Dutch Archaeologist Discovers Traces of Four Submerged Medieval Settlements

 A satellite image of the Noordoostpolder, a Dutch municipality where the four settlements were found (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

A five-year research project yielded the locations of several long-forgotten villages

Archaeologists have long known that multiple medieval settlements stood along the Zuiderzee, a now-obstructed inlet of the North Sea that used to cut through the Netherlands. Researchers unearthed two such historic towns—Urk and Schokland—in the mid-20th century, but until recently, the locations of other settlements remained unknown.

As Dutch regional broadcaster Omroep Flevoland reports, Yftinus van Popta, an archaeologist at the University of Groningen, has identified four “drowned” medieval villages in the Noordoostpolder, a low-lying tract of land reclaimed from the Zuiderzee in the 1940s, after five years of extensive research. (Per the United States Geological Survey, engineers reclaimed the Noordoostpolder and other flood-prone polders by draining water from the Zuiderzee and building a series of dikes.)

Medieval sources suggest that the settlements, called Marcnesse, Nagele, Fenehuysen I and Fenehuysen II, were first inhabited during the 10th and 11th centuries A.D. At some point in the 13th century, the Zuiderzee flooded, submerging the four towns and masking most traces of their existence.

Read the rest of this article...

CBA Festival of Archaeology

 The Council of British Archaeology’s Festival of Archaeology runs from 24 October to 1 November.  The situation with the Corona Virus means that many of the events will be digital, although there will be a number of live events. Please use the search facility on their webpage to see the various events that are offered.

You can find their website here…

Please note that EMAS archaeological Society has offered a quiz on little known archaeological sites in South East England.

You can find a link to the quiz on the EMAS home page here…

Test your knowledge and see how much you know about the archaeology of the area!

FOUILLE D’UN HABITAT CAROLINGIEN À BIGNICOURT-SUR MARNE

 À Bignicourt-sur-Marne, l'Inrap met au jour les vestiges d'un site carolingien (VIIIe-IXe siècles). Autour des bâtiments construits en matériaux périssables, ont été identifiés de nombreux « fonds de cabane » témoignant d'activités artisanales et agricoles.

Read the rest of this article...

THIRD SATELLITE TOWN OF EARLY MEDIEVAL BULGARIAN EMPIRE’S CAPITAL PLISKA FOUND DURING DIGS FOR TURKISH STREAM NATURAL GAS PIPELINE

 

Rescue archaeological excavations for the construction of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline (dubbed “Balkan Stream" by the Bulgarian government) have yielded a surprising discovery: a completely unknown medieval town described as the third satellite town of the city of Pliska, the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire between 680 and 893 AD.

Pliska was the first capital of the Ancient Bulgars south of the Danube River. In addition to having been the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire (632/680 – 1018 AD) for more than 200 years, it was also the largest city in medieval Europe in terms of territory.

While not as densely populated, with a total enclosed area of 23 square kilometers it was substantially larger than Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, or Aachen, capital of Charlemagne’s Carolingian Empire.

Read the rest of this article...

Unlocking the secrets of 'six-headed chief' burial

 

The ancient burial site is believed to contain the remains of several generations of the same family UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD

Archaeologists have used DNA analysis to uncover the secrets of a centuries old burial site nicknamed the "six-headed chief".

The grave at Portmahomack in the Highlands contains a man with a fatal sword wound to his skull.

He was buried with four skulls before his grave was later reopened to bury a second man, while a third man was buried in a nearby grave.

Analysis suggests some of the remains to be generations of the same family.

All the remains bar one date to the late 13th to early 15th century.

Archaeologists said the exception was one of the four skulls which dates to the 8th to 10th century and probably belonged to a Pictish monk.

Read the rest of this article...

Check out a Lidl bit of ancient history beneath city supermarket

 

Lidl merchandising Manager Colm Kelly takes a photo of a stone-lined cistern which was fed with water from a gully outside the cottage which was built around AD 1070, and was excavated and is now visable through a glass floor at the new Lidl Store on Dublin’s Aungier St.Picture 
Credit:Frank McGrath 14/10/20

The remains of an 11th-century medieval structure is the centrepiece of Lidl's newest Dublin supermarket on Aungier Street.

