Ancient Roman jewelry found beneath the British department store
A 2,000-year-old story of terror and devastation has been brought to light during renovation work at an English department store, revealing one of the finest collections of Roman jewelry as well as human remains of people who were slaughtered at the site.
The jewelry had been undisturbed since 61 A.D. in Colchester, some 50 miles northeast of London. It was found in a wooden box and bags under a department store in the town’s high street.
A cache of blingy gold and silver jewelry hidden by a wealthy Roman woman nearly two millennia ago was unearthed recently during a department store site excavation in the historic British town of Colchester.
The treasure, which has been dated to the year 61AD, provides examples of what the best-dressed women of the day were wearing.
Among the items were three gold armlets, a silver armlet, silver chain necklace, two silver bracelets, four gold rings, and two sets of gold earrings. Also found was a bag of Roman coins and a small jewelry box.
Experts from the Colchester Archaeological Trust surmised that the wealthy Roman woman hastily buried her valuables on the floor of her home due to a feared invasion by native Britons.
The military campaign, which ultimately failed to wrest control from the Romans, was to be known as the Boudican Revolt.
Physical evidence, including scorched food items and broken human bones, tells a harrowing story of a home that was burnt to the ground during the violent rebellion.
The treasure, which the Colchester Archaeological Trust is calling the finest discovery of Roman jewelry in British history, would have been lost forever had it not been for excavation work related to the $48 million expansion of the upscale Colchester department store, Williams & Griffin.
The store offers everything from furniture to fashion (Yes, they sell fine jewelry) and is located about 65 miles northeast of London.
“We have been working on the site for six months, and this remarkable Roman jewelry collection was discovered on the third to last day of our dig,” Colchester Archaeological Trust director Philip Crummy told the East Anglian Daily Times.
According to NBC News, the department store’s owner, Fenwick Ltd., is planning to donate the Roman hoard (now called the “Fenwick Treasure”) to the local Colchester Castle Museum. Colchester has the distinction of being the oldest town in Britain.
A mysterious bag containing 54 severed human hands found in Russia
Russian police launched an investigation after a mysterious bag of 54 severed human hands was discovered at a popular fishing place near the Siberian city of Khabarovsk, the Siberian Times reports.
In Siberia, a fisherman made a gruesome discovery walking along a riverbank last week: A bag containing 27 pairs of human hands, severed at the wrist.
But according to the Russian government, it’s not the work of a hand-obsessed killer, but a forensics laboratory, which – erk – was improperly disposing of its biowaste.
According to The Siberian Times, the fisherman initially spotted just one hand peeking out of the snow as he walked by the Amur River in the southeastern Russian city of Khabarovsk.
That discovery led the fisherman to the nearby bag, which also contained medical bandages and plastic shoe coverings commonly used in clean facilities such as laboratories and hospitals.
Initially, the provenance of the 54 hands was unknown, but the Investigative Committee of The Russian Federation acted swiftly and determined their origin was a Khabarovsk-based forensics laboratory.
“The biological objects (hands) found are not of a criminal origin, but were disposed of in a manner not provided for by law,” the Committee wrote in a post on Telegram Messenger in Russian.
A macabre bag containing 27 pairs of human hands found in a bag on Amur River island. Mystery over who the hands belonged to, when they were chopped off, and why.
It’s not known why the laboratory severed the hands in the first place. Sometimes hands and feet are the only parts of the deceased recovered, although the sheer quantity in the bag makes that explanation seem unlikely.
The removal may have also been for identification purposes, a practice that is not unheard of. Controversially, back in 1989, a UK coroner severed the hands of 25 disaster victims to record fingerprints before deterioration could set in. But those were extreme circumstances, and the decision attracted significant ire.
Besides, fingerprints can definitely be taken and stored without requiring the hand to be severed from the body.
Russian authorities are conducting an investigation into the incident to find out all of the circumstances surrounding the incident. They’ve only been able to obtain just one set of prints from the hands, but the lab itself will likely yield more information.
“Based on the audit results, a legal assessment will be made of the actions of officials of the forensic medical institution in the city of Khabarovsk responsible for the disposal of these biological objects,” the Investigative Committee wrote.
