Drones aid in discoveries at Medieval Irish sites

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been gaining attention in the news for the last few years, but archaeologists like Saint Louis University history professor Thomas Finan, Ph.D., have always appreciated what aerial photography could accomplish.

Unmanned aerial vehicles served as important tools in research at the Lough Key
archaeological site [Credit: Saint Louis University]

Finan says UAV technology, along with high speed computer applications and mapping software, and sensors that can collect multi-spectral image are changing archaeology, adding that unmanned aerial survey is the next great jump in archaeological technology.

For nearly 20 years, Finan has spent summer breaks on archaeological digs, often taking SLU students to areas such as North Roscommon in Ireland in search of ancient sites, relics and a deeper glimpse of history.

Finan has now partnered with Paul Naessens, director of Western Aerial Survey, and a field archaeologist he has worked with for two years in North Roscommon, to further their exploration through the use of UAVs.

"Paul is not only a great archaeologist," said Finan. "He is fully licensed by the Irish Aviation Authority to carry out these surveys and broaden our knowledge of the area."

Finan has been working in north County Roscommon for the last two decades, conducting archaeological explorations at a number of sites, including the ecclesiastical complex at Kilteasheen, the Rock of Lough Key, the MacDermot moated site stronghold near the Rock, six ringforts (smaller agricultural settlements) and the Kilbrian ecclesiastical site. He says the landscape is breathtaking, but the archaeology is even more incredible.

"In 2013-14, we identified what we believe to be a major medieval Gaelic settlement in proximity to the Rock of Lough Key, a stunning island fortification," Finan said. "This year, we focused our attention on some lesser known sites in the area, including a ringfort that shows great promise for medieval settlement and what appears to be a major settlement in association with the parish church at Kilbrian."

The survey, conducted as part of an ongoing field survey of north Roscommon, brings together the latest in archaeological technology to enhance the understanding of sites that had been identified before.

"Most of these sites are found in the inventory of the National Monuments Service, but are often given cursory classification distinctions," Finan added. "My interest is piecing together  various medieval settlements (high status lordly sites, ecclesiastical sites, lower status agricultural sites) to explain social dynamics and the events of the thirteenth century in particular."

Finan's team uses traditional tools such as gradiometry, electrical resistivity and topographical surveys to identify features in the landscape. The aerial survey adds a completely new element to the study.

"We have collected an unprecedented amount of digital data," Finan said. "The 3D landscape data allows us to see minute changes in the topography that can be defined as structures and human occupation. The digital data collected with the geophysics is then wrapped around that 3D data to give us an amazing understanding of what is there without sinking a spade."

Finan says managing this data has been a challenge. The amount of data collected in aerial survey fills hard drives quickly, and dealing with archiving and storage is a major pre-occupation for the team.

"We build a great deal of redundancy into the project, but in reality the management of the data revolves around developing tools that can both archive and present the data in new ways. This is really where the cutting edge of digital archaeology is right now. We have tons of digital data, but what do we do with it? From our perspective, we have chosen to make the data freely available to anyone who wants to use it for scholarly purposes with proper attribution using an open-data policy. Our next step is to integrate that database with other archaeological information that has been collected over the years from excavations, archives and even aerial photos from a hundred years ago."

While the project is ongoing, Finan is content with saying that the process of data collection is reaching a significant milestone after only three years.

"When combined with the rich collection of historical sources that we have for north Roscommon in the thirteenth century, this research has huge potential to change the way we understand that century. But what is more important to me is that the local population in north Roscommon appreciates this research and has been so helpful to us all these years. Farmers have told us about sites not recorded, have given us access to their lands, and have been thrilled to see students from America working in their area. It continues to be a great experience for all involved."

Source: Saint Louis University [August 20, 2015]

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Jewish victims of Portuguese Inquisition unearthed

Portuguese researchers suspect that a dozen skeletons found in an ancient garbage dump were Jewish victims of the Inquisition more than 400 years ago.

Skeleton from the excavation of the jail cleaning yard associated with the
 Inquisition Court at Évora, Portugal [Credit: Bruno Magalhães]

The excavation team found the remains at what was called the Jail Cleaning Yard of the Inquisition Court in Evora, 135 kilometres east of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon. The dump was in use roughly between 1568 and 1634.

The three male and nine female bodies “were discarded into the dump like household garbage,” with no funeral structures nor grave goods, and the skeletons were lying skewed on the ground, the researchers said in the September edition of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

A view of the jail cleaning yard at the old Inquisition Court at Évora during excavation. 
Archaeologists excavated about one-eighth of the area and found bones from more 
than two dozen individuals jailed during the Portuguese Inquisition 
[Credit: Bruno Magalhães]

The Portuguese Inquisition was established in 1536. Its most common accusation was maintaining outlawed Jewish practices in secret. Hundreds of Jews were burned at the stake, and living conditions in Inquisition jails often caused prisoners’ deaths. A proper burial was denied to Jews.

The researchers said it was impossible to know for certain if the skeletons were of Jews.

The excavations were carried out in 2007 and 2008 during the renovation of the former Inquisition court building. Only 12 per cent of the yard was excavated, researchers from the Portuguese universities of Evora and Coimbra said.

