Family Looking For Lost Gold Ring Finds Viking Age Artifacts In Their Garden On The Island Of Jomfruland
While searching for a missing gold ring with a metal detector, a family in Norway found, to their big surprise, something entirely different in their garden on the island of Jomfruland.
Jan Erik Aasvik has a metal detector he almost never uses, but he thought he would try it to search for his mother’s missing gold ring.
The artifacts were found by the Aasvik family. Suit buckles were not uncommon in the Viking Age. They functioned as decoration and helped keep clothes in place, says archaeologist Vibeke Lia.
After finding a couple of different objects, the detector began beeping distinctly louder than on previous finds. Aasvik suspected this was a sign that something bigger was hidden beneath the soil, but what could it be?
“I took the spade and started digging. I think I was probably no further down than about 20-30 centimeters. I didn’t understand what it was, but it looked old.
I am a member of a group of people who use metal detectors, so I posted a picture there. I am a beginner, but in that group, there are many who have more experience than me”, Aasvik told Kragerø Vestmar.
The Aasvik family was as surprised as happy.
The Aasvik family had discovered a bowl-shaped buckle and a round buckle. Both objects have been there since the 8th century and were used together with clothing in the Viking Age.
Archaeologist Vibeke Lia in Vestfold and Telemark County Municipality, who has seen the buckles, says it is an incredible find, and 1,200-year-old artifacts are in good condition.
“As far as I know, it is the first secure find we have from the Viking Age on Jomfruland,” Lia told the NRK Vestfoldogtelemark, adding this is an exciting archaeological find.
The buckle proves people lived on the island of Jomfruland during the Viking Age.
It is possible there may be a Viking Age grave belonging to a woman at the site, the Cultural Heritage Department in Vestfold and Telemark County said in a press statement.
The find is significant to the history of the region. It was previously assumed people lived on the island in Kragerø during the Viking Age, but scientists have been unable to confirm it until now.
Lia believes there may be more objects in the ground at the site but says digging for more is inappropriate.
“If it is a grave, it is protected. We will rather try to find out more in other ways,” she said.
2,300-Year-Old Greek Bronze Mirror Discovered in Israel
Archaeologists in Israel have discovered what they believe to be the remains of an ancient Greek courtesan. The cremated remains of a young woman were found in a burial cave alongside a perfectly preserved bronze box mirror on a rocky slope close to Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, not far from Jerusalem.
The tomb is believed to date back to some time between the late 4th century and early 3rd century BCE, according to a joint study carried out by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
Guy Stiebel, from the department of archeology and the Ancient Near East at Tel Aviv University, told CNN in a phone interview that the find is “very significant.”
The high-quality mirror was found to be perfectly preserved.
“It’s almost like bringing back to life a woman who passed away 2,300 years ago,” he said of the research, which he compared to a “jigsaw puzzle or riddle.”
He and his team believe this could be the first discovery of the remains of a hetaira, as courtesans were known in Ancient Greece.
“If we are correct with our interpretation, it appears that this burial points to the very unique circumstances of what we call a hetaira, a Greek lady who accompanied one of the Hellenistic government officials, or more likely a high general,” he said.
In the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, the Hellenistic age refers to the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 BCE. Stiebel told CNN that he and his team believe the woman would have been among the first Greeks to arrive in the region.
Liat Oz, the director of the excavation on behalf of the IAA, described the mirror found in the tomb alongside the remains.
“This is only the second mirror of this type that has been discovered to date in Israel, and in total, only 63 mirrors of this type are known around the Hellenistic world,” she said in a news release about the discovery.
Researchers say the mirror is incredibly rare, with just 63 discovered in the Hellenistic world.
“The quality of the production of the mirror is so high that it was preserved in excellent condition, and it looked as if it was made yesterday.”
Folding box mirrors such as this were documented in tombs and temples in the Greco-Hellenistic world, the researchers noted. They were usually decorated with engravings or reliefs of idealized female figures or goddesses.
