EUROPE, SPAIN, WORLD

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

Significant prehistoric rock art has been discovered in La Febro, in southwestern Catalonia. The team that discovered the art inside Cova de la Vila described it as “exceptional, both for its singularity and excellent state of conservation.”

In the Cova de la Vila cave in La Febró (Tarragona), in northeastern Spain’s region of Catalonia, more than 100 prehistoric engravings have been found, arranged on an eight-meter panel.

According to experts, it is a composition related to the worldview of agricultural societies and farmers of the territory. One of the singularities of this mural is that it is made exclusively with the engraving technique, with stone or wood tools.

The engravings include shapes that resemble horses, cows, suns, and stars.

Julio Serrano, Montserrat Roca, and Francesc Rubinat were the cavers responsible for the discovery; they collaborated with Josep Vallverd, Antonio Rodrguez-Hidalgo, and Diego Lombao, researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), and Ramón Vias, an expert in prehistoric rock art.

It was in May 2021, during some scans and topographical work by a group of speleologists in the Barranc de la Cova del Corral, that they discovered the Cova de la Vila, a cavity excavated by Salvador Vilaseca in the 1940s and whose coordinates appear to have been lost.

The set is very homogeneous stylistically and presents few overlaps. From the stylistic point of view, the set is part of the post-Paleolithic schematic art. It is an art associated with peasant and livestock communities during the transition period between the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age, that is, between 5,000 and 3,000 years BC.

In Catalonia, these types of ensembles, in underground cavities, are very rare, being the case of the Sala dels Gravats of the karstic complex of Cova de la Vila exceptional for being inside a cave and possibly associated with an archaeological context.

These types of representations are uncommon in Catalan territory, though some examples can be found, such as the Vallmajor Cave in Albinyana, Baix Penedès. In the peninsular area, it would be classified as “underground black schematic and abstract schematic,” which are heterogeneous groups distinguished by their formal or typological, thematic, and technical affinities.

La Pileta and Nerja in Málaga, La Murcielaguina in Córdoba, and the Los Enebralejos caves in Segovia, the Galera del Flex in Burgos, or the Maja Cave in Soria are some Andalusian caves with painted (black or red) or engraved representations and similar chronologies.

The engravings are in exceptional condition, but they are extremely fragile due to the instability of the support on which they are found. Because it is a soft and humid surface, changes in the atmospheric conditions in the room may affect the conservation of the panel.

To ensure these climatic conditions, the Department of Culture, the Febró Town Hall, and the IPHES collaborated to close it both outside and inside, ensuring its physical conservation. Similarly, a closure has been installed in the access to the cat flap, which provides direct access to the Sala dels Gravats, to return it to the climatic conditions it had prior to discovery.

A unique set of engravings

The rock art collection of the Sala dels Gravats of the Cova de la Vila karstic complex is completely unique. Despite the fact that its research phase has not yet begun, all indications point to it being one of the best compositions of post-paleolithic subterranean abstract art in the entire Mediterranean region.

On one of the cave walls, a large number of schematic representations have been discovered. The engraving panel is made up of five horizontal lines, one on top of the other, with different engraved figures that each have their own meaning and symbolism.

Various figures such as quadrupeds, zigzags, linear, angular strokes, and circles are represented. There are several zoomorphs (possibly bovids and equines), steliforms (single and/or stars), and reticulates that stand out. There’s also a composition that looks like an ‘eyeballed’ idol. The overall aesthetic is very consistent, with few stylistic overlaps.

The distribution of the various elements suggests that it could be a composition: zoomorphic in the lower part of the panel, reticulated, particularly in the central part, and steliform in the upper part of the group, with an eye in the upper part of the group.

ARMENIA, ASIA, WORLD

Archaeologists uncovered a ‘golden tomb’ during excavations in Armenia

Archaeologists uncovered a ‘golden tomb’ during excavations in Armenia

Archaeologists uncovered a ‘golden tomb’ during excavations in Armenia

A team of archaeologists made up of Polish and Armenian scientists has discovered a “golden tomb” containing two skeletons in Metsamor, Armenia.

The team discovered the remains of three gold necklaces while excavating the grave of two people, most likely a couple (a man and a woman). The tomb dates back to Ramesses II’s rule over Egypt.

