EUROPE, FRANCE, WORLD

Archaeologists uncover ‘astonishing’ remains of horses buried 2,000 years ago

Archaeologists uncover ‘astonishing’ remains of horses buried 2,000 years ago

Archaeologists uncover ‘astonishing’ remains of horses buried 2,000 years ago
Archaeologists have uncovered graves containing the remains of horses buried about 2,000 years ago.

Archaeologists in France have uncovered nine “astonishing” graves containing the skeletons of 28 horses that were buried about 2,000 years ago, though their precise cause of death remains a mystery.

Discovered in Villedieu-sur-Indre, a commune in central France, two of the graves have been fully excavated so far, the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) said in a statement.

The horses have been radiocarbon-dated back to somewhere between 100 BC to 100 AD.

Archaeologists found 10 complete horse skeletons in one pit and two in the other, all carefully placed in the same manner lying on their right flank with their heads to the south.

All these horses were buried at the same time shortly after their deaths, archaeologists said after observing the position of the skeletons and the connections between the bones.

Another grave is situated between these two pits but it contains two medium-sized dogs, both lying on their left side with their heads facing west.

Two of the nine graves have been fully excavated so far.

Archaeologists have yet to fully excavate the remaining graves but have already identified a total of 28 horses from the skulls and coxal bones that appear on the surface.

Killed in battle, or ritual sacrifice?

However, the horses’ precise cause of death still remains unclear.

Archaeologists have ruled out an epidemic since there are no foals or mares in these graves; all the skeletons are fully-grown stallions aged over four years old. That leaves, archaeologists said, the possibilities that these horses were either killed in battle or as part of a ritual sacrifice.

When these horses died about 2,000 years ago, there was a fortified Celtic settlement known as an oppidum just a few hundred meters away and this location mirrors that of two other similar horse burial sites that archaeologists had previously uncovered in the same region.

Due to this location, they have hypothesized that the horses’ deaths at the sites could be connected to the battles of the Gallic Wars in which Julius Caesar conquered Gaul between 58 – 50 BC.

The horses may have been killed in battle or sacrificed

There may be another explanation, however: ritual sacrifice.

“The hypothesis that these animals were sacrificed as part of a complex ritual, of which only a few scraps remain, must also be considered,” the INRAP statement said.

If these horses were indeed buried as part of a ritual rather than killed in battle, the sheer number shows the “importance and extent of the sacrifice,” the statement added.

Other finds at the site, which sits on the slope of a valley, include buildings, pits, ditches and a road that archaeologists dated to the late 5th and early 6th centuries.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Ancient Egyptian attempts to treat cancer seen in nearly 5,000-year-old skull

Ancient Egyptian attempts to treat cancer seen in nearly 5,000-year-old skull

Ancient Egyptian attempts to treat cancer seen in nearly 5,000-year-old skull
Skull E270. Credit: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of ancient practices which might change our understanding of ancient Egyptian life.

Two skulls, both thousands of years old, bear cut marks which could be indications of attempted operations to treat cancer,  or perhaps even to conduct postmortems to learn more about excessive tissue growth.

It is known that as an early civilisation, the ancient Egyptians were skilled in medical practices. Historical records note that they could identify, describe and treat diseases and traumatic injuries. They even build prostheses and inserted dental fillings.

The new study, published in Frontiers in Medicine, suggests they may have even tried to treat cancers.

Two skulls were examined as part of the research.

Skull and mandible 236. Credit: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

Skull and mandible 236 belonged to a male who died at age 30–35. The bones were found at Giza and are dated to between 2687 and 2345 BCE, during Egypt’s Old Kingdom – around the time that the Pharaoh Khufu ordered the building of the largest of the pyramids of Giza.

Skull E270 belonged to a female who was more than 50 years old when she died between 663 and 343 BCE, known as the Late Period of ancient Egypt sometime between the 26th and 30th dynasties.

Micro-CT scans of skull 236 showed a large lesion consistent with excessive tissue destruction, also known as neoplasm. In addition, the researchers found about 30 small, round metastasised lesions on the skull.

A series of cut marks around the lesions took the archaeologists by surprise.

