Medieval burial ground found under UK car park

Archaeologists have discovered a mass grave containing more than 300 skeletons - under a car park. The first discoveries were made two years ago during routine archaeological surveys as the ground was assessed for development into affordable homes - but it was initially thought there were only 20 bodies buried. 

Human skull discovered during Godalming drainage hole work  [Credit: Surrey History Centre] Work to transform the car park, in Godalming, Surrey, into 14 new-builds was put on hold and the findings were carefully excavated in June 2014. 

They were taken to Surrey History Centre to be examined - where experts discovered the remains of more than 300 individuals.

Read the rest of this article...

Number of skeletons discovered in Godalming car park rises to 300

The number of skeletons excavated from a former car park has risen to 300, although experts have yet to confirm from which century they date.

Archaeologists are asking for more time to analyse the rising number of remains and 65 other findings such as animal bones, flintwork and fragments of medieval and post medieval pottery, which were previously discovered at the Station Road site in Godalmingnearly three years ago.

The discoveries were initially brought to light in March 2013 when routine archaeological surveys were carried out for the current development ground for affordable homes.

Work to create the 14 new-builds came to an abrupt halt and the findings were later removed ‘successfully’ in June 2014 before being taken to Surrey History Centre to be examined.

Read the rest of this article...

Danes discover 9,000-year-old skeletons with a strange history

Skeletons were taken apart and the bones buried in different locations 

(photo: University of Copenhagen)

Danish archaeologists have unearthed a burial site in an ancient town in southern Jordan that suggests the dead were not buried until they had decomposed to skeletal remains. The skeletons were then dismantled and bones of similar types were buried together

“It might sound a bit like something from a splatter movie,”  Moritz Kinzel, a researcher at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen, told Videnskab.

“The body parts have been sorted and buried in collective graves, where we find the specific categories of bones together.”

Large numbers of children
Danish researchers are still in the process of excavating the site, called Shkārat Msaied. So far they have found the skeletons of more than 70 people.

Read the rest of this article...

Evidence of a prehistoric massacre extends the history of warfare

Skeletal remains of a group of foragers massacred around 10,000 years ago on the shores of a lagoon is unique evidence of a violent encounter between clashing groups of ancient hunter-gatherers, and suggests the “presence of warfare” in late Stone Age foraging societies.

The fossilised bones of a group of prehistoric hunter-gatherers who were massacred around 10,000 years ago have been unearthed 30 km west of Lake Turkana, Kenya, at a place called Nataruk.

Researchers from Cambridge University’sLeverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies (LCHES) found the partial remains of 27 individuals, including at least eight women and six children.

Read the rest of this article...

Neolithic Megalithic Tomb in Spain Comprehensively Examined for the First Time: a Community in Life and Death

Reconstruction of the original appearance of the megalithic mound.

People of the Neolithic age around 6,000 years ago were closely connected both in life and death. This became evident in a detailed archaeological and anthropological of a collective grave containing 50 bodies near Burgos, northern Spain. In the pioneering study, researchers used a whole array of modern methods to examine the way of life in the region at that time. Published in the academic journal PLOS ONE, the research was conducted by anthropologists at the University of Basel and archaeologists from the University of Valladolid.

The collective graves of the Neolithic period were made mostly of stone and were large enough to hold many bodies in a communal space. The megalithic tomb in Alto de Reinoso, Burgos differs from this in only one respect: the burial chamber had originally been made from wood over which a stone mound was erected afterwards. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the tomb was used by a community living between 3700 and 3600 AD and spanning about three to four generations. At least 47 bodies have been found. “While the lower layer has been relatively well preserved, numerous disturbances have been observed in the upper layers such as missing skulls, which could be due to a certain kind of ancestral worship,” says Prof. Manuel Rojo Guerra, from the University of Valladolid, Spain.

Read the rest of this article...

English DNA 'one-third' Anglo-Saxon

This triple burial from Oakington, Cambridgeshire, includes metal and amber grave goods

The present-day English owe about a third of their ancestry to the Anglo-Saxons, according to a new study.

Scientists sequenced genomes from 10 skeletons unearthed in eastern England and dating from the Iron Age through to the Anglo-Saxon period.

Many of the Anglo-Saxon samples appeared closer to modern Dutch and Danish people than the Iron Age Britons did.

The results appear in Nature Communications journal.

According to historical accounts and archaeology, the Anglo-Saxons migrated to Britain from continental Europe from the 5th Century AD. They brought with them a new culture, social structure and language.

Read the rest of this article...

