ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Evidence of a Roman shrine dating back was discovered during dig at Leicester Cathedral

Evidence of a Roman shrine dating back was discovered during dig at Leicester Cathedral

Evidence of a Roman shrine dating back was discovered during dig at Leicester Cathedral

Excavations by the University of Leicester archaeologists for have uncovered evidence that the site of Leicester Cathedral has been used for worship and religious observance for nearly 1,800 years.

In order to make room for the construction of a visitor and learning center, the cathedral was closed in January 2022. During excavations, which have been carried out as part of the £12.7m Leicester Cathedral Revealed project, thousands of finds have been uncovered.

The excavations revealed the cellar of a Roman building, which contained the base of an altar stone, raising the possibility that the room was a shrine or cult room.

When the archaeologists reached the Roman period level, approximately 10 feet (3 meters) below ground, they discovered evidence of a well-made semi-subterranean structure with painted stone walls and a concrete floor.

The decorative paintwork suggests that the space, which measures about four by four meters, was used as a reception room rather than a storage area, possibly within a larger structure such as a townhouse.

Archaeologists excavate a Roman cellar at Leicester Cathedral.

The sunken room was probably built in the 2nd century AD and was deliberately dismantled and filled in, possibly in the late 3rd or 4th century, the University of Leicester said in a press release.

They also discovered the base of an altar stone within that space, lying broken and face down amidst the rubble. The altar, which measures 25cm by 15cm and is carved from local Dane Hills sandstone, has decorative mouldings on three sides.

The back is plain, indicating that it was intended to be placed against a wall. It would have originally stood taller than it was wide, perhaps around 60cm tall, but it is broken mid-shaft and the upper part of the pedestal and capital are missing.

Mathew Morris, Project Officer at the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (Ulas) who led the excavations, said: “Given the combination of a subterranean structure with painted walls and the altar we have found, one interpretation, which seemed to grow in strength as we excavated more, could be that this was a room linked with the worship of a god or gods. What we’re likely looking at here is a private place of worship, either a family shrine or a cult room where a small group of individuals shared in private worship.

The finds have revealed a lot of new information about Leicester’s past.

“Underground chambers like this have often been linked with fertility and mystery cults and the worship of gods such as Mithras, Cybele, Bacchus, Dionysius, and the Egyptian goddess Isis. Sadly, no evidence of an inscription survived on our altar, but it would have been the primary site for sacrifice and offerings to the gods, and a key part of their religious ceremonies.”

“The discovery of a Roman altar at Leicester Cathedral, the first to ever be found in Leicester, is an amazing find for the Leicester Cathedral Revealed project. For centuries there has been a tradition that a Roman temple once stood on the site of the present Cathedral. This folk tale gained wide acceptance in the late 19th century when a Roman building was discovered during the rebuilding of the church tower.

The origins of this story have always been unclear but given that we’ve found a potential Roman shrine, along with burials deliberately interred into the top of it after it’s been demolished, and then the church and its burial ground on top of that, are we seeing a memory of this site being special in the Roman period that has survived to the present day?”

Leicester is one of the most excavated cities in Britain, and much is known about the Roman town that came before it, Ratae Corieltavorum.

This most recent dig aimed to look at different facets of the city’s history and discover more about the Cathedral’s early history as a parish church.  Experts will be able to trace the history of this area of Leicester back to the Victorian era, as well as Medieval, Saxon, Roman, and possibly even early Iron Age settlements.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Sphinx Uncovered in Upper Egypt

Sphinx Uncovered in Upper Egypt

An Egyptian archaeological mission from Ain Shams University uncovered a smiling sphinx of a Roman emperor and remains of a shrine during excavation work carried out today at the eastern side of Dendara Temple in Qena, where Horus Temple was once located.

Sphinx Uncovered in Upper Egypt

Former minister of antiquities and professor of Egyptology at Ain Shams University Mamdouh El-Damaty said the remains of the shrine are carved in limestone and consist of a two-level platform with foundations and a ramp.