The supermarket features several significant archaeological finds that can be seen throughout the shop, including the 18th century Aungier Theatre staircase, an 11th century sunken-floored structure and the 18th century Longford Street Arches.

Covered by a rectangle of glass flooring, the most impressive feature is the medieval remains of the humble abode.

Read the rest of this article...

DNA testing sheds light on old Viking murder mystery

 

The grave was first uncovered 39 years ago (photo: Roskilde Museum)

Almost 40 years after the famous ‘Gerdrupgraven’ discovery was made near Roskilde, archaeologists uncover key piece of evidence 

One of the top draws at Roskilde Museum is the Gerdrup Grave, a 1,000-year-old Viking interment discovered 39 years ago just north of Roskilde in the tiny hamlet of Gerdrup.

The grave contains the skeletons of a man and a woman, and archaeologists have long speculated who they might be and why they were buried together.

Another element of the mystery is that the man was killed at some point and buried next to the woman. 

The Gerdrup Grave has another important aspect to it: it was the first discovery that proved that Viking women were buried along with a weapon – in this case a lance.

Read the rest of this article...

Anglo-Saxon girl had her nose and lips cut off as punishment, shows skull

 

Skull of young Anglo-Saxon girl, front view with cuts and back view

with unfused sutures [Credit: Garrard Cole, Antiquity]

An Anglo-Saxon teenage girl appears to have had her nose and lips cut off — and possibly her head scalped as well — analysis of an old skull has revealed.

Unearthed in Oakridge, Hampshire, the remains have been radiocarbon dated to 776–899 AD — predating written accounts of this gruesome form of punishment.

Although it is not known exactly why the poor young woman was subject to the horrific facial mutilation, it was once routinely meted out to female offenders.

The disfigurement was given to adulteresses, slaves who stole and criminals guilty of more severe acts, the researchers reported. 

Read the rest of this article...

1,200-year-old pagan temple to Thor and Odin unearthed in Norway

 

The god house (shown here in a digital reconstruction) was strongly built of beams and walls of wood; some lasted for hundreds of years. It included a central tower, patterned on Christian churches seen in lands further south.

(Image: © University Museum of Bergen)

The remains of a 1,200-year-old pagan temple to the Old Norse gods such as Thor and Odin have been discovered in Norway — a rare relic of the Viking religion built a few centuries before Christianity became dominant there.

Archaeologists say the large wooden building — about 45 feet (14 meters) long, 26 feet (8 m) wide, and up to 40 feet (12 m) high — is thought to date from the end of the eighth century and was used for worship and sacrifices to gods during the midsummer and midwinter solstices.

Read the rest of this article...

Germanic lord buried with a harem of 6? Not quite, but the real story is fascinating.

 

Archaeologist Arnold Muhl shows early medieval fibulae, a part of women's clothing, that were discovered in the cemetery. This and other artifacts from the excavation are now in the workshop of the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte (State Museum for Prehistory) in Germany. 

(Image: © Hendrik Schmidt/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB; Alamy)

An early medieval cemetery unearthed in Germany may not contain "a harem for the hereafter," as some news outlets reported; but it's still a remarkable find, likely holding the remains of a wealthy aristocrat and about 80 other people, some buried with riches such as glass bowls, gold jewelry and sharp weapons, according to the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany.

The individuals buried at the roughly 1,500-year-old aristocratic estate were part of the short-lived Thuringian Kingdom, which lasted for about 80 years before the Franks conquered them in A.D. 531. Before its demise, the kingdom reigned during a tumultuous time known as the Migration Period, when the so-called Barbarian peoples, such as the Huns, Goths and Vandals, gained power as the remains of the Western Roman Empire crumbled.

Read the rest of this article...