“It seems ancient Egyptians performed some kind of surgical intervention related to the presence of cancerous cells, proving that ancient Egyptian medicine was also conducting experimental treatments or medical explorations in relation to cancer,” says co-author Albert Isidro from the University Hospital Sagrat Cor in Spain.

Similar lesions were found on skull E270 consistent with a cancerous tumour that led to bone destruction.

E270 also showed 2 healed traumatic injuries. It is possible the individual received treatment for the injuries.

“Was this female individual involved in any kind of warfare activities?” asks first author Tatiana Tondini from the University of Tübingen in Germany. “If so, we must rethink the role of women in the past and how they took active part in conflicts during antiquity.”

The finds suggest that cancer is not just a problem today with increased environmental factors and an older population.

“We wanted to learn about the role of cancer in the past, how prevalent this disease was in antiquity, and how ancient societies interacted with this pathology,” Tondini says. “We see that although ancient Egyptians were able to deal with complex cranial fractures, cancer was still a medical knowledge frontier.”

Cut marks around a lesion on skull 236. Credit: Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

And it wasn’t just the ancient Egyptians. Ancient Roman physician Celsus, who died in 50 CE, wrote about the disease’s return after being cut out. Ancient Greek doctors Galen and Hippocrates considered it incurable.

Lead author Edgard Camarós, from Spain’s University of Santiago de Compostela, says more research is needed to uncover ancient medical practices.

“This study contributes to a changing of perspective and sets an encouraging base for future research on the field of paleo-oncology, but more studies will be needed to untangle how ancient societies dealt with cancer.”

Today, cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the world, hence the scientific community’s focus on finding effective treatments and potential cures.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

4,500-year-old rare Canaanite goddess sculpture found by a farmer in Gaza Strip

4,500-year-old rare Canaanite goddess sculpture found by a farmer in Gaza Strip

4,500-year-old rare Canaanite goddess sculpture found by a farmer in Gaza Strip
The statue of Anat is now on display in one of the Gaza Strip’s few museums

A stone statue of an ancient goddess of beauty, love and war has been found in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian archaeologists say that the head of the Canaanite deity, Anat, dates back 4,500 years to the late Bronze Age.

The discovery was made by a farmer digging his land in Khan Younis, in the south of the strip. On social media, some Gazans are making wry comments suggesting the goddess’s association with war seems apt.

In recent years, they have seen a series of devastating flare-ups in the conflict between Israel and militant groups in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas.

However, the discovery of this limestone statue is a reminder of how the strip – part of an important trade route for successive ancient civilisations – was originally a Canaanite settlement.

The 22cm-high (8.7 in) carving clearly shows the face of the goddess wearing a serpent crown.

“We found it by chance. It was muddy and we washed it with water,” said farmer Nidal Abu Eid, who came across the head while cultivating his field.

“We realised that it was a precious thing, but we didn’t know it was of such great archaeological value,” he told the BBC.

“We thank God, and we are proud that it stayed in our land, in Palestine, since the Canaanite times.”

The statue of Anat – one of the best-known Canaanite deities – is now on display in Qasr al-Basha, a historic building that serves as one of Gaza’s few museums.

Gaza, which was on important trade routes for ancient civilisations, is home to numerous ancient treasures

Unveiling the artefact at a press conference on Tuesday, Jamal Abu Rida of the Hamas-run Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the statue was “resistant against time” and had been carefully examined by experts.

He said that it made a political point.

“Such discoveries prove that Palestine has civilisation and history, and no-one can deny or falsify this history,” he said. “This is the Palestinian people and their ancient Canaanite civilisation.”

Not all archaeological finds in Gaza have been so highly appreciated or fared so well.

Hamas – an Islamist, militant organisation – has previously been accused of destroying the remains of a large, fortified Canaanite town, Tell al-Sakan, to make way for housing and military bases south of highly populated Gaza City.

An ancient man-sized bronze of the Greek god Apollo was discovered by a fisherman in 2013, but later disappeared mysteriously.

However, this year Hamas reopened the remains of a 5th Century Byzantine church after foreign donors helped pay for a years-long restoration project.

Work also stopped at a building site in northern Gaza when 31 Roman-era tombs were found there.

