WORLD

Medieval soldier found with sword and knives at the bottom of a Lithuanian lake

Medieval soldier found with sword and knives at the bottom of a Lithuanian lake

Middle Ages more than 500 years ago The soldiers’ bodies settled on the bottom of a lake in Lithuania, covered beneath mud for decades. Well, those submerged ruins have finally been discovered.

During the underwater inspection at the old Dubingiai Bridge on Asbeya Lake in eastern Lithuania, the skeleton was found. But skeleton Archaeologist Elena Plankenaite, a researcher at Klaipeda University in Klaipeda, Lithuania, said the scene was not a burial because it lay beneath a layer of sand and silt.

According to Baltic News Service (BNS). Rather, the stream may have deposited sediments covering the ruins over time.

Scientists at the Vilnius University School of Medicine in Vilnius, Lithuania, examined the body and reported that the person was a man and died in the 16th century, but according to BNS, it is still unknown why he died.

Weapons and other items recovered from the bottom of the lake near the body suggest the military status of the dead man, Pranckėnaitė told Live Science in an email.

War-related human burials were previously excavated throughout the region, but this is the first time medieval soldiers have been found underwater in Lithuania, said Pranckėnaitė.

The Dubingiai Bridge, one of the longest wooden bridges still in use in Lithuania, was built in 1934 and its deteriorated beams are now the representative of the TEC infrastructure that oversees the Lithuanian Department of Transportation repair projects. It has been replaced with a pillar made of. communication, Said in a statement.

Divers excavate the medieval remains and weapons from the bottom of Lake Asveja, near the Dubingiai Bridge.

According to the statement, archaeologists worked with amateur divers to conduct a survey, which found the ruins at a depth of 30 feet (9 meters) while inspecting the support system for the wooden bridge.

Divers excavate medieval ruins and weapons from the bottom of Lake Asbeya near the Dubingiai Bridge.  Earlier research in 1998 revealed that another bridge dating back to the 16th or 17th century was once in the same place. Pranckėnaitė added when a medieval soldier died.

“For now, we believe that these discovered human bodies may be associated with the former bridge leading to Dubingiai Castle on the hills on the shores of Lake Asbeja.” She said.

Finding the remains of a soldier was a great surprise, but equally surprising was the amazing preservation of the skeleton and relics.

The diver recovered the leather boots with spurs. Leather belt with buckle. Iron sword; “And two knives with a wooden handle,” Pranckėnaitė wrote in an email.

A team of archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians at the Lietuvos National Museum is currently working on the preservation and interpretation of objects.

The findings and data are “really” fresh “and still need to be analyzed carefully,” said Pranckėnaitė. “I hope to’tell the story of this soldier within at least a year.”

BOLIVIA, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Wall In Bolivia Contains More Than 5,000 Dinosaur Footprints

Wall In Bolivia Contains More Than 5,000 Dinosaur Footprints

Cal Orko, an immense limestone slab 1.5 km (0.9 miles) long and over 100 meters high (328 ft), is situated 5 km (3 miles from downtown Sucre, Bolivia. Visitors will look through time on this steep face (72 degrees inclination) to when dinosaurs roamed the Earth more than 68 million years ago.

You will find 462 different dinosaur tracks from at least 8 different species at Cal Orko, totaling an astounding 5,055 individual dinosaur footprints. So how do thousands of dinosaur footprints come to be, on a seemingly vertical rock face hundreds of feet high? You’ll have to scroll down to find out. 

Cal Orko: A Paleontologist’s Dream… Inside a Quarry

 Believe it or not, Cal Orko is situated entirely within a limestone quarry owned by FANCESA, Bolivia’s National Cement Factory.

Located in the ‘El Molino’ formation, the sight of heavy mining machinery (one could argue they are today’s ‘land giants’) set against a backdrop of 68 million-year-old dinosaur footprints (Earth’s prehistoric ‘land giants’) creates an intriguing parallel.

Further up the hill is Parque Cretácico. Opened in 2006, the dinosaur museum features 24 life-sized dinosaur replicas, various exhibitions, and a viewing platform 150 meters (~500 ft) from the rock face. It’s from this vantage point that you truly grasp the sheer scale and magnitude of Cal Orko.

So Dinosaurs Can Climb Walls Now?

 Not quite. We’re looking at something 68 million years in the making. The footprints at this site were formed during the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous Period in the Mesozoic Era. As Ian Belcher of The Guardian explains:

“It was unique climate fluctuations that made the region a palaeontological honey pot. The creatures’ feet sank into the soft shoreline in warm damp weather, leaving marks that were solidified by later periods of drought. Wet weather then returned, sealing the prints below mud and sediment.

