GUATEMALA, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

A Stunning Jade mask discovered in the tomb of the Maya King in Guatemala

A Stunning Jade mask discovered in the tomb of the Maya King in Guatemala

A Stunning Jade mask discovered in the tomb of the Maya King in Guatemala

Archaeologists excavating a looted pyramid tomb in the ruins of a Mayan city in Peten, northeast Guatemala, have discovered a mysterious interlocking jade mask believed to have belonged to a previously unknown Mayan king.

Chochkitam, a little-known archaeological site, is located near the Peten Basin, a subregion of the Maya Lowlands in northwest Guatemala.

The area is considered the heartland of the Maya Classic Period, which lasted from 200 to 900 AD.

The site was first reported in 1909, and ongoing studies have revealed three major monumental groups linked by a long central causeway.

In ancient times, the value of jade went far beyond its material value. Mayans considered it a protector of generations, living and dead. For this reason,  jade masks were generally used to symbolize deities or ancestors and were used to reflect the affluence and influence of the entombed individuals.

Archaeologists discovered that grave robbers had excavated a tunnel into a royal pyramid’s core following a LiDAR survey in 2021. Further inspection revealed that the intruders had overlooked a specific area within the pyramid’s inner chamber.

A human skull, and bones, some of them carved with hieroglyphs, a coffin-shaped stone box, ceramic artifacts, and funerary offerings including a pot, oyster shells, and multiple jade pieces that fit together to create a jade mask were found as a result of this oversight.

The name Itzam Kokaj Bahlam is spelled out in carvings and hieroglyphs on some of the bone fragments.

The researchers surmise that this name may belong to the buried Maya king who ruled Chochkitam approximately 350 AD.

The most fascinating feature of all is that a carving on one of the bones shows the ruler clutching the head of a Maya deity, precisely like the assembled jade mask.

All the artifacts and bones discovered in the Chochkitam tomb were brought to the Holmul Archaeological Project (HAP) lab for cleaning and field analysis.

It was there that archaeologists put together the single blocks of jade that they had unearthed, and they were able to reconstruct an entire jade mosaic mask.

Lead archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli of Tulane University and his team discovered the burial using LIDAR mapping technology, according to an extensive article in National Geographic. The mask represents a manifestation of the Storm God worshiped by the Mayans.

EUROPE, SYRIA, WORLD

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era, in the central town of Rastan, describing it as the most important archaeological discovery since the conflict began 11 years ago.

The mosaic, which shows ancient Amazon warriors, 120 square meters (around 1,300sq ft), was found in an old building that was under excavation by Syria’s general directorate of antiquities and museums.

The property, which dates back to the 4th century, was purchased by Lebanese and Syrian businessmen from the neighboring country’s Nabu Museum and donated to the Syrian state. Each panel was filled with square-shaped, small, colorful stones about a half-inch on each side.

Dr. Humam Saad, Associate Director of Excavation and Archaeological Research at Syria’s General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, said the mosaic shows the Ancient Amazon warriors as portrayed in Roman mythology.

A detail of a large mosaic that dates back to the Roman era is seen in the town of Rastan, Syria.

In Ancient Greek and Roman mythology, the demigod hero Hercules killed Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, in one of his 12 labors. The mosaic also portrays Neptune, the Ancient Roman god of the sea, and 40 of his mistresses.

“What is in front of us is a discovery that is rare on a global scale,” Saad told The Associated Press, adding that the images are “rich in details,” and includes scenes from the Trojan War between the Greeks and Trojans.

“We can’t identify the type of the building, whether it’s a public bathhouse or something else, because we have not finished excavating yet,” Saad told the AP.

One side of the mosaic panel discovered in Rastan, Homs (AFP)

Sulaf Fawakherji, a famous actress in Syria and a member of the Nabu Museum’s board of trustees said she hopes they could purchase other buildings in Rastan, which she says is filled with heritage sites and artifacts waiting to be discovered.

“There are other buildings, and it’s clear that the mosaic extends far wider,” Fawkherji told the AP.

“Rastan historically is an important city, and it could possibly be very important heritage city for tourism.”

Over the past ten years of ongoing, violent conflict, Syrian heritage sites have been looted and destroyed.