Metsamor is one of the most studied archaeological monuments of V-I century BC in the Armenian Highland, and throughout the Ancient Near East. It includes the Bronze-Iron Age settlement (citadel, city districts, and celestial observation platform) as well as the cemetery.

The land area exceeds 200 hectares. The site is located in the Ararat plain, about 35 kilometers west of Yerevan, in the Taronik administrative district.

The ancient site of Metsamor is the place where the oldest known gold jewelry in the territory of Armenia was found.

Discovery was a cist grave, meaning that the two skeletons were found in chambers dug in the ground and lined with large stones. Researchers also found the remains of a wooden burial bed.

Metsamor. View of the citadel.

“Their death is a mystery to us, we do not know the cause, but everything indicates that they died at the same time, because there are no traces of tomb reopening,” said the head of the research project, Professor Krzysztof Jakubiak from the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw.

The bones, according to archaeologists, were well preserved. Both skeletons had slightly crouched legs. According to preliminary estimates, the couple died between the ages of 30 and 40.

Professor Krzysztof Jakubiak believes that this is a unique find because the very richly equipped grave has not been robbed.

Archaeologists discovered over a hundred beads and gold pendants inside the tomb. Some of them look like Celtic crosses. There were also a large number of carnelian pendants.

“All these elements probably made up three necklaces,” said Professor Jakubiak.

The ancient site of Metsamor is the place where the oldest known gold jewelry in the territory of Armenia was found.

A dozen or so complete ceramic vessels and a unique faience flask were also found in the grave. The flask had not been made in the area. It was brought from the Syrian-Mesopotamian borderland, according to the researchers.

Archaeologists do not know who lived in Metsamor at that time (in the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE). The people who inhabited the large, fortified settlement there were not literate, so they left no texts. This makes identifying them difficult for scientists.

Jakubiak said: “But it was a very large settlement. Even fortifications made of huge stone blocks have survived to our times, encircling the so-called citadel on the hill. At the end of the 2nd millennium BCE, there was no other settlement in the region that could be compared in terms of importance and size.”

AFRICA, SUDAN, WORLD

Bone tools for bleeding cows discovered in a 7,000-year-old cemetery in Sudan

Bone tools for bleeding cows discovered in a 7,000-year-old cemetery in Sudan

Bone tools for bleeding cows discovered in a 7,000-year-old cemetery in Sudan

During excavations in the Letti basin in northern Sudan, archaeologists have unearthed 7,000-year-old bone tools used to bleed cows. Explorers believe this may be the earliest evidence of such a practice.

7,000-year-old burials were discovered during the excavation of a cemetery in the Letti Basin, including the remains of an elderly man and animal skin fragments that had been dyed red by the mineral ochre.

The burials belonged to some of the region’s first cattle breeders.

Along with five bone blades probably made from cattle bones, the burial pit also contained a small bowl with ochre traces.

The bone blades had a funnel-like or gutter-like shape and were still razor-sharp, as revealed by a closer inspection.

The tools immediately drew the attention of researchers, Piotr Osypiński, one of the excavations’ lead archaeologists, told Science in Poland.

Experts believe these tools were used for cattle bloodletting, the release said. The custom of bleeding cows is still practiced today by the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania, Osypiński said.

Dr. Piotr Osypiński, said: “Given the characteristic shape of the blades, they could have been used to bleed cows, similar to modern African shepherds, such as the Maasai.

Without any harm to the animals, cows’ blood is drunk on special occasions, usually mixed with milk. It would be the oldest known record of this type of practice”.

For the Maasai people, cow’s blood is “both ordinary and sacred food,”  and is “considered beneficial for people with weakened immune systems” with its high amount of protein.

Blood can be consumed on its own, mixed with milk, or mixed into other cooked dishes. Cattle bleeding entails nicking the animal’s neck, collecting the blood in a bowl, and then clotting the wound to ensure proper healing.

At a different cemetery burial, more bone blades were discovered. The remains of a young man were curled up in a fetal position in this tiny oval grave.

The deceased, with a small, precisely cut hole in his skull, was covered with animal skin dyed in ochre.

According to the press release, the man’s skull hole may have contributed to his demise. It’s unclear whether this hole was made during surgery or as part of a ritual.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Pottery Unearthed at Pompeian Villa

Pottery Unearthed at Pompeian Villa

The ancient city of Pompeii has long been celebrated as one of the richest archaeological sites of all time, and now its surrounding suburbs are finally getting their due attention.