While such ancient sites could potentially be a draw for foreign visitors, it has virtually no tourism industry.

Israel and Egypt tightly restrict the flow of people in and out of the impoverished coastal enclave, which is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians, citing security concerns.

CZECH REPUBLIC, EUROPE, WORLD

A woman in the Czech Republic found a medieval jackpot during a walk

A woman in the Czech Republic found a medieval jackpot during a walk

A woman in the Czech Republic found a medieval jackpot during a walk

A woman walking in the town of Kutná Hora in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic found a nearly 900-year-old treasure of more than 2,150 medieval silver coins, known as denarii.

The woman found some silver coins while walking through a field in Kutnohorsku and contacted officials, the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic said in a May 16 news release.

The treasure consisted of more than 2,150 silver coins minted between 1085 and 1107.

Experts believe they were manufactured in Prague and imported to Bohemia. The trove was stored in a ceramic container that was destroyed over the years, but archaeologists discovered the bottom of the container.

“The [discovery was] made of coin alloy, which, in addition to silver, also contains an admixture of copper, lead, and trace metals,” the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ARUP) stated in the press release. “Determining this particular composition can also help determine the origin of the silver used.”

The discovery of the treasure is one of the largest archaeological finds of the past 10 years, experts say.

Dubbed one of the greatest finds of the last decade, institute archaeologist Filip Velímský believes the discovery is like winning a prize in the lottery—even if someone else was the loser.

“It was probably placed in its place during the first quarter of the 12th century, at a time of internal political instability,” he said.

“At that time, there were disputes in the country between the members of the Přemysl dynasty about the princely throne of Prague,” he said.

According to ARUP, battles were common during the period and the depot could have been cash “for paying wages or spoils of war.”

Czech officials call the discovery “one of the largest finds of the last decade.”

Some of the 900-year-old coins in plastic bags.

According to the experts, that owner couldn’t have been just anyone. “Unfortunately, for the turn of the 11th to 12th century, we lack data on the purchasing power of contemporary coins,” he said. “But it was a huge, unimaginable – and at the same time, unavailable – amount for an ordinary person. It can be compared to winning a million in the jackpot.”

The artifacts were taken to a laboratory for further analysis and documentation, a process that will likely take a year. The artifacts will then be put on display in an exhibit expected to debut in 2025.

ASIA, UAE, WORLD

8,000-Year-Old Pearl, Found In Abu Dhabi, Is World’s Oldest

8,000-Year-Old Pearl, Found In Abu Dhabi, Is World’s Oldest

An 8,000-year-old pearl that archaeologists say is the worlds oldest will be displayed in Abu Dhabi, according to authorities who said Sunday it is proof the objects have been traded since Neolithic times.

Dubbed the ‘Abu Dhabi Pearl’, it was found in layers carbon-dated to 5800-5600 BCE, during the Neolithic period.

This finding proves that pearls and oysters have been used in the UAE nearly 8,000 years ago and is the first confirmed evidence of pearling discovered anywhere in the world.

The small pearl was found on the floor of a room during excavations at Marawah Island

The Abu Dhabi Pearl, on loan from the Zayed National Museum collection, will feature in the special exhibition 10,000 Years of Luxury, taking place at Louvre Abu Dhabi from October 30, 2019, to February 18, 2020.

Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “The Abu Dhabi Pearl is a stunning find, testimony to the ancient origins of our engagement with the sea.

The discovery of the oldest pearl in the world in Abu Dhabi makes it clear that so much of our recent economic and cultural history has deep roots that stretch back to the dawn of prehistory.

Marawah Island is one of our most valuable archaeological sites, and excavations continue in the hope of discovering even more evidence of how our ancestors lived, worked and thrived.”

Prior to the Abu Dhabi Pearl discovery, the earliest known pearl in the UAE was uncovered at a Neolithic site in Umm al-Quwain.

Ancient pearls from the same time have also been found at a Neolithic cemetery close to Jebel Buhais in the emirate of Sharjah. The carbon dating indicates that Abu Dhabi Pearl is older than both these discoveries.

Aside from the priceless Abu Dhabi Pearl, significant finds from the Marawah site have included an imported ceramic vase, beautifully worked flint arrowheads and shell and stone beads.

