EUROPE, WORLD

Amazing 1,300-Year-Old Technology Found Hidden in Comox Harbour

Amazing 1,300-Year-Old Technology Found Hidden in Comox Harbour

Amazing 1,300-Year-Old Technology Found Hidden in Comox Harbour

There had always been stakes poking up from the shore at low tide in the Comox Harbour. But nobody really knew what they were.

What were they doing there?

Who had put them there?

And when?

Maybe they were leftover from a failed industry. Maybe they were made by Japanese immigrants and then abandoned when the Japanese moved on. They were a mystery.

A mystery no one was really trying to solve.

That is until a mature student from Malaspina College named Nancy Greene started poking around. Between 2002 and 2015, she and her husband and other local folks spent years mapping all the stakes they could find. There were a lot of stakes. Ultimately, Greene and her team found and mapped 13,602. The stakes clearly formed patterns, but it took Greene years to figure out just what those patterns meant.

Greene assembled archaeological records and tapped into local indigenous oral history. One K’ómoks elder gave Greene a clue: her grandmother said the stakes were weirs that helped catch salmon, and each family was responsible for specific weirs.

After putting it all together, Greene concluded this was the largest ancient fish trap system of its kind in North America, or maybe even the world. Greene guesses there are 150,000 to 200,000 cedar and fir stakes from the remains of more than 300 fish traps.

Illustration by David McGee and Mercedes Minck / Hakai Magazine

How many fish traps used to exist on west, north and central Vancouver Island?

How had the knowledge of such a huge, ingenious system vanished from history?

Deidre Cullon, an archaeologist and adjunct professor in the geography department at Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina College), told Brian Payton of Hakai Magazine it was a “perfect storm” of man-made and natural events.

“The smallpox epidemic of 1862 claimed the lives of half the Indigenous people on the coast of British Columbia. In that catastrophe, not only were keepers of knowledge lost; entire communities were abandoned. Lost, too, was the need for a high-production fishery—there were far fewer mouths to feed.”

“And then, right on the heels of that, the Canadian government chose to support commercial fishing for canneries,” Cullon told Hakai Magazine. The government made the traps illegal and sent their fisheries officers to destroy them.

This was followed by the invention of residential schools, which took Indigenous children from their families and put them in far-off boarding schools. The children were separated from their communities, language, and culture. Parents could no longer teach their children their traditional knowledge. Eventually, the fish traps were forgotten.

So for almost a century, knowledge of this brilliant, ancient technology disappeared. But then the big earthquake of 1946 loosened the sand in the harbour and swept some out to sea. Thousands of stakes started popping up.

Testing showed some of the fish traps in the Comox Harbour are more than 1,300 years old. That means people who spoke Pentlach, a language that is now extinct, started building fish traps in Comox Harbour around the year 700.

Image from Hakai Magazine

The ancient technology was amazingly complex but simple.

The fish traps used wooden stakes and woven panels to make fences along the shore. When the tide came in, the fish would swim up and into the fish trap, but they wouldn’t be able to find their way out.

Then when the tide went back out, the fish would be caught in the pool of water inside the trap. The traps were a Hotel California for salmon — they could check in, but they could never leave. The old techniques have a lot to teach us about sustainable fishing. The way the fish traps were set up allowed people to adapt them to fit each local creek.

They also let people take the fish they needed and then release all the ones they didn’t need. They could let enough fish go to make sure the salmon population stayed healthy. A healthy salmon population would come back every year and keep the community fed.

Some First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest are trying to bring back the ancient techniques to save the collapsing salmon population. For example, in 2013, the Heiltsuk Nation built a fish trap on the Koeye River.

William Housty, conservation manager for the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department, told Hakai Magazine, “I think it’s genius.”

The fish trap has allowed the Heiltsuk to assess the health of salmon and the whole ecological system. They can now tag and release salmon, check up on how well they are spawning and surviving and — perhaps most importantly in a changing climate — monitor how stream temperature affects the salmon.