The wet-dry pattern was repeated seven times, preserving multiple layers of prints.

The cherry on the cake was added when tectonic activity pushed the flat ground up to a brilliant viewing angle – as if nature was aware of its tourism potential.”

Cal Orko is one of the few locations in the world where you will find a concentration of footprints from a wide variety of dinosaurs that lived at the end of the Cretaceous period. The sheer size, geological significance, biodiversity, and social behavior that can be studied here makes Cal Orko a special place.
 
Take the trail of Johnny Walker for example. Johnny Walker was the name given to a baby Tyrannosaurus rex whose 367 meters (~1200 ft) path can be traced and observed here.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Archaeologists Discovered An Ancient City Buried 30 Miles Outside Rome Without Ever Digging It Up

Archaeologists Discovered An Ancient City Buried 30 Miles Outside Rome Without Ever Digging It Up

To figure out what they look like, archaeologists no longer have to excavate submerged villages. The entire ancient city of Falerii Novi, some 30 miles outside Rome, has recently been mapped by a group of Belgian and UK researchers, using radar technology that scans beneath the soil.

As the electromagnetic waves of a radar enter an underground structure, they bounce back as a measurement that can be used to produce a 3D image.

The researchers were able to recognise new buildings for the first time, such as an elegant bathhouse and a large public monument that had never been seen before. They were also able to determine how the city was organized compared to other Roman towns.

Though Falerii Novi wasn’t nearly as grand as Pompeii — a wealthy city buried under volcanic ash in 79 AD — the town had its own unique features. Its aqueduct, for instance, ran underneath its city blocks, as well as along the streets (the more common design for that time period). The researchers also found temples at the edge of the city, suggesting a sacred use of the land.

“Although we are yet to understand how this sacred landscape functioned, the survey provides new insights into the variety of planning concepts underlying what are sometimes incorrectly considered to be ‘standardized’ Roman town plans,” the researchers wrote. “By providing a contrast with more familiar towns such as Pompeii, this work also raises important questions about the planning of Roman towns more generally.”

Falerii Novi contained hidden shops, baths, and temples

Falerii Novi was built around 241 BCE. By the first century AD, it was one of around 2,000 cities in ancient Rome. Many of these towns were buried over time as the ground level steadily began to rise, or intentionally buried so Romans could build new settlements on top.

The city’s last human inhabitants left during the early medieval period in around 700 CE. The discoveries from the Belgian and UK researchers, published Tuesday in the scientific journal Antiquity, represent the first use of ground-penetrating radar to map an entire city below ground.

The researchers determined that Falerii Novi is about half the size of Pompeii: around 75 acres. Documenting each one of these acres took around eight hours, leaving them with more than 28 billion data points by the end of the survey.

While the team wasn’t able to analyze every single data point, they did outline the site’s major landmarks — shown on the map below. The map paints a picture of life more than 1,300 years ago, filled with theatre performances, shopping, worshipping, exercising, and bathing.

A massive public monument sits near the north gate, surrounded on three sides by a covered passageway with a central row of columns. The researchers estimated that the passageway is more than 550 feet long and opens out to the street. On the inside of the monument, a pair of structures (each with their own alcove) face toward one another.

“We know of no direct parallel to this structure,” the researchers wrote.

To the south-east are a market building and a public bathhouse. Both of these are new discoveries.

“While these buildings fall within the expected repertoire of a Roman city, some are architecturally sophisticated — more elaborate than would usually be expected in a small town,” the researchers wrote.

A temple directly south of the bathhouse straddles the edge of the city. To its west is a housing complex, consisting of two or three homes with atria. The researchers found evidence that the homes had been remodelled over time.

Some of the walls had been removed by stone robbers. The complex also includes a plunge bath, vaulted rooms with central heating, and a U-shaped area that likely served as an exercise room.

A second housing complex, located to the south at the foot of a slope, is lined with decorative passageways. Water pipes below this building connected to the town’s aqueduct.

These detailed discoveries, often obscured by rubble, were “previously only possible through excavation,” the researchers wrote. Their new survey method, they added, “has the potential to revolutionize archaeological studies of urban sites.”

EUROPE, SWEDEN, WORLD

A medieval victim still in his chainmail discovered in Sweden

A medieval victim still in his chainmail discovered in Sweden

The Battle of Visby was a violent Medieval battle near the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, fought between the inhabitants of Gotland and the Danes, with the latter emerging victorious.