The Islamic State group captured Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site with 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades and priceless artifacts, and partially destroyed a Roman theater.

After seizing it from armed opposition forces in 2016, Syria’s cash-strapped government has been slowly rebuilding Aleppo’s centuries-old bazaar. Before the Syrian government reclaimed the city in 2018, Rastan was a significant opposition stronghold and the scene of violent clashes.

EUROPE, IRELAND, WORLD

‘Lost’ 4,000-year-old wedge tomb rediscovered in Ireland

‘Lost’ 4,000-year-old wedge tomb rediscovered in Ireland

‘Lost’ 4,000-year-old wedge tomb rediscovered in Ireland

A “lost” 4,000-year-old wedge tomb has been rediscovered in County Kerry, in the peninsular southwest region of Ireland.

The megalithic tomb, known locally as Altóir na Gréine (the sun altar), was believed to have been destroyed in the 1840s, with its stones broken and carried away for use as building material.

Lady Georgiana Chatterton, an English aristocrat and traveler, sketched the monument when she visited the site in 1838. She described the site as a “curious piece of antiquity,” suggesting it was used for Sun sacrifices.

However, when the antiquarian Richard Hitchcock came to West Kerry to inspect the tomb in 1852 he found the monument no longer existed, “the stones which composed it having been broken and carried away for building purposes as if there were no others in the neighborhood”.

Although a 19th-century record of a burial tomb was found close to Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, the precise location of the monument has been lost. But now the tomb has been rediscovered, dating back about 4,000 years.

However, the 180-year-old mystery has now been solved by folklorist Billy Mag Fhloinn.

The folklorist has not only found the prehistoric site, but he has also discovered some of the large stones, which had been believed to have been removed, still in situ.

Mr Mag Fhloinn had long been fascinated by Ms Chatterton’s sketch and Altóir na Gréine’s association with the sun in local folklore and he set about searching for the “lost” tomb on the slopes of Cruach Mhárthain.

The only known visual representation of the intact monument was captured in a sketch by Lady Chatterton in 1838

Local folklorist Billy Mag Fhloinn first recognized stones on a hill’s crest as part of a recent archaeological mapping project, and he later compared this hill with the one Lady Chatterton drew.

Several large upright orthostats and a capstone were discovered during Fhloinn’s primary research, refuting local legends that the tomb was completely destroyed in the middle of the 19th century.

Archaeologist Caimin O’Brien, the National Monuments Service in Dublin, confirmed that the stones represented about a quarter of the original Bronze Age wedge tomb, dating between 2500 BC and 2000 BC. Wedge-tombs are the most numerous megalithic burial structures found on the Dingle Peninsula.

Folklorist Mag Fhloinn believes “the taboo” surrounding the destruction of such tombs is related to 19th-century beliefs “in bad luck or disaster associated with their demise”.

“They are usually positioned on high ground, but not the highest point. There’s often certain alignments associated with them. Quite often the opening tends to look towards the west, or the south, or the southwest,” said Mr Mag Fhloinn.

“Usually you will find cremated remains of people inside and they probably represent the burial place of a significant family or community group.

“But they could have been used for other things as well, ceremonies and rituals for example. They may have cosmological and astronomical significance in the case where they are facing the setting sun in the west and southwest.”

“For the first time in over 180 years archaeologists know where the tomb is situated and it will enhance our understanding of wedge-tomb distribution,” said Caimin O’Brien, an archaeologist with the National Monument Service.

The rediscovered tomb of Altóir na Gréine will also form part of a deep-mapping project being carried out on the peninsula by Sacred Heart University.

EUROPE, POLAND, WORLD

Well-Preserved 1,000-Year-Old Ulfberht Sword Found In The Wisla River, Poland

Well-Preserved 1,000-Year-Old Ulfberht Sword Found In The Wisla River, Poland

Ulfberht swords were famous for their strength, flexibility, and high-tech blades. Viking warriors highly prized these weapons, which were extraordinarily valuable because of their properties.

Well-Preserved 1,000-Year-Old Ulfberht Sword Found In The Wisla River, Poland
This well-preserved Ulfbrecht sword was found in the Wisla River in Poland.