Maybe part of the solution to the salmon crisis facing Island communities was hidden in the Comox Harbour for over a century. Luckily a mature undergraduate was curious and determined enough to decode the hidden secret.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Pompeii’s 2,000-Year-Old Fast Food Outlet Is Now Open To Visitors

Pompeii’s 2,000-Year-Old Fast Food Outlet Is Now Open To Visitors

The Italian archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000 years old fast-food stall from the ashes in Pompeii, Italy. The researchers have dug out an ancient restaurant from the vast archaeological site in the city of Southern Italy, that could now give new clues about the snacking habits of the ancient Romans.

Frescoes on an ancient counter discovered during excavations in Pompeii, Italy

According to the reports, the Italian archaeologists who have been carrying out excavations at the ancient lost city of Pompeii on Saturday said that they had discovered a frescoed ‘thermopolium’ or fast-food counter in an exceptional state of preservation.

The ornate snack bar counter, decorated with polychrome patterns and frozen by volcanic ash, was partially taken off from the ground last year but archaeologists had continued their work on the site to reveal it in its full glory.

Pompeii was buried in a sea of boiling lava when the volcano on nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, killing between 2,000 and 15,000 people.

The massive site that spreads over 44 hectares (110 acres) is what remains of one of the richest cities in the Roman empire.

The Thermopolium of Regio V, which is believed to have been present at a busy intersection of Silver Wedding Street and Alley of Balconies, was the Roman-era equivalent of a fast-food snack stall.

The Thermopolium was very popular in the Roman world. Pompeii alone had around 80 such stalls.

A fresco bearing an image of a Nereid nymph riding a seahorse and gladiators in combat has also been unearthed at the spot.

The team has discovered duck bone fragments as well as the remains of pigs, goats, fish and snails in earthenware pots. Some of the ingredients had been cooked together like a Roman era paella.

The excavators have found crushed fava beans, used to modify the taste of wine at a bottom of one jar.

Reportedly, the food stall appears to have been closed in a hurry and abandoned by its owners, believed to be after the first rumblings of the eruption were felt, said Massimo Osanna, director general at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

The remains of one of the individuals at the top of this image, who was discovered on a bed in the back of a room at the amazing Pompeii food stall found in March 2019 AD at the Regio V site.

Alongside human remains, amphorae, a water tower and a fountain were found. The remains of a man believed to have been aged around 50 has also been discovered near a child’s bed.

“It is possible that someone, perhaps the oldest man, stayed behind and perished during the first phase of the eruption,” Osanna said.

The remains of another person were also found and could be an opportunist thief or someone fleeing the eruption who was “surprised by the burning vapours just as he had his hand on the lid of the pot that he had just opened”, he added.

The archaeologists, in the latest stage of their work, have excavated a number of still life scenes, including depictions of animals believed to have been on the menu, notably mallard ducks and a rooster, for serving up with wine or hot beverages.

An image of a dog with homophobic graffiti written in white across the top border found at the soon to reopen Pompeii food stall.
A highly realistic painting of a rooster decorates the soon to reopen Pompeii food stall, located in the Regio V site area.

Pompeii is Italy’s second most visited site after the Colisseum in Rome and last year attracted around four million tourists.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Roman Key Handle Unearthed in Eastern England

Roman Key Handle Unearthed in Eastern England

Archaeologists have discovered a bronze key handle that shows lions were used in executions in Roman Britain. The handle, which depicts a “Barbarian” wrestling with a lion, was discovered beneath a Roman townhouse in Leicester’s Great Central Street.

It also shows figures of four boys cowering in terror.

Excavation leader Dr Gavin Speed, from the University of Leicester, said nothing quite like it had been found “anywhere in the Roman Empire before”.

Roman Key Handle Unearthed in Eastern England
Archaeologists said the bronze handle gave an insight into executions in Roman Leicester

“When first found, it appeared as an indistinguishable bronze object, but after we carefully cleaned off the soil remarkably we revealed several small faces looking back at us, it was absolutely astounding,” Dr Speed said.

The object was found by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) in 2017, then studied at King’s College London and the findings have now been published in the journal Britannia.