Pottery Unearthed at Pompeian Villa
Newly discovered pottery at the villa Civita Giuliana, an archaeological site in the suburbs of Pompeii.

Researchers have announced new additions to the growing list of unique finds that have recently been made at a nearby villa, Civita Giuliana.

These items of pottery include fired ceramic bowls found upside down along the walls of a room that was likely part of the servants’s quarters within a vast residential complex. It is assumed that this crockery was in situ at the time of the final phase of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 C.E.

Two years ago, the site made headlines for the stunning discovery of a ceremonial chariot decorated with silver reliefs, a stable containing the remains of a horse still dressed in a caparison as well as evidence of what may have been a small slave family in an adjoining room.

In 2020, two bodies that are believed to be a man and a slave attempting to escape the eruption were also found.

The dig began in 2017, but attempts to unearth the secrets of Civita Giuliana have long been impeded by looters who targeted the site as its more remote position left it relatively unprotected.

To counter these illegal excavations, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the prosecutor’s office for the local city and commune of Torre Annunziata and the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in 2019 and renewed in 2021.

This unique partnership is the first of its kind in ensuring collaboration and mutual support between archaeological researchers and law enforcement.

“In a territory so rich in history and yet so abused, which still hides important traces of the past, as the discoveries of recent years have shown, it is essential that the protection of cultural heritage and legality go hand in hand,” said Massimo Osanna, former director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

The agreement has supported researchers in a new scientific investigation of the site, which includes stratigraphic studies to reveal details about daily Roman life that aren’t well documented in written sources from the period.

This work has required the closure of a modern road running through the site, which had already been made structurally vulnerable by the elaborate network of underground tunnels made and used by looters.

The Civita Giuliana villa will become part of the wider Pompeii system and will eventually welcome tourists.

“These finds demonstrate the commitment and ability of the state to stem the scourge of clandestine excavations and the trade in archaeological goods,” said Italy’s minister of culture Gennaro Sangiuliano.

“Pompeii is the pride of Italy and it is our intention to further defend and promote a heritage that is unique worldwide.”

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh-sphinx statues unearthed at sun temple

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh-sphinx statues unearthed at sun temple

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh-sphinx statues unearthed at sun temple
This head of a sphinx statue shows Ramesses II, a ruler who expanded Egypt’s empire.

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered broken statues of ancient royalty at a sun temple in Heliopolis, an archaeological site that was once a major city near what is now Cairo. 

The stone-carved fragments include depictions of Ramesses II (reign circa 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C.), Ramesses IX (reign circa 1126 B.C. to 1108 B.C), Horemheb (reign circa 1323 B.C. to 1295 B.C.) and Psamtik II (reign 595 B.C. to 589 B.C.), the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement released March 20. 

Sun temples are found at a number of sites in Egypt and are dedicated to Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god, but the sun temple at Heliopolis was of particular importance. (Heliopolis is a Greek name; the Egyptian name was Iunu.) 

According to ancient Egyptian belief, Heliopolis is where “the world was created, with the first sunrise,” excavation dig leader Dietrich Raue, the director of the Cairo department of the German Archaeological Institute, told Live Science in an email.

“Here the connection of kingship to the creator and sun god was celebrated,” Raue said, noting that pharaohs constructed statues, obelisks, and other structures at Heliopolis to legitimize their rule and honor the sun god. 

The heads of the pharaohs were part of sphinxes. This shows a fragment of the bottom of a sphinx.

“Serving the gods was one of the major duties of ancient Egyptian kings, and dedicating statues is a part of this,” Raue explained. “Ideally, no ruler of Egypt should be in office without the blessing of the sun god.” 

The newly discovered statue fragments, which show the heads of the pharaohs on sphinxes, would have been placed in front of gates or beside obelisks at the sun temple, Raue said. At some point in antiquity, the statues were destroyed and reused as building materials, he added.

Live Science contacted scholars not involved with the excavation to get their thoughts. “The abundant statuary material found by the mission testify of the long-lasting importance of the site in pharaonic [times],” Massimiliano Nuzzolo, an Egyptologist with the Polish Academy of Sciences who is studying a sun temple at Abu Ghurab in Egypt, told Live Science in an email.