“Ulfberht blades were made of crucible steel with relatively high carbon content, making them more robust and flexible than European swords during the Viking and Middle Ages.

Crucible steel could not be produced in Europe until the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. Still, in India, such steel (known as wootz, has been manufactured since 300 BC and has spread to large parts of the Middle East during the 9th century. Vikings probably gained access to the material from Persia via the trade route across the Volga and the Caspian Sea.” 

Very few Ulfberht swords have been found so far. Only eight such swords are known to exist in Poland and 170 in the rest of Europe.

Earlier this month, Polish workers accidentally found a well-preserved 1,000-year-old Ulfberht in the Wisla River (Vistula River) in the city of Wroclawek. They were carrying out dredging work related to deepening the pool of the port of the Sport and Recreation Center in Włocławek when they suddenly made an unprecedented historical discovery.

The sword had an Ulfberht inscription.

One can imagine how surprised Sławomir Mularski, the owner of the company, was when he spotted ‘an oblong, metal object’ sticking out of the sediment.

Experts suggest the sword may have belonged to a Viking, but this has not been confirmed. Scientists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun have conducted an X-ray analysis of the weapon and dated it to before 950 A.D.  The sword also has an inscription of the word ‘Ulfberht.’

This historical period is highly important in Polish history. Poland did not exist prior to the 10th century A.D. when the formation of the House of Piast, the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland, took place.

Weapons of this kind are associated with Scandinavia and the Frankish Empire.

“This is an extremely valuable find. We know that these so-called Ulfberht swords were produced somewhere in Central Europe, but it’s not known exactly where.

They were manufactured using very specific methods using carbon steel and a very precise composition.

The amount of carbon steel that was used was strictly defined, making the sword very strong and flexible – its durability and combat value depended on this.

More importantly, after lying in silt for over 1,000 years, the sword has been preserved in excellent condition,” Sambor Gawinski from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian branch of the conservator’s office said.

Gawinski stressed he was not convinced this was a Viking sword. “Several theories have been posited, and so far, all variants are acceptable, but we need to wait for the results of more detailed research,” he said.

Polish archaeologist Robert Grochowski agrees it is much too early to say a Viking once owned this sword. These swords are often referred to as Viking swords, but they were technically created in territories in today’s Germany and traded widely throughout Europe. This could explain why the sword was found in Poland.

“I don’t know where the idea that the sword belonged to a Viking comes from. Without detailed research, this is completely unjustified. It is difficult to say anything more than the fact that it is an early medieval sword,” Grochowski told the Warsaw-based newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

2,800-Year-Old ‘Pharmaceutical production area’ discovered in ancient Thracian City

2,800-Year-Old ‘Pharmaceutical production area’ discovered in ancient Thracian City

2,800-Year-Old ‘Pharmaceutical production area’ discovered in ancient Thracian City

Archaeologists have unearthed a “pharmaceutical production area” supported by a water source during ongoing excavations in the Thracian Ancient City Heraion Teikhos,  in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ.

Heraion Teichos ancient city on the İstanbul-Tekirdağ highway, situated on the banks of the Marmara Sea in Tekirdağ Province, is extremely important since it is the only Thracian city excavated in Türkiye.

In recent years, scientific data revealed by archaeological excavations prove that the city has been inhabited from third millennium B.C.E. to XIII century. Century A.D. The city lived its most brilliant periods from 5Th century B.C.. to 1st century A.D.

In 2021, a team of researchers from Istanbul Rumeli University unearthed a 2,800-year-old temple in Türkiye’s ancient Thracian city of Heraion Teikhos. Now, a water system has been identified leading to a space within the temple that researchers call an “ancient pharmaceutical production area.”

Professor Dr. Neşe Atik told Hurriyet Daily News, “Heraion Teikhos is a Thracian City, the first Thracian settlement in our country where excavations are still being carried out, and the only excavation site that yields Thracian finds.”

Atik stated that the aim of the excavations is to identify pharmaceutical production areas, the size of which is not yet known, and how the water was transported.

“Water systems in hilltop settlements were usually built with large water cisterns in ancient times.

The 2023 excavations at the Heraion Teikhos settlement yielded findings indicating that water was transported not from cisterns but from an area a few kilometers to the east of the excavation site, which is still wooded today. In addition to this, a new pharmaceutical was unearthed in the west of the settlement.