The Friars Causeway key handle before cleaning and conservation.
The key handle was found buried under a townhouse in the city

Co-author Dr John Pearce, from King’s College, said: “This unique object gives us our most detailed representation of this form of execution found in Roman Britain.

“As the first discovery of this kind, it illuminates the brutal character of Roman authority in this province.”

Roman law sanctioned the execution of criminals and prisoners of war through the public spectacle of throwing them to the beasts, defined by the Latin term damnatio ad bestias.

This form of execution was often used to symbolise the destruction of Rome’s enemies – members of tribes who lived outside the Roman Empire and were collectively known as “Barbarians“.

This new evidence of Leicester’s Roman past was found along with Roman streets, mosaics floors and a Roman theatre. Nick Cooper from the ULAS said the handle would have been purpose-made in Leicester for a very important house.

The townhouse where it was found stands next to the newly-discovered Roman theatre.

On the same site where the key handle was found experts uncovered a theatre and several mosaic floors

“It’s one of the most exciting finds we’ve had in Roman Leicester and it’s got a great story to tell about life in Roman Leicester and the potential evidence it gives for activities that might have taken place in the theatre, or possibly an amphitheatre that we haven’t discovered yet,” Mr Cooper added.

“Within a small handle, about 10cm long, you have a story evolving there of the practice in Roman law where criminals and prisoners of war are condemned to be killed by beasts.

“That was slightly worse than being condemned to the mines, which is the other way that prisoners often met their end.”

The bronze handle will go on public display at Leicester’s Jewry Wall Museum which is currently being redeveloped and will reopen in 2023.

EUROPE, SCOTLAND, WORLD

Archaeologists make ‘astonishing’ discovery of a 5,000-year-old piece of wood in Orkney

Archaeologists make ‘astonishing’ discovery of 5,000-year-old piece of wood in Orkney

Archaeologists found the wood while excavating the Ness of Brodgar, home to a vast network of buildings, including a temple-style complex, that thrummed with activity during the Neolithic period.

Sigurd Towrie, of the University of Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, said it was the first time wood had been found on the site.

Mr Towrie said: “Over the years of excavation the Ness has produced so many surprises that some archaeologists thought we had exhausted all the possibilities. Not so.”

He said the “astonishing new discovery” of the wood was made at ‘structure 12’ on the site, a large rectangular building that is some 17-metres long.

The building was divided up inside by pillars to create a series of bays, alcoves and recesses which surrounded two large hearths.

Access to this was by three entrances, one that was flanked by a pair of standing stones that faced the burial chamber at Maeshowe, with the building likely a “stunning sight” in the immense Neolithic landscape of mainland Orkney.

The vast Ness of Brodgar site in Orkney.

Mr Towrie said the wood was found in a post hole and had survived probably due to its preservation under a tiny amount of water.

“Preservation of organic material is very rare,” he said.

“The post hole sat in a depression and we think some water had gathered. It creates anaerobic conditions, which slows down decay.”

While few trees stand on Orkney today, the islands were once rich in the woodland that disappeared over time due to rising sea levels.

Recent studies of the “woodlands under the waves” included analysis of remains of a forest, which had been pushed under the water at Bay of Ireland near Stromness, which has been dated to around 6,000-years-old.

“The earliest Neolithic settlements were made of wood and then they later switched to stone,” Mr Towrie said.

“The wood that we found is in very poor condition, but hopefully we will be able to tell what kind of wood it is and whether it was grown locally or imported.”

The Ness of Brodgar site covers around six acres between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site.

The earliest structures on the site were built around 3300 BC, with the site closed down and abandoned after around 1,000 years. The site was first excavated in 2003 with the summer excavations ending with Ness of Brodgar being covered up again for the winter.

Decorated stone slabs, thousands of sherds of pottery and a temple-style building are among key finds at Ness of Brodgar, an incredible site given its scale and central function to Neolithic life in Orkney.

Earlier this year, a potter’s fingerprint was discovered on a vessel made some 5,000 years ago, creating a “poignant connection” to the people who lived and visited here. Around 30 archaeologists are on the site this summer, with hundreds of visitors dropping by the site as work progresses.