The battle left a lasting archaeological legacy; masses of slaughtered soldiers and citizens lay scattered across what was once a bloody battlefield.

Slashed and broken bones, skeletons still in their chain mail and armour, and smashed skulls, some still with spears and knives protruding out of them. One can only imagine what they endured before they breathed their last breaths.

Visby, A Merchant’s Dream

During the Middle Ages, the island of Gotland, which lies off the coast of Sweden in the Baltic Sea, played an important role in the trade between Europe and Russia. As a result of this, the city of Visby flourished.

Since the late 13th century, Visby was a member of a confederation of North-western and Central European merchant towns later known as the Hanseatic League. This league protected the commercial interests of its members and was also a defensive pact.

Greedy King Sets His Sight on Visby

As the Hanseatic League grew in influence, it was seen as a threat by some rulers. One of these was Valdemar IV, the King of Denmark. The Danish ruler is said to have not been satisfied with the fact that the Hanseatic League was a rival to his kingdom’s trade interests.

In addition, Valdemar desired to get his hands on the wealth of the League’s towns. By the middle of the 14th century, Visby, although still a member of the Hanseatic League, is said to have decreased in importance, causing Valdemar to set his eyes on it.

Additionally, it is rumoured that the inhabitants of the town sang drinking songs mocking the king, thus causing him to hold a personal vendetta against them.

Valdemar Atterdag holding Visby to ransom, 1361 by Karl Gustaf Hellqvist

The Danes Invade

In the summer of 1361, a Danish army set sail for Gotland. The inhabitants of Visby had been warned about the invading Danish force and prepared themselves for the battle. In late July 1361, Valdermar’s army landed on the west coast of Gotland.

The Danish army numbered between 2000 and 2500 men and consisted mainly of experienced Danish and German mercenaries. The defending Gotlanders, on the other hand, numbered around 2000 and were militiamen with little or no experience of battle.   

The Battle of Visby  

The Gotlanders first tried to halt the advance of the Danish army at Mästerby, in the central part of the island. The defenders were crushed, and the Danes continued their march towards Visby. The Battle of Visby was fought before the walls of the town.

Although the militiamen were fighting for their lives and fought as best as they could, they were simply no match for the professional Danish army. As a result, the majority of the defenders were killed, and the town surrendered to Valdemar.

Mass Graves and Fallen Soldiers

Those who fell during the battle were buried in several mass graves and were left in peace until the 20 th century. Between 1905 and 1928, the mass graves were discovered and subsequently excavated.

More than 1100 human remains were unearthed, and these provide us with much detail about the battle. As an example, the types of weapons used during the Battle of Visby could be determined based on the injuries left on these remains.

About 450 of these wounds, for instance, were inflicted by cutting weapons, such as swords and axes, whilst wounds inflicted by piercing weapons, such as spears, and arrows, numbered around 120.

By studying the bones, it was also found that at least a third of the defenders of Visby were the elderly, children, or the crippled, an indication that the situation was very dire indeed for townsfolk.

Victim of invasion of Visby in 1361.
Victim of invasion of Visby in 1361.

It is assumed that the dead were buried quickly after the battle, and therefore were interred with the equipment they had during the battle, which included their armour and weapons.

Thanks to their excellent state of preservation, these remains are a unique archaeological find. Although not many of the defenders were well-equipped for the battle, there are several examples of chainmail shirts, coifs, gauntlets, and a variety of weapons.

These incredible remains, along with the human remains, are today displayed in the Gotland Museum and remain as a lasting legacy to the defenders of Visby.

Armored glove found at Visby. 
ASIA, PAKISTAN, WORLD

1,300-Year-old Hindu temple discovered in Northwest Pakistan

1,300-Year-old Hindu temple discovered in Northwest Pakistan

1300-year-old Hindu Temple of Lord Vishnu was discovered in Swat district of Pakistan. It is the first temple of Gandhara civilisation discovered in Swat district.

It has been discovered by Pakistani and Italian archaeological experts at a mountain in northwest Pakistan’s Swat district.

According to the reports, the archaeologist excavated a Hindu temple at Barikot Ghundai in Northwest Pakistan. Fazle Khaliq of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Archaeology said that the temple discovered is of God Vishnu.

The discovery was made during an excavation at Barikot Ghundai.(Italian Archaeological Mission to Pakistan )
Vishnu is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.

The temple is estimated to have been built the Hindus 1,300 years ago during the Hindu Shahi period, the archaeologist said.

The Hindu Shahis of Kabul Shahis, a Hindu dynasty which ruled the Kabul Valley (eastern Afghanistan), Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan), and present-day northwestern India from 850-1026 CE may have built the Hindu temple in the region.