In the shrine, a mudbrick Byzantine basin with a ladder covered with plaster was found. During cleaning, a smiling sphinx carved in limestone was uncovered in the basin.

“It is a beautifully and accurately carved sphinx,” said El-Damaty, explaining that it bears royal facial features with a smiling face and two dimples.

The statue wears the names on his head with the cobra-shaped ureas.

“Primary examination of the statue shows that it could belong to the Roman emperor Claudianoius,” El-Damaty said, adding that Roman stelae written in Demotic and Hieroglyphic were also unearthed beneath the statue.

Studies will be carried out to read the stelae which could reveal the identity of the statue or the secrets of the area.

The mission, which started its excavation work in November, will continue its work in the area to uncover more of the Horus Temple blocks.

EUROPE, WORLD

Skeleton Study Tracks Europe’s First Equestrians

Skeleton Study Tracks Europe’s First Equestrians

Skeleton Study Tracks Europe’s First Equestrians
A Yamnaya grave of a male horse rider found in Malomirovo, Bulgaria. He died between the ages of 65 and 75.

Archaeologists accidentally discovered the world’s earliest horseback riders while studying skeletons found beneath 5,000-year-old burial mounds in Europe and Asia, a new study finds.

The ancient riders were part of the so-called Yamnaya culture, groups of semi-nomadic people who swept across Europe and western Asia, bringing the precursor to the Indo-European language family with them.

The findings strengthen the hypothesis that the horse played an integral part in the expansion of this group, and therefore, in the spread of the Indo-European language.

The new analysis came from 217 human skeletons from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, a geographical area that runs roughly from Bulgaria to Kazakhstan. For decades, researchers have debated when horses were domesticated. In Kazakhstan, 5,000-year-old horse skeletons show wear on their teeth that could have been from bridles, while others have found possible fenced enclosures. In the same time period, horse milk peptides have been detected in the dental plaque of people from Russia.

Importantly, the geographical explosion of the Yamnaya culture — which expanded across 3,000 miles (4,500 kilometers) over a mere century or two — suggests horses may have assisted as transportation animals.

A map of the Yamnaya and Afanasievo distribution in Eurasia about 5,000 years ago.

But there was no direct evidence that the Yamnaya culture regularly domesticated horses. 

So archaeologist Martin Trautmann of the University of Helsinki in Finland and his colleagues collected data on six diagnostic skeletal traits that have been collectively called “horsemanship syndrome.” Since bone is a living tissue, it responds to stresses placed on it. Consistent horseback riding can cause trauma and spine degeneration, but it can also result in more subtle changes to the leg and hip bones as the human body adapts to regular riding.

An Egyptian drawing of the goddess Astarte on horseback that dates to the 19th dynasty, about 1,500 years after the first known Yamnaya riders. This horse has a stock build and is smaller and shorter than modern horses are.
This limestone Egyptian relief shows a messenger on horseback from the Horemheb tomb, Saqqara, late 18th dynasty. Bronze Age riders are usually show a rider position known as “chair seat,” which didn’t use a padded saddle or stirrups.

In the skeletons from 39 sites across Eastern Europe, Trautmann and colleagues found that two dozen had at least half of the traits of horsemanship syndrome. 

They are most confident, however, about the identification of five Yamnaya culture individuals hailing from what is now Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary as likely equestrians. 

“Our findings provide a strong argument that horseback riding was already a common activity for some Yamnaya individuals as early as 3000 [B.C.],” they wrote in their paper.

The Yamnaya people didn’t ride Przewalski’s horses, but these hoofed animals are likely close to what ancient horses looked like in terms of appearance, color and size.

