Archaeological News

[Colin]

Treasure dig threatens Bosphorus rail link

By Sarah Rainsford
BBC News, Istanbul

 

It's been called the project of the century: a mission to connect two continents with a $2.6bn rail-tunnel running deep beneath the Bosphorus Straits.

The idea of linking the two sides of Istanbul underwater was first dreamt of by Sultan Abdul Mecit 150 years ago.

 

Now that Ottoman dream is finally being realised.

But the modern version of that vision has hit a historical stumbling block.

Istanbul archaeologists have uncovered a 4th-Century port at the site where engineers plan to build a 21st-Century railway hub. The Marmaray project cannot even begin work in the area until excavations are complete.

Out in the middle of the Straits, marine engineers are now working day and night to compensate in advance for any delays. Boring beneath the waves, they are preparing the ground for the deepest tunnel of its kind.

"We are strengthening the soil by injecting concrete into the seabed so we can place the tubes easily and take measures to counter earthquakes in the area," an engineer explains, shouting above the din of an enormous drill working non-stop behind him.

 

“ It's true I lose sleep over this. I worry we won't make it on time ”
Haluk Ozman, Marmaray Project Manager

Parts of the Marmaray tunnel will eventually run just 6km (3.7 miles) from the active North Anatolian fault line.

"This is the best way to link the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. There is no space for a third bridge," he argues.

The Istanbul authorities hope the Marmaray project will ease congestion in a sprawling and increasingly overcrowded city. The rail link should carry well over a million passengers a day, significantly reducing boat traffic on the Bosphorus and car congestion on land.

But the railway was supposed to be running by 2010. Now its managers are not so sure.

Ancient port

Yenikapi on the European side of the city was selected to house a state-of-the-art train station. But when shanty homes were cleared from the site, archaeologists uncovered treasures beneath of a kind never before discovered here.

 

Just a few metres below ground, they found an ancient port of Constantinople - named in historical records as the Eleutherios harbour, one of the busiest of Byzantium.

"We've found 43m of the pier so far," chief archaeologist Metin Gokcay explains, pointing to a line of wooden stakes emerging from a green pool of water. He says the Marmaray site has yielded the most exciting finds of his long career.

"We believe there used to be a platform on those sticks - down there is where the horses were unloaded."

"We've also found lots of things that tell us about the daily life of the city in the 4th Century," Mr Gokcay enthuses, standing close to a tunnel he suspects was an ancient escape route.

"We found leather sandals, for example, with strings through the toes and around a thousand candle-holders and hairbrushes. I've done many digs in Istanbul, but there are many things here I've never seen before."

As well as the stone remains of the harbour itself, Mr Gokcay and his team have uncovered perfectly preserved ancient anchors and lengths of rope. Dozens of men are still scrubbing the mud of centuries from hundreds of crates of artefacts, for assessment.

But perhaps the site's most treasured find is stored beneath a large protective tent.

Inside, dozens of jets spray water to preserve a wooden boat that is more 1,000 years old. Its base, about 10m long, was discovered intact beneath what was once the sea.

The dig has uncovered eight boats in total - another first for Istanbul - and archaeologists believe there are more to come.

It's a dream discovery for them, but a nightmare for the Marmaray management.

"It's true I lose sleep over this. I worry we won't make it on time," admits Marmaray Project Manager Haluk Ozmen. He says the dig is only delaying work at the Yenikapi site for now, but warns it will soon affect the entire project.

"The dig is the only thing that can delay the Marmaray project. That's why we're working 24 hours a day to meet our deadline. Everything is in the hands of the archaeologists now."

Engrossed in their task, those archaeologists refuse to be rushed by commercial concerns. Their work was scheduled to finish four months ago, but they now reject all talk of deadlines.

"The Marmaray team cannot spread their cement or tunnel any deeper here until we finish," states a determined Mr Gokcay. "They have to wait for us. And I will continue my work here until the last artefact made by human hands is found. It's impossible to accept anything else."

In addition to the Eleutherios harbour, the dig teams have exposed a long section of the city wall from the days of Constantine I - the first time the wall has ever been uncovered.

At a site as rich as this, there's no telling what else could turn up.