Stiebel said a woman of high status might have received such a mirror as part of a dowry, but this was unlikely to have been the case in this instance, as married women rarely left their homes in Greece.
Alternatively, he said, she might have been a courtesan, as they often received gifts from men. Likening the hetairai to Japanese geishas, Stiebel explained that the women were regarded as “muses.”
He said: “Women in society were breaking glass ceilings in very strict and male-oriented Greek society, and we do know that they served not only as sexual escorts but were similar to geishas and provided an element of culture. For that they were given gifts and part of the economy of gifts in Ancient Greece had to do with mirrors.”
The fact that the remains were cremated also hinted at the woman’s origins, Stiebel said.
UNESCO designates ancient Jericho ruins as World Heritage Site, sparking Israeli ire
“Cremation is alien to this country and the religion,” he said, explaining that cremation is not only forbidden in Judaism but would not have been practiced by the Persian empire either, which occupied the region at that time.
“The tomb was found in the middle of nowhere, not near any village, farm, or settlement, which suggests that she would have been connected with one of the military campaigns and dated to the time of Alexandra the Great or slightly later.
“We are suggesting that maybe she was with one of the generals.”
Stiebel went on to explain the significance of the four iron nails found with the mirror and remains.
“Nails were used to protect the deceased and also to protect living people from the dead. The bodies were literally nailed down to ensure they would not come back to the world of the living,” he said.
Stiebel told CNN that the team is continuing with further research in order to “zoom in” on the finer details of the mirror.
He said, “We hope to shed more light on the origin of the production of the art and maybe shed more light on the history of the owner of the mirror, the general who bought it, or where she came from.”
The research will be presented for the first time at an Israeli archaeology conference next month.
Archaeologists recently unearthed the remains of a Roman cosmetic and jewelry shop in Turkey.
Archaeologists found makeup fragments in brightly-colored hues in the remains of a cosmetics shop in Aizanoi.
Excavations of the ancient city of Aizanoi in modern-day western Turkey have focused on the area near the Temple of Zeus in Anatolia, which was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2012, according to the Anadolu Agency.
The team of archaeologists has been focusing on the agora, or marketplace, east of the Temple of Zeus, said excavation head Gokhan Coskun, an archaeologist at Dumlupinar University.
“We determined that the place we completely uncovered was a shop that sold cosmetic products such as perfumes, jewelry, and makeup materials,” Coskun said.
“During the excavation here, we encountered a large number of perfume bottles. In addition to these, there are jewelry items. Among these, there are various beads belonging to products such as hairpins and necklaces used by women.”
Makeup kits found at the site still contained brightly-colored eyeshadow and blush, similar to makeup used today. During the Roman Empire, makeup materials were often placed inside oyster shells.
The makeup found at the Aizanoi agora was mostly in shades of bright pink and red.
“One of the most surprising findings was that we came across were makeup pigments similar to blush and eyeshadow used today,” Coskun said.
“Of course, they are not in a very well-preserved state. Sometimes they are found in 1- or 2-millimeter pieces. We also found well-preserved pieces during the excavation.”
Coskun said they found “a large number” of oyster shells in the shop area. They uncovered makeup in 10 different colors, but the vast majority were in bright hues of red and pink.
The excavations at the Aizanoi marketplace have been yielding stunning results over recent years, with another discovery in 2021 producing a bone workshop with tools and an oil lamp shop with intact lamps.
“Findings from both shops show us that local products were manufactured in Aizanoi,” Coskun said at the time. “It is an important finding for us that important production activities were carried out in Aizanoi during the Roman era.”
Excavations in Aizanoi more broadly have been ongoing since 1926, with excavations of the agora site dating back to 1970, according to Arkeonews.
The city of Aizanoi has been a significant focus of excavation in recent years. Archaeologists have found evidence of several different settlements dating back to 3000 B.C.E., and in 133 B.C.E., it was captured by the Roman Empire.