Numerous painted plaster vessel fragments were also discovered and represent the earliest known decorative art yet discovered in the UAE. At the beginning of 2020, a major new excavation will take place at the site to further uncover its secrets.

Experts have suggested that ancient pearls were possibly traded with Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) in exchange for highly-decorated ceramics and other goods. Pearls were also likely worn as jewellery by the local population, as indicated by the finds at Jebel Buhais in Sharjah.

The art of pearling required in-depth knowledge of pearl beds and their locations and expert seafaring skills.

Once these were mastered by the ancient inhabitants of Marawah, pearling was to remain a mainstay of the UAE’s economy for millennia.

The Venetian jewel merchant Gasparo Balbi, who travelled through the region, mentions the islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi as a source of pearls in the 16th century. The industry flourished until the 1930s.

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

Fossil of a beetle inside a lizard inside a snake – an ancient food chain

Fossil of a beetle inside a lizard inside a snake – an ancient food chain

Paleontologists have uncovered a fossil that has preserved an insect inside a lizard inside a snake – a prehistoric battle of the food chain that ended in a volcanic lake some 48 million years ago.

Pulled from an abandoned quarry in southwest Germany called the Messel Pit, the fossil is only the second of its kind ever found, with the remains of three animals sitting snug in one another.

Earlier excavations have revealed the fossilized stomach contents of a prehistoric horse, whose last meal was grapes and leaves, and pollen grains were identified inside a fossilized bird. Remains of insects have also been detected in a sample of fish excrement.

Grube Messel

We have been lucky to glimpse such a primordial food chain of the snake, that ate a lizard, that had previously treated itself to a beetle, and ended up in a volcanic lake of the time. It is uncertain how the snake died.

Perhaps the snake’s body fell dead close to the shores of the lake before the waters claimed it. It had died there not more than 48 hours after its “last supper,” scientists say.

“It’s probably the kind of fossil that I will go the rest of my professional life without ever encountering again, such is the rarity of these things.” Such are the words of Dr. Krister Smith, a paleontologist at the Senkenberg Institute in Germany who took charge of the fossil analysis.

According to Dr. Smith, the almost entirely preserved snake was recovered from a plate found in the pit back in 2009, and the discovery soon turned out to be groundbreaking. Smith remarks, “we had never found a tripartite food chain–this is a first for Messel.”

Dr. Smith and Argentine paleontologist Dr. Agustín Scanferla used high-resolution computer imaging to identify the taxonomy of the snake and the lizard, however, they were unable to name the beetle, the least preserved of the three.

Palaeopython fischeri, exhibited in Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

The snake, measuring some 3.4 feet in length, was identified as Palaeophython fischeri, a species which belongs to a group of tree-dwelling snakes that was able to grow to more than 6.5 feet in length and is related to today’s boas.

The preserved sample from Germany was only a juvenile, an assurance being not only the shorter length but also its food choice, the lizard. Adult boas are known to opt for bigger animals.

The lizard would have measured nearly eight inches and a clear hint for paleontologists that it was inside the snake’s body was that the snake’s ribs overlapped it.

It is an example of the now extinct species Geiseltaliellus maarius, a type of iguanian lizard that inhabited the region of what is now Germany, France, and Belgium. Messel has been the site that has provided some of the best-preserved samples of this lizard species.

What’s also interesting is that, even though lizards are known for shedding their tails when under threat, this one has kept it despite falling prey to the snake.

“Since the stomach contents are digested relatively fast and the lizard shows an excellent level of preservation, we assume that the snake died no more than one to two days after consuming its prey and then sank to the bottom of the Messel Lake, where it was preserved,” explained Dr. Smith.

Fossil of Palaeopython in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien

This is a rare type of fossil, but it’s not the first instance in which a fossil has simultaneously exposed three levels of an ancient food chain. According to National Geographic, in 2008, a fossil dated at more than 250 millions of years old depicted a shark that had devoured an amphibian that had previously consumed a spiny-finned fish.

Both these findings are precious as they reveal significant details on how food chains functioned. In the case of the snake fossil, it is interesting that the lizard had eaten a beetle.