 

 

 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4949862.stm

Published: 2006/05/02 09:53:08 GMT

[X-Files]

Roman Eagle

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/29/roman-eagle-found-archaeologists-london-sculpture-art

[X-Files]

Forts of the Foreign Legion

http://www.world-archaeology.com/features/forts-of-the-french-foreign-legion/#.UnHGiBAUbV9

[toysoldier]

Irish are Basques...

 

http://www.sott.net/article/263587-DNA-shows-Irish-people-have-more-complex-origins-than-previously-thought

 

Oh, really...

[Ivanhoe]

Irish are Basques...

 

http://www.sott.net/article/263587-DNA-shows-Irish-people-have-more-complex-origins-than-previously-thought

 

Oh, really...

That article appears to have a big flaw in logic. Irish are closely related to Basques and/or pre-Moorish Spainiards, Basques and/or pre-Moorish Spainiards are implicitly assumed to be non-Celts, therefore Irish are non-Celts. Umm, where is the evidence that Basques and/or pre-Moorish Spainiards are non-Celts? Are Celtic genes strictly a question of latitude?

 

And without drilling down into DNA markers, what exactly is a Celt? What are the phenotypes? Pale skin? Freckles? Yellow or red hair? Musical or poetic talent? A preference for ball and stick sports? Talent for brewing and distilling? Bad teeth? Abysmal cooking? Propensity for drunken brawling?

[mnm]

Well, Basques are indeed assumed to pre-date the Celtic migration, the Wiki works for a decent starter and I'm sure the true-blue Spanish members will have a word or two.

[toysoldier]

Celtness might be just a cultural thing, just like indoeuropean is just a language thing.

[Mikel2]

Well, Basques are indeed assumed to pre-date the Celtic migration, the Wiki works for a decent starter and I'm sure the true-blue Spanish members will have a word or two.

 

 

I don't think anyone knows. Prehistoric bone remains found in local caves aren't all that different from the current population.

[sunday]

I don't think anyone knows. Prehistoric bone remains found in local caves aren't all that different from the current population.

 

Methinks that post need a couple of smileys...

[Mikel2]

 

I don't think anyone knows. Prehistoric bone remains found in local caves aren't all that different from the current population.

 

Methinks that post need a couple of smileys...

 

 

 

I was referencing Barandiaran's digs. A few thousand years in evolutionary terms is nothing. We aren't talking trilobites...

 

<<< There you go.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Mikel2

[sunday]

There are some Neanderthals around for sure!

[Mikel2]

There are some Neanderthals around for sure!

 

Neanderthals went extinct 30,000 years ago. I wasn't going THAT far back

[Mobius]

Well, Basques are indeed assumed to pre-date the Celtic migration, the Wiki works for a decent starter and I'm sure the true-blue Spanish members will have a word or two.

I thought this was pretty well established. But I thought the original Welsh were also part of the original Europeans like the Basques. I didn't know they had the red head gene, I thought they had dark hair.

[mnm]

 

Well, Basques are indeed assumed to pre-date the Celtic migration, the Wiki works for a decent starter and I'm sure the true-blue Spanish members will have a word or two.

 

 

I don't think anyone knows. Prehistoric bone remains found in local caves aren't all that different from the current population.

 

 

Forget the DNA and bone morphology analysis, to identify a Basque tomb you have to look for traces of fibres that made these up.

[bojan]

There are some Neanderthals around for sure!

 

Deep one hybrids.

[X-Files]

 

There are some Neanderthals around for sure!

 

Deep one hybrids.

 

 

[Yama]

 

Well, Basques are indeed assumed to pre-date the Celtic migration, the Wiki works for a decent starter and I'm sure the true-blue Spanish members will have a word or two.

I thought this was pretty well established. But I thought the original Welsh were also part of the original Europeans like the Basques. I didn't know they had the red head gene, I thought they had dark hair.

 

It is very unlikely that there is any population remaining which is even remotely close to "original" (post-glaciation) European population. It is true that various isolate populations show larger percentage of "ancient" genes, and thus it is not completely surprising that two isolates (Irish and the Basques) may have more in common than populations located between them, who have bigger representation of more recent population waves.

 

DNA extracted from Mesolithic La Braña site (~5000BC) shows no relation to present Basque or Iberian populations. Instead, they seem to cluster with North European (Saami/Finnish/Scandinavian) populations. It seems probable that they represent some ancient European population which has since been replaced or absorbed by subsesquent migrations, but larger percentage of their genetics have remained in geographic isolation in the north. Similarly, we know that modern Sardinians retain more genes from Bronze Age era Mediterraneans, being another group of isolates.

