Tag: lost civilizations

Beneath Roman Britain – An Iron Age Settlement Is Revealed At Silchester

Five decades on from the start of an archaeological dig by the University of Reading, the findings of the investigation will be brought to the public, showcasing the incredible discoveries from excavations at the ancient Roman city of Silchester in Hampshire, England. This complex and revealing site became an important Roman town, but was already inhabited by an earlier encroacher to the land, the Atrebates tribe from across the Channel in Northern Gaul.

The University of Reading press release explains how, with the deep historic discoveries that have been made, visitors to the traveling exhibition,  Becoming Roman – Silchester, a Town of Change, will be transported back 2000 years to discover what life was like for the French tribe (strictly Belgic) that established the settlement, and how this life changed after the Roman Conquest of Britain.

When the exploratory forces of Julius Caesar first entered Iron Age Britain, showing their highly organized society and flexing their military muscles, they found a heterogenous society organized into tribes led by their chieftains, who defended their territories from the plentiful hillforts that littered the countryside.

Although these groups had arrived at the shores of Britain from various areas around Western and Northern Europe, some no doubt forced there due to territorial troubles in their own homelands, the Romans (and Greeks) referred to them homogeneously as ‘Celts’, as they shared some related languages and cultural traits.

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EVIDENCE OF 45,000-YEAR-OLD ADVANCED MATERIAL CULTURE DISCOVERED IN NORTH CHINA

Evidence of an advanced material culture that once thrived 45,000 years ago in East Asia has been discovered in China, according to an international team of archaeologists.

Analysis of materials from previous excavations that occurred in the early 1960s at the Shiyu archaeological site in China’s Shanxi Province represents what is believed to be the oldest use of such technologies in Northeast Asia, and provides new insights into ancient migrations of humans across the continent.

THE ANCIENT HORSE HUNTERS

According to the new analysis of materials retrieved from the location, the site’s Upper Palaeolithic assemblage dates to 45,000 years ago, and includes “blade technology, tanged and hafted projectile points, long-distance obsidian transfer, and the use of a perforated graphite disk,” according to Yang Shixia, an associate professor and first author of a new study detailing the team’s work.

In addition to its stone tool assemblage, obsidian from the site was determined to have been carried from quarries as far as 1000 kilometers away in the Russian Far East. Yang and the team also found evidence of “increased hunting skills denoted by the selective culling of adult equids, and the recovery of tanged and hafted projectile points with evidence of impact fractures,” according to a recent paper that describes their discoveries.

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PEOPLE LIVING IN THE ANDES 9,000 YEARS AGO MAY COMPLETELY REDEFINE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HUNTER-GATHERERS

Isotopic analysis of the remains of people living 9,000-6,500 years ago in the Andes Mountains of modern-day Peru indicates they were not hunter-gatherers as previously believed but instead would be better categorized as “gatherer-hunters.” That’s because “hunter-gatherers” implies a diet consisting primarily of hunted meat supplemented by a diet of gathered plants, whereas these early Peruvians existed on a diet that was 80% plant-based.

“Conventional wisdom holds that early human economies focused on hunting — an idea that has led to a number of high-protein dietary fads such as the Paleo diet,” explained University of Wyoming Assistant Professor of Archaeology Randy Haas, who led the research effort. “Our analysis shows that the diets were composed of 80 percent plant matter and 20 percent meat.”

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3000-YEAR-OLD CARVINGS ON ENIGMATIC DISK UNEARTHED IN ITALY COULD BE ANCIENT STAR MAP, CONTROVERSIAL STUDY CLAIMS

A stone disk bearing peculiar markings could be an ancient star map representing one of the world’s oldest depictions of the night sky, according to recent findings that have prompted debate among experts.

The stone, which features close to 30 carvings on its front and back, was found several years ago near the ancient Rupinpiccolo protohistoric hill fort in northeastern Italy. According to research published in the journal Astronomical Notes, the markings may indicate the locations of the brightest stars that were visible to the ancient night sky observers who carved it at least as far back as 2,400 years ago.