During their excavation, the archaeologists also found traces of cantonment and watchtowers near the temple site.

The archaeologists have also found a water tank near the excavated site, which is believed to be used by the Hindus for bathing before offering their prayers at the temple.

Khaliq further added that Swat district is home to thousand-year-old archaeology sites and the traces of the Hindu Shahi period have been found for the first time in the area. Several Buddhist temples and worship places are also present in the Swat district.

Dr Luka, the head of the Italian archaeological mission, said this was the first temple of the Gandhara civilisation discovered in Swat district.

Only recently, newly discovered Buddha statue in Pakistan was ruined by Islamists

In July 2020, a newly discovered Buddha statue was smashed into pieces by local construction workers and a Muslim cleric on Saturday in Pakistan.

The relic was discovered while digging the foundation for a house in the Pashtun-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Mardan district in Pakistan.

A video of the act showed the construction workers, along with a Muslim cleric, smashing the Buddha statue using a sledgehammer. They were seen walking over and destroying the life-sized Buddha status while expressing their acrimony against Buddhism, which they consider anti-Islam.

According to reports, the statue was destroyed on the order of a local Muslim cleric, who ruled that it is against Islam. ‘Your nikah would cease to exist and you will no more be a believer if the statue isn’t disposed of’, the cleric told the people at the site, who then followed his orders to destroy the priceless relic, which was accidentally discovered in a good condition.

In July 2020, in a similar incident, the ancient Buddhist rock carvings in the Chilas area of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK)’s Gilgit-Baltistan was desecrated by Islamists, who painted Pakistani flag and slogans on the rock-cut art.

According to reports, the incident came to light when the locals of Gilgit-Baltistan posted images on social media platforms. The Islamists had vandalised the rock carvings by writing Islamic slogans on the rock-art that belonged to 800 AD.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Archaeologists uncover prehistoric graves and human remains in the East of England

Archaeologists uncover prehistoric graves and human remains in the East of England

The Ely Standard reports that two Bronze Age graves were found in the East of England during the archaeological investigation of land slated for construction. One of the graves held the remains of an elderly woman whose shoulder showed signs of arthritis and had lost most of her teeth. 

Orbit Homes secured planning authority to build 149 homes on land between Regal Lane/Blackberry Lane and the A142 in Soham in February 2019.

Before construction began, Orbit homes wanted to carry out expert archaeological work as part of the pre-development scheme, and an exploration of the area uncovered some interesting discoveries.

The excavation, undertaken by Albion Archaeology, included two human graves which contained the skeleton of an elderly woman who had arthritis in her shoulder and lost most of her teeth, while the other was a middle-aged man with a bad back.

David Ingham, project manager at Albion Archaeology, said: “Two human burials were found in graves and these are currently thought to be Bronze Age, but radiocarbon testing will confirm this.

Archaeologists uncover prehistoric graves and human remains at East Cambs building site
Prehistoric graves and human remains were uncovered by archaeologists on the Regal Lane/Blackberry Lane building site in Soham next to the A142 before construction work can take place. Here, the grave of a man from the Bronze Age is unearthed.

“No trace was found of an Iron Age houses, though the remains of two timber structures were identified, which could have been small granaries.”

The dig also uncovered pottery, animal and plant remain, as well as evidence of Roman ditches, with most Anglo-Saxon activity on the site was largely represented by a concentration of pits in the western half of the area.

However, Mr Ingham said there was no evidence of a Roman settlement within the site.

He said: “The identified remains may have formed part of a much wider landscape in which people and animals moved from pasture to pasture over relatively large distances.”

The first settlement on the field dates back to the Iron Age, but earlier signs of activity have been discovered which are thought to go back to as far as 2,500 BC.

Ian Fieldhouse, land and new business director for Orbit Homes in the East, added: “Around half of the six-hectare site has been excavated with further investigations taking place in December.

“Once all the data has been collated, we can continue with construction in March 2021.

“It has been a really interesting exercise; it was fascinating to learn that the findings date back to prehistoric times.”

Once building construction work begins on the homes, where 41 will be made affordable, show homes are then due to open in Autumn 2021.

EUROPE, SCOTLAND, WORLD

Hoard of Jacobite Ammunition Unearthed in Scotland

Hoard of Jacobite Ammunition Unearthed in Scotland

The Oban Times reports that metal detectorists discovered a cache of more than 200 musket balls, coins, and gold and gilt buttons in southern Scotland on property near the shore of Loch nan Uamh that was owned by Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair, Gaelic tutor to Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Hoard of Jacobite Ammunition Unearthed in Scotland
Paul Macdonald, Gary Burton and David McGovern made the discovery near Lochailort in September.