Nearly 40 Byzantine Shipwrecks Were Recently Unearthed in Turkey
Over the past ten years, archeologists in Turkey have been chipping away at a treasure trove of Byzantine shipwrecks. As BBC reports, so far, they’ve uncovered 37 ships at a dig site in Istanbul. The site, Yenikapi, was once a port in bustling Constantinople, and the remnants of the ships found their date from the fifth to 11th century.
Archaeological excavations in Turkey that began in 2004 have yielded a unique historical treasure — 37 shipwrecks from the Byzantine Empire, eight of which are now described in a new report. [8 Byzantine Shipwreck Photos]
The shipwrecks were discovered at a site called Yenikapi, in Istanbul, in what was a port of the ancient city, then called Constantinople. The ships date back to the fifth to 11th centuries, and are in exceptionally good condition, archaeologists say.
“Never before has such a large number and types of well-preserved vessels been found at a single location,” said study author Cemal Pulak, of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University.
The eight shipwrecks highlighted in the new report, which date from the seventh to 10th centuries, show that the shipbuilders at the time were using a more complex process than previously thought, according to the researchers.
Each of the ships the researchers examined in the report incorporated elements characteristic of two shipbuilding methods. In one method, the shell of a ship was built first, and in the other, the ship’s skeleton was constructed first, and then the planks were attached.
Temporary sheds provide some shelter at the Yenikapı excavation site as the team documents timbers from 37 ships recovered from a lost Byzantine port
The researchers’ analysis showed that a transition from a shell-first to a skeleton-first approach was already well underway by the seventh century.
“It is through meticulous and time-consuming detective work that we slowly begin to understand how these ships were built, modified, overhauled, and used,” Pulak told BBC.
“By such means, we try to understand the minds of the shipbuilders and their design and conceptualization processes, in order to better comprehend the history of science and engineering.”
Of the eight ships that the researchers examined for the report, six were classified as “round ships,” which means that they were propelled primarily or entirely by sail.
The length of the round ships ranged from 26 to 48 feet (8 to 14.7 meters), and they were between 8 and 16 feet (2.5 and 5 m) wide.
The other two ships the researchers examined were galleys — long, oared ships, about 100 feet (30 m) long, and 13 feet (4 m) wide. Among all of the 37 shipwrecks discovered at Yenikapi, there were a total of six Byzantine galleys, “notably the first shipwrecks of this type discovered from the Byzantine period,” the researchers wrote in their report.
Previously, Byzantine galleys were known only from books and artwork dating to the time period, and such sources tend to be difficult to interpret. Therefore the well-preserved remains of these vessels at Yenikapi play a crucial role in archaeologists’ study of Byzantine ships, the researchers said.
The future reveals the past: A subway expansion project in Turkey unearths a lost port and the largest known collection of Byzantine shipwrecks.
Until recently, much of the information about Byzantine ships had come from the several medium-size seagoing ships that had been excavated in the Mediterranean, Pulak said.
“Yenikapi has yielded a wide array of small rowboats, fishing boats, utility vessels, and even naval ships, all directly from Constantinople itself, the capital of the Byzantine Empire,” he added.
A large museum in Istanbul is being planned to exhibit many of the wrecks, Pulak said. But it could take several years to restore the timbers of each ship’s hull, he said.
17th-century Dutch merchant ship off southern England have recovered a 30-foot-long wooden carving of a mustachioed warrior
Archeologists greeted a carving of the face of a moustachio warrior as they lifted part of a huge shipwreck in the 17th century in the English Channel The head was carved into the 28 ft long section of the rudder of a Dutch trading ship that sunk nearly 400 years earlier in Poole, Dorset.
Its accidental discovery by a dredger led to six years of underwater investigations, which prompted experts to hail the find as the most significant since the Mary Rose. Divers found the sizable carving covering the stern and bow castle of the 130ft-long merchant vessel, which would have been one of the largest of its kind on the seas at the time.
It was decked out with opulent carvings of mermen whose eye sockets would have been decorated with precious stones. Other baroque-style carvings, similar to the one on the rudder, were also found on parts of the ship including the gunports.