THE ENIGMA OF RUPINPICCOLO’S CURIOUS STONE DISKS

Located close to the border between northwestern Italy and Slovenia, the sprawling ruins of the castelliere of Rupinpiccolo were first documented toward the end of the 19th century. A massive ancient defense structure protected by huge, seven-meter-wide ramparts, archaeological excavations did not occur there until almost a century after its initial discovery.

Along with the stones used in the fortification’s construction were smaller, round stone artifacts that were later discovered in the collections sent to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia.

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Irreversible Damage Caused at Fort Pearce Puebloan Site

A historically rich area, Utah has had a long history of vandalism and theft across archaeological and paleontological sites. Newly added to this list is the digging of a 2-foot wide and 15-foot-deep trench at a one-of-a-kind 1,000-year-old archaeological site, with the perpetrator appearing to be hunting for treasure. The irreparable damage was performed by 51-year-old man in the Fort Pearce Wash Area, situated 12 miles east of St. George, in Washington County.

Confessions of a Vandal: Archaeological Land Housing Petroglyphs

The perpetrator, Mr Seoane said he dug the trench while prospecting for minerals, according to Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration special investigator Brent Kasza. On November 7, 2023, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office received a tip regarding unauthorized activities disturbing a site of archaeological significance in the aforementioned area. Subsequently, during an interview with law enforcement on December 14, Seoane confessed to digging the hole, as documented in a probable cause statement.

“I found nothing during my investigation to confirm the suspect was prospecting for silver or any kind of valuable metal,” said Kasza in a statement. “I was able to uncover that the suspect belongs to several treasure hunting groups.”

The Washington County Attorney’s Office has filed a second-degree felony charge against Seoane for conducting illegal activities on trust lands, where the incurred damage is valued at or exceeds $5,000. This charge was officially filed on Tuesday. Seoane is presently awaiting the establishment of a date for his initial appearance in Utah’s 5th District Court. According to law enforcement, the preliminary estimate for the cost of filling the hole is $18,769.

The parcel of land where Seoane allegedly excavated the tunnel is safeguarded by the Trust Lands Administration due to its status as a site of archaeological significance. Its renowned for its compilation of over 100 petroglyphs, believed by archaeologists to trace their origins back to 500 years ago or even earlier.

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9,000-year-old Human Skeletons and Over 100,000 Artifacts Unearthed in Brazil

Surveyors in Brazil were appraising a site identified for the building of a new apartment complex. However, they downed tools, and called in archaeologists when they started finding bones and shards of pottery. Now, a multi-layered archaeological site has been revealed which has yielded 43 human skeletons and in excess of 100,000 artifacts.

A team of construction workers were planning on building a new apartment complex in the coastal city of Sao Luis, the capital of Maranhao state in northeastern Brazil, when they came across human bones and shards of pottery. Now, having been dated to around to 9,000 years ago, lead archaeologist, Wellington Lage, said the find might “rewrite the history of human settlement in Brazil”.

The six-hectare (15-ac) plot is known locally as Rosane’s Farm. Back in 2019, the Brazilian construction giant MRV hired now 70-year-old Wellington Lage’s company, “W Lage Arqueologia,” to carry out a site survey before the building of a new apartment building. Researching the site, Lage discovered that bones were recovered in the 1970s, and part of a human jawbone was found in 1991.

According to a CBS news article, over the last four years Lage’s team have unearthed “43 human skeletons and more than 100,000 artifacts.” Brazil’s Institute for National Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), referred to the discoveries as a “grandiose” haul of bones and artifacts.

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2,800-Year-Old Thracian “Pharmaceutical” Center Unearthed at Heraion Teikhos, Turkey

In 2021, a team of researchers unearthed a 2,800-year-old temple at the ancient Thracian city of Heraion Teikhos, in Turkey. Now, a water system has been identified leading to a space within the temple which researchers are calling an “ancient pharmaceutical production area.”

Digging the Thracian City of Heraion Teikhos

The ancient Thracian city, Heraion Teikhos, is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace, in the northwestern Turkish province of Tekirdağ.