The pharaoh-sphinx findings also reveal “the wish of the kings of the second and first millennium [B.C.] to leave a tangible sign of their worship for the sun god Ra in one of the main places of Egyptian civilization,” Nuzzolo added.

Peter Brand, a history professor who specializes in Egyptology at the University of Memphis, said that there is much we still don’t know about Heliopolis. For instance, while Ramesses II was a prominent pharaoh who expanded Egypt’s empire, it’s not clear if he rebuilt parts of this sun temple or continued using an older one.

“Archeologists have only scratched the surface of this area,” Brand told Live Science in an email. “Much of its rich and complex history over the course of three millennia of pharaonic history patiently await[s] discovery beneath the desert sands.”

Here we see part of the sun temple that is under excavation.
ASIA, WORLD

Early Pearling Town Discovered on Persian Gulf Island

Early Pearling Town Discovered on Persian Gulf Island

Archaeologists said Monday they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates.

Journalists film uncovered ruins on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 20, 2023. Archaeologists said Monday they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates.
Archaeologists and journalists walk past uncovered ruins on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 20, 2023. Archaeologists said Monday they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates.

Artifacts found in this town on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, likely once home to thousands of people and hundreds of homes, date as far back as the region’s pre-Islamic history in the late 6th century.

While older pearling towns have been mentioned in historical texts, this represents the first time archaeologists say they have physically found one from this ancient era across the nations of the Persian Gulf.

A journalist films uncovered ruins on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 20, 2023. Archaeologists said Monday they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, March 16, 2023. Archaeologists said Monday, March 20, 2023, that they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of its northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, further expanding this young nation’s understanding of its pre-Islamic history.

“This is the oldest example of that kind of very specifically Khaleeji pearling town,” said Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the United Arab Emirates University, using a word that means “Gulf” in Arabic. “It’s the spiritual ancestor of towns like Dubai.”

The pearling town sits on Siniyah Island, which shields the Khor al-Beida marshlands in Umm al-Quwain, an emirate some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Dubai along the coast of the Persian Gulf.

The island, whose name means “flashing lights” likely due to the effect of the white-hot sun overhead, already has seen archaeologists discover an ancient Christian monastery dating back as many as 1,400 years.

The town sits directly south of that monastery on one of the curling fingers of the island and stretches across some 12 hectares (143,500 square yards). There, archaeologists found a variety of homes made of beach rock and lime mortar, ranging from cramped quarters to more sprawling homes with courtyards, suggesting a social stratification, Power said.

This photo captured by a drone shows ruins on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 20, 2023. Archaeologists said Monday that they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of its northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, further expanding this young nation’s understanding of its pre-Islamic history.

The site also bears signs of year-round habitation, unlike other pearling operations run in seasonal spots in the region.

“The houses are crammed in there, cheek by jowl,” he added. “The key thing there is permanence. People are living there all year around.”

In the homes, archaeologists have discovered loose pearls and diving weights, which the free divers used to quickly drop down to the seabed while relying only on their held breath.

The town predates the rise of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula, making its residents likely Christians. Islam’s Prophet Muhammad was born around 570 and died in 632 after conquering Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia.

Umm al-Quwain’s Department of Tourism and Archaeology, UAE University, the Italian Archaeological Mission in the emirate and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University all took part in the excavation. Umm al-Quwain, the least-populated emirate in the UAE, plans to build a visitor’s center at the site.

Today, the area near the marshland is more known for the low-cost liquor store at the emirate’s Barracuda Beach Resort. In recent months, authorities have demolished a hulking, Soviet-era cargo plane linked to a Russian gunrunner known as the “Merchant of Death” as it builds a bridge to Siniyah Island for a $675 million real estate development.

Authorities hope that development, as well as other building, will grow the emirate’s economy.

However, even this ancient site bears lessons for the Emirates.


The story of pearling, which rapidly collapsed after World War I with the introduction of artificial pearls and the Great Depression, holds particular importance in the history of the UAE — particularly as it faces a looming reckoning with another extractive industry. While crude oil sales built the country after its formation in 1971, the Emirates will have to confront its fossil fuel legacy and potentially plan for a carbon-neutral future as it hosts the United Nations COP28 climate talks later this year.

