EUROPE, ROMANIA, WORLD

Underground Labyrinth With Secret Passages, Tunnels In Dobrogea Plateau, Romania

Underground Labyrinth With Secret Passages, Tunnels In Dobrogea Plateau, Romania

 In many cases, the world below us is just as fascinating as the ground we walk on. Across Europe, there is a hidden, often millennia-old subterranean realm of tunnels stretching from the north in Scotland leading down to the Mediterranean.

Limanu Cave’s secret, and still unexplored passages and roads. The network gallery actually resembles a city street map, like the street network of an ancient city developed chaotically, thus the impression of an underground city.

It is an underground world of never-ending tunnels, massive caves, and labyrinths dug by unknown ancient men. There are also underground labyrinths that have not been fully explored yet. One of them is located about 52 kilometres from Constanța, historically known as Tomis, the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania.

A Vast Underground City Where You Can Get Lost

This vast labyrinth of 12 hectares lies beneath the plateau of Limanu. Researchers started to investigate the place in 1916 and discovered traces left by humans, carved walls and ceilings, and ancient ceramic fragments.  Drawings and inscriptions in Roman and Cyrillic alphabets on the walls prove the cave was inhabited between the 1st century BC and 10th century AD.

The labyrinth is vast, with a total length of passages approximately 3.5 km. Dacians used it to hide from the Roman proconsul Marcus Licinius Crassus (c. 115 B.C. —53 BC), who played a vital role in transforming the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. The cave’s early inhabitants used a marking system to avoid getting lost.

Approximately 4,000 meters in length, Limanu Cave is the longest in Dobrogea. It has a chaotic branching of galleries, like the street network of an ancient city. Some researchers believe that at least some of the galleries were entirely dug by human beings, as there are tooling marks on the walls. Certainly, Limanu Cave represented an important human refuge, even since Dacian times.

The network of galleries resembles a city street map, like the street network of an ancient city developed chaotically, thus the impression of an underground city.

Remarkable Galleries 

Some of the galleries have rectangular, very regular sections, and it seems humans carved them as signs of chiseling are visible. In order to avoid the collapse of ceilings, supporting walls and pillars were built in limestone slabs.

The drawings of galloping horses are of particular interest, while their riders have faces displayed from the front. Their silhouette and presentation strikingly resemble those of Dacian riders depicted on pottery discovered in many settlements in the area inhabited by Thraco-Dacians.

The earliest drawings are very likely from the prosperous time of the Geto-Dacian culture, the time when the cave was furnished as well. Other pictures show Christian religious symbols, letters, or words in the Cyrillic alphabet. This artwork belongs to the Roman-Byzantine period and the subsequent times.

According to Ph.D. Adina Boroneant, “Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, the Limanu Cave was a shelter for the local population until later, 10th-11th centuries AD.

Surveys have revealed archaeological material proving that local Dacians inhabited the cave even in that era. Existing evidence allows us to assume that a local Geto-Dacian authority ordered the maze of Limanu as a defense measure against the Roman danger.” The account of Dio Cassius shows that the cave was a place of refuge, purposefully chosen and renovated, not some adventitious cavern,” Ph.D. Boroneant writes in his ‘Labirintul subterrane de la Limanu’ (The Underground Labyrinth of Limanu).

Tales  Of Mysterious Sounds Coming From Underground Realms

Local stories mention strange and frightening wails like a prolonged high-pitched cry of grief, pain, or anger coming from the depths of the earth.

A scientific explanation for these strange sounds provided by speleologists is that the eerie wails are produced by the wind that sweeps through many underground galleries at Limanu. This noise affects the human psyche.

The cavern has a unique characteristic: although it is located on a complex of lakes and close to the Black Sea, it is so impenetrable that not even water can pass through.

Underground Labyrinth With Secret Passages, Tunnels In Dobrogea Plateau, Romania

The cave is also known as Caracicula (the old name of Limanu settlement), Bats’, or Icons’ – due to some images carved in stone that once guarded the entrance.