Back in 2021, in the city’s acropolis, archaeologists excavated an ancient Thracian civilization temple loaded with rare artworks, which is thought to have been lost in a fire that occurred in 2 BC.

Professor Dr. Neşe Atik told Hurriyet Daily News that a team from Istanbul Rumeli University have been excavating at Heraion Teikhos since 2000. While the temple itself is mostly ruinous, the researchers have removed statues of gods including “Kybele, Eros and Aphrodite as well as bronze coins, amphora and similar pieces from the temple,” said Atik.

Now, the archaeologists have announced their identification of a pharmacological production unit, with its own dedicated water supply system.

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Huge ancient city found in the Amazon

A huge ancient city has been found in the Amazon, hidden for thousands of years by lush vegetation.

The discovery changes what we know about the history of people living in the Amazon.

The houses and plazas in the Upano area in eastern Ecuador were connected by an astounding network of roads and canals.

The area lies in the shadow of a volcano that created rich local soils but also may have led to the destruction of the society.

While we knew about cities in the highlands of South America, like Machu Picchu in Peru, it was believed that people only lived nomadically or in tiny settlements in the Amazon.

“This is older than any other site we know in the Amazon. We have a Eurocentric view of civilisation, but this shows we have to change our idea about what is culture and civilisation,” says Prof Stephen Rostain, director of investigation at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France, who led the research.

“It changes the way we see Amazonian cultures. Most people picture small groups, probably naked, living in huts and clearing land – this shows ancient people lived in complicated urban societies,” says co-author Antoine Dorison.

The city was built around 2,500 years ago, and people lived there for up to 1,000 years, according to archaeologists.

It is difficult to accurately estimate how many people lived there at any one time, but scientists say it is certainly in the 10,000s if not 100,000s.

The archaeologists combined ground excavations with a survey of a 300 sq km (116 sq mile) area using laser sensors flown on a plane that could identify remains of the city beneath the dense plants and trees.

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Vast, 4,000-Year-Old Oasis Fortification Discovered in North Arabia

Researchers have found a 4,000-year-old fortification defending an oasis in the North Arabian Desert, at the ancient Khaybar Oasis. It is officially one of the longest known structures – 14.5 kilometers (9 mi), dated to the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. What is left of the rampart’s remains have been dated to between 2250 and 1950 BC, at a time when sedentary populations inhabited the area and oases were common.

Archaeologists from the CNRS and the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) have stated that this discovery, alongside the Tayma Oasis, marks one of the two largest walled oases in Saudi Arabia. They have published these finds in a new study in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, which has shed new light into human habitation in north-western Arabia during the pre-Islamic era.

Utilizing a combination of field surveys, remote sensing data, and architectural studies, the research team approximated the original dimensions of the fortifications, revealing a structure stretching 14.5 kilometers (9 mi) in length, 1.70 to 2.40 meters (5.5-8.7 ft) in thickness, and standing at approximately 5 meters (16.5 ft) in height.

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Records from Early 20th Century Nubian Excavations Miraculously Rediscovered

A researcher combing through the archives at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom discovered a set of 115-year-old documents that were believed to have been permanently lost eight decades ago. They have revealed a ream of evidence from a little-known cemetery in Lower Nubia, providing a deluge of data on ancient Nubians.

University of Manchester biomedical Egyptologist Jenny Metcalfe recently visited the archives, to search for information about an ancient African people known as the Nubians, who lived in southern Egypt and northern Sudan as long ago as the fifth millennium BC. While checking through records from excavations that took place in the early 20th century, she found a set of what she refers to as “recording cards,” which provided detailed descriptions of human remains unearthed in ancient cemeteries in Lower Nubia (another name for southern Egypt and northern Sudan) by British archaeologists in 1908.

“The recording cards are pre-printed cards designed by Grafton Elliot Smith to help record the individuals they found,” Dr. Metcalfe told Newsweek. “They have boxes for recording details such as site, historical age, age and sex, long bone and skull measurements, teeth present and any evidence of illness or trauma, such as broken bones.”

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