Source: The Associated Press [August 20, 2015]

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Archaeologists probe medieval battlefield in Poland

The July 1410 battle is regarded as one of the seminal clashes of the medieval era, with the Teutonic Order defeated by a Polish-Lithuanian alliance commanded by King of Poland Władysław Jagiello. In some historical accounts published in the West, the battle is also referred to as the battle of Tannenberg.

Archaeologists probe the terrain of the 1410 Battle of Grunwald 
[Credit: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk]

Dr. Piotr Nowakowski, head of the archaeological and historical department at the Museum of the Battle of Grunwald, has told Polish Radio that the area has yet to be thoroughly explored by archaeologists.

He noted that during probes made in the 1980s, researchers only had the use of shovels and their own hands.

During the current action, participants are equipped with metal detectors and ground-penetrating radar (GPR).

“With these devices, you can explore a larger area in a short time,” Nowakowski said.

Besides Poles, archaeologists from Denmark, Norway and Great Britain are taking part.

This year, the team is trying to survey terrain where it is believed that the Teutonic Knights camped.

In 2014, during a probe that covered another area, a number of small metal objects, pieces of armour and horseshoes were discovered.

Source: Radio Poland [August 20, 2015]

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Oldest case of leukemia found in Neolithic skeleton

German researchers have discovered what might be the earliest case of leukemia in a 7,000-year-old skeleton, they announced at the first European conference on evolutionary medicine.

The Neolithic skeleton affected by leukemia 
[Credit: University of Tübingen]

Belonging to a female individual who died at 30-40 years, the skeleton was excavated in 1982 among other 72 burials at an early Neolithic site near Stuttgart-Mühlhausen in south western Germany.

Beside the individual stood a round-bottomed jar. The site was linked with the Linear Pottery culture, an early farming culture which flourished in western and central Europe between 5500–4800 BC and produced pottery with distinctive linear decorations.

“So far only a severe case of dental caries with alveolar inflammation was reported for this individual,” team leader Heike Scherf, from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen in Germany, said.

Using high resolution CT scans, Scherf and colleagues found a pattern of deep loss of spongy bone in both the bone tissue of the humerus (the long bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow) and the sternum, or breastbone.

According to the researchers, the resorption of central spongy bone is significantly higher compared to specimens of the same age group from the same site and to recent human samples of the adult age class.

“Our results strongly suggests leukemia in its initial stages, affecting the hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow,” Scherf said.

The locally restricted destruction of the sternum and humerus’s bone tissue ruled out other diseases such as osteoporosis, hyperparathyroidism and bone tumor.

“A virus associated with a special type of leukemia (T-cell leukemia) was previously found in Andean mummies. But this case is probably the earliest known appearance of leukemia in an archeological case,” Scherf told Discovery News.

The researchers admitted it’s impossible to make any more detailed assumptions, such as establishing the type of leukemia that affected the Neolithic woman.

Frank Rühli, director of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, where the conference took place, found the study interesting.

“Based even on such state-of-the-art imaging, one can never be 100 percent sure about such a paleopathological finding,” Rühli told Discovery News.

“That said, to have an indication for the oldest paleopathological record of a modern, frequent disease with a major impact such as leukemia is very important from the perspective of the evolution of the disease,” he added.

Author: Rossella Lorenzi | Source: Discovery News [August 19, 2015]

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Fortification wall, temple uncovered in ancient Feneos

Impressive findings have been unearthed in archaeological excavations in the mountainous part of Corinth prefecture, in the Peloponnese (southern Greece), this summer.

The wall with towers (Π1-Π5) on the north slope of the Acropolis of ancient Feneos. 
The Asclepieion can be seen in the distance [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

According to a culture ministry announcement, an entire defensive wall was brought to light at the ancient site of Feneos (alternately Pheneos or Pheneus) stretching across the breadth of northern slope of the settlement’s Acropolis, totalling 230 metres in length.

Tower (Π4) of the wall of the Acropolis in ancient Feneos 
[Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Within the defensive works remains of a temple dedicated to a female deity were excavated, dating to two separate periods: the earlier Archaic period and the latter Classical period.

The shrine of a feminine deity revealed by excavations on the eastern slope 
of the Acropolis of ancient Feneos [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

The findings come amid a five-year research program jointly conducted by the ephorate of ancient antiquities in Corinth prefecture and the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens.

Source: Protothema [August 19, 2015]

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Skeletons found at Cornish chapel dated to Dark Ages

Skeletons uncovered at an historic site have been dated to the Dark Ages, in what is being called a "nationally significant discovery".

The adult skeletons were female, one aged at least 45 and the other probably 20-25, 
while the children were aged one to five, with one aged under six months 
[Credit: Cornwall Archaeological Unit]

Archaeologists said the "amazing" finds at St Piran's Oratory in Cornwall are thought to confirm an early Christian presence there.

The surviving building is thought to date to the 11th or 12th Century.

Tests on the skeletons of two children, excavated last year, show they date from the 8th or 9th Century.

The bones of two skeletons showed familial traits and appeared to 
have been buried together, suggesting a close relationship 
[Credit: Cornwall Archaeological Unit]

James Gossip, from Cornwall Archaeological Unit, which led the excavations, said the skeletons of two adults and 10 children had been found to the north-west of the Oratory, buried approximately 24in (60cm) down.