Those searching the site found a dumpsite nearby filled with the detritus of discarded oyster shells. People walking across the island can feel those remains crunching under their feet in areas as well.

“You only find one pearl in every 10,000 oyster shells. You have to find and discard thousands and thousands of oyster shells to find one,” Power said. ”The waste, the industrial waste of the pearling industry, was colossal. You’re dealing with millions, millions of oyster shells discarded.”

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

Scientists Review Beethoven’s Health With Hair Samples

Scientists Review Beethoven’s Health With Hair Samples

Beethoven suffered from liver disease – possibly from his alcohol consumption – and hepatitis B, researchers found

Beethoven had a likely genetic predisposition to liver disease and a hepatitis B infection months before his death, tests have revealed.

A team of researchers led by Cambridge University analysed five locks of hair to sequence the composer’s genome. They were, however, unable to establish a definitive cause of his hearing loss.

Lead author, Tristan Begg, said genetic risk factors, coupled with Beethoven’s high alcohol consumption, may have contributed to his liver condition.

The international team analysed strands from eight locks of hair kept in public and private collections, in a bid to shed light on Beethoven’s health problems.

Five locks were deemed “authentic” by the researchers and came from a single European male. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770 and died at the age of 56 in Vienna, in 1827.

Scientists Review Beethoven’s Health With Hair Samples
The so-called Halm-Thayer Lock and the Bermann Lock of what is believed to be Beethoven’s hair

The prodigious composer and pianist suffered progressive hearing loss, which began in his mid to late 20s and led to him being functionally deaf by 1818.

A scientist examines the Moscheles Lock, believed to be Beethoven’s hair, in a laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Mr Begg said the team surmised from the composer’s “conversation books” – which he used in the last decade of his life – that Beethoven’s alcohol intake was regular, but the volumes he consumed were difficult to estimate.

“While most of his contemporaries claim his consumption was moderate by early 19th Century Viennese standards, this still likely amounted to quantities of alcohol known today to be harmful to the liver,” he said.

“If his alcohol consumption was sufficiently heavy over a long enough period of time, the interaction with his genetic risk factors presents one possible explanation for his cirrhosis.”

The Stumpff Lock is one of five pieces of Beethoven’s hair studied in a bid to determine the composer’s health issues

The team said, based on the genomic data, that Beethoven’s gastrointestinal issues were not caused by coeliac disease or lactose intolerance.

Johannes Krause, from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, said: “We cannot say definitely what killed Beethoven but we can now at least confirm the presence of significant heritable risk and infection with hepatitis B virus.

“We can also eliminate several other less plausible genetic causes.”

Dr Axel Schmidt, of the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital of Bonn, said: “Although a clear genetic underpinning for Beethoven’s hearing loss could not be identified, the scientists caution that such a scenario cannot be strictly ruled out.”

The so-called Stumpff Lock, believed to be Beethoven’s hair, which was tested to sequence the genome of the composer

Genetic genealogists also identified what they describe as an “extra-pair paternity event” – a child resulting from an affair – in Beethoven’s direct paternal line.

Mr Begg added: “We hope that by making Beethoven’s genome publicly available for researchers, and perhaps adding further authenticated locks to the initial chronological series, remaining questions about his health and genealogy can someday be answered.”

MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Burial Chamber Uncovered at Maya Site of Palenque

Burial Chamber Uncovered at Maya Site of Palenque

Burial Chamber Uncovered at Maya Site of Palenque

The discovery of a burial chamber in the archaeological zone of Palenque with a primary burial, composed of a human skeleton, and a secondary burial, an offering made up of three plates and a niche with various green stone figures, was reported by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), informed its director Diego Prieto during the morning conference of President López Obrador, from Palenque, Chiapas.

Prieto Hernandez emphasized that the discovery was registered during the salvage of Structure CP3, during the construction works of the Mayan Train.

The head of INAH explained that the skeleton of the individual of the primary burial presents a face-up position and is oriented towards the north, something usual in the ancient funerary customs of Palenque.

The skeletal remains of the second deposit would correspond to a woman, who was probably buried in a different place.

Prieto Hernandez said that there is also another skull, of which the analyses continue for its identification.

The archaeological salvage tasks, said Diego Prieto, are practically concluded, nevertheless, the archaeologists and other professionals continue with the analysis and interpretation of the archaeological information.

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