Mr Towrie said: “On one day, we had 450 people here. It’s been great to be back on site again and to see so many people, and to still know that people really care about this place.”

ECUADOR, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

FEFU archaeologists have found the oldest burials in Ecuador

FEFU archaeologists have found the oldest burials in Ecuador

Archaeologists of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) found three burials of the ancient inhabitants of South America dated from 6 to 10 thousand years ago.

The ancient skull excavated in Loma Atahualpa, Ecuador, 2018, by archaeologists of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU)

The excavations were carried out in Atahualpa Anton, Ecuador. The findings belong to the Las Vegas archaeological culture of the Stone Age.

Analysis of artefacts will help scientists understand the development of ancient cultures on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and clarify the origin and development of ancient American civilizations.

Research is being jointly conducted by FEFU and Primorsky Polytechnic University in Guayaquil (ESPOL, Ecuador).

Previously, FEFU scientists investigated the famous Neolithic settlement in Real Alto. In 2018, they decided to study an earlier site in order to trace the development of ancient cultures on the Pacific Coast opposite to the Pacific Coast of Russia (Russian Far East).

“The archaeological site of Loma Atahualpa is more archaic than Real Alto, its materials are transitional from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic.

We excavated three burials that were probably made at different times. This will make it possible to compare their materials and retrieve the new information on the development of ancient cultures in the period from 10 to 6 thousand years ago,” said Alexander Popov, director of the Educational and Scientific Museum of The School of Humanities of FEFU.

Expedition materials are processed by experts from several countries. The stone tools found were examined at Tohoku University (Japan) for traces of mechanical activity in order to understand how they were used. There were also sent samples for radiocarbon dating.

Simultaneously, anthropologists from The Kunstkamera (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, St. Petersburg) and the Institute of the Problems of Northern development, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Tyumen, Russia) began to study the morphological features of the human remains found.

“In the course of working with Ecuadorian colleagues, we have learned that our research attracted the obvious attention of scientists.

Last year’s symposium, which was organized at the Real Alto Museum, was attended by colleagues from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Poland and other countries.

We also cooperate with partners from several European countries and the Russian Academy of Sciences,” said Alexander Popov.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

5700-year-old child skeleton unearthed in the Turkish city of Malatya

5700-year-old child skeleton unearthed in the Turkish city of Malatya

A 5,700-year-old skeleton of a noble-born child has been found buried in the ruins of a Copper Age Turkish house. Anthropologists believe the bones belonged to a six-year-old who most likely died of trauma in the fourth millennium BC. 

The skeleton was found in the foetal position and the skull has been smashed, although it’s not immediately clear whether this happened before or after death. 

The remains were found in what is believed to be an ancient house during an excavation of the Arslantepe Mound outside Malatya, eastern Turkey.

With its prime position near the west bank of the Euphrates River, this UNESCO World Heritage site boasted a thriving population through the Roman and Byzantine periods owing to its wetlands and agricultural resources.

Yet now it is flocked to by archaeologists who comb through the ruins hoping to learn more about Arslantepe’s rich history.

Anthropologists believe the bones belonged to a six-year-old who most likely died of trauma in the 4th millennium BC

Dr Marcelle Frangipane, of the University of Rome who led the dig, said the bones would be sent for analysis but early estimates suggested the child was very young and died of shock.

She said: ‘We found beads on the arms and neck of the child, which we have not seen before. These beads indicate that the child belonged to a noble family.’ 

Hailing the skeleton an ‘important find’, she added: ‘The delegation stated that the child is six or seven years old, but they need to work on it further. 

‘The child may have died as a result of trauma. Such results will be determined as a result of the analysis. 

‘This is a very important find. As a result of the analysis of the skeleton, we will reach more detailed information.’ 

The remains were found in what is believed to be an ancient house during an excavation of the Arslantepe Mound outside Malatya, eastern Turkey

Dr Frangipane also said that they are waiting for the results of the examination to discover the gender, genetic structure, age and cause of death of the child as well as the diet of the era. 

The position of the skeleton suggests the child was frightened and had curled itself into the foetal position, wrapping its arms around its body. 