Limanu Cave is one of the three habitats in Romania for horseshoe bats – Rhinolophus Mehelyi. The species decreased from over 5,000 specimens to about 300 individuals. However, ecologists warned about the vulnerability of the cave, which is a magnet for treasure hunters. Through their actions, they tend to destroy the fauna.

Being located near the border with Bulgaria, Limanu cave had the reputation of a tunnel carrying fugitives across the border, particularly during the communist time.

There are many reasons to suspect the Dobrogea caves are hiding mysteries still waiting to be discovered.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

New Huge Viking Ship Discovered By Radar In Øye, Norway – What Is Hidden Beneath The Ground?

New Huge Viking Ship Discovered By Radar In Øye, Norway – What Is Hidden Beneath The Ground?

A new Viking Age ship has been discovered by archaeologists in Norway during a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey. This exciting find reveals a huge Viking boat buried beneath the ground in Øye, in Kvinesdal.

The Øye Viking Age ship was discovered by archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU).

This archaeological discovery is highly significant not only because Viking ship burials are rarely found, but also due to the fact that Kvinesdal was once the home to one of Southern Norway’s largest known burial sites from the Iron and Viking Ages.

Archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) said the ancient boat was spotted while researchers conducted geophysical surveys in the area as part of the road-building project E39 led by Nye Veier.

The surveys are a part of the research project “Arkeologi på Ney Veier” (Archaeology on new roads). Based on preliminary reports, archaeologists estimate the Viking boat to be between 8 to 9 meters long.

Several ancient burial mounds have been observed in the vicinity of the Viking ship.

Niku researchers inform that in addition to the boat burial there are traces of several other burial mounds.

At present, it is still unknown how much of the Viking boat remains. Excavations must be carried out and hopefully, the new road project will not interfere with archaeologists’ work. As previously explained on AncientPages.com, Viking burials were very complex which is the reason why so few boat burials have been unearthed.

When a great Viking chieftain died, he received a ship burial. This involved placing the deceased on the ship, sailing him out to sea, and setting the Viking ship on fire. People could watch flames dance high in the air as they embraced the mighty warrior on his way to the afterlife.

By modern standards, it might sound crude, but Viking burials were intended to be a spectacular ritual. Viking funeral traditions involved burning ships and complex ancient rituals. Based on discovered archaeological evidence it seems that the funeral boat or wagon was a practice reserved for the wealthy.

This type of burial was not common however and was likely reserved for sea captains, noble Vikings, and the very wealthy. In Old Norse times, boats proper boats took several months to construct and would not have been wasted without a valid cause or a suitable amount of status.

Another option was that the Vikings was burned, and cremation was rather common during the early Viking Age. Ashes were later spread over the waters. The vast majority of the burial finds throughout the Viking world are cremations.

Archaeological discoveries such as the finding of the magnificent Gokstad Viking ship discovered in 1880 offer more insight into the world of the Vikings. When scientists re-opened and examined the grave in 2007 we could finally learn more about the man who became known as one of the most famous Vikings in Norway – the Gokstad Viking Chief and his remarkable ship.

New Huge Viking Ship Discovered By Radar In Øye, Norway – What Is Hidden Beneath The Ground?
The Gokstad Viking ship 1880 when it was discovered.

The Gokstad ship was built in about 850, at the height of the Viking period. In those days there was a need for ships that could serve many purposes, and the Gokstad ship could have been used for voyages of exploration, trade, and Viking raids. The ship could be both sailed and rowed. There are 16 oar holes on each side of the ship. With oarsmen, steersmen, and lookout, that would have meant a crew of 34.

In recent years there have been exciting reports of unearthed Viking Age burial ships in Sweden and Norway.

The giant Gjellestad Viking ship burial in Norway found some years ago has given a unique opportunity to see the world through the eyes of the Vikings.

The discoveries were made by archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) with technology developed by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro).

– We are certain that there is a ship there, but how much is preserved is hard to say before further investigation”, Morten Hanisch, county conservator in Østfold said at the time.

The reconstruction of the Gjellestad Viking ship burial site.

Later, scientists using modern technology put together an outstanding virtual tour of the Gjellestad Viking ship burial site, allowing viewers to see what the place looked like in ancient times.