He said: "The first sample, taken from the skeleton of a child buried on its side in a flexed position, produced a date suggesting burial in the 8th or 9th Centuries.

"The second, also a child, appears to have been buried around the same time, but more probably in the 9th Century.

James Gossip said further analysis of the skeletons should 
provide details on origins, migration and diet 
[Credit: Cornwall Archaeological Unit]

"If this is the case then these burials relate to an earlier structure, the presence of which has long been suspected."

Mr Gossip said: "Due to the scarcity of religious structures scientifically dated to the early medieval period these findings are of national significance and help to confirm the early medieval origins of a religious centre at the Oratory site."

Eileen Carter, a founder member of the St Piran Trust, which cares for the Oratory, said: "We are thrilled. These results are very important as they point to the existence of a place of Christian worship at this time."

St Piran's Trust, set up in 2000, raises funds to excavate and 
interpret the church and the earlier Oratory of St Piran 
[Credit: Cornwall Archaeological Unit]

Ian Saltern, also from the trust, said: "It is hoped that further archaeological work may reveal additional, perhaps earlier, burials."

Mr Gossip said: "More detailed analysis of the skeletal material, which can be used to provide information on origins, migration and diet, will add significantly to our knowledge of the early origins of this iconic site and the development of the early Church in Cornwall."

Source: BBC News Website [August 18, 2015]

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Evidence of massacre found in Neolithic Germany

Violent conflicts in Neolithic Europe were held more brutally than has been known so far. This emerges from a recent anthropological analysis of the roughly 7000-year-old mass grave of Schöneck-Kilianstädten by researcher of the Universities of Basel and Mainz. The findings, published in the journal PNAS, show that victims were murdered and deliberately mutilated.

Severe injuries inflicted either shortly before or after death: Cranial injury on
 a child between 3 to 5 years of age [Credit: PNAS, University of Basel]

It was during the time when Europeans  first began to farm. To what degree conflicts and wars featured in the early Neolithic (5600 to 4900 B.C.), and especially in the so-called Linear Pottery culture (in German, Linearbandkeramik, LBK), is a disputed theme in research.

It is particularly unclear whether social tensions were responsible for the termination of this era. So far two mass graves from this period were known to stem from armed conflicts (Talheim, Germany, and Asparn/Schletz, Austria).

Shin fracture [Credit: PNAS, University of Basel]

Researcher from the Universities of Basel and Mainz now report new findings after analyzing the human remains of the mass grave of Schöneck-Kilianstädten (Germany), a massacre site discovered in 2006. Their results show that the prehistoric attackers used unprecedented violence against their victims. The researchers examined and analyzed the bones and skeletons of at least 26, mainly male, adults and children – most of them exhibiting severe injuries.

Torture and mutilation

Besides various types of (bone) injuries caused by arrows, they also found many cases of massive damage to the head, face and teeth, some inflicted on the victims shorty before or after their death. In addition, the attackers systematically broke their victims’ legs, pointing to torture and deliberate mutilation. Only few female remains were found, which further indicates that women were not actively involved in the fighting and that they were possibly abducted by the attackers.

Cranial injury on an 8-year-old child [Credit: PNAS, University of Basel]

The authors of the study thus presume that such massacres were not isolated occurrences but represented frequent features of the early Central European Neolithic period. The fact that the Neolithic massacre sites examined so far are all located in some distance to each other further underlines this conclusion. The researchers thus suggest that the goal of this massive and systematic violence may have been the annihilation of entire communities.

Source: University of Basel [August 18, 2015]

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Antiquities looting surges in crisis-stricken Greece

The economic crisis has led many Greeks to antiquity looting and smuggling, with most of them being first-time offenders with no criminal record, says a National Geographic report.

The sharp rise in applications for metal detector permits is an indicative sign. However, a permit is only given to people with no criminal record and after the approval of the Ministry of Culture.

Police detectives and the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture say that illegal excavations and theft of cultural artifacts have increased in the past five years of the economic crisis. But the profile of looters and smugglers has changed.

Before the crisis, antiquities looters were members of criminal rings who were involved in other criminal activities as well. Nowadays, regular people dig on their own in order to find ancient treasures and sell them.

The economic crisis has made their illegal “job” easier though, as severe budget cuts have left pertinent state agencies understaffed, the National Geographic report says. The resources to limit looting and smuggling are too small and the demand for black market antiquities is large.

“We need more staff, more people,” said Evgenios Monovasios, a lieutenant in the Security Police Division of Attica. He estimated that in all of Greece there are only about 60 employees who work exclusively to prevent and disrupt looting. While cooperation with local authorities across the country expands this capacity, it’s difficult to monitor more than a fraction of the country’s vast and varied landscape, which ranges from the mountainous north to hundreds of islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas.

“It would take an army to catch everything,” said Elena Korka, General Director of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage. “It’s impossible not to find antiquities in Greece; they are literally everywhere.”

Greek police employ methods such as undercover police work. They gather information, infiltrate looting networks and then conduct raids to retrieve the stolen antiquities.

Most illicit excavations are done at night and the items found are reburied or hidden in locations such as sheep pens and then they are sold to middlemen who own legitimate businesses that can be used to launder the artifacts.