Terracotta pipes connecting the pools and stone channels also revealed that there was a pharmaceutical production area spread over the entire excavation area,” Atik said.

“The fact that the medicine ovens and the clean water system and pools required for medicine making were located close to each other in the same areas is scientifically important since it is the first time they have been identified archaeologically,” she concluded.

The Thracians were a group of tribes renowned for their rich culture and formidable warriors, that thrived in Southeast Europe from as early as 2000-1500 BC. They were a group of tribes who occupied the southeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula.

The Thracians are most famous for their magnificent metalwork, particularly in gold and silver, and for people like the fabled Spartacus, who was descended from them. Their culture, interwoven with Greek and later Roman influences, contributed significantly to the tapestry of classical antiquity, but it remains shrouded in mystery due to a lack of written records.

EUROPE, UKRAINE, WORLD

Women buried with thick twisted bronze neck rings and buckets on their feet found in Ukraine

Women buried with thick, twisted bronze neck rings and buckets on their feet found in Ukraine

Women buried with thick, twisted bronze neck rings and buckets on their feet found in Ukraine

Archaeologists discovered the remains of men buried with weapons such as axes, spearheads, and swords, and women buried with thick twisted bronze neck rings in an 11th-century cemetery near the village of Ostriv, south of Kiev, Ukraine.

Researchers Vsevolod Ivakin and Vyacheslav Baranov presented their study of the remains at the Archaeological Institute of America, which was held Jan. 4-7 in Chicago, according to Live Science.

In 2017, the Ukrainian Institute of Archaeology conducted an expedition that discovered the Ostriv graveyard. Between 2017 and 2022, excavations uncovered 107 inhumation burials from the late 10th and 11th centuries.

The graves’ uniqueness was quickly apparent. Unlike the unusual funerary practices of the Kyivan Rus during this period, the graves were facing south and west rather than north.

The deceased were laid in supine position (on their backs), with outstretched limbs. In most of the graves, there were remnants of wooden coffins. The remains of funerary food offerings (chicken bones and eggshells) were discovered in the graves and in wooden buckets at the feet of some of the deceased.

Some people were buried with extremely valuable items, including slate spindle whorls, jewelry such as bronze neck rings and bracelets, pennanular brooches, cast bronze belt rings, cowrie shell bead necklaces, and weapons such as battle axes, knives, and spearheads.

The skeleton of a woman was buried with elaborate neck rings as well as rings around her arms.

Though the comparison was not exact, the orientation and funerary furnishings bore a strong resemblance to the practices of tribes in the Western Baltic.

Most remarkably, none of the Ostriv graves were cremation burials; the Western Baltic peoples generally burned their dead. Furthermore, Baltic funeral customs do not generally involve buckets.

 Archaeologists hypothesize that these key differences may be attributed to restrictions placed on traditional funerary practices by the Christian dukes of Kyiv, primarily Volodymyr the Great (r. 980-1015) and Yaroslav the Wise (r. 1019-1054), and by the process of Christianization of the Baltic settlers of the region during the 11th century.

A stone altar found in the cemetery could have been used for Christian or pagan rituals, or a mixture of the two.

Research continued at the site until 2022 but the excavation has been paused due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

EUROPE, SWITZERLAND, WORLD

Archaeologists discover complete armored 14th-century gauntlet in Switzerland

Archaeologists discover complete armored 14th-century gauntlet in Switzerland

Archaeologists discover complete armored 14th-century gauntlet in Switzerland

Excavations in Kyburg in the canton of Zürich, northeastern Switzerland have discovered a 14th-century fully preserved gauntlet of armor in exceptional condition.

Only five 14th-century gauntlets have been discovered in Switzerland thus far, according to the Zurich cantonal infrastructure department on Tuesday.

However, their state of preservation is nowhere near that of the glove discovered in Kyburg. All the iron parts of this one have been found, and some of the fingers are even completely free of corrosion and look as good as new.

The metal parts of the glove were originally riveted to a leather glove. The 25 pieces were also firmly attached to each other, giving the glove great flexibility.