 

However, even La Braña people probably don't represent "original" Europeans any more than we do. End of Ice Age precedes them at least 5000 years and it seems likely that that timeframe contains many consecutive migration waves.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Yama

[X-Files]

Along the scenic coast of the northern Aegean Sea, archaeologists have uncovered a Greek portico, which, 2,500 years ago, would have been a bustling public space, something like an ancient strip mall.

The seaside portico, or stoa, stretches 130 feet (40 meters) across with seven rooms inside, each bearing the distinct architectural touches of their ancient shop owners, the site's excavators say. Strewn about the ruins, archaeologists found coins, vases and other artifacts that hold clues to when and how people lived in the archaic city.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/14/ancient-mall-greece_n_4097987.html

[Ivanhoe]

It looks like fishmen are within reach;

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/exclusive-jawdropping-breakthrough-hailed-as-landmark-in-fight-against-hereditary-diseases-as-crispr-technique-heralds-genetic-revolution-8925295.html

 

[DougRichards]

The grave of a true hero has been found:

 

http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/egyptian-beer-brewers-tomb-found-in-luxor/story-e6frfqai-1226794868668

 

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed the tomb of an ancient beer brewer in the city of Luxor in Egypt that is more than 3,000 years old.

Egypt's minister of antiquities Mohammed Ibrahim said the tomb was discovered by Japanese archaeologists and belonged to Khonso Em Heb.

The tomb of Khonso Em Heb., who lived 3,200 years ago, was "one of the most important discoveries made in the city of Luxor ... at the Thebes necropolis", he said.

The tomb dates back to the Ramesside period and belongs to the chief "maker of beer for gods of the dead" who was also the head of a warehouse.

[Ivanhoe]

The Necropolis - sounds like a goth club.

[Colin]

 

The grave of a true hero has been found:

 

http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/egyptian-beer-brewers-tomb-found-in-luxor/story-e6frfqai-1226794868668

 

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed the tomb of an ancient beer brewer in the city of Luxor in Egypt that is more than 3,000 years old.

Egypt's minister of antiquities Mohammed Ibrahim said the tomb was discovered by Japanese archaeologists and belonged to Khonso Em Heb.

The tomb of Khonso Em Heb., who lived 3,200 years ago, was "one of the most important discoveries made in the city of Luxor ... at the Thebes necropolis", he said.

The tomb dates back to the Ramesside period and belongs to the chief "maker of beer for gods of the dead" who was also the head of a warehouse.

 

Queer name for a pub.

 

Likely to be a Micro-brew in the near future!

[X-Files]

A Celtic treasure looted by the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago has been discovered in the British Museum's storerooms. An ornate, gilded disc brooch dating from the eighth or ninth century was found by chance and is being described as a "staggering find". No-one knew of its existence until now.

 

It had been concealed in a lump of organic material excavated from a Viking burial site at Lilleberge in Norway by a British archaeologist in the 1880s and acquired by the British Museum in 1891.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jan/05/vikings-treasure-excavation-british-museum

[DougRichards]

 

A Celtic treasure looted by the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago has been discovered in the British Museum's storerooms. An ornate, gilded disc brooch dating from the eighth or ninth century was found by chance and is being described as a "staggering find". No-one knew of its existence until now.

 

It had been concealed in a lump of organic material excavated from a Viking burial site at Lilleberge in Norway by a British archaeologist in the 1880s and acquired by the British Museum in 1891.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jan/05/vikings-treasure-excavation-british-museum

 

 

Okay, which of you Beserkers swallowed the broach?

[Ivanhoe]

 

 

A Celtic treasure looted by the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago has been discovered in the British Museum's storerooms. An ornate, gilded disc brooch dating from the eighth or ninth century was found by chance and is being described as a "staggering find". No-one knew of its existence until now.

 

It had been concealed in a lump of organic material excavated from a Viking burial site at Lilleberge in Norway by a British archaeologist in the 1880s and acquired by the British Museum in 1891.

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jan/05/vikings-treasure-excavation-british-museum

 

Okay, which of you Beserkers swallowed the broach?

 

I don't think it got there by swallowing.