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.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

Ruins of the 700-year-old wharf, possibly used by royalty, were found in Oslo

Ruins of the 700-year-old wharf, possibly used by royalty, were found in Oslo

Ruins of the 700-year-old wharf, possibly used by royalty, were found in Oslo

An excavation by NIKU archaeologists in Oslo’s seaside neighborhood of Bjørvika has uncovered the remains of a long section of a medieval wharf believed to have been built by a medieval king of Norway.

Under the dense clay of the Oslofjord seabed, more than 26 feet of the pier’s foundations have persisted in excellent condition.

Archaeologists knew from preliminary surveys that something was buried at a port in Oslo, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) said in a Thursday, March 2, news release. The ruins of a medieval wharf were discovered when excavations got underway.

The wharf consisted of massive logs lashed together to form bulwarks. The logs were dotted with impressions of barnacles and mussels, signs of having once been exposed to the sea.

Over time, the structures built on top of the foundations pressed them deeper into the clay, where they remained even after the surface structures were lost.

The pier was most likely built in the early 14th century and has since sunk into the clay seabed under its own weight, according to the release.

A close-up photo of the accumulated layers of clay.

Archaeologists believe this wharf was probably the king’s, based on its location and estimated age. Another nearby dock is known to have been used by royalty from the 11th to 13th centuries, according to the release.

A small mystery is that archaeologists unearthed layers of food waste, fish bones, dung, and peat in the clay around the massive logs. Archaeologists don’t know how these materials ended up around the pier.

“This is very mysterious,” says Håvard Hegdal, archaeologist and project manager from NIKU, “How has this come into what has been a closed construction? There has been a floor above us, and probably a building, and it shouldn’t be possible to throw food scraps and other things down here.”

“There was also a lot of dirt from a boat inside these layers. And it shouldn’t have come in here in any case. So ‘King’s wharf’ may have had a reasonably short lifespan, and that is quite strange.”

Researchers will cut a portion of the wood off the pier and send it to a lab to be more specifically dated dendrochronologically, the release said.

The most likely candidate to build the wharf was Haakon V (reigned 1299–1319). Oslo overtook Bergen to become the capital of Norway during his reign, and Haakon had the Akershus Fortress built to protect the city and serve as a royal residence. The pier’s foundations were discovered right next to the ruins of the royal palace that stood before Akershus Fortress.

The remains of the wharf have been scanned to create a 3D model. And excavations are ongoing.

AFRICA, SUDAN, WORLD

Archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs in Sudan

Archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs in Sudan

Archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs in Sudan

Polish archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs during excavations at Old Dongola in Sudan.

Recent excavations have uncovered over 100 blocks of white sandstone, inscribed with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics from the period of the 25th dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Nubian Dynasty.

The blocks found in Old Dongola were originally part of a structure, possibly a temple, built in the first half of the 1st millennium BC, which is the earliest example of human activity on a site identified so far.

Egyptologist Dr. Dawid F. Wieczorek said: “This is a huge discovery, because despite the 60-year Polish archaeological presence in Old Dongola, no evidence of such early construction activity on the site has been identified so far.

It is impossible to say whether this material is local or was brought from some other site. Nevertheless, it is surprising that there are so many of these blocks, and from different parts it seems of the same temple.”

Some of the blocks are from the flooring, outer walls, and from a pylon (a tower flanking the entrance to the temple). “This would push back the known history of this city by over 1000 years,” said Dr. Wieczorek.

Within a radius of more than 100 kilometers from Old Dongola, there are no other known examples of sites with Egyptian-style architecture.

The closest is Gebel Barkal (about 150 km up the Nile), and Kawa (about 120 km down the Nile). Both were leading urban and religious centers established during the New Kingdom in the 16th and 14th centuries BC.

The Kushite king Kashta came to Egypt amid political turmoil to run for the office of pharaoh, apparently in Thebes and apparently peacefully.

He was the first of the Nubian line of kings who ruled as the 25th dynasty of Egypt (747–656 BC). Piye, the next king, led the conquest of Egypt into the Nile Delta, reacting dramatically to the threat of a combination of powerful northern dynasty. He created an empire that stretched from the 6th cataract to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Kushite rulers presented themselves as pharaohs who could return Egypt to its former glory. They assimilated into society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions, temples, and artistic forms, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture.

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Iron Age comb found made from a human skull in the UK

Iron Age comb found made from a human skull in the UK

Iron Age comb found made from a human skull in the UK

Researchers from the London Archaeological Museum (MOLA) determined that an Iron Age comb they found during an archaeological dig that ended in 2018 was made from a human skull and was most likely used as a talisman rather than styling hair.

The accessory dubbed the Bar Hill Comb was among 280,000 items of interest collected between 2016 and 2018 during the A14 improvement scheme.

The comb is around 2 inches long with a curved top and teeth carved into the bottom.

The reconstruction drawing created by the MOLA researchers suggests that the comb was originally rectangular with a circle carved out in the middle for attaching to clothing.

“The Bar Hill Comb may have been a highly symbolic and powerful object for members of the local community,” Michael Marshall, a prehistoric and Roman finds specialist at MOLA said in a statement.

Iron Age comb
MOLA Find specialist Michael Marshall examining the Bar Hill comb.

“It is possible it was carved from the skull of an important member of Iron Age society, whose presence was in some way preserved and commemorated through their bones.”

He said only two other comparable examples have ever been found in Britain – both within 15 miles (24km) of the Bar Hill Comb.

The lack of wear on the comb’s teeth distinguishes this bone from other finds, suggesting that it was possibly worn as an amulet rather than used to brush the hair at all.

Many people in the British Isles during the Iron Age revered human skulls, according to historians.

Both carved stone heads and skulls served as talismans, as evidenced in ritual practices documented by archaeologists and in folklore.

The comb’s tines show no signs of use or deterioration, and traces of a hole that was drilled into its top indicate that it was once attached to a string for wearing.

All In One Magazine