Birgit Bühler, an archaeologist at the University of Vienna, told Live Science in an email that she is “excited about their research.” However, Bühler, who has studied horsemanship syndrome but was not involved in this work, was concerned about the researchers’ ability to measure changes to the hip sockets given the poor state of conservation of many of the bones. “Because two major traits are missing, I feel that caution is required in interpreting the evidence,” she said.

Most of the skeletons were in such poor condition that horsemanship couldn’t be analyzed. Taking that into account, however, “we guess that more than 30% of male adult Yamnaya individuals were riding frequently,” Trautmann told Live Science in an email.

The remains of a horse rider found in Malomirovo, Bulgaria. He had a Yamnaya-style burial, and radiocarbon dating puts him in the 30th century B.C.

Shevan Wilkin, a biomolecular archaeologist at the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, who was not involved in this study, told Live Science in an email that the researchers’ findings about the Yamnaya are interesting but “not surprising considering their vast Early Bronze Age expansions.” Expanding so quickly and spreading their genes over such a vast area would have been difficult without horses.

Although skeletons with horsemanship syndrome are rarely found, their identification by archaeologists gives us new information about what it was like to live on the eastern steppe five millennia ago. “For now,” Trautmann said, “it seems riding was mostly a male activity, probably connected to herding, and training probably started early.”

The new discovery was described in an article published Friday (March 3) in Scientific Advances.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

‘Startling’ new evidence reveals gladiators fought in Roman Britain

‘Startling’ new evidence reveals gladiators fought in Roman Britain

Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 film Gladiator.

Gladiator fights backed by roaring crowds in impressive-looking arenas have long inspired film-makers behind classics such as Gladiator and Spartacus. Now new research reveals for the first time that such a sporting spectacle took place in Britain in the late second century AD.

Crucial evidence has been discovered within a spectacular vase – decorated with a depiction of gladiatorial combat – which was unearthed from a Roman grave in Colchester in 1853.

New tests prove the Colchester Vase was made of local clay around AD 160-200 and that an inscription bearing the names of two featured gladiators was cut into the clay before firing, rather than afterwards, as previously assumed. It was therefore an intrinsic part of the vessel’s original design rather than a later addition to a generic arena representation.

That means the vase was the ultimate in sports memorabilia, perhaps commissioned by a gladiator trainer or owner, or someone else involved with such contests.

Frank Hargrave, director of Colchester and Ipswich Museums (CIMS), which owns the vase, told the Observer the research has led to “startling new conclusions”, showing its true significance in recording a real spectacle in Colchester, known to the Romans as Camulodunum.

“It’s the only evidence of a Roman arena gladiator combat actually being staged in Britain,” he said. “There are no written descriptions. The vase is such high quality that there’s been a bit of snobbery, an assumption that it couldn’t possibly have come from Britain, whereas all the analysis has now put that to bed.”

‘Startling’ new evidence reveals gladiators fought in Roman Britain
The clay vase, bearing depictions of gladiators and bear-baiters, was discovered in a Roman grave in Colchester.

Glynn Davis, a Roman archaeologist and CIMS senior curator, described the findings as “incredibly significant”. “There’s nothing else like that from Britain. It’s a commemorative piece, almost a trophy for the trophy cabinet. Later, it’s used as a funerary vessel.

There must be an intimate connection with the deceased. They could well have sponsored the games. Or they were an absolute sports nut. For whatever reason, they saw the fight and thought, ‘I want a memento of that’.”

The research involved a large team, including academics from the universities of Durham, London and Reading. Their osteological and isotopic analysis of the cremated human remains within the vase revealed a “non-local” male of “potentially European origin”, aged over 40.

The vase – 212mm x 158mm – reflects that gladiatorial combat was part of Roman arena spectacles, where programmes included exotic animals. Its decoration features two men baiting a bear and a dog chasing a hare and deer.

Gladiators were typically paired with different combinations of armaments, and the vase shows a “secutor”, whose full armour included a heavy shield and helmet, and a “retiarius” who, with little more than a shoulder-guard, could move quickly, inflicting a blow with his trident or ensnaring his opponent with his net. Although the secutor was well-armoured, he was weighed down and his vision was restricted.