Archaeologists believe that Aizanoi was an important political and economic center during the Roman Empire. Many remains of ancient buildings and statues have been excavated, including the temple, one of the most well-preserved Zeus temples in the world.
The Temple of Zeus in Aizanoi is one of the most well-preserved Zeus temples in the world.
There was also a combined theater and stadium complex, the only known one of its kind in the ancient world, according to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Aizanoi was also home to one of the first stock markets in the world.
Aizanoi likely fell into decline around the seventh century C.E. European travelers discovered the remains of the city in 1824.
Excavations between 1970 and 2011 revealed the remains of several other notable buildings and structures, including public baths, a gymnasium, bridges, a necropolis, and a sacred cave believed to be an ancient cultist site.
Intact 1,800-Year-Old Roman Sarcophagus With Unexpected Treasures Found In France
It does not happen often that archaeologists find an ancient, unlooted Roman sarcophagus. When it happens, like it just did in France, it is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the past.
“It’s quite exceptional, it’s the first time that we have found a tomb intact and which has not been looted. It was sealed by eight iron staples, and we were the first to explore it,” Agnès Balmelle, deputy scientific and technical director at Inrap Grand Est, told local news Le Parisien.
Archaeologists have discovered an intact Roman sarcophagus in Reims.
The 1,800-year-old sarcophagus was unearthed by a team of archaeologists from INRAP (France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeology) excavating in the vast ancient necropolis at Rue Soussillon.
The ancient Durocortorum (Reims) was the capital of the province of Gaul Belgium, and one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire.
Scientists have excavated 1,200 m² on Rue Soussillon, which represents only a portion of a vast ancient necropolis.
The high density of tombs is particularly interesting in this part of the city since it has long been considered a swampy area unsuitable for any settlement.
Photogrammetry survey of the sarcophagus.
During the recent excavation, scientists discovered a lime sarcophagus limestone that measures 3.3 feet high, 5.4 feet long, and 2.6 feet wide, with a 1,700-pound lid held in place by iron pegs sealed with lead.
The archaeologists first did X-rays on the sarcophagus then used an endoscopic camera.
Glass urn and jug found at the archaeological site.
Inside the sarcophagus were funerary goods placed next to the skeleton of a woman.
“The skeleton occupied the entire space of the [5-foot] tank, the individual must have been around 40 years old and had a special status. Four oil lamps were found near her legs and shoulders, as well as a small mirror, an amber ring, and a comb,” Balmelle told the press.
Small jug taken during the dismantling of a burial.
Inside the sarcophagus were also two glass containers possibly containing perfumed oils.
The unearthed items indicate that the burial occurred in the 2nd century A.D. Samples of the sediment on the bones and on the bottom of the tank will make it possible to determine if there are plant remains or products linked to the treatment of bodies.
Furthermore, the Inrap team in Reims is building a genetic database on ancient Reims funerary complexes as part of a research project.
DNA taken from a tooth from the skeleton will be compared to 80 samples to determine whether this woman belongs to a local or more distant elite.
9,500-Year-Old Baskets And 6,200-Year-Old Sandals Found In Spanish Cave
Scientists have discovered and analyzed the first direct evidence of basketry among hunter-gatherer societies and early farmers in southern Europe (9,500 and 6,200 years ago), in the Cueva de los Murciélagos of Albuñol (Granada, Spain).
This site is one of the most emblematic archaeological sites of prehistoric times in the Iberian Peninsula due to the unique preservation of organic materials found there.
The work analyzes 76 objects made of organic materials (wood, reed and esparto) discovered during 19th century mining activities in the Granada cave.
The oldest Mesolithic baskets in southern Europe, 9,500 years old (left), and wooden mace and esparto sandals, dating back to the Neolithic 6,200 years ago (right).
The researchers studied the raw materials and technology and carried out carbon-14 dating, which revealed that the set dates to the early and middle Holocene period, between 9,500 and 6,200 years ago.