EMAS Archaeology Study Tour: Landscape of the Bayeux Tapestry

Landscape of the Bayeux Tapestry

21 - 28 May 2016

2016 will be the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. The famous Bayeux Tapestry that depicts this battle also presents a map of the events that led up to Hastings.

This study tour will follow the route of this map, starting at Westminster and following Harold’s progression through Normandy, and then on to the arrival of William’s forces at Pevensey and finally to Battle, where we will look at the evidence for the suggested new location for the Battle of Hastings.

Full details of this study tour can be found here...

N.B. In order to be certain of a place you need to apply by 1 February 2016  at the latest.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND NORTH GATE OF ANCIENT AGATHOPOLIS IN BULGARIA’S AHTOPOL, ‘BRAND NEW’ GOLD COIN OF BYZANTINE EMPEROR JUSTINE I

An aerial photo of the newly discovered northern gate of the Late Antiquity fortress of Agathopolis in Bulgaria’s Ahtopol on the Black Sea with its two towers.
Photo: Tsarevo Municipality Facebook Page

Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed the northern gate of the Late Antiquity and medieval fortress of Agathopolis, today’s Bulgarian Black Sea town of Ahtopol, a major Byzantine and Bulgarian fortress during theMiddle Ages, which was also an Ancient Greek, Thracian, and Roman city in the Antiquity period.

For two months at the end of 2015, archaeologists from Bulgaria’s National Institute and Museum of Archaeology inSofia led by Assist. Prof. Dr. Andrey Aladzhov excavated the ruins of ancient Agathopolis, the press service of Tsarevo Municipality has announced.

The archaeologists’ efforts were supported by volunteers from Bulgaria, Canada, and the Netherlands. The digs were founded by both Bulgaria’s Ministry of Culture and Tsarevo Municipality.

Read the rest of this article...

Sixth-century wooden foot thought be Europe's oldest prosthetic implant

Archaeologists in Austria say their findings about discovery in grave of man with one foot are ‘very, very surprising’

The skeleton at Hemmaberg in southern Austria. ‘The infection risk alone would have been extremely high,’ the archaeologists say. 

Photograph: Josef Eitler/AFP/Getty

Archaeologists in Austria believe they have found Europe’s oldest prosthetic implant – a sixth-century wooden foot.

The discovery was made in the grave of a man missing his left foot and ankle at Hemmaberg, southern Austria. At the end of his leg was an iron ring and remnants of a clump of wood and leather.

Sabine Ladstätter, of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, said: “He appears to have got over the loss of his foot and lived for two more years at least with this implant, and walking pretty well.”

Read the rest of this article...

Unique medieval foot prosthesis found in Austria

A medieval skeleton found with the remains of a wooden prosthetic foot in Hemmaberg, southern Austria, is a unique find and the oldest example of prosthesis use in Europe, researchers have said.

The remains of the middle-aged man were found in a cemetery which belonged to an early medieval church. His left foot had been amputated above the ankle, perhaps after an accident, but against the odds he managed to survive the operation.

He is believed to have died in the mid to late-6th century AD. Archaeologist Franz Glaser said that it is likely he lived for around two years after being fitted with the prosthetic. This would mean the prosthetic is around 1,500 years old, making it the oldest artificial limb found in Europe (older specimens have been found in China and Egypt).

Read the rest of this article...

Success for cutting edge artefact imaging technique

The EU TISCH project has demonstrated that terahertz imaging and spectroscopy can be a viable, non-destructive and non-invasive tool to aid the retrieval and analysis of images of obscured features of artwork. Through a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Dr Bianca Jackson from the University of Reading in the UK was able to apply this technique to inspect layers of paint, detect structural defects in ceramics and image the physical structure of paintings and manuscripts. 

Mosaic depicting Jesus at Hagia Sophia, Constantinople  [Credit: Columbia University] '

Institutions that carry out cultural heritage research don't have a lot of extra money for emerging technology, but they do have the hearts and minds of the people – folks love to talk about what is being done with technology to better understand the mysterious Mona Lisa, or whether or not a sarcophagus contains Queen Neferititi,' says Jackson. 'So one of best ways to reduce costs and increase the accessibility of terahertz technology to open up new and interesting areas of applied research.'

Read the rest of this article...

Medieval fish trap found in Poland's Lake Lednickie

During the survey of debris of the medieval bridge leading to Ostrów Lednicki, a team of underwater archaeologists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń discovered a fish-pot filled with the remains of fish. 

View of the top of the fish-trap [Credit: M. Popek] 

"It is the only relic of the 9th-10th century found during underwater research in Poland" - explained Dr. Krzysztof Radka, head of underwater research. 