The gladiators were slaves, and those on the vase are identified as Memnon and Valentinus, thought to be stage names.

John Pearce, senior lecturer in archaeology at King’s College London, argued that – as such names were sometimes based on Homeric heroes – that of Memnon may have been inspired by the mythical bellicose king of the Ethiopians, whose martial reputation was second only to Achilles, who later slew him at Troy. “Memnon appears quite often in Roman literature. He’s described as this massively impressive ‘black-skinned’ person, this hero who comes from Troy. I’m wondering why Memnon would be chosen as the name of the gladiator. Is that because we’ve got a black gladiator who is from somewhere well south of Colchester – from north Africa?”

The vase shows the moment after Memnon overcomes his opponent, who is holding up his forefinger in a sign of submission by gladiators.

In their forthcoming research paper, Davis and Pearce write: “The ad digitum gesture by Valentinus signals the end of combat, but the decision to spare or slaughter him, and thus his fate as victim or survivor … is unreported.”

Davis said: “You’re looking at this moment in time. Is Valentinus spared? That would be down to the owner of the gladiators and sponsor of the games, as they are slaves.”

While gladiators were seen as social outcasts, they were also celebrities. Their gruelling training was an expensive investment, and owners were reluctant to see them slaughtered.

Most contests were not fights to the death, Davis said. Although he praised their portrayal in classic films such as Spartacus and Gladiator, he added: “There’s a lot of misconception about gladiators in the ancient world. It was big business and they were a commodity. Although thousands of people died in arenas in the Roman world, they were generally criminals and prisoners of war. Gladiators did die, but not in this bloodbath of popular culture.”

Although no amphitheatre – the usual arena for gladiatorial combat – has yet been discovered, Colchester has two Roman theatres where such an event could have been staged. Pearce said: “With our re-analysis of the Colchester Vase, we can be confident that this was an event that took place here.”

The vase will be displayed in a major exhibition on gladiators at Colchester Castle from 15 July. Roman oil lamps, including one shaped as a gladiator’s helmet, will be among the exhibits.

EUROPE, WORLD

Genetic Study Examines Europe’s Hunter-Gatherers

Genetic Study Examines Europe’s Hunter-Gatherers

The Gravettian populations were widespread around Europe about 32,000-24,000 years ago. Although these prehistoric human groups differed in terms of genetics, they did share similar cultural traits. On the left we see a depiction of the west Gravettian population that survived during the Last Glacial Maximum while sadly the eastern and south Gravettian populations disappeared.

A previously unknown lineage of Europeans survived the coldest parts of the last ice age, only to vanish when Europe went through a warm spell starting about 15,000 years ago.

The discovery comes from the largest study yet to look at the genetic makeup of ice age European hunter-gatherers.

For most of the past 100,000 years, glaciers covered much of Europe. Starting about 45,000 years ago, hunter gatherers began arriving in Europe from Africa through the near East, toughing it out during the Last Glacial Maximum (roughly 25,000 to 19,000 years ago), the coldest part of the last ice age.

These male and female skulls were found in Oberkassel, western Germany, although genetically these two would have originated from the south. It’s believed that this is the oldest evidence of migration during a climate warming.

Archaeologists know about the first modern humans in Europe from the artifacts they left behind. However, few human fossils remain from those early cultures, so little is known about how these ancient people migrated and were related to one another.

Pangaea was one of the largest continents in world history, but now it’s broken up. So which continent today is the largest, and which is the smallest?

To shed light on this ancient time, scientists have now collected the largest known database of prehistoric European hunter-gatherer genomes. They analyzed the genomes of 356 ancient hunter-gatherers who lived  between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago in what are now 34 countries across Eurasia. This included new data from 116 individuals.