This is the first direct evidence of basketry made by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies in southern Europe and a unique set of other organic tools associated with early Neolithic farming communities, such as sandals and a wooden mace.
As researcher of the Prehistory Department of the University of Alcalá Francisco Martínez Sevilla explains, “the new dating of the esparto baskets from the Cueva de los Murciélagos of Albuñol opens a window of opportunity to understanding the last hunter-gatherer societies of the early Holocene.”
“The quality and technological complexity of the basketry makes us question the simplistic assumptions we have about human communities prior to the arrival of agriculture in southern Europe. This work and the project that is being developed places the Cueva de los Murciélagos as a unique site in Europe to study the organic materials of prehistoric populations.”
Cueva de los Murciélagos is located on the coast of Granada, to the south of the Sierra Nevada and 2 kilometers from the town of Albuñol. The cave opens on the right side of the Barranco de las Angosturas, at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level and about 7 kilometers from the current coastline. It is one of the most emblematic prehistoric archaeological sites of the Iberian Peninsula due to the rare preservation of organic materials, which until this study had only been attributed to the Neolithic.
The objects made of perishable materials were discovered by the mining activities of the 19th century and were documented and recovered by Manuel de Góngora y Martínez, later becoming part of the first collections of the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid.
As detailed by María Herrero Otal, co-author of the work and researcher at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, “The esparto grass objects from Cueva de los Murciélagos are the oldest and best-preserved set of plant fiber materials in southern Europe so far known.”
“The technological diversity and the treatment of the raw material documented demonstrates the ability of prehistoric communities to master this type of craftsmanship, at least since 9,500 years ago, in the Mesolithic period.
Only one type of technique related to hunter-gatherers has been identified, while the typological, technological and treatment range of esparto grass was extended during the Neolithic from 7,200 to 6,200 years before the present.”
Artistic recreation of the use of Mesolithic baskets by a group of hunter-gatherers in the Cueva de los Murciélagos de Albuñol. Credit: Drawing by Moisés Belilty Molinos, with scientific supervision of Francisco Martínez-Sevilla and Maria Herrero-Otal
The work is part of the project “De los museos al territorio: actualizando el estudio de la Cueva de los Murciélagos de Albuñol (Granada)” (MUTERMUR). The objective of this project is the holistic study of the site and its material record, applying the latest archaeometric techniques and generating quality scientific data.
The project also included the collaboration of the National Archaeological Museum, the Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Granada, the City Council of Albuñol and the owners of the cave.
“The results of this work and the finding of the oldest basketry in southern Europe give more meaning, if possible, to the phrase written by Manuel de Góngora in his work Prehistoric Antiquities of Andalusia (1868): ‘the now forever famous Cueva de los Murciélagos’,” the authors say.
The study was conducted by a team of scientists led by researchers from the Universidad de Alcalá (UAH) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and published in the journal Science Advances.
Viking Age Horse Bridle Found Under The Ice 2,000 Meters Above Sea Level
Glacial archaeologists working in Norway have once again discovered fascinating ancient artifacts under the ice. Near a mountain pass, not far from Norway’s highest mountain, Galdhøpiggen, archaeologists have found traces of horse travel.
Galdhøpiggen is the tallest mountain in Norway.
A metal bit and parts of the leather straps that fasten around the horse’s head have emerged from under the ice.
“The bridle has a shape that suggests it could be from the Viking Age,” Espen Finstad, a glacial archaeologist at Innlandet County Municipality told Science In Norway.
Viking Age People And Horses Crossed The Tall Norwegian Mountain
Galdhøpiggen is the highest mountain in Norway, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe. The 2,469-metre-tall (8,100 ft) mountain is located in Lom Municipality, and the Jotunheimen Mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The view from the top is spectacular and Galdhøpiggen is today a popular tourist attraction, but one has to be careful and have good knowledge of climbing to get to the top.