There are also cases where the looters do direct “custom orders” for collectors. The illegal artifacts circulate around the globe and they go from one private collection to another with misleading documentation in different parts of the world so they give the impression of legitimacy.

Since illegally obtained Greek antiquities appear anywhere in the world — from museums to private collections — the Ministry of Culture and pertinent state authorities go into legal negotiations with the owners of such artifacts in order for them to return to Greece. However, for every item repatriated there are several that remain in private collections.

According to the report, recent antiquities trafficking cases range from Byzantine manuscripts stolen from a monastery at Mount Athos and recovered from the Getty Museum and Duke University in 2014 and 2015 to a cache of neolithic Cycladic figurines, vessels, and statue parts confiscated in Attica in 2011 with an estimated value of almost twenty million euros.

Author: A. Makris | Source: Greek Reporter [August 18, 2015]

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Italy slammed for 'faking' Roman ruin

An ambitious restoration of a 2000-year-old monument inside the Roman Forum has provoked furious debate among experts about whether Italy is taking the right steps to save its cultural treasures.

Experts are angry about the use of cement to reinforce the seven columns 
of the Temple of Peace [Credit: Corriere Della Sera]

Archaeologists and art experts are angry about the use of cement to reinforce the seven columns of the Temple of Peace, a landmark built in 75AD by Emperor Vespasian, who also built the Colosseum.

Architect Sandro Maccallini has claimed the restoration includes “a totally fake column, with a fake base, with a fake core and a capital that is probably fake” and the daily Corriere Della Sera has published photos of the materials being used at the site.

The city council’s cultural superintendency is seeking to restore the temple’s seven columns made of the highly prized pink granite which were shipped from the Egyptian city of Aswan during the Roman Empire.

Reinforced concrete is making its entrance to the 
Roman Forum [Credit: Corriere Della Sera]

“The Roman Forum will lose its identity as an archaeological site, unique in the world, where everything is precious and unique because it is authentic,” Maccalini said in a complaint cited by Corriere della Sera.

Tomaso Montanari, an art expert from Naples, also criticized the project. “You don’t have to be Doctor Freud to understand that the erection of the Temple of Peace’s columns is the result of an archaeology desperate for a pill that will revive it, naturally with the highest media profile.”

But the capital’s cultural superintendency said the decision to use the cement was based on the recommendations of a scientific technical committee, which said it was about “bringing back the ancient artefacts that are in pieces”.

The project aims to raise seven columns of the Temple of Peace, the first two 
of which should be ready next April 21 [Credit: Corriere Della Sera]

Claudio Parisi Presicce, who heads Rome City Council’s arts and culture department, said the approach was akin to anastylosis, the reinforcement method used to restore the acropolis in Athens.

But Andrea Carandini, who heads Italy’s environment protection group Fondo Ambiente Italiano, said:“I am completely against choices like this. And even the works on the Parthenon are too invasive.”

The fiery debate over the Temple of Peace is the latest to emerge in Italy. Culture minister Dario Franceschini has recently been under fire over plans to restore the Colosseum’s arena for concerts and other performances, causing some critics to dub it the new “Las Vegas”.

Source: The Local [August 17, 2015]

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First Scandinavian farmers more advanced than thought

Farming started in Denmark and southern Sweden about 6,000 years ago, and now researchers have discovered that these early farmers were far more advanced than they have previously been given credit for.

The very first farmers in Denmark and Sweden had good control of their cattle. 
This meant that they could get them to calve in different seasons so farmers 
had milk all year round [Credit: Shutterstock]

According to a new study, settlers from more developed regions of Central Europe moved to Denmark and Sweden, where they introduced advanced farming practices.

They brought knowledge and agricultural experience with them, which they shared with the local hunter-gatherers over the next 300 years, transforming them into a well-developed agrarian society.

In the new study, researchers from England studied cow teeth dated to 3,950 BC from southern Sweden.

The teeth show that the early farmers had mastered the cumbersome task of calving at different times of the year, so that milk was available all year round.

"It’s very interesting that the farmers of the period were able to manipulate the calving seasons, so all the calves did not come in the spring. This is very hard to do, and would not have taken place if the farmers had not intended to do it,” says Kurt Gron, a researcher from the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, UK, and lead-author on the study.

“This means that the earliest farmers were highly skilled from the beginning of the Neolithic period, which suggests immigrants were instrumental in bringing pastoral agriculture to the region," he says.

The new results are published in PLOS One.

Danish scientist: Completely new insights

Lasse Sørensen, a postdoc at the National Museum of Denmark, studies the transition of early Scandinavian society from hunter-gatherers to a culture dominated by farming.

He was not involved in the new study, but he describes it as exciting work that is part of a larger discussion of the importance of agriculture for the first farmers.

Until now, most researchers believed that early farming was primitive because the farmers held on to many of their hunter-gatherer traditions.

"We know that the first farmers had cows, but we do not know anything about how they managed them, and how much they still had to rely on their ancient hunter-gatherer traditions to hunt and fish,” says Sørensen.

“This study points to a very advanced agriculture, and it gives us a whole new understanding of everyday life in a very interesting transition period in Scandinavian history," he says.