The head was carved into the 28ft long rudder section of a Dutch trading ship that sunk off Poole, Dorset, nearly 400 years ago
Marine archaeologists from Bournemouth University have already recovered scores of artifacts from the vessel that is known as the Swash Channel Wreck after the area of sea where it sunk.
And after being given a grant of £500,000 from English Heritage, the team completed the recovery of the five-tonne wooden rudder that had become separated from the main hull.
Divers spent seven days digging the rudder from out of the sea bed and placing a large steel frame around it, similar to the operation that raised the Mary Rose in 1982.
Divers (pictured right) found the sizable carving (left) covering the stern and bowcastle of the 130ft long merchant vessel, which would have been one of the largest of its kind on the seas at the time
Marine archaeologists from Bournemouth University have already recovered scores of artefacts from the vessel that is known as the Swash Channel Wreck after the area of sea where it sunk. The black squares indicate the gunport locations
It was then towed four miles into Poole Harbour where today it was hoisted onto the quayside by a crane in front of the excited team of archaeologists.
The baroque facial carving at the end of the rudder shows a military man wearing a classical helmet. It will be constantly sprayed with special chemicals for the next two years to help conserve it.
The rudder will then put on display at Poole Museum alongside other artifacts recovered from the wreckage. Dave Parham, a senior lecturer in marine archaeology at Bournemouth University, said: ‘Before now we had just seen the rudder underwater where you could only make out a few feet of it at a time.
The rudder is being temporarily stored at Poole docks, before being transported to York. It was towed four miles into Poole Harbour where today it was hoisted onto the quayside (pictured) by a crane in front of the excited team of archaeologists
‘So to see it in daylight in all its glory is really quite spectacular.
‘It is a very large and impressive item itself so you can imagine how spectacular this merchant vessel would have looked.
‘Its discovery is an extremely significant one and has given way to one of the largest shipwreck investigations within the UK.’
Another carving previously discovered at the wreck of the Dutch trading ship near Poole, Dorset
Unlike the Mary Rose, little is known of the Swash Channel Wreck, including its identity. Tests on the oak wood from it have dated the felling of the timber to 1628 and from forests on the Dutch/German border. Analysis of some of the recovered artifacts dates to the middle of the 17th century.
This has led the experts to believe the vessel was an armed Dutch trading ship that was either going to or returning from the Mediterranean or the Far East. It is thought it hit a sandbank in the approaches to Poole Harbour and water flooded its bilges. The ship is then believed to have rolled over and sunk in 22ft of water.
Mr. Parham said: ‘It would have been a very big vessel for its day and the whole vessel would have been a spectacular work of art.
It was a sign of prestige and wealth. It was making a statement, showing how great and wonderful the owners were. They would have been a large Dutch conglomerate, similar to the East India Company.
Mr Parham said the ship could be compared to a 17th century version of the luxurious Titanic liner, although the Titanic was ornate for passengers, and not just for those viewing the ship. A carving of a merman is pictured (right) and (wreckage) left
‘It would not have been a million miles from a 17th-century version of the Titanic, although the Titanic was ornate for the passengers and not for those on the outside.
‘We think it was a Dutch trading ship and would have taken high-quality European goods like tweed to the Far East and traded them for things like exotic spices.
It was either going out or coming back when it sank outside of Poole Harbour. We have received a grant to fund the recovery of all the material that is at risk of erosion.
So far the team has brought up artifacts including five baroque carvings, ceramic pieces, leather shoes, copper and pewter plates and cups, and a bronze compass divider. They have also recovered animal bones of sheep and cows that would have fed the crew.
Mr. Parham said: ‘Last month we spent seven days excavating beneath the rudder in order to put strops around it and lift it into a steel frame.
It was then moved four miles to the quayside in Poole and lifted out of the water. We have no idea who the male carving on the rudder might be. It is a mustachioed man with a classical helmet on so it is depicting a military man of some sort. About 40 percent of the port side of the wreck lies intact on the sea bed but it will be too costly an operation to recover that.
LUXOR, EGYPT—According to an Ahram Online report, several structures were uncovered during an excavation at the Avenue of Sphinxes, a ceremonial passageway lined with ram-headed sculptures that once connected temples in Luxor and Karnak.