Based on earlier excavations, scientists have been able to determine the traffic through a mountain pass on Lomseggen was at its peak during the Viking Age.
Snow and ice melting in the area have previously exposed hundreds of ancient artifacts in the region, revealing that Norwegians used this mountain pass for more than 1,200 years.
An ancient brindle offers evidence horses crossed the area.
However, as reported by Science in Norway, “the bridle that archaeologists have found this year suggests that it wasn’t just people who walked here.
Horses have also been part of the journey, almost 2,000 meters above sea level.
“We have never made such a discovery before. It essentially completes the picture that this is an ancient travel route,” Finstad says.
Carbon-14 Dating Will Reveal The Age Of The Bridle
The strap, or halter, which is attached to the bit, is especially exciting for the archaeologists.
It actually makes it possible to date the horse bridle.
Through carbon-14 dating, the archaeologists will find out if the find really is from the Viking Age.
The archaeologists also found part of an old horseshoe that had been lying under the ice.
Finstad estimates it will take a few months to get the final answer, but they are fairly certain that it originates from the Iron Age or the early Middle Ages.
Horse Manure And Horseshoes
The horse bridle is just one of the discoveries archaeologists have made on this year’s expedition.
We just made an incredibly discovery on the south side of the Lendbreen pass: An iron horse bit, with parts of the leather bridle preserved!❤️ It could well be from the Viking Age, when traffic through the pass was at its peak. But let's see what the radiocarbon date says. pic.twitter.com/cIRNXsZD9Y
They also found horse manure, textiles, horseshoes, leaf fodder, part of a horse snowshoe, a knife, and a variety of small wooden objects. Altogether, around 150 items.
Even though the mountain pass is like a gold mine for archaeologists, the finds are extremely rare in the grand scheme of things, Finnes points out.
The most special thing is that organic materials like wood, leather, textiles, and faeces have been preserved.
The ice has functioned as a freezer for hundreds of years. But now it’s melting.
“The fact that the ice is now melting due to man-made climate change is tragic. The paradox is that new and exciting knowledge about our common past is emerging,” Finnes says.
A remarkable ancient world is hidden beneath the ice, and now we are slowly learning more about it.
Alexander the Great’s Tomb: All the Claims in One of History’s Greatest Mysteries
For over 2,300 years, researchers and historians have been trying to locate Alexander the Great’s Tomb, which remains one of the world’s greatest mysteries even to this day.
There are several attestations that go back to the Roman era, as historians of the time recorded the visits made by Roman emperors to the great general’s tomb in Alexandria. It is natural for many to believe that the great Greek military genius and conqueror of Asia would wish to be buried in the city that bears his name.
Yet, for centuries now, theories abound about the location of Alexander the Great’s Tomb, with some verging on myth. Most recently, an Egyptian tourism official reported on supposed evidence suggesting that the discovery of the famed tomb might be in the Siwa Oasis in the Marai area. There was a shrine there devoted to the chief Egyptian God Amun, whom the Greeks called Ammon and equated with their god Zeus. It indeed was Alexander’s favourite place.
Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, by Philoxenus of Eretria.
The first burial in Memphis
According to the historian Pausanias and the contemporary Panan Chronicle records for the 321-320 BC period, Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals, initially buried him in Memphis, Egypt. In the late 4th or early 3rd century BC during the early Ptolemaic dynasty, Alexander’s body was transferred from Memphis to Alexandria, where his sarcophagus was placed in the Serapeum complex, built by Pharaoh Nectanbo II.
Alexandria is considered by most to be the actual location of Alexander the Great’s Tomb.
Roman emperors visit the tomb in Alexandria
Several Roman emperors acknowledged the greatness of the Greek conqueror of Asia and professed their admiration for his feats, according to contemporary historians. Julius Caesar visited Alexander the Great’s Tomb in Alexandria in 48 BC, paying his respects. Later, Queen Cleopatra took gold from the tomb to finance her war against the Roman emperor Octavian.