Remarkably, the position which this infant died in has been almost perfectly preserved in the ground, although its skull has been caved in.

Over the past 50 years, since serious excavations of the Arslantepe Mound began, archaeologists are slowly unearthing what they believe to be a fourth millennium BC palace.

Interconnected mud-brick architecture sprawling over 2,000 square metres is suggestive of the first ‘public palace’, according to UNESCO.

The organisation says this ancient structure was ‘composed by two temples, a storeroom complex, administrative areas with thousands of clay-ceilings bearing the impressions of more than 220 beautiful seals, entertainment halls, a monumental gate, corridors and courtyards.

ASIA, RUSSIA, WORLD

28,000-year-old perfectly preserved cave lion cub found frozen in Siberia, whiskers still intact

28,000-year-old perfectly preserved cave lion cub found frozen in Siberia, whiskers still intact

A nearly 28,000-year-old cave lion cub discovered frozen in the Siberian permafrost, is so well preserved, you can still make out each and every one of her whiskers.

28,000-year-old perfectly preserved cave lion cub found frozen in Siberia, whiskers still intact
A closeup of the head of the female Siberian cave lion cub mummy now known as Sparta.

Researchers in Sweden claim the cub, nicknamed Sparta, is probably the best-preserved Ice Age animal ever uncovered and describe Sparta in Quaternary. Her teeth, skin, and soft tissue have all been mummified by the ice. Even her organs remain intact.

To date, Sparta is the fourth cave lion cub (Panthera spelaea) found buried in the permafrost of Yakutia, which lies in the northeast corner of Russia. She was discovered in 2018 by local resident Boris Berezhnev who was looking for ancient mammoth tusks among the tundra.

As wildlife hunting and trade have become more restricted, ‘tusk hunters’ like Berezhnev have begun to search for ancient ivory in the icy north. With climate change weakening the permafrost and extending the tusk hunting season, we’re finding more ancient remains – and not just from woolly mammoths. In the past few years, residents in Siberia have pulled woolly rhinos, wolves, brown bears, horses, reindeer, and bison out of the permafrost, and some of these carcasses date as far back as 40,000 years.

Clearly, these icy steppes were once home to numerous large mammals. In fact, a year before finding Sparta near the Semyuelyakh River, Berezhnev found another cave lion carcass just 15 meters (49 feet) away. This one, named Boris, showed slightly more damage, possibly from its permafrost cave collapsing, but it was still remarkably intact. 

Researchers in Sweden, who have since helped analyze the carcasses, claim both Boris and Sparta are about one to two months old. Yet despite their physical proximity and similar appearances, Boris is thought to be roughly 15,000 years older, give or take a few centuries.

Today, the little we know about cave lions mostly comes from fossils, tracks, and ancient cave art.

Mummified bodies found in permafrost are some of the best evidence we have of their existence. Their frozen carcasses look remarkably similar to modern lions in many ways, just on a much larger scale and with a much warmer coat. But one of the most iconic features of African lions, their mane, seems to be missing on cave lions.

Figure 6 from the Quaternary study: The appearance of the frozen cave lion cub mummies: (a) female Sparta; (b) male Boris. Photos of lion cubs’ heads from the side: (c) Sparta; (d) Boris; (e) Sparta mummy as seen from above; (f) dark brown ‘brush’ of Sparta’s tail.

In fact, early human artwork from the time suggests cave lions rarely sported manes, or if they did, they were extremely discrete. Some Ice Age paintings, for instance, show dark patterns of colouring on the cave lion’s face, but it’s unclear what that represents.

Boris and Sparta are both juvenile cave lions, which means it’s hard to say how their coats would have developed as they aged. Apart from some dark colouring on the backs of their ears, researchers say they are mostly covered in yellowish-brown fur.

If the cubs had a chance to grow up, experts think their fur would probably have turned more of a light grey to help them camouflage in the cold Siberian Arctic.

The presence of a mane is important because it could tell us about the social structures of cave lions. For example, whether they live by themselves or in groups with clear hierarchies.

At the moment, scientists are still debating whether cave lions during the Ice Age roamed the steppes of Siberia on their own or in pride like modern African lions.