Mudbrick kilns dating to the Roman period (30 B.C.–A.D. 640) are thought to have been used to fire pottery. A wall dated to the Egyptian Late Period (712–332 B.C.)
The Egyptian archaeological mission revealed during the works of the project to restore and revive the major historical road known as the Rams Road, a number of round ovens for burning mud-brick with burning marks, and a huge wall of mud bricks from the Roman and Late Periods.
Dr.. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that these furnaces and fences were found in the Nag Abu Asbah area, and perhaps the furnaces were used in the manufacture of pottery or faience.
As for the wall, it was found west of the procession road of the Temple of Khonsu, about 30 meters high and two and a half meters wide and 3 wide Meters, and consists of 17 courses of mud bricks.
The mission also found a wall that was built from 3 sandstone blocks, which is an extension of the wall that was protecting the eastern bank of the Nile from changing levels of the Nile River during seasons of flooding and burning.
This wall extends from the front of Karnak Temple in the north to Luxor Temple in the south alongside The Great Procession Road is about 3 kilometers long.
Dr. Waziri agreed that the work team has taken all necessary measures to prevent and protect from the new Coronavirus, during the explorations, as all of the project workers are wearing masks and taking social spaces in the course of drilling.
It is worth noting that the excavation work in various areas of the Rams road has been ongoing since 2017 in order to unveil all the rams in it within the framework of the road rehabilitation project, in preparation for its opening soon.
A rare Scythian Husband and wife pair burial from around 1,000 BC Such a beautiful, eternal embrace
An ancient man and woman have been found locked in a loving embrace for 3,000 years in a grave in Ukraine. Archaeologists believe the woman was willingly entombed alive in order to accompany her husband to the next world.
The extraordinary burial sees the couple clasped together since the Bronze Age. The pair, from the prehistoric Vysotskaya – or Wysocko – Culture were found near Petrykiv village, south of the city of Ternopil in western Ukraine.
Professor Mykola Bandrivsky – who conducted a study of ‘loving couple burials’ – said: “It is a unique burial, a man and a woman lying there, hugging each other tight.
“Both faces were gazing at each other, their foreheads were touching.
“The woman was lying on her back, with her right arm she was tenderly hugging the man, her wrist lying on his right shoulder.
“The legs of the woman were bent at the knees – lying on the top of the men’s stretched legs.
“Both the dead humans were clad in bronze decorations, and near the heads was placed some pottery items – a bowl, a jar and three bailers.”
This ancient culture was known for the “tenderness” of its burials, said Dr. Bandrivsky, Director of the Transcarpathian branch of the Rescue Archaeological Service of the Institute of Archeology of Ukraine.
Both the dead humans were clad in bronze decorations
But this example is very striking as autopsy experts say it would not be possible to place the woman’s body in such a loving position if she was already dead.
The experts say it is likely the woman chose to die and be buried with her husband and drank poison as she climbed into the grave and embraced her recently dead husband.
In other cases, burials from this culture have revealed “a man holding the hands of a woman, the lips of a man touching the forehead of a woman, or arms of both dead people hugging each other”.
The pair were from the prehistoric Vysotskaya – or Wysocko – Culture
Dr. Bandrovsky – who has carried out an analysis of such burials – said: “From our point of view, this woman did it voluntarily.
“Maybe, the woman did not want to live with some other man and get used to some new way of life.
“So she preferred to pass away with her husband.
“We suppose such a decision was dictated only by her own desire, and her attempt to stay with her beloved one.”
He added: “She may, for example, have drunk a chalice of poison to make joining her husband easy and painless.”
Marriage was well developed in the Vysotskaya Culture, with husbands and wives having clearly defined responsibilities, he said. A tenet of their beliefs was the idea that thew woman preferred to die with her man.
“People in the Late Bronze Age believed in the eternal life of the human soul.”
The renowned Ukrainian archeologist said: “It is interesting that in other parts of Europe dead men and women in couple burials were laid next to each other.
“But in the Vysotskaya culture, the couples in double graves were arranged in a way to demonstrate the tenderness and greatest sympathy towards each other.”