Following Cleopatra’s death, Augustus visited Alexander’s burial place in Alexandria. He was said to have placed flowers on the tomb and a golden diadem upon the general’s head. Another historian of the Roman era wrote that Caligula visited the tomb of Alexander the Great and took his breastplate.
In 199 AD, Septimius Severus visited the tomb in Alexandria and ordered that it be sealed in order to stop ongoing looting. In 215 AD, items from Alexander’s tomb were relocated by Caracalla, who removed Alexander’s tunic, his ring, his belt and some other precious items and deposited them in the coffin.
A tsunami in 356 AD inundated the city after a series of earthquakes, resulting in rising sea levels. The waters of the Nile Delta caused Alexandria to slowly sink as much as twelve feet since Alexander’s time. In essence, the burial ground of Alexander must have sunk quite deep into the seabed by now, along with much of the ancient city, on top of which the modern city is located.
Alexander enters Babylon.
Egypt as the burial ground of Alexander the Great
While the common belief is that the tomb of Alexander the Great is in Alexandria, 140 separate, fruitless attempts to locate it have been recorded by the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities. These attempts have generated several theories as to the exact spot where Alexander lies—the oldest one being that the tomb is in the centre of the ancient city. Several scholars of the 19th century, such as Tasos Neroutsos, Heinrich Kiepert, and Ernst von Sieglin agreed with this theory.
In 1850, Ambroise Schilizzi announced the discovery of Alexander’s supposed mummy and tomb inside the Nabi Daniel Mosque in Alexandria. Yet, no permission to excavate was given, nor was it granted later.
Dedication of King Alexander to Athena Polias at Priene.
The Venetian theory
There is even a theory that places Alexander the Great’s tomb in Venice and, specifically, in the city’s St. Mark’s Cathedral. The theory is dismissed by several scholars as being far-fetched with many religious undertones. According to the particular supposition, when the Arabs took over Alexandria, they wanted to rid the city of anything pre-Islamic, so the burial place of Alexander—who had been worshipped as a god—would have to go.
Alexandria was also the last resting place of Mark, one of the four Christian Gospel writers, who is Venice’s patron saint. A variation of the Venice theory has Venetian merchants stealing Alexander’s remains believed to belong to Saint Mark the Evangelist and transferring them to the saint’s basilica in Venice.
Dr. Andrew Michael Chugg, who wrote the book The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great seems to adapt the theory based on a piece of the sarcophagus of the pharaoh Nectanbo II. Alexander’s original tomb in Memphis was built by Pharaoh Nectanbo II inside the Serapeum complex. The sculptures of Greek poets and philosophers suggest that Alexander the Great’s tomb was inside that complex.
Amazingly, a piece of masonry found in the foundations of Saint Mark’s in Venice matches the dimensions of Nectanbo II’s sarcophagus in the British Museum, indicating that Alexander’s tomb is inside Saint Mark’s tomb under the Basilica.
Since Alexander’s body disappeared in 392 AD, and the tomb of Saint Mark appeared at the same time, Chugg believes that the Venetian merchants stole the body, mistaking it for Saint Mark’s.
Indeed, stranger things have happened in history.
3D representation of the Kasta Hill tomb structure in Amphipolis.
Is Alexander the Great buried in Vergina?
In 1993, Greek archaeologist Triantafyllos Papazois developed the theory that it is not Philip II of Macedon who is buried in the royal tomb II at Vergina, Greece, but it is actually Alexander the Great while his son Alexander IV is buried in tomb III. Papazois further concluded that the breastplate, shield, helmet and sword found in tomb II belong to the armour of Alexander the Great.
However, the archaeologist’s theory has never been proven.