Before that, scientists didn’t know that the Messel lizard liked to dine on insects, as in previous digs they had been able to identify only remains of plants in fossilized lizard bellies. In the case of the shark, it was revealed that amphibians consumed fish before becoming a menu item to the fish itself.

CHILE, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Gomphothere Butchering Camp Discovered in Chile

Gomphothere Butchering Camp Discovered in Chile

Archaeologists have uncovered a prehistoric site in South America where hunter-gatherers butchered a now-extinct elephant relative more than 12,000 years ago.

A study, published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, details the excavation and analysis of a recently discovered site in the Tagua Tagua lake region in central Chile.

The site represents a hunter-gatherer camp that the researchers have dated to between 12,440-12,550 years ago.

The site contains a “diverse and exceptional” collection of archaeological remains that is helping to shed light on the lives of the prehistoric hunter-gatherers who once inhabited this region.

Among the most intriguing finds from the site are the fossilized remains of a gomphothere—an extinct relative of modern elephants.

This group of animals roamed the Earth from as early as the end of the Oligocene epoch (around 23 million to 33.9 million years ago) to the late Pleistocene (around 11,700 to 2.6 million years ago) and early Holocene (11,700 years ago to the present) epochs.

Members of this group of animals had features such as trunks and tusks that were similar to those seen in modern elephants. But some gomphothere species had highly specialized teeth that would have helped them feed on certain types of vegetation.

The authors of the study observed signs of butchery on the gomphothere bones of the Tagua Tagua site, which were found alongside stone tools and other remains. The available evidence suggests the site represents a temporary camp that was mainly associated with the hunting of the gomphothere individual and the processing of its large carcass.

But the researchers found further evidence that other activities were carried out at the site as well, even though it was only occupied for a short time. These activities included the processing of other foods, as evidenced by the presence of the additional charred remains of plants and small animals like frogs and birds.

Stock image of an actor reenacting a prehistoric human while hunting. Researchers have shed light on an intriguing prehistoric site in Chile.

The researchers also documented evidence of activities such as the grinding of red ocher—a natural clay earth pigment.

The site was found to contain the fossilized remains of cactus seeds and bird eggshells, indicating that the camp was specifically occupied during the dry season.

The newly discovered prehistoric camp is one of several similar sites that are now known in the Tagua Tagua region, indicating that the area was a “key location” for nomadic hunter-gatherers during the late Pleistocene due to its abundant, diverse, and predictable resources, according to the study.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Possible Roman Oyster Processing Site Found in England

Possible Roman Oyster Processing Site Found in England

A suspected Roman oyster processing site has been unearthed on the banks of the Humber Estuary.

Possible Roman Oyster Processing Site Found in England
The oysters are believed to have grown naturally on shell reefs

The Environment Agency said the discovery was made during flood defence work near Weeton in East Yorkshire. A team from York Archaeology chanced on the find close to what they think was an early Roman settlement.

Oysters were prized by the Romans with some reports suggesting they played a key part in Julius Caesar’s decision to invade Britain.

Sea defences and mudflats under construction between Outstrays and Skeffling on the north bank of the Humber

According to the agency, large quantities of “misshapen oyster shells” were found, supporting the theory that they grew naturally on a shell reef rather than being grown on ropes, which was a common practice at the time.

Jennifer Morrison, the agency’s senior archaeologist, said: “It was truly amazing to find the evidence of this early oyster processing site during our dig.

“We know that, at this time, oysters would have been plentiful and that they were a staple part of the diet.

“We also know that British oysters were prized by the Romans, and it is quite possible that some of these oysters found their way back to Italy.”

For the last three years, the agency has been realigning sea defences to provide 250 hectares of new wet grassland, saltmarshes and mudflats to replace land being lost to human activity on the north bank of the estuary.

Today, oysters – natural filters, which keep the water clean as they absorb carbon and release oxygen – are being reintroduced to the Humber once again as part of the Wilder Humber partnership, comprising Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and energy company Orsted.

The oyster reefs will help protect the coastline from erosion by stabilising the seabed and absorbing wave energy, the agency said.

People can learn more about Roman and medieval finds at a new exhibition, which runs each Wednesday and Saturday until 22 June at Hedon Museum.

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