The trap is preserved in good condition. Inside it were the remains of caught fish - according to preliminary calculations, there were more than 4,000. Originally, the fish-pot resembled a narrow, oblong, pointed basket with length of approx. 1.6 m. The trap recovered by archaeologists from Toruń was made of wicker. At the time of discovery it was between parts of a mediaeval bridge, which confirms its distant origin. 

By using a water ejector (sediment removal device), the researchers managed to expose the fish-pot and then make full drawing and photographic documentation underwater, even though their activities were difficult due to the limited visibility underwater.

Read the rest of this article...

Lasers used to make Staffordshire Hoard replicas

Laser technology is being used to help create replicas of items from the Staffordshire Hoard.

The hoard contains 3,500 items of jewellery and weapons from Anglo Saxon times with a value of more than £3m.

The Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre in Birmingham is working with the city's Museum and Art Gallery to make pieces to go on show to the public.

Watch the video...

1,500-Year-Old Amputation Wound Studied

VIENNA, AUSTRIA—Bioarchaeologist Michaela Binder of the Austrian Archaeological Institute examined the bones of a middle-aged man who died in the sixth century A.D. He had been buried in a high-ranking area close to a church with a short sword, a brooch, and a prosthetic device for his missing left foot and ankle. The wood of the device had deteriorated, but excavators recovered an iron ring that stabilized the device. The leg bones are also stained, perhaps indicating the man had been buried with leather pieces that attached the prosthesis to his leg. “Losing a foot—and especially when it’s not cut through the joint but through the bone—would have lacerated a lot of blood vessels and caused an extensive amount of bleeding,” Binder toldAtlas Obscura. 

Read the rest of this article...

Fish trap from the Middle Ages discovered in Lake Lednickie

During the survey of debris of the medieval bridge leading to Ostrów Lednicki, a team of underwater archaeologists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń discovered a fish-pot filled with the remains of fish.

"It is the only relic of the IX-X century found during underwater research in Poland" - explained Dr. Krzysztof Radka, head of underwater research.

The trap is preserved in good condition. Inside it were the remains of caught fish - according to preliminary calculations, there were more than 4,000. Originally, the fish-pot resembled a narrow, oblong, pointed basket with length of approx. 1.6 m. The trap recovered by archaeologists from Toruń was made of wicker. At the time of discovery it was between parts of a mediaeval bridge, which confirms its distant origin.

By using a water ejector (sediment removal device), the researchers managed to expose the fish-pot and then make full drawing and photographic documentation underwater, even though their activities were difficult due to the limited visibility underwater.

Read the rest of this article...

Scientists find 1,500-year-old pre-Viking settlement beneath new airport site

When Norway announced plans to expand its Ørland Airport this year, archaeologists got excited. They knew that pre-construction excavation was likely to reveal ancient artifacts from the Iron Age, centuries before the Vikings ruled. But they got far more than they had hoped.

Ørland Airport is located in a region of Norway that changed dramatically after the last ice age ended. The area was once completely covered by a thick, heavy layer of ice whose weight caused the Earth's crust to sink below sea level. When the glaciers melted, much of this region remained underwater, creating a secluded bay where today there is nothing but dry land. At the fringes of this vanished bay, archaeologists with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Museum found the remains of what appears to have been a large, wealthy farming community.

Surveying an area of roughly 91,000 square meters, the researchers uncovered post holes for three large "longhouses" arranged in a U-shape, where villagers would have gathered, honored their chieftain, and possibly stored food. Over the next year, the team plans to unearth more of the village layout—with help from the Norwegian government, which funds scientific excavations at sites set for development.

Read the rest of this article...

Kinder, Gentler Vikings? Not According to Their Slaves

New clues suggest slaves were vital to the Viking way of life—and argue against attempts to soften the raiders’ brutish reputation.

A bare-chested Viking offers a slave girl to a Persian merchant in an artist’s rendering of a scene from Bulgar, a trading town on the Volga River.

ILLUSTRATION BY TOM LOVELL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

The ancient reputation of Vikings as bloodthirsty raiders on cold northern seas has undergone a radical change in recent decades. A kinder, gentler, and more fashionable Viking emerged. (See “Did Vikings Get a Bum Rap?”)

But our view of the Norse may be about to alter course again as scholars turn their gaze to a segment of Viking society that has long remained in the shadows.

Archaeologists are using recent finds and analyses of previous discoveries—from iron collars in Ireland to possible plantation houses in Sweden—to illuminate the role of slavery in creating and maintaining the Viking way of life.

Read the rest of this article...