Studied isotopes in teeth

In the new study, researchers analysed the oxygen isotopes in the teeth of prehistoric cattle from Almhov, in south Sweden.

The isotopes are incorporated into teeth when the young cattle drink water and the chemical signal is then preserved.

Since the isotopes in their drinking water vary over the course of a year, analysing the isotopes in the cows’ teeth can tell the researchers which season the cow was born in.

“This comparison allowed us to conclude that cattle were manipulated by farmers to give birth in multiple seasons,” says Gron.

They could make yogurt and cheese

Calving in different seasons meant that farmers had access to milk all year round.

According to Sørensen, this means that quite early in the Neolithic period farmers already had the techniques to make milk into yogurt or cheese. Otherwise, why would they produce milk all year round?

They must also have been able to plan and collect food for the cattle to last the winter -- a time when the young calves were especially vulnerable.

All these things required buildings, tools, and skills that Danish hunter-gatherers were not able to either invent themselves or learn from others in such a short period.

"It is a giant leap from hunter-gathering to farming, and it is so advanced that one cannot imagine that hunter-gatherers could have learned the necessary skills from newcomers or by themselves for that matter,” says Sørensen.

“It takes many generations to master these techniques so these farmers must have been outsiders. Their presence has spread over the centuries and become integrated with the local populations of hunter-gatherers, who would have had to spend a lot of time learning about the agricultural techniques and the farming lifestyle," he says.

Exactly how old are the teeth?

Søren Andersen is an archaeologist and senior scientist at Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus, Denmark, and studies early farming societies.

Andersen does not agree that the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers happened so suddenly. He suggests it developed gradually -- and contrary to the new study -- was not introduced by a sudden influx of large groups of immigrants from the south.

He does not believe that the scientists behind the new research have proven adequately that the teeth are actually from 3950 BC, and not, for example, 200 years later.

If the teeth are 200 years younger, then this puts them in a period in which all researchers agree that the agricultural revolution was well established in southern Scandinavia. In which case, it would not be so strange for people to manipulate calving times.

Critic not convinced by the new research

"Before the results can be credible, there must be no doubt that the teeth come from the time that the researchers say they do. I believe, however, this has not been proven,” says Andersen.

“In addition, researchers come up with evidence from several settlements to say that it was a widespread phenomenon. I remain sceptical until I see evidence that migrants brought agriculture to southern Scandinavia," says Andersen.

Andersen suggests that the agricultural settlements are located in exactly the same places as the hunter-gatherer settlements once lay. According to him, it is illogical that the new migrants should settle in the exact same places where people already lived.

Andersen maintains that the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to a farming society happened more gradually.

Author: Kristian Sjøgren | Source: Science Nordic [August 17, 2015]

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17th century gun-carriage salvaged from London wreck

In one of the biggest operations of its kind, archaeologists have succeeded in lifting a perfectly preserved 17th century English gun-carriage from the bottom of the Thames estuary.

The gun carriage was discovered in the wreck of the English warship, 
the London, built by Oliver Cromwell’s government in the 1650s 
[Credit: © MSDS Marine/Cotswold Archaeology]

It had been discovered in the wreck of the English warship, the London, built by Oliver Cromwell’s government in the 1650s.

The  1.6 metre long, 70 centimetre wide piece of artillery equipment would originally have held a 9 foot long cannon, capable of firing 24 pound cannon balls up to two miles.

The gun carriage has just been recovered with the help of a crane on-board a giant barge. The operation has been funded by Historic England.

Archaeologists will now study the carriage to try to determine whether the gun it held is one of those still believed to be on or under  the seabed or whether it is one of the few that have already been brought to the surface.

Drawing of a 17th century gun carriage from Stirling Castle - 
the same type as on the London wreck 
[Credit: Richard Endsor]

Specialists will also examine the carriage  to discover what wood it was made of. Elm was preferred by the navy because it splintered less in combat and therefore reduced casualties. However in the 1650s, Dutch elm disease massively reduced the availability of elm wood in England – and naval carpenters in the late 1650s and the rest of that century  were forced to use oak instead when making gun carriages.

The London broke in two and sank when the vessel exploded two miles off Southend, Essex in 1665.

“The newly raised gun carriage is a very important find and  in remarkable condition” said Charles Trollope, a leading expert in 17th century naval artillery.

A bronze cannon raised from the wreck 
[Credit: © Maritime and Coastguard Agency]

Apart from a naval gun carriage at Windsor Castle, the newly raised artefact is the only known well-preserved example in existence. However it is  possible  that other well-preserved gun carriages still survive buried on the wreck site.

Its recovery has saved it from being destroyed by changing currents and sea worms that are increasing in English waters because of climate change.

Much of the archaeological investigation of the London wreck site has been carried out by volunteer divers from Southend. The newly raised gun carriage will now begin a long period of conservation.

Bronze sundial recovered from the wreck of the London which 
blew up off Southend Pier in Essex in 1665 
[Credit: © Steven Ellis]

Alison James, a Historic England maritime archaeologist, said: “This 350 year old gun carriage is in near-perfect condition. It’s a national treasure and the key to new knowledge of our social and naval history. We had to recover it quickly or it would have broken up and been lost forever.