The new radar discovery in Øye is promising and hopefully, researchers will be able to unearth and examine the remains of the Viking ship. Once they accomplish this, we will learn more about the boat and its history. Maybe remains of a Viking Chief will also be found.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Incredibly Well-Preserved 1,000-Year-Old Wooden Ladder Discovered In The UK

Incredibly Well-Preserved 1,000-Year-Old Wooden Ladder Discovered In The UK

Archaeologists in the UK have made many fascinating discoveries while excavating at a site known as Field 44 near the village of Tempsford in Central Bedfordshire.

Some weeks ago, archaeologists working in the area announced the remains of a Roman malting oven that could be the earliest physical evidence for beer-making in the UK, dating back more than 2,000 years to the Iron Age. Evidence of early Iron Age porridge and bread-making has also been uncovered.

In recent days MOLA archaeologists have unearthed an incredibly, well-preserved 1,000-year-old wooden ladder.

Incredibly Well-Preserved 1,000-Year-Old Wooden Ladder Discovered In The UK
This 1,000-year-old wooden ladder has been unearthed in the UK.

According to the MOLA scientists, the ladder was found in a well, where water and mud preserved the wood for 1,000s of years! Preliminary reports state the ladder comes from a cluster of watering holes dated to the Middle Iron Age (c.300-100 BC).

In the vicinity archaeologists also found Roman artefacts and evidence of an ancient farm that has offered an incredible glimpse through time to see how life has changed over the last 6,000 years.

The farm’s story spans a 700-year period from Middle Iron Age to the Roman conquest and beyond. Well before the farmstead existed, people were already visiting this area. Although no evidence of where they lived has been found, they left behind signs of their activities.

Flint arrowheads were discovered dating back to the Neolithic (c. 4000-2200 BC) and Bronze Age (c. 2600-700 BC), suggesting people were hunting animals in the surrounding landscape well before the farmstead existed.

The first evidence of a settlement is from the Middle Iron Age (c. 300-100 BC), with the unearthing of two large roundhouses dating back to that period.

They measure more than 15 meters in diameter and contain evidence of the remains of butchered animals, pottery, loom weights, and personal items. This shows that people both lived and worked in them.

The remains of the northern roundhouse, show its shape and size.

After the Roman conquest in AD 43, there is evidence, that the settlement expanded and continued to be occupied for around 400 years. During this time, farming was an essential activity at this settlement.

This is proved by the discovery of an oven used to dry grains and make malt for brewing, as well as by the querns (simple hand mills for grinding grains) and cereals found on site.

However, this was also a place where goods were being produced and traded. Archaeologists have identified a Roman pottery kiln with a vast number of wasters (pots which failed during the firing process).

Moreover, a number of higher-status small finds have also been uncovered, beyond what is expected of a typical farmstead in this part of the country. Together these discoveries show the growing wealth and importance of the settlement.

“These early excavations suggested that the site had a long and complex history, which is now being revealed,” MOLA archaeologists say.

ESTONIA, EUROPE, WORLD

700-Year-Old Ship Found In Surprisingly Good Condition In Estonia

700-Year-Old Ship Found In Surprisingly Good Condition In Estonia

A 700-year-old, well-preserved ship found at a construction site in the Estonian capital Tallinn on the shores of the Baltic Sea is hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Europe this year. The ship was found five feet (1.5 meters) underground at a site near Tallinn harbour, close to the former mouth of the Härjapea River – a waterway that no longer exists.

The 80ft-long vessel ship is made up of oak logs and sealed with animal hair and tar. According to the initial dendrochronological analysis (the study of the growth rings of trees in relation to time), the logs are from the year 1298.

Scientists say the ship belonged to the Hanseatic League, a Medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in central and northern Europe.

The Hanseatic League started in the 14th century and included the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Latvia.

700-Year-Old Ship Found In Surprisingly Good Condition In Estonia

“800 years ago we had almost two meters of water here,” the archaeologist in charge of the site, Mihkel Tammet, said to the British newspaper, The Metro.

“There were probably shallower underwater sand ridges which were hard to map because they changed their shape and location because of ice drifts and storms,” he explained.