The mystery of the Amphipolis Tomb
In 2014, Greece and the rest of the world were shaken by the news of the discovery of the tomb of Alexander the Great in Amphipolis in northern Greece. The large Alexander-era tomb at Kasta hill in Amphipolis once again led to speculation about Alexander’s final resting place. Some have speculated that it was built for Alexander but not used due to Ptolemy I Soter having seized the funeral cortege and turning it away from its initial destination.
The findings on the site led to speculation that it was a memorial dedicated to Alexander’s close friend, Hephaestion. Andrew Chugg speculated that the tomb belongs to Alexander’s mother, Olympias, or Roxanne, his wife, with the former being the most likely.
Alexander the Great at the Battle of Gaugamela; 18th-century ivory relief.
Getting closer to Alexander the Great’s tomb
Greek archaeologist Calliope Limneos-Papakosta has made it her life’s mission to find the Holy Grail of researchers, Alexander the Great’s tomb. The Director of the Hellenic Research Institute of the Alexandrian Civilization, Limneos-Papakosta has been digging for over fifteen years at sites around the Shallalat Gardens, a public park in the heart of Alexandria.
The Greek archaeologist and her team have dug over ten meters (35 feet) under modern-day Alexandria to find the man the city is named after. Limneos-Paleokosta and her team have found the first roads built in the city, as well as the foundation of an enormous public building over 200 feet long; they believe this area is the ancient royal quarter.
The archaeologist and her team used an elaborate system of pumps to dry up the area so that they could continue to dig. Limneos-Papakosta’s persistence paid off, adding the much-needed optimism about her endeavour: Her team did uncover an early Hellenistic statue bearing hallmarks of Alexander the Great.
The marble statue most definitely depicts “Alexander the Great, the Spear Bearer.” It was created with the same technique as the great sculptor Lysippus—that is, with the head tilted downwards and to the side. The statue, which is now universally acknowledged to represent the great general, is now exhibited at the National Museum of Alexandria. Perhaps this is proof that we really are closer to the unravelling of the great mystery of the tomb of Alexander the Great than we have ever been before.
However, it is also possible that the great conqueror who believed he was the son of Zeus will continue to hide in the depths of history remaining forever immortal.
Almost all living people outside of Africa trace back to a single migration more than 50,000 years ago
Australian Aborigines have long been cast as a people apart. Although Australia is halfway around the world from our species’ accepted birthplace in Africa, the continent is nevertheless home to some of the earliest undisputed signs of modern humans outside Africa, and Aborigines have unique languages and cultural adaptations.
Eske Willerslev (left) meets Aboriginal elders during the genetic sampling project he led.PREBEN HJORT, MAYDAY FILM
Some researchers have posited that the ancestors of the Aborigines were the first modern humans to surge out of Africa, spreading swiftly eastward along the coasts of southern Asia thousands of years before the second wave of migrants populated Eurasia.
Not so, according to a trio of genomic studies, the first to analyze many full genomes from Australia and New Guinea. They conclude that, like most other living Eurasians, Aborigines descend from a single group of modern humans who swept out of Africa 50,000 to 60,000 years ago and then spread in different directions.
The papers “are really important,” says population geneticist Joshua Akey of the University of Washington, Seattle, offering powerful testimony that “the vast majority of non-Africans [alive today] trace their ancestry back to a single out-of-Africa event.”
Yet the case isn’t closed. One study argues that an earlier wave of modern humans contributed traces to the genomes of living people from Papua New Guinea. And perhaps both sides are right, says archaeologist Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, a co-author on that paper who has long argued for an early expansion out of Africa. “We’re converging on a model where later dispersals swamped the earlier ones,” he says.
Aubrey Linch, an Aboriginal elder, agreed to participate in a project to study his people’s roots.PREBEN HJORT, MAYDAY FILM
A decade ago, some researchers proposed the controversial idea that an early wave of modern humans left Africa more than 60,000 years ago via a so-called coastal or southern route.
These people would have launched their migration from Ethiopia, crossing the Red Sea at its narrowest point to the Arabian Peninsula, then rapidly pushing east along the South Asian coastline all the way to Australia.