“It’s complete with all the implements that the gunner would have used to make the cannon fire – all the archaeological material is there with it so it’s hugely exciting. Until now, it’s been well preserved, enclosed in an anaerobic environment, oxygen-free mud, safe from all the creepy-crawlies that would normally erode it.  We’ve even got the 350 year old rope going through the pulley block. But as parts of the gun carriage recently became exposed, we had to act fast to save this rare piece of our history from the ravages of the waves and biological attack,” she said.

Author: David Keys | Source: Independent [August 14, 2015]

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Twelve skeletons found beneath Swedish castle

The bodies of three children and nine men were dug up from the grounds of Sweden's Kalmar Castle earlier this year and tests suggest the bones are up to 500 years old, archaeologists have revealed.

One of the skeletons found at Sweden's Kalmar Castle [Credit: Magnus Stibéus/
Statens Historiska Museum]

Two of the skeletons were preserved in coffins, while the others were buried in soil beneath the wall of Kalmar Castle, which is one of southern Sweden's most famous historical sites.

"I have found skeletons before so I wasn't shocked to see bodies as such, but I was surprised to see some there," Magnus Stibéus, a spokesperson from the Swedish History Museum (Statens historiska museum), which led the excavation project, told The Local.

He said that the discovery had been made while two archaeologists were searching the area, which had been made available to them as repairs took place on the castle's walls.

We think we have found twelve people. At least two are children - around two or three years old - and one we think is 12 years old. We think the rest of them are men. We don't know if they are from Kalmar or somewhere else - maybe Denmark - so we will be trying to find out."

Some of the skeletons found at Sweden's Kalmar Castle [Credit: Magnus Stibéus/
Statens Historiska Museum]

He said it remained a mystery how the people had died, but added that his team's best guess was that they were castle staff who became sick in the late 1400s or early 1500s.

"Maybe they died by an infection caused by something...maybe the plague. We are going to try and discover more," he said, suggesting that the bodies could have been in the area before the castle wall was rebuilt in the sixteenth century and ignored by workers at the time.

Asked why the museum had only just revealed the excavation team's discovery, which was made in March, he said: "We didn't want to say much until we had a story to tell. We had so much to analyse first and we didn't want to get anything wrong."

Stibéus said that the bones should eventually go on display at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, but he was unable to predict when.

Kalmar Castle [Credit: Christian Alsing/Visit Kalmar]

Kalmar Castle, built around a harbour, is more than 800 years old and is situated in Småland.

Previously a medieval fortress designed to defend the region's inhabitants against their neighbours, it was transformed into a grand castle in the sixteenth century, but was damaged by a fire in 1642 and then fell into disrepair.

At the time the people dug up this spring are understood to have died, Sweden and Denmark were still part of the Kalmar Union, a state that brought together the two Scandinavian nations along with Norway, but formally split up in 1523 when Gustav Vasa became King of Sweden.

Source: The Local [August 14, 2015]

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Bronze Age urn burial found in north-east Poland

Archaeologists have discovered traces of so-called Bell Beaker culture in the Podlaskie region dating back several thousand years.

Cinerary urn unearthed by archaeologists at Supraśl 
[Credit: PAP/Artur Reszko]

"It's quite a sensational discovery," Dariusz Manasterski, of the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw, said. It had previously been thought that the culture reached no further than what is now southern Poland.

Excavations were carried out over a week at an archaeological site in Supraśl, near Białystok in north-east Poland. Fragments of pottery, human bones and stone tools, for example a hatchet, have been found.

The dig at Supraśl uncovered some interesting fragments. Here we see an axe,
 a dagger and parts of dishes [Credit: PAP/Artur Reszko]

The dig is being led by archaeologists from the University of Warsaw and the Museum of Podlasie in Białystok.

The emergence of the Bell Beaker culture is dated to about 4-5,000 years ago. It evolved in Western Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula, and its name is associated with characteristic dishes in the shape of an inverted bell.

Source: Radio Poland [August 14, 2013]

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Ancient warrior woman's grave unearthed in Russia

A stunning trove of ancient jewellery has been found in the grave of a noble warrior woman dating back to the first century AD.

The female fighter was a Sarmatian, a people who worshipped fire and whose
 prominent role in warfare was seen as an inspiration for the Amazons of Greek
mythology [Credit: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences]

The female fighter was a Sarmatian - a group of people who worshipped fire and whose prominent role in warfare was seen as an inspiration for the Amazons of Greek mythology. And the discovery of the intact burial mound in Russia has been described as 'priceless' by archaeologists.

The Sarmatians were nomadic people who migrating from central Asia to the Ural mountains between the 6th and 4th century BC. They were fierce warriors who fought on horseback and sacrificed horses to their fire god.

The noblewoman's grave and treasures are in a group of at least 29 burial mounds 
that came to light during the construction of a new airport serving Rostov-on-Don
[Credit: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences]

As well as gold and silver jewellery, the experts found more than 100 iron arrowheads in the grave, as well as the warrior's horse harness.

Early analysis of her teeth suggests she had survived the battles of this period and reached a great age. She was buried with a man - assumed to be her husband - but his tomb was looted, revealed experts from the Institute of Archaeology, of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Gold earrings with pendant chains [Credit: Institute of Archaeology, 
Russian Academy of Sciences]

The noblewoman's grave and treasures are in a group of at least 29 burial mounds that came to light during the construction of a new airport serving Rostov-on-Don.