Around 19,000-14,000 years ago, the Magdalenian culture was spread over vast parts of Europe. This human jaw, bones, and antler artefacts, were found in the Maszycka Cave in the south of Poland.

The researchers unexpectedly discovered that the Gravettian culture that was widespread across Europe between about 33,000 and 26,000 years ago was made up of two genetically distinct groups, despite using similar weapons and producing similar art. That was a surprise, study lead author Cosimo Posth, a paleogeneticist at the University of Tübingen in Germany, told Live Science.

One previously unknown Gravettian lineage — dubbed Fournol, after a French site that is the earliest known location associated with this genetic cluster — inhabited what is now France and Spain. Another — named Věstonice after a Czech site — stretched across today’s Czech Republic and Italy.

The Fournol descended from the Aurignacians, the earliest known hunter-gatherer culture in Europe, which lasted from about 43,000 to 33,000 years ago. In contrast, the Věstonice descended from the Kostenki and Sunghir groups farther east from what is now western Russia, who were contemporaries of the Aurignacians.

There are some cultural differences between these two lineages. For instance, Fournol people buried their dead in caves, and sometimes may have ritually cut the bones after death, Posth said. In contrast, the Věstonice buried their dead with funeral goods, personal ornaments and the red mineral ochre in open air or cave sites.

Inspired by the discoveries at the Arene Candide site in Italy, this is an artist reconstruction of a hunter-gatherer associated with the Gravettian culture.

People of the Fournol and Věstonice lineages may have possessed darker skin and eye color than some of the lineages that came after them, the new genome study suggests. However, Posth warned that “it is not possible to know their exact skin and eye colors, because those traits might be influenced by multiple other genes.”

The Fournol genetic signature survived the Last Glacial Maximum, lasting for at least 20,000 years. Their descendants sought refuge in what is now Spain and southern France during the Last Glacial Maximum and later spread northeast to the rest of Europe. 

In contrast, the Věstonice died out. Previously, scientists thought the Italian peninsula was a refuge for Gravettians during the Last Glacial Maximum, with the people there eventually forming the so-called Epigravettian culture after the glaciers retreated. However, the new findings show the Věstonice were not genetically detectable after the Last Glacial Maximum. 

Instead, the new study finds the Epigravettians actually descended from Balkan groups that entered Italy as early as 17,000 years ago. 

“Right after the Last Glacial Maximum, the genetic makeup of the human groups living in the Italian peninsula changed dramatically,” Ludovic Orlando, a molecular archaeologist at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science.

Genetic Study Examines Europe’s Hunter-Gatherers
Dated to 7,000 years ago, these stone tools and human male skull were found in Groß Fredenwalde, Germany. It is believed that the people this individual belonged to lived alongside the first Europe farmers without mixing.

Starting about 14,000 years ago, the Epigravettians spread from the south across the rest of Europe, supplanting the Magdalenians, who were descended in part from the Fournol. The Magdalenians hunted reindeer that lived on the steppe, while the Epigravettians specialized in hunting forest prey. An abrupt warming event helped forests spread across Europe into what once was steppe, and the Epigravettians moved northward as well, Posth said.

All in all, this new research “considerably extends our knowledge of ancient genome human variation in the deep past of Europe,” said Orlando, who wrote a perspective on the new study. “It unveils important changes in the genetic makeup of some regions following major climate changes.”

The scientists detailed their findings on Wednesday (March 1) in the journal Nature.

EUROPE, PORTUGAL, WORLD

Were Steel Tools Used in the Late Bronze Age?

Were Steel Tools Used in the Late Bronze Age?

A study by an international and interdisciplinary team headed by Freiburg archaeologist Dr. Ralph Araque Gonzalez from the Faculty of Humanities has shown that steel tools were already in use in Europe around 2900 years ago.

Were Steel Tools Used in the Late Bronze Age?
(Rafael Ferreiro Mählmann (A), Bastian Asmus (B), Ralph Araque Gonzalez (C-E))

Using geochemical analyses, the researchers were able to prove that stone stelae on the Iberian peninsula that date back to the Final Bronze Age feature complex engravings that could only have been done using tempered steel.