The entire gauntlet measures more than 14 inches long. Individual iron plates overlap like scales and are connected by side rivets. Originally, they would have been riveted to a leather or fabric material before being sewn onto a leather or textile glove. The small plates and flexible underlayers allowed the wearer to comfortably grip a sword and make a fist.

The castle is first mentioned in 1027 under the name of Chuigeburg (“cows-fort”), which name points to an original use as a refuge castle for livestock.

The first fortification at this site was likely built in the second half of the 10th century by the counts of Winterthur.

The early castle was destroyed in 1028 or 1030 by Emperor Conrad II. It was rebuilt and soon became the center of the county of Kyburg which was formed in 1053 as a possession of the counts of Dillingen.

The right glove is completely preserved. At least individual parts of the left one were recovered.

Cantonal archaeologists excavated a site southeast of the castle in the winter of 2021/22 in a rescue operation before constructing a home with a basement.

Archaeologists discovered a medieval weaving cellar that had burned down in the 14th century. Forging may also have taken place in its immediate vicinity; in addition to a casting mold, the archaeologists also discovered over 50 well-preserved metal objects such as hammers, keys, and projectile points – as well as the glove.

Archaeologists also found a completely preserved 14th-century gauntlet, in addition to fragments of its counterpart worn on the other hand.

It is not yet known who the glove belonged to, or why this type of object is so rarely found. Scientific work must now establish whether armour gloves were so rare at the time or whether they were melted down.

A copy of this armour glove will be on display at Kyburg Castle from the end of March as part of its permanent exhibition, complemented by a reconstruction of the rest of the armour. The original will be on display for three weeks in September.

EUROPE, IRELAND, WORLD

Early Bronze Age Tomb Rediscovered in Ireland

Early Bronze Age Tomb Rediscovered in Ireland

Early Bronze Age Tomb Rediscovered in Ireland
Billy Mag Fhloinn with the remnants of the tomb.

The remnants of a Bronze Age tomb once thought to have been destroyed and lost to history have been discovered in County Kerry on the Atlantic coast of Ireland.

The tomb, known locally as Altóir na Gréine – the sun altar – stood for approximately 4,000 years on a hill outside the village of Ballyferriter on the Dingle peninsula before vanishing in the mid-19th century.

1838 sketch drawing of wedge tomb by Lady Chatterton.

Georgiana Chatterton, an English aristocrat and traveller, had visited the site and sketched the monument in 1838, but 14 years later an antiquarian named Richard Hitchcock reported that it had been broken up and carried away, presumably for building purposes.

The tomb raiders, it turns out, were not so thorough.

Billy Mag Fhloinn, a folklorist who is part of an archaeological mapping project, recently visited and filmed the site. When converting the video into a 3D scan he noticed that a stone in the undergrowth resembled one from Lady Chatterton’s Victorian-era sketch.

He sent the material to the National Monuments Service in Dublin, which dispatched archaeologist Caimin O’Brien, who confirmed it belonged to a so-called wedge tomb dating from the early bronze age between 2500BC and 2000 BC.

There is a capstone and several large upright stones called orthostats, comprising about a quarter of the original tomb, Mag Fhloinn said on Thursday. “People had assumed it was all destroyed.”

The tomb will now be added to the database of national monuments.

Ireland has several hundred wedge tombs, used by bronze age peoples to inter bodies and for ceremonies.

“Most point west or south-west towards the setting sun, so they may be tied into their broader cosmological understanding of the world,” said Mag Fhloinn.

It remains unclear who broke up the tomb, or why. “In the 19th century, there was quite a taboo about the destruction of these sites – it was said it would bring bad luck or disaster,” said Mag Fhloinn.

He is part of a tomb-mapping project run by Sacred Heart University, a US institution with a campus in Dingle.

“The significance of the rediscovery of the wedge tomb is to bring it back into the archaeological record so that the archaeological community can study it,” O’Brien told RTÉ, which first reported the discovery.

“For the first time in over 180 years, archaeologists know where the tomb is situated and it will enhance our understanding of wedge tomb distribution.”

Tony Bergin, president of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, said it was an exciting discovery.

“There is a theory that this specific type of tomb links into a people who carried out copper mining,” he said. “There is also a comparison to similar-type tombs found in Brittany in France.”

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