The tomb of Mayan “God-King” discovered in Guatemala, his status determined by the carved jade mask
The grave of an old Mayan king was found in the pre – Columbian El Perú-Waka ‘s site in Guatemala by archeologists. The royal tomb, dating back to 300–350AD, was the oldest in the northwest part of the Petén region
“We agree this could be one of the first rulers of the Wak empire, even if estimates are preliminary and need further study,” archeologist Griselda Perez Robles told LiveScience via email.
Together with two colleagues, Pérez Robles helped lead the tunnel excavations in the Acropolis of the site and the findings were carried out.
The jade mask found in Burial 80 at the El Perú-Waka’ Regional Archaeological Project in Guatemala. Courtesy of Proyecto Arqueológico Waka’ and the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemala.
“Excavations from outside the building took 76 days of uninterrupted work,” Pérez Robles added, noting that the discovery of the tomb itself took place on day 65 and required eight intensive days of work.
“We removed one of the rocks and could see a funeral chamber with bone remains. Their offerings were covered with cinnabar, which indicated that it was a personage of royalty.”
The discovery of Burial 80 at the El Perú-Waka’ Regional Archaeological Project in Guatemala. Courtesy of Proyecto Arqueológico Waka’ and the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemala.
The tomb, the seventh to be found at the site, has been named Burial 80. It contained a carved jade mask that depicts the departed ruler as the Maya god of maize, as well as 22 ceramic vessels, Spondylus shells, jade ornaments, and a shell pendant carved in the shape of a crocodile.
“The Classic Maya revered their divine rulers and treated them as living souls after death,” David Freidel told the Source at Washington University in St. Louis, where he is a professor of anthropology.
“This king’s tomb helped to make the royal palace acropolis holy ground, a place of majesty, early in the history of the Wak dynasty.”
Excavation of Burial 39 at El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala, Left to right: Jennifer Piehl, Michelle Rich, and Varinia Matute
Located at the intersection of the San Pedro and San Juan rivers, El Perú-Waka’ was a key area of commercial exchange in Petén in ancient times.
“The discovery of Burial 80 allows us to get closer to the knowledge of the first centuries of the site, when it was in development, although it already had an established social organization and a complex ideological system,” said Pérez.
Excavations have been ongoing at the El Perú-Waka’ Regional Archaeological Project since 2003.
“The site, given its history and influence in the region, is extraordinary,” said Pérez Robles. “It would not be surprising if further findings of great relevance continue to be uncovered.”
900,000-year-old footprints of earliest northern Europeans discovered
Footprints left behind by what may be one of our first human ancestors to arrive in Britain have been discovered on a beach in Norfolk. The preserved tracks, which consisted of 49 imprints in soft sedimentary rock, are believed to be around 900,000 years old and could transform scientists understanding of how early humans moved around the world.
The footprints on Happisburgh beach are possibly those of a family in search of food
The footprints were found in what scientists have described as a “million to one” discovery last summer when heavy seas washed the sand off the foreshore in Happisburgh, Norfolk. The find has only now been made public and is thought to be the oldest evidence of early humans in northern Europe yet to be discovered.
Africa cave men settled in Norfolk Anthropologists and evolutionary biologists from around the UK have been studying the tracks, and believe they may have been related to an extinct form of human ancestor known as Homo antecessor, or “Pioneer Man”.
The tracks include up to five different prints, indicating a group of both adults and children walked across the ancient wet estuary silt. They are the earliest direct evidence of human ancestors in the area and may belong to some of the first ever Britons. Until now the oldest human remains to be found in Europe all come from around the far south of the continent, including stone tools found in southern Italy and a tooth found in Spain.
Skull fragments from that are around 780,000 years old hominid – the term used by scientists for early humans – were also found in southern Spain. Previously the oldest evidence of humans in Britain were a set of stone tools dated to 700,000 years ago from near Lowestoft in Suffolk, although more recently stone tools were also discovered at the site in Happisburgh.
Dr Nick Ashton, curator of the department of prehistory of Europe at the British Museum and an archaeologist at University College London, said: “These are the oldest human footprints outside Africa. It is an extremely rare and lucky discovery.
“The slim chance of surviving in the first place, the sea exposing it in the right way and thirdly us finding it at the right time – I’d say it was a million to one find. “Footprints give you a tangible link that stone tools and even human remains cannot replicate. “We were able to build up a picture of what five individuals were doing on one day. “The Happisburgh site continues to re-write our understanding of the early human occupation of Britain and indeed Europe.”