“Our ship was found on one of these ridges under the sediments. It sank close to the Härjapea river mouth.”

It is rare to encounter these kinds of ships that are still in excellent condition. The last time it happened was in 1962 when the Bremen Cog was discovered in Germany.

However, archaeologist Mihkel Tammet said the newly-discovered wreck was in even better condition than its renowned cousin.

“We have found wool material used for packing, we have also found some tools and fragments of medieval leather shoes. Excavations are ongoing and we hope to find more,” Tammet said adding the whole area had once been underwater.

“This area was still under the sea in the 18th century. 800 years ago we had almost two meters of water here.

There were probably shallower underwater sand ridges which were hard to map because they changed their shape and location because of ice drifts and storms.

Our ship was found on one of these ridges under the sediments. It sank close to the Härjapea river mouth,” Tammet explained.

“Upon seeing the wreck, Tammet called in Ragnar Nurk, an archaeologist with the Tallinn city government.

Nurk said the cog would be now taken to a new home,” the Daily Mail reports.

“The wreck will be removed from its current position to allow the construction work to continue,

There are two main options currently: it will go to the maritime museum or to the wreck preservation area in Tallinn Bay near Naissaar Island.

Unfortunately, the size and restricted conditions of construction do not let us move the ship away in one part,” Tammet said.

NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

Artefacts Hint at Chinese American Life in Early 20th-Century Oregon

Artefacts Hint at Chinese American Life in Early 20th-Century Oregon

Uncovering the past of historically under-represented communities sometimes means having to do a little digging, through newspapers, archives and even the ground.

Artefacts Hint at Chinese American Life in Early 20th-Century Oregon
The Westfall family lived in the Osburn Hotel in downtown Eugene for a number of years. While they lived there, the hotel boasted a ‘Japanese Tea Room,’ a lavish meeting space filled with Asian art.

A new affordable housing construction project in downtown Eugene tapped archaeologists from the Museum of Natural and Cultural History to conduct an archaeological study at the site. Located in Eugene’s downtown commercial core, the project offered what researchers thought were several exciting prospects.

The downtown area has been in continuous use for more than a century, and a recent survey by museum archaeologists of the 5th Street Public Market expansion yielded a number of artefacts. The area was also mapped extensively, thanks to a 1912 fire insurance mapping project from the Sanborn Map Company.

Most exciting to archaeologists, however, was that city directories from the early 20th century listed a Chinese restaurant and Hung Wo Chang & Co. gift shop near the site.

“We expected we might find archaeological material based on the Sanborn maps,” said Chris Ruiz, a museum archaeologist working on the project.

As expected, archaeologists were able to identify several artefacts dating back to the early 20th century, including pieces of a Chinese stoneware bowl, a porcelain teacup, three Chinese brown stoneware liquor bottles, and a Japanese porcelain vessel.

“We were really excited when we found the artefacts and we were able to associate the ceramics with businesses in the area,” Ruiz said.

In an article published in Oregon Historical Quarterly’s winter 2021 issue, Ruiz and museum archaeologists Marlene Jampolsky and Jon Krier detail how the artefacts help reveal an untold story of the Chinese diaspora and Chinese American history in Eugene.

“The information was all there,” Ruiz said, “but nobody had really pulled it all together. No archaeologists or historians had really written about these businesses before.”

Museum archaeologists dug into city directories, newspaper archives and historical maps. They weren’t starting from scratch, Ruiz said.

“We had the address, which could point us to the names of the businesses,” he said. “From there, we could do research on the owners and discover who they were and when they lived in Eugene.”

The owners, Wing Kee and Marie Westfall, were operating their businesses at a time when Americans were embracing the trappings and aesthetics of Asian culture but actively discriminating against Asian people.

Wing Kee’s father, Jim Westfall, was a prominent figure in the Corvallis and business communities. He attempted to become a U.S. citizen in 1886 but was denied due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. Wing Kee was born in Oregon in 1875 and was registered for the draft, indicating he was a native-born U.S. citizen.