The items are thought to be part of a shipment landed just a fortnight after the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.

Paul Macdonald, David McGovern and Gary Burton were using metal detecting equipment – with the landowner’s permission – when they made the find recently on the shore of Loch nan Uamh, near Lochailort.

The historical items were uncovered near a ruined croft house that once belongs to the prince’s Gaelic tutor, and has now been reported to Treasure Trove in Scotland.

This is an official organisation which ensures objects of cultural significance from Scotland’s past are protected for the benefit of the nation and preserved in museums across the country.

Over 200 musket balls were among the finds.

Originally from Glenuig, Mr Macdonald, of the Conflicts of Interest battlefield archaeology group, said the find had been made in early September on the Rhu peninsula.

‘For around 250 years there, a hoard had lain undisturbed by one particular croft. The complete hoard included 215 musket balls and a number of gold and silver-gilt buttons, coins and some other non-ferrous items on the northern coast of Loch nan Uamh,’ said Mr Macdonald.

‘It was really just a case of joining the dots so to speak, from what history records. It is known that arms had been landed in 1746 in this area.

‘From what the finds tell us to date, the musket balls were cast for use, yet never fired and correspond with the same calibre of musket balls landed nearby with French arms for the Jacobite Rising by the ships Mars and Bellone on the 30th April 1746.

‘The arms were, of course, landed a couple of weeks after the Battle of Culloden and never saw service, but were rapidly distributed and hidden locally.

‘What we also know about the find-spot is that the now-ruined croft was once inhabited by the famous Clanranald bard, Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair, who was an officer in the ’45 Rising and served as Gaelic tutor to Prince Charles Edward Stuart. He lived out his later years here at this croft until his death in 1770.

‘The find has been reported to Treasure Trove where it may through the process from there hopefully find its way to a Scottish museum.’

Bonnie Prince Charlie.

As to the value of the artefacts, Mr Macdonald said the find is significant but more in terms of historical worth than financial.

‘It is a very nice find and we were delighted with locating another part of the story of the prince and the Jacobite Rising.’

NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

A 12-Year-Old Boy Found an Ancient Woolly Mammoth Tooth During a Vacation in Ohio

A 12-Year-Old Boy Found an Ancient Woolly Mammoth Tooth During a Vacation in Ohio

A 12-year-old boy visiting Ohio’s Amish Country may be one of the youngest archaeologists in history.

Last month, Jackson Hepner was living with his family at The Inn at Honey Run in Millersburg, Ohio, when he came across a rare relic of the ice age, a woolly mammoth tooth, Fox 8 reported.

“Hepner wrote on the hotel’s blog, where a relative is the hotel manager, “I noticed the tooth about ten yards upstream from the bridge that we had our family photographs on. “On the left side of the creek, it was partly buried. It was on the creek bed, entirely out of the water.

The discovery was verified by experts Nick Kardulias from the Archaeology Department of Wooster College, Dale Gnidovec from the Orton Geological Museum of the Ohio State University, and Nigel Ashland from the Geology Department of Ashland University.

They noted the tooth, an upper third molar, had parallel ridges, which are indicative of mammoths, whose diet required specialized teeth to grind their food, such as grass and seeds.

Between 110,000 and 12,000 years ago, woolly mammoths inhabited the area now called Ohio (though they ultimately died out in Siberia about 4,000 years ago).

According to Gnidovec, mammoths came over from Asia two million years ago, but skeletons older than 13,000 years are difficult to find due to “glacial advances” over the state.

A closeup view of the woolly mammoth tooth.

“During the Ice Age there were two kinds of ‘elephants’ living in Ohio — mammoths and mastodons,” Gnidovec told Newsweek.

“Mastodons are much more common … [and] mammoths much rarer. That is because Ice Age Ohio had much more forested areas, which the mastodons lived in, that it did open grasslands preferred by the mammoths.”

The Inn seems to be thrilled with their involvement in this discovery and Ohio’s ancient history.

“What is now lush greenery, flowing waters, and hundreds of beautiful species was once an enormous glacial sheet that would slowly (and literally) shape Ohio’s future,” they wrote on their blog.

“The unearthing of the Mammoth tooth shows that there are definite pieces of ancient history hidden around us, connecting us to an interesting past.”

Now that his discovery has been legitimized, Hepner is eager to get his hand on his buried treasure once again.

“I would like to have my tooth back in my hands as soon as possible,” he wrote. “I want to show my friends.”

All In One Magazine