The discovery was unveiled at the British Museum in London and in the scientific journal PLOS One and will feature in a new exhibition at the Natural History Museum. There are only three other sites in the world that have older footprints, all of which are in Africa – a set is 3.5 million years old in Tanzania and some that are 1.5 million years old in Kenya. The Happisburgh prints were uncovered at low tide after stormy seas removed large amounts of sand from the beach to reveal a series of elongated hollows in the compacted ancient silt.
The prints were first noticed when a low tide uncovered them
The sea has now washed away the prints – but not before they were recorded
Scientists removed the remaining sand and sponged off the seawater before taking 3D scans and images of the surface. In some cases, researchers were able to identify heel marks, foot arches, and even toes from the prints. They found prints equivalent to up to a UK shoe size eight. They also estimate that the individuals who left the prints ranged from around two feet 11 inches tall to five feet eight inches tall. At least two or three of the group were thought to be children and one was possibly an adult male.
Dr Isabelle De Groote, an anthropologist at Liverpool John Moores University who studied the prints, said: “We have identified at least five individuals here.
“It is likely they were somehow related, and if they were not direct family members they will have belonged to the same family group. “The footprints were fairly close together so we think they were walking rather than running. Most were directly alongside the river in a southerly direction but also there were some going in all different directions like they were pottering around.
“If you imagine walking along a beach now with children then they would be running around.”
Unfortunately the prints themselves were quickly eroded away by the sea and have now been lost. Happisburgh is one of the fastest eroding parts of the British coastline. The Environment Agency and local authority decided some years ago to abandon maintenance of the sea defences there as it was no longer considered to be cost effective.
Scientists hope, however, that as further parts of the coastline are eroded more evidence of human activity and perhaps more footprints will be uncovered. From their analysis of the prints, researchers believe the group was probably heading in a southerly direction over what would at the time have been an estuary surrounded by salt marsh and coniferous forest.
At the time Britain was connected to continental Europe by land and the site at Happisburgh would have been on the banks of a wide estuary several miles from the coast. The estuary itself would have provided a rich array of plants, seaweed and shellfish. Fossils of mammoth, an extinct kind of horse and early forms of voles have also been found at the site Happisburgh.
The early humans could also have hunted or scavenged the grazing herds for meat. The discovery of the footprints is particularly significant as there are few surviving tracks of human ancestors elsewhere in the world. Scientists can glean large amounts of information about our ancestors, including the size of the groups they travelled in, how they walked, their size and weight.
The prints were discovered in deposits that have also revealed stone tools and fossilized bones dating to between 800,000 and one million years ago. Dr. Simon Lewis, a geoarchaeologist at the Queen Mary University of London, said: “Although we knew the sediments were old, we had to be certain that the hollows were also ancient and hadn’t been created recently.
There are no known erosional processes that create that pattern. In addition, the sediments are too complicated for the hollows to have been made recently.” Early primitive human ancestors first began to appear in Africa around 4.4 million years ago and are thought to have only left the continent around 1.8 million years ago and are not thought to have arrived in Europe until around 1 million years ago. Extinct species such as the Neanderthals appeared first appeared between 400,000 and 600,000 years ago, while modern humans – Homo sapiens – first began to emerge from Africa around 125,000 years ago but did not arrive in Europe until around 40,000 years ago.
It is thought that the footprints may have belonged to a relative of a Homo antecessor – an extinct hominid species that may have been a common ancestor to both modern humans and Neanderthals, although such theories are still highly disputed.
Remains from Homo antecessor were discovered in the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain. Professor Chris Stringer, an eminent anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London who worked with the team, said: “The humans who made the Happisburgh footprints may well have been related to the people of similar antiquity from Atapuerca in Spain, assigned to the species Homo antecessor.
“These people were of a similar height to ourselves and were fully bipedal. They seem to have become extinct in Europe by 600,000 years ago and were perhaps replaced by the species Homo heidelbergensis.
“Neanderthals followed from about 400,000 years ago and eventually modern humans some 40,000 years ago.”
