated, so they’ve been placed in the ground with care, and they bury their dead in a very specific way so they are very identifiable”.

The excavation will continue for another week and the human bone will be analysed at Bournemouth University before eventually being returned to the ground. The University team will then continue to survey and scan the area of East Dorset for further settlement activity that could reveal more secrets about life in pre-Roman Britain.

Watch the video above to hear more from students and staff on the site

All In One Magazine