Meanwhile, Eugene was becoming more diverse. Although located on Kalapuya ilihi, the traditional homelands of the Kalapuya people, the city of Eugene was largely Euro-American throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ruiz said there were no records of Chinese people in Eugene before the late 1870s. It was in this environment that Wing Kee moved to Eugene.

By 1911, Wing Kee was the proprietor of the Smeede Hotel Grill, which advertised serving a “Chinese Bill of Fare.” He later opened a restaurant of his own, which newspaper articles often referred to with just his name or as the China Noodle House.

In 1914, Wing Kee opened Hung Wo Chang & Co gift shop on Sixth Avenue, marketing Chinese products to non-Chinese consumers. Marie, Wing Kee’s wife, was listed as the proprietor of the businesses in newspapers and on official city directories in the 1920s.

According to a Eugene Daily Guard article from 1917, the family was involved in the war effort during World War I. The Guard reports that “a volunteer in the food conservation campaign” signed Wing Kee up as a “member of the United States food administration in the war against Germany.” The same article mentions Wing Kee’s wife, Marie, as a Red Cross volunteer who went to “sew for the soldiers.”

In the 1920s, Wing Kee turned the operation of the restaurant over to his wife and relocated to Astoria to start a new business. In 1928, Marie’s move to Astoria was significant enough to get stories in multiple newspapers.

“There’s some hope that archaeology can help illuminate those past lives that are not well-represented in the historical narrative,” Ruiz said. “Eugene has a lot of interesting history pertaining to historically underrepresented communities. We still have a lot to do to uncover those stories.”

—By Lexie Briggs, Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Huge Cache of Stolen Antiquities Found in Central Israel

Huge Cache of Stolen Antiquities Found in Central Israel

A vast cache of antiquities looted from sites in the West Bank was revealed on Thursday by the Israel Antiquities Authority. While antiquities theft is common in Israel, and thieves and traders are often caught, this was a big catch.

A figurine of the Greek deity Hermes.

Ancient cuneiform tablets, a bronze figurine, jewellery, seals, and no less than 1,800 coins were seized from the home of an antiquities trader in Modi’in on Sunday by police working with the Israel Antiquities Authority theft prevention team.

A coin from the time of the Bar Kochba revolt.

Discover the secrets of the Middle East

According to the IAA, the trader admitted to buying antiquities from looters operating in the West Bank, smuggling them into Israel, and illegally trading them.

Some of the items and coins appear to have fresh dirt on them, the inspectors reported, lending credence to the suspicion that they were looted recently.

Some of the coins bear the name of Shimon Bar Kochba, the leader of the ill-fated revolt against the Romans from 132 to 135 C.E.

The inspectors also seized coins from the Persian period, silver coins from the Hellenistic period, more from the Hasmonean period and others from the time of the rebellion, the IAA announced on Thursday.

Ancient coins

One rare item was a silver “shekel” coin from the time of the First Jewish-Roman War in 67 C.E., the IAA stated. It bears the legend “Holy Jerusalem” in Hebrew on one side with the image of a bunch of three pomegranates. The other side says “Shekel Israel Year 2” (the letter bet) and the image of a goblet.

That particular coin seems to have been in the process of being cleaned, a job only half done, the IAA says.

An ancient shekel coin.

Some of the seized coins had already been packaged in envelopes for mailing abroad.

The suspect is not licensed to sell antiquities overseas, said IAA theft prevention chief Ilan Hadad. The next stage of this case is to track down the thieves, the anti-theft unit said.

Eli Eskosido, the director-general of the IAA, mourned that the illegal trade encourages looters who do not cavil at destroying ancient sites, to the detriment of posterity.

“The worst thing about destroying a site is that you only have one shot at excavating,” antiquities inspector Hillel Silberklang told Haaretz in February.  “Whatever information it had is lost forever, and damage to an archaeological site is final.”

ASIA, MONGOLIA, WORLD

Livestock and dairying led to dramatic social changes in ancient Mongolia, U-M study shows

Livestock and dairying led to dramatic social changes in ancient Mongolia, U-M study shows

The movement of herders and livestock into the eastern steppe is of great interest to researchers, but few scholars have linked the introduction of herds and horses to the rise of complex societies.