There’s one particular painting in France’s Chauvet cave from the Ice Age that depicts nearly a dozen cave lions, both male and female, in the act of hunting bison.

“Hunting in groups can be more effective than solitary hunting when the prey is large, and cave lions would have had many such prey species available in their ecosystem, for example, mammoths and rhinoceros, when there were no other options available to them,” the authors of the recent analysis write.

“In addition, large pride would have helped to protect their kill from the competition and also to protect the cubs and young from predators.”

For now, this is all just guesswork. Even though we have found some astonishingly intact cave lions in recent years, we still don’t have enough information about these extinct predators to reach any conclusions about their social structures.

Perhaps one day, that could change. Maybe we will unearth another cave lion with some hint about their long-lost lives. Or maybe one day, we will successfully bring cave lions back to life.

“There is a very realistic chance to recreate cave lions, and it would be a lot easier than to clone a woolly mammoth,” palaeontologist and one of the study’s authors Albert Protopopov told the Siberian Times.

Some scientists have suggested we do this with woolly mammoths as well, but cave lions are a much younger species. Protopopov suggests that we could supplement their clones with some of the genes from modern African lions, making the work a bit easier. That’s obviously a controversial idea, and the reality of it is probably still a ways off.

For now, the next step is to sequence the entire genome of both Sparta and Boris. Then, we can figure out what to do with the information we collect.

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

Tragic Loss: 2,500-Year-Old Olive Tree Burned to Ashes in Greek Fires

Tragic Loss: 2,500-Year-Old Olive Tree Burned to Ashes in Greek Fires

A 2,500-year-old ancient olive tree on the island of Evia was destroyed today in the ongoing wildfires consuming the region. The ancient tree was located in the olive grove of Rovia and was such an enduring symbol of the landscape that the ancient geographer and philosopher Strabo featured it in his writings.

The tree was large, with a trunk so wide ten people could fit along its diameter. The tree was fertile with olives all the way until it fell victim to the wildfire.

The tragic loss of the Evian tree was posted to Twitter by Apostolis Panagiotou, and the evocative image quickly gained over a thousand likes, with many Greeks leaving responses mourning the impact of the fires.

A historic olive tree on the island of Evia was destroyed by the ongoing wildfires.

The ancient olive tree in Evia is one amongst many losses of the wildfires

The destruction of the treasured tree is just one of many losses experienced by the Greek people in Evia during the course of the wildfires.

In a statement that showcases the desperation and pain of the people of northern Evia, Giannis Kontzias, the mayor of Istiaia – Aidipsos, said that what the people are seeing now is ”the completion of a holocaust.”

”Truth be told, we could have saved much more,” he says. ”I’ve been up on the mountain from Wednesday at 2:30 PM making dramatic calls for more aircraft in the front that we managed to keep back for 30 hours.”

Kontzias described the dramatic turn of events when the wind changed direction and brought the fire to the northwest of Evia.

Evia before the devastation

”The wind turned the fire towards the Municipality of Istiaia Aidipsos, multiplying the fronts,” he explains.

‘”We need more aircraft”

”I’m making a dramatic appeal (to the Greek authorities) to bring aircraft.”

”Very few of them arrived yesterday, but they were inadequate. Today, only seven of them are operating particularly near Artemisio,” the devastated mayor explains.

”One after the other our villages fall. One municipal unit after the other is being destroyed completely. What’s saved has been saved by volunteers and the soul of the residents of this land,” Kontizas noted.

”They remained the last ones to save something from their homes, something from which we’ll be able to hold onto in order to stay and live in this land.”

The day after

“Our children will never see the environment and our land in the same way we saw it,” the mayor stated. The mayor of northern Evia made a grim prediction. He stated that in order for this area of Greece to return to its former status, it will take decades.

”We’ll be struggling for decades to bring northern Evia back to what it used to be,” he says, adding that they owe it to this land to do the best they can.

”The day after will have both financial and environmentally disastrous consequences,” Kontizas notes.

The mayor thanked everybody for their love and assistance and made a pledge for anyone who can assist in any way to do so.

All In One Magazine