Archaeological News

[Ivanhoe]

Can't help but think the phosphorus came along for the ride with the chromite ore.

 

[BansheeOne]

Im-ho-tep, etc.

Quote

Date 14.11.2020

Egypt uncovers tomb treasure trove buried for 2,500 years

Experts have uncovered some 100 sarcophagi at an ancient necropolis south of the Egyptian capital Cairo. The country's tourism minister described the find as a "treasure."

Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a treasure trove of some 100 intact sarcophagi dating back more than 2,500 years, the government said on Saturday.

Officials said the discovery of the sealed wooden coffins in the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo was the largest such find this year.

Experts who worked on the excavation said they belonged to top officials of the Late Period and the Ptolemaic period of ancient Egypt.

One coffin revealed a mummy wrapped in a burial shroud adorned with brightly colored hieroglyphic pictorials.

Saqqara was an active burial ground for more than 3,000 years and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archaeologists in the area found 59 other well-preserved and sealed wooden coffins just over one month ago.

Egypt eyes tourism boost 

"Saqqara has yet to reveal all of its contents. It is a treasure," Antiquities and Tourism Minister Khaled al-Anany said at the unveiling ceremony.

"Excavations are still underway. Whenever we empty a burial shaft of sarcophagi, we find an entrance to another."

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/egypt-uncovers-tomb-treasure-trove-buried-for-2500-years/a-55601593

[bd1]

oh great, 2021 will bring not just a a mummy´s revenge, but the pharaoh brings his whole cabinet with him. 

secretary of pestilence etc.

[BansheeOne]

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

12 minutes ago, bd1 said:

oh great, 2021 will bring not just a a mummy´s revenge, but the pharaoh brings his whole cabinet with him. 

secretary of pestilence etc.

On the positive side, at least Egypt will be well run for the first time in a millenium. So every cloud...

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 21.11.2020

Pompeii archaeologists discover bodies of man and his slave

The skeletal remains were found in the underground chamber of a villa on the outskirts of the ancient city. The men escaped the first volcanic eruption that destroyed the city, but succumbed to a blast the next day.

Archaeologists have discovered skeletal remains of two men scalded to death by the volcanic eruption that destroyed the ancient Roman city of Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago, the Italian culture ministry said on Saturday.

The partial skeletons are believed to be those of a man with high status and his slave. The first was likely aged between 30 and 40, and still bore traces of a woollen cloak under his neck.

The other, aged 18 to 25, was dressed in a tunic and had a number of crushed vertebrae and a spinal column with compressed discs, indicating that he had been a slave who did heavy labor.

The remains were found in the underground chamber of a large villa – Civita Giuliana – on the outskirts of the ancient Roman city, which was destroyed in 79 AD.

The men's teeth and bones were preserved, and the voids left by their soft tissues were filled with plaster that was left to harden and then excavated to show the outline of their bodies.

Pompeii officials said the two men apparently escaped the initial fall of ash, then succumbed to a powerful volcanic blast that took place the following day.

"These two victims were perhaps seeking refuge when they were swept away by the pyroclastic current at about 9 in the morning," said Massimo Osanna, director of the archeological site. "It is a death by thermal shock, as also demonstrated by their clenched feet and hands."

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/pompeii-archaeologists-discover-bodies-of-man-and-his-slave/a-55686844

[Stuart Galbraith]

This was pretty good. Id heard of this facility, but I had no idea the remnants were still there.

 

As a friend said, it kina looks like German U boat pens.

[Ssnake]

GCHQ

[Stuart Galbraith]

Radio carbon dating an apparently Roman Villa in Gloucestershire reveals a surprising truth. One of the mosaics was laid down, long after the Romans departed.

Mosaic discovery sheds fresh light on England’s early medieval history (msn.com)

Kind of reminds me of the French Colony in Apocalypse Now.

[Ivanhoe]

3 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Radio carbon dating an apparently Roman Villa in Gloucestershire reveals a surprising truth. One of the mosaics was laid down, long after the Romans departed.

Mosaic discovery sheds fresh light on England’s early medieval history (msn.com)

Kind of reminds me of the French Colony in Apocalypse Now.

I watched part of a documentary about post-Roman England. Arch dig of some small farming village. They made the point that England didn't immediately descend into savagery.

[Stuart Galbraith]

It makes me wonder if we ever really did. The dark age narrative assumes we all went Mad Max, but perhaps we didnt. Perhaps all these towns and settlements went like 'Jericho', and managed to keep some degree of order until the Kingdoms formed together, at least in some places.

Anyway, thought it was interesting, this isnt far down the road from me.

[Ivanhoe]

3 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

It makes me wonder if we ever really did. The dark age narrative assumes we all went Mad Max, but perhaps we didnt. Perhaps all these towns and settlements went like 'Jericho', and managed to keep some degree of order until the Kingdoms formed together, at least in some places.

I'm skeptical of the Mad Max thing. First off, compare pre-Roman Britain with other polytheistic Iron Age cultures; pretty typical AIUI. Then the Romans, with various benefits absorbed from Roman culture. Take away the Romans; do farmers living in nice wood huts, tilling prepared land, drinking mead etc., decide to return to hunter/gatherer mode? Seems inconsistent with human nature.

I imagine there had to be some development of farmers/fishermen vs. outlaw raiders, but having seen the benefits of organization and defense, the raiders may have faced some tough sledding.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Ive read some accounts, and this may include Chedworth in the above article, where they have found evidence that Roman Villas before they fell into dereliction came into use as Cattle Sheds. But to me, that is what happens with damn near every old building that is beyond repair. A mile and a half from me was the site of an RAF airfield built during the war. I can remember  in the 1980's those buildings still occasionally in use as cattle sheds, before they were torn down. The Hangars still survive, now repurposed for use making furniture. Its what people do.