This was backed up by metallographic analyses of an iron chisel from the same period and region (Rocha do Vigio, Portugal, ca. 900 BCE) that showed the necessary carbon content to be proper steel.

The result was also confirmed experimentally by undertaking trials with chisels made of various materials: only the chisel made of tempered steel was suitably capable of engraving the stone. Until recently it was assumed that it was not possible to produce suitable quality steel in the Early Iron Age and certainly not in the Final Bronze Age, and that it only came to be widespread in Europe under the Roman Empire.

“The chisel from Rocha do Vigio and the context where it was found show that iron metallurgy including the production and tempering of steel was probably indigenous developments of decentralized small communities in Iberia, and not due to the influence of later colonization processes. This also has consequences for the archaeological assessment of iron metallurgy and quartzite sculptures in other regions of the world,” explains Araque Gonzalez.

The study ‘Stone-working and the earliest steel in Iberia: Scientific analyses and experimental replications of final bronze age stelae and tools’ has been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Iberian pillars of siliceous quartz sandstone could only be worked with tempered steel

The archaeological record of Late Bronze Age Iberia (c. 1300-800 BCE) is fragmentary in many parts of the Iberian Peninsula: sparse remains of the settlement and nearly no detectable burials are complemented by traces of metal hoarding and remains of mining activities.

Taking this into account, the western Iberian stelae with their depictions of anthropomorphic figures, animals, and selected objects are of unique importance for the investigation of this era.

Until now, studies of the actual rocks from which these stelae were made to gain insights into the use of materials and tools have been the exception. Araque Gonzalez and his colleagues analyzed the geological composition of the stelae in depth.

This led them to discover that a significant number of stelae were not as had been assumed made of quartzite, but silicate quartz sandstone. “Just like quartzite, this is an extremely hard rock that cannot be worked with bronze or stone tools, but only with tempered steel,” says Araque Gonzalez.

Chisel discovery and archaeological experiments confirm the use of steel

Analysis of an iron chisel found in Rocha do Vigio showed that Iberian stonemasons from the Final Bronze Age had the necessary tools.

The researchers discovered that it consisted of heterogeneous yet astonishingly carbon-rich steel. To confirm their findings, the researchers also carried out an experiment involving a professional stonemason, a blacksmith, and a bronze caster, and attempted to work the rock that the pillars were made of using chisels of different materials.

The stonemason could not work the stone with either the stone or the bronze chisels, or even using an iron chisel with an untempered point. “The people of the Final Bronze Age in Iberia were capable of tempering steel.

Otherwise, they would not have been able to work the pillars,” concludes Araque Gonzalez as a result of the experiment.

EUROPE, GERMANY, WORLD

The 1,000-year-old Church was found under a cornfield in Germany

The 1,000-year-old Church was found under a cornfield in Germany

The 1,000-year-old Church was found under a cornfield in Germany

The foundation walls of the large church of the rediscovered Royal Palace of Helfta in Eisleben in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt have been unearthed by archaeologists. The church was discovered earlier this month, and the foundation walls are now completely exposed.

According to the team studying the site, there is evidence of two dwellings at the site by Otto I and his son, Otto II ‘the Red,’ with the former attending the church’s inauguration.

Otto I, often known as Otto the Great, was King of Germany from 936 to 973 and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 962 till his death in 973.

“With a length of 98 feet (30 meters) and a width of around 66 feet (20 meters), Otto had effectively built a church that resembles a miniature cathedral,” said project manager Felix Biermann.

“This is a magnificent, exceptionally large church, which proves the importance of this location in the Ottoman era,” the team said.

Uncovering medieval graves in the eastern part of the church.

