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.'

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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