Some genetic studies, many on mitochondrial DNA of living people, supported this picture by indicating a relatively early split between Aborigines and other non-Africans. But analysis of whole genomes— the gold standard for population studies— was scanty for many key parts of the world.
Three large groups of geneticists independently set out to fill the gaps, adding hundreds of fully sequenced genomes from Africa, Australia, and Papua New Guinea to existing databases. Each team used complex computer models and statistical analyses to interpret the population history behind the patterns of similarity and difference in the genomes.
A team led by evolutionary geneticist Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen zeroed in on Australia and New Guinea in what Akey calls a “landmark” paper detailing the colonization of Australia. By comparing Aboriginal genomes to other groups, they conclude that Aborigines diverged from Eurasians between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago after the whole group had already split from Africans. That means Aborigines and all other non-African people descend from the same out-of-Africa sweep, and that Australia was initially settled only once, rather than twice as some earlier evidence had suggested. Patterns in the Aboriginal DNA also point to a genetic bottleneck about 50,000 years ago: the lasting legacy of the small group that first colonized the ancient continent.
The majority of Aboriginal people here in Australia believe that we have been here in this land for many thousands of years. I am ‘over the moon with the findings.
COLLEEN WALL, A CO-AUTHOR ON THE WILLERSLEV PAPER AND ELDER OF THE ABORIGINAL DAUWA KAU’BVAI NATION IN WYNNUM, AUSTRALIA
In another paper, a team led by population geneticist David Reich of Harvard University comes to a similar conclusion after examining 300 genomes from 142 populations. “The take-home message is that modern human people today outside of Africa are descended from a single founding population almost completely,” Reich says. “You can exclude and rule out an earlier migration; the southern route.”
But the third paper, by a team led by Mait Metspalu of the Estonian Biocentre in Tartu, makes a different claim. Analyzing 379 new genomes from 125 populations worldwide, the group concludes that at least 2% of the genomes of people from Papua New Guinea come from an early dispersal of modern humans, who left Africa perhaps 120,000 years ago. Their paper proposes that Homo sapiens left Africa in at least two waves.
Reich questions that result, but says that his and Willerslev’s studies can’t rule out a contribution of only 1% or 2% from an earlier H. sapiens migration. Akey says: “As population geneticists, we could spend the next decade arguing about that 2%, but in practical terms, it doesn’t matter.” The most recent migration “explains more than 90% of the ancestry of living people.”
Still, changes in climate and sea level would have favored earlier migrations, according to a fourth Nature paper. Axel Timmermann and Tobias Friedrich of the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in Honolulu, reconstructed conditions in northeastern Africa and the Middle East, based on the astronomical cycles that drove the ice ages. They find that a wetter climate and lower sea levels could have enticed humans to cross from Africa into the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East during four periods, roughly around 100,000, 80,000, 55,000, and 37,000 years ago. “I’m very happy,” Petraglia says. His and others’ discoveries of early stone tools in India and Arabia suggest that moderns did expand out of Africa during the early migration windows. But those lineages mostly died out.
The major migration, with more people reaching all the way to Australia, came later. “Demographically, after 60,000 years ago something happens, with larger waves of moderns across Eurasia,” Petraglia says. “All three papers agree with that.”
The studies show Aborigines’ ties to other Eurasians but also reinforce Australia’s relatively early settlement and long isolation. As such, they reaffirm its unique place in the human story. The continent holds “deep, deep divisions and roots that we don’t see anywhere else except Africa,” Willerslev says. That echoes the views of Aborigines themselves.
“The majority of Aboriginal people here in Australia believe that we have been here in this land for many thousands of years,” Colleen Wall, a co-author on the Willerslev paper and elder of the Aboriginal Dauwa Kau’bvai Nation in Wynnum, Australia, wrote in an email to Science. “I am ‘over the moon with the findings.”