The church is thought to have been dedicated to Saint Radegund, the Thuringian princess and Frankish queen who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross in Poitiers, before 968. She is also the patron saint of several churches in France and England and of Jesus College in Cambridge.

The church, which had been standing for roughly 500 years, was destroyed during the Reformation when the Western Church was split into Protestantism and what is now the Roman Catholic Church.

In addition to the foundation walls, a number of coins and a tiled stove from the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as a fragment of a bell, were found on the site.

Zenger News, A cemetery containing 70 graves was also found, as well as several stone tombs from the 10th to the 15th century, which, Biermann, was “the burial place for the aristocratic families of the region.” He said.

Enameled non-ferrous metal rectangular brooch — clasp with retracted sides from the Carolingian era.

“In addition, belt fittings, belt buckles made of bronze, coins, knives and various utensils came to light. Numerous disc brooches from the Ottoman times, made of bronze, enameled and with glass inlays in a rectangular and circular shape, were excavated,” said Biermann.

“It is amazing to me what the archeologists and excavation helpers are bringing to light during this excavation,” said the mayor of the city, Carsten Staub.

The long-lost royal palace ruins atop the Kleine Klaus were the starting point for the current discoveries, which were unearthed in 2009 by geomagnetic prospecting, with the exploration gradually moving outside.

Aside from the church, the Palatinate included residential and commercial structures with pit dwellings, as well as grand residential buildings and possibly an auditorium where meetings were held.

Biermann said that the current excavations will continue until September.

Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff said the discovery will close “an important gap in the history of the country.”

ASIA, WORLD

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

Excavations continue in Kültepe, the starting point of Anatolian written history. During the excavations, a 4,000-year-old lion jawbone was unearthed.

For the first time, a lion’s jawbone was found in Kültepe.

Prof. Dr. Fikri Kulakoğlu of Ankara University’s Faculty of Language, History-Geography, and Archeology Department said that in 2021, they discovered many animal bones and large storage logs in the basement of a large edifice in the region.

Providing information about the lion bone found in the Kültepe excavation site to journalists, Kulakoğlu said, “For the first time, a lion’s jawbone has been found in Kültepe.”

According to the news in Anadolu Agency (AA), Kulakoğlu said:

4,000-year-old lion jawbone

“During the excavations, we made this year, we found a group of bones of two lions, bears, mountain sheep, deer, and wild pigs in a trench. These bones were found in bulk.

All of these animal bones belong to large, large, and wild animals. For the first time, we found two separate jawbones from two different lions, a very large bear, and bones from a large deer in this period in Anatolia. It is necessary to evaluate them as follows, these are the animals that we will accept to be raised in this region.

Animals living around Erciyes or in mountainous areas or up to Sivas. There are no lion bones unearthed in other regions dating back 4,000 years. Of course, there are bones from several million years ago. But these are two of the earliest examples of human settlement. We date these bones to 4,000 years ago. These are wild animals, they must be hunted and brought to Kültepe..”

4,000-year-old lion jawbone.

Animal bones might be linked to the mythos

Kulakoğlu stated that the animal bones discovered at Kültepe may be connected to a myth:

“There is a tablet found in Boğazköy, its name is the Anitta tablet. According to this tablet, the king named Anitta captured Nesha with his father, and they did not touch anyone. They even built palaces and temples.

These bones were found in the area of ​​these temples and palaces. In the inscription allegedly written by this king, it is written that he went hunting. ‘I hunted and brought back more than 100 animals, including two lions, leopards, panthers, bears, deer, and wild animals.’ he writes. This is the area right next to the temple. Of course, we don’t think for sure that these bones are related to this story, but there is a high probability that they are. Because there are traces of injury among the animal bones we found, so these were brought by hunting. This must have a historical significance and a relationship with a subject in Kültepe..”

On the lion’s jawbone and bone finds of other animals, a member of the Kültepe Excavation Committee, zooarchaeologist Prof. Dr. Claudia Minniti does scientific studies.

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