Im sure as society got poorer whilst removed from the Roman Empire (Roxit?) it repurposed old building it no longer had use for. Building techniques probably got simpler. But whilst the lack of records presumably indicates the bureaucratic infrastructure came to an end, the Chedworth excavation perhaps indicates, some of what we thought was Roman, might conceivably have been post Roman construction. Maybe there was actually no Dark age at all, or at the very least, much shorter than we thought.

I suppose when you think about the ending of any modern Empire, French, Dutch, British, Soviet, people tend to go on living in  the same way until either poverty, or circumstances, make them change. By that way of thinking, there doesnt seem to have been much that would have forced a change till the Saxons turned up.

[bojan]

1 hour ago, Ivanhoe said:

I watched part of a documentary about post-Roman England. Arch dig of some small farming village. They made the point that England didn't immediately descend into savagery.

Took them until 21 century

[Ivanhoe]

4 hours ago, bojan said:

Took them until 21 century

 

Ah, the Plebe-to-Chav hypothesis.

 

[sunday]

4 hours ago, bojan said:

Took them until 21 century

Or Henry VIII times.

[MiloMorai]

Stuart, do you watch "Digging for Britain"?

[Stuart Galbraith]

Indeed I do. I have a major crush on Alice Roberts.

She started out on Channel4's 'Time Team', which if none of you have ever seen it before is well worth looking up. It kind of changed the country's attitude to Archaeology.

 

[MiloMorai]

For being about 47, she is one hot woman.

[Stuart Galbraith]

She is. And the brains the size of a planet. Her resume listed on Wikipedia is insane.

[Stuart Galbraith]

1,000-year-old cross buried in Scottish field thought to have belonged to king (msn.com)

 

[Corinthian]

On 12/11/2020 at 3:59 PM, Stuart Galbraith said:

Indeed I do. I have a major crush on Alice Roberts.

She started out on Channel4's 'Time Team', which if none of you have ever seen it before is well worth looking up. It kind of changed the country's attitude to Archaeology.

 

For me, it's Jenni Butterworth. 🥰

And she still looks amazing after all these years (there is a 2020 interview of her on youtube).

Edited December 16, 2020 by Corinthian

[Stuart Galbraith]

I like Raksha as well. She did a documentary a couple of years ago on Pompei and she hasnt changed a bit.

[BansheeOne]

I know how this ends. Though if it involves a naked Sofia Boutella, I say go ahead while I watch from a Brexit-safe distance.

Quote

Date 16.12.2020

5,000-year-old Egyptian artifact discovered in cigar box in Scotland

A long-lost artifact from the Queen's Chamber of the Great Pyramid in Giza has been rediscovered in Aberdeen. The relic was dated to somewhere between 3341 and 3094 BC, long before the construction of the pyramid.

A university worker in Scotland discovered a missing 5,000-year-old Egyptian artifact hidden among archives, academics revealed on Wednesday.

Curatorial assisant Abeer Eladany found a fragment of wood inside a cigar box emblazoned with an Egyptian flag as she perused the Asia section of the archives of the University of Aberdeen.

"Once I looked into the numbers in our Egypt records, I instantly knew what it was, and that it had effectively been hidden in plain sight in the wrong collection," said Eladany, who comes from Egypt.

"I'm an archaeologist and have worked on digs in Egypt, but I never imagined it would be here in north-east Scotland that I'd find something so important to the heritage of my own country."

The five-inch (12.7-centimeter) piece of cedar is one of three items discovered inside the the Queen's Chamber of the Great Pyramid in Giza in 1872, alongside a ball and a bronze hook. The two other items are held by the British Museum in London.

The fragment of wood was found by engineer Waynman Dixon, who gave it to Dr James Grant, a graduate of the university who traveled to Egypt to treat cholera in the mid-1860s.

The item — which may have been used in the construction of the pyramid — was donated to the university, records showed. However, the item was never classified and was missing for more than 70 years until its rediscovery by Eladany.

The wood, now broken into several pieces, dates back to somewhere between 3341 BC and 3094 BC. This is about 500 years earlier than the Great Pyramid is believed to have been completed. 

The three items discovered, known as the Dixon relics, are thought to have been used in the construction of the pyramid. 

Neil Curtis, head of museums and special collections at the University of Aberdeen, said the carbon dating results were a "revelation."

"This discovery will certainly reignite interest in the Dixon relics and how they can shed light on the Great Pyramid," he said.

https://www.dw.com/en/5000-year-old-egyptian-artifact-discovered-in-cigar-box-in-scotland/a-55960418

 

[MiloMorai]

Neanderthal burials: Child's skeleton buried 41,000 years ago may solve mystery (msn.com)

Is burying the dead a practice unique to Homo sapiens? Or did other early humans such as Neanderthals lay their loved ones to rest under the earth?

It's a topic of long-standing debate among archaeologists. Now, evidence of funerary behavior could shed light on the cognitive abilities and social customs of Neanderthals and whether, like modern humans, they were capable of symbolic thought.

Dozens of buried Neanderthal skeletons have been discovered in Europe and parts of Asia over the course of 150 years. The most well-preserved ones, however, were found at the beginning of the 20th century and weren't excavated using modern methods. This has led to skepticism about whether Neanderthal burial practice was deliberate.