Archaeologist Roman Mimokhod said: 'Most of the burials on this site are plundered and, of course, it is great luck to find an intact one.

Gold vial [Credit: Institute of Archaeology, 
Russian Academy of Sciences]

'It is interesting that there are two burials in this mound. One obviously belonged to man and was totally looted. We found only some fragments of crockery and scattered bones. 'We will check the bones, but we are almost sure it was some noble man. The second burial belonged to the woman.'

He stressed: 'We believe that it was a double burial of some noble Sarmatian and his wife.'

Gold bracelet [Credit: Institute of Archaeology, 
Russian Academy of Sciences]

Detailed tests on her remains will be conducted and the results announced later.

'The depth of the tomb is [13 feet] four metres and it was covered with a wooden decking. At the edge of the grave pit were found the remains of a harness and more than 100 iron arrowheads. According to ancient historians, Sarmatian women participated in hostilities and this find of arrowheads is indirect confirmation of this.'

Bronze ladle(?) with image of Gorgon's head  [Credit: Institute of Archaeology, 
Russian Academy of Sciences]

Next to her skull, gold earrings with pendant chains were found, while a bronze mirror was close to her shoulder.

'The collar of her dress was decorated with stamped buckles of gold leaf in the form of a stylised ram's head,' he said.

Gem with a single-line Phoenician or early Aramaic inscription 
[Credit: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences]

'Her sleeves were embroidered with colourful beads combined with gold triangular and hemispherical plaques. On each hand - a gold bracelet. On her breasts were various beads, among which was a gem with a single-line Phoenician or early Aramaic inscription. At her pelvis lay a gold vial. This had a tight lid and its contents are fossilised.'

'We will analyse this to understand what it was, but most likely it contained some incense. By her right hand were fragments of wooden dishes and a cup. At her feet there were fragments of a bronze bucket (ladle) with floral ornaments and the image of the Gorgon's head on a stick. In the north-eastern part of the grave were located four ceramic vessels.'

Ceramic vessel [Credit: Institute of Archaeology, 
Russian Academy of Sciences]

A small 'hiding place' in the grave contained a collection of knives and an unfinished sword with brooches on its handle.

'One of the most unusual things about these finds is that items in the burial were dated from the first century BC to the first century AD. It is rather unique, I have not see such a combination before and have not heard about it. This can mean that the most ancient things were handed down for a long time and finally were buried with this noble woman.'

The Sarmatians flourished from the 5th century BC to the fourth century AD.

Author: Will Stewart | Source: Daily Mail Online [August 14, 2015]

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17th century plague pit unearthed in London

Archaeologists in London believe they may have uncovered a mass grave of plague victims buried beneath one of the city's busiest train stations.

Human skeletons found beside Liverpool Street during Crossrail excavations 
[Credit: Crossrail Project]

The find at Liverpool Street Station is part of one of Britain's most important archaeological digs, with a team of more than 60 scientists working double shifts since March to excavate around 3,000 skeletons.

The bodies were interred in a cemetery attached to the notorious Bedlam mental asylum, with the site being used for burials for at least 170 years.

The name Bedlam, the byname for the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, became synonymous with disorder and confusion and its horrific conditions struck fear into the heart of Londoners.

Archaeologists excavate skeletons underneath Liverpool Street Station 
[Credit: Crossrail Project]

The burial ground was used from 1569 to the mid-19th century for Bedlam's patients and local residents when other cemeteries became overcrowded.

Beneath the burial ground lies a Roman road where archaeologists have also uncovered a selection of Roman graves.

Jay Carver, the lead archaeologist on the dig, said the potential plague pit within the cemetery contained at least 30 bodies.

Archaeologists excavate skeletons underneath Liverpool Street Station 
[Credit: Crossrail Project]

He said the mass grave showed signs of being from the time of the great plague of 1665, in which more than 100,000 Londoners died.

"Well the clue is we're certainly in an area of the burial ground that was definitely in use in the 1660s. Thereby we found a small headstone dated in 1665," he said.

"The scientific tests we can do on some of these individuals should tell us what they've died of. If it's bubonic plague and we get some other evidence in terms of dating these layers, we could well have an example of a plague pit from that great plague episode."

Archaeologists excavate skeletons underneath Liverpool Street Station 
[Credit: Crossrail Project]

The remains interred at Bedlam cover an era of civil wars, Shakespeare, the Great Fire of London and numerous plague outbreaks.

Many of those buried were poor and parish records listed them as servants and apprentices.

None were wearing clothes but several coffin plates found indicate there were some more well-off people buried at the site.

Crossrail archaeology: 360° video of suspected 1665 plague pit uncovered

 at Liverpool Street [Credit: Crossrail Project]

Mr Carver said many of the remains had been disturbed because the burial ground was so crowded.

"There's so many on the site though that they are all intercutting and very often the grave digger was cutting across the remains of some previous victim, so there's a lot of disturbance to all the graves," he said.

While some remains had obvious injuries like blows to the skull, most causes of death had to be established in a laboratory.

Aerial view of the excavation at Liverpool Street Station 
[Credit: Crossrail Project]

"There's a huge amount of work to wash and prepare each skeleton and then inspect it very carefully for injury and disease," he said.