Horses and Gers near Khoton (Syrgal) Lake near the Altai Mountains of Mongolia.

Now, a new study in the journal PLOS ONE provides interdisciplinary support for connections between livestock dairying and the rise of social complexity in the eastern steppe. Using proteomic analysis of human dental calculus from sites in the Mongolian Altai, the researchers demonstrate a shift in dairy consumption over the course of the Bronze Age.

By tracking the consumption of dairy among populations in the Altai Mountains in Mongolia, researchers revealed the critical role of domesticated sheep, goats and cattle in ancient economies.

The adoption of ruminant livestock eventually led to population growth, the establishment of community cemeteries and the construction of large monuments. While these pronounced changes occurred in tandem with the earliest evidence of horse dairying in Mongolia, the consumption of horse dairy remained a relatively novel practise until later periods.

Thus, the spread of herds into the Mongolian Altai resulted in immediate changes to human diets, with a delay in subsequent social and demographic transformations, said study lead author Alicia Ventresca Miller, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan.

“As we push back the dates of the introduction of livestock, we need to rethink the pace of social change, which may occur on much longer timescales,” she said.

Ventresca Miller and colleagues from U-M and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany extracted proteins from calculus samples to identify caseins and whey associated with ruminant and horse dairy.

Results were interpreted in consultation with researchers from the National University of Mongolia and National Museum of Mongolia, in an effort to clarify how ancient societies changed after the adoption of domesticated livestock.

Livestock and dairying led to dramatic social changes in ancient Mongolia, U-M study shows
Sagsai burial from the site of Tsagaan Asga in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia.

Dramatic social changes and monumental constructions were fueled by a long-term dependence on sheep, goats and cattle, Ventresca Miller says. This is supported by finds of mostly ruminant bones in large monumental Khirgisuurs in the Altai Mountains, while in other areas of Mongolia horse bone deposits have been identified along with ruminants.

“These new results might allow for a shift in our understanding of Bronze Age dynamics,” said Tsagaan Turbat, professor of archaeology and anthropology at the National University of Mongolia.

Turbat believes that Deer Stone-Khirgisuur complexes, the most studied in the region, may have originated from Sagsai groups in the Altai Mountains.

The current study pushes back the earliest date of horse dairying in the eastern steppe associated with Sagsai burials to about 1350 B.C.

As initial evidence of horse milk consumption is rare, this may have been a novelty since horses were an important feature of ritual life, the researchers say.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

3,500-Year-Old Spearhead Found in England

3,500-Year-Old Spearhead Found in England

A rare Bronze Age spearhead has been found by workers while developing a wetland in Gloucestershire. Experts discovered it at Cirencester Sewage Works, near South Cerney, earlier this year and on 10 May estimated it is about 3,500 years old.

3,500-Year-Old Spearhead Found in England
The spearhead was found alongside other small items and fragments of pottery

Archaeologists said it appeared to be a family heirloom that was placed into a pit for a reason unknown.

Other items unearthed include a selection of prehistoric pottery fragments and flint tools.

Archaeologists will analyse the discoveries before handing them to a museum

The spearhead was found on 22 March at the site owned by Thames Water, which is being turned into a wetlands area to improve biodiversity.

Cotswold Archaeology project manager Alex Thomson said: “Items like this are quite rare and during the Bronze Age they would have been equally as rare and quite special.

“It’s always exciting as you never know what you’re going to find, it could be absolutely nothing or, as in this instance, you could find more than you bargained for.”

Mr Thomson said he thought the spearhead was likely associated with a “wider settlement” found nearby during excavations undertaken in the late 1990s.

Workers have been on-site to turn the area into a wetland

Thames Water archaeologist Victoria Reeve added: “We knew we were likely to come across something interesting while carrying out the work, which is why we had Cotswold Archaeology on site ready to record any archaeology that was present, but we were blown away by what we actually discovered.

“It was one of the first things that came out and normally if we had started excavating, we might have expected something to turn up more mid-way through.

“There’s been a lot of work in this wider area, so if you bring all of those sources together, then you can start to plot where you think people might have been in the past.”

The items will be taken back to a laboratory for analysis and then handed to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.

All In One Magazine