DNA Analysis Suggests Mother and Son Were Buried in Famous Viking Grave

 

The male skeleton's neck and legs were arranged in an unnatural position, while the woman's remains were held in place by large stones. (Roskilde Museum)

New DNA evidence has identified two people buried in a 1,000 year-old Viking grave as a mother and son, reports the Copenhagen Post.

Previously, researchers had speculated that the man, who may have been hanged, was an enslaved individual sacrificed and buried alongside the noblewoman he served in life.

“It’s an incredibly exciting and surprising result we have here,” Ole Kastholm, an archaeologist at Denmark’s Roskilde Museum, where the remains are on display, tells TV 2 Lorry. “We need to thoroughly consider what this means.”

Archaeologists excavated the burial, known as the Gerdrup Grave, in 1981. The fact that the woman was buried with what appeared to be a lance helped overturn scholars’ assumptions about gender in Viking society. Since the site’s discovery, researchers have found a number of other Viking women buried with weapons, which could identify them as warriors or symbolize their elite status.

Read the rest of this article...

British museum will send Viking skeleton home to Denmark to be reunited with 1,000-year-old 'relative' after he was butchered in 1002 'ethnic cleansing' massacre

 

A Viking skeleton from AD 1002 at the Museum Resource Centre in Oxfordshire today

A British museum will send a Viking skeleton that was butchered in an ethnic cleansing massacre in AD 1002 to its home in Denmark to be reunited with its 1,000-year-old relative. 

The skeleton, known as SK1756, is being held at Oxfordshire County Council's Museum Resource Centre and is one of at least 35 men and boys believed to be victims of the St Brice's Day massacre in Oxford in AD 1002.

The slaughter is said to have taken place after King Aethelred II of England ordered the execution of dozens of Danish raiders, settlers and their children.

But DNA has revealed that a male skeleton discovered during an excavation in Denmark could be a relative such as an uncle, nephew, grandfather, grandson or half-brother - and experts want to reunite them.

Read the rest of this article...

Marlow warlord's remains part of 'key archaeological site'

 

The burial site is believed to date from the 6th century AD

PETE BRYANT

The discovery of a warrior warlord's burial site could change historians' understanding of southern Anglo-Saxon Britain, according to archaeologists.

The 6ft "Marlow Warlord" was discovered in August close to the Buckinghamshire town.

An archaeological dig of the area took place after metal detectorists discovered two bronze bowls.

Dr Gabor Thomas said the find provided "new insights" into life after the collapse of Roman Britain.

The specialist in early medieval archaeology at the University of Reading said the burial suggested "people living in this region may have been more important than historians previously suspected".

Read the rest of this article...

Archaeologists unearth remains believed to be of Anglo-Saxon warlord

 

The remains of the Marlow Warlord are unearthed. Photograph: University of Reading

The final resting place of what appears to be an Anglo-Saxon warrior has been unearthed in a field in Berkshire, in a discovery archaeologists say sheds fresh light on the rise and fall of local tribes.

Buried with an array of weapons including spears and a sword with its scabbard, the skeleton of a man dating from the sixth century was found in August – two years after metal detectorists discovered bronze bowls at the site and alerted experts.

Dr Gabor Thomas, a specialist in early medieval archaeology at the University of Reading who worked on the subsequent excavation, said there had been much debate about whether individuals buried with such goods were warriors or were buried with weapons as a symbolic gesture.

Read the rest of this article...

Runestone Discovered in Sweden Provides Window Into Viking Past

 

While plowing a field on his family farm in Småland, southern Sweden, Lennart Larsson came across a large stone. Larsson put the stone, which is 6 feet high (2 m) and 3 feet wide (1 m), to one side and planned to use it as a stepping stone for a new staircase in his home. After finishing a day of plowing, he checked the stone again and to his amazement “on the underside of the stone were runes!” reports the Nattidningen Svensk Historia . The farmer and his family contacted the local Västerviks Museum about the runestone, who then inspected the discovery. Runestones are invaluable to researchers as they are windows into the Viking past. The artifact is expected to provide insights into a crucial period when the old Viking world was giving way to a new Christian world .

Read the rest of this article...