"You can sometimes see very obviously when someone's suffered from an infectious disease like syphilis which has affected their bones, particularly their legs."

He said the archaeologists working on the dig had been moved by many of the stories of those who they had unearthed.

A cross-section of the Liverpool Street Station archaeological dig 
[Credit: Crossrail Project]

"We've seen burials here of mother and child, very young infants [who] probably died in childbirth in fact. It's extremely poignant to see that stuff," he said.

The remains were initially discovered as part of construction work at the station and so once they are excavated they will be re-buried on an island in the Thames.

Source: ABC News Website [August 14, 2015]

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Price of Britain’s slave trade revealed

Letters and papers revealing in detail how human beings were priced for sale during the 18th century Transatlantic Slave Trade have been made available to researchers and the public.

A list detailing the names, ages and prices of slaves bought by British plantation 
owner William Philip Perrin from John Broomfield in 1796 
[Credit: University of Cambridge]

Letters discussing the value and sale of slaves in the 18th century, which provide a distressing reminder of the powerful business interests that sustained one of the darkest chapters in British history, are to be made available to researchers and the public by St John's College, University of Cambridge.

The collection contains the business exchanges of an 18th century English landowner, William Philip Perrin, who ran a sugar plantation near Kingston, Jamaica. In it, Perrin and his correspondents discussed in callously practical terms the human cargo that was being shipped to the West Indies at the height of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, a time when the equivalent of millions of pounds were changing hands as slaves were bought and sold.

The papers have been acquired by St John's College, which was the undergraduate College of leading anti-slavery campaigners William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, whose combined efforts helped to bring about the Abolition Bill of 1807. While the College already holds a wide-ranging collection of material dealing with the anti-slavery movement, these documents tell the other, rarely-discussed side of the story, by providing an insight into the wealth and influence that lay behind the pro-slavery lobby.

One list, dating from 1797, contemporary with Clarkson's own evidence-gathering campaign against slavery, details the names, ages and prices of slaves to be bought for Perrin's plantation. The note, described as "a list of Mr John Broomfield's negroes, with their age and valuation," catalogues 35 men and 19 women, as well as children as young as 14, who had been valued for sale as slaves.

Entries such as "Dick, 25, able field negro, £140" and "Castile, 45, cook and washerwoman, £60" provide a stark and shocking reminder of the high financial stakes that Clarkson and his contemporaries struggled to overthrow. The total valuation for 54 male and female slaves came to £5,100, a sum equal to around £500,000 today.

The collection is being added to an extensive range of material, already held by the College Library, dealing with the political and social conflicts faced by the anti-slavery campaigners in the fight for Abolition. This is made available both to researchers studying the period, and also used as part of educational activities with schools, enabling students to examine primary sources and discover the historic significance of the Abolitionist movement.

Kathryn McKee, Special Collections Librarian at the College, who acquired the papers, which were previously held in Derby County Records Office, said: "These documents provide first-hand evidence of the sale of slaves to British plantation owners. Though appalling to modern eyes, for those involved these were matter-of-fact business transactions: a routine part of the 18th century economy in which business magnates made substantial profits from commodities produced by slave labour and their customers benefited from cheap goods. In opposing the traffic in human cargo, Clarkson, Wilberforce and the Abolitionists were challenging powerful vested interests."

The papers date from between 1772 and 1797, at the time when the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Britain and America was at its peak, and deal with the day-to-day running of Perrin's plantation in Jamaica. Among letters and bills of sale specifying property disputes, shipping preparations and customs duties, are chilling details revealing the ubiquity and commercialisation of slavery and the vast industry it supported.

A letter from 1796 states that one of Perrin's estate managers had been "on the lookout for a gang of up to 60 able-bodied Negroes" to purchase on Perrin's behalf to work on developing his Grange Hill estate. Another discusses how buying cheap slaves to work the land for sugar cane would "relieve the estate from the expense of buying cattle," and allow for more sugar to be sold for rum, which brought in a profit of £4,500 a year, equal to around £400,000 today. A later note assures the reader that the slaves are "happy and contented with their situation."

Kathryn said: "What these letters reveal, apart from a total lack of empathy for their human commodities is the sheer amount of money involved. Many anti-slavery campaigns were grassroots efforts by ordinary people, while the pro-slavery lobby had significant wealth and influence they could use to exert pressure on Parliament."

The anti-slavery campaigners faced vicious and well-funded opposition both in Parliament and on the streets. On one trip in 1787 to Liverpool, which along with Bristol was one of the major hubs of the slave trade in England, an attempt was made to drown Clarkson in the docks for asking too many questions.

Despite this hostility, and after a 20 year struggle, the Abolitionists finally achieved victory on 25 March 1807, with the passing of a Bill to abolish the slave trade, making the sale and purchase of slaves illegal in Britain. Clarkson, reflecting on this momentous event, wrote in 1808:

"Thus ended a contest, not of brutal violence, but of reason. A contest between those who felt deeply for the happiness and the honour of their fellow-creatures, and those who, through vicious custom and the impulse of avarice, had trampled underfoot the sacred rights of their nature."

Source: University of Cambridge [August 14, 2015]

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