Durham archaeological dig reveals 'earliest resident'

The bone fragments belonged to an adult, but it was impossible to determine the sex

DURHAM UNIVERSITY

Remains found during a dig in Durham have revealed what is believed to be the city's earliest known resident.

Archaeologists from the university unearthed the bone fragments while excavating a city centre site where student accommodation was being built.

Radiocarbon dating has now shown they date to between 90BC and AD60.

Described as "very significant", the bones add to a growing body of evidence there were settlers in the area in the Iron Age and Romano-British periods.

Most of the identifiable bone, found in a site off Claypath, came from a skull, with parts of a radius and tibia also recovered.

Experts were able to establish they belonged to an adult who had been cremated, but could not determine their age or sex.

As well as evidence of the Iron Age cremation, archaeologists found items from medieval rubbish pits and 18th Century street-front buildings.

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Developers will protect Roman villa unearthed in Cam

Remains of the Roman villa were uncovered last summer at the Millfields site in Cam

A Roman villa unearthed during building work will be preserved after developers agreed to "re-plan" the estate.

More than 6,000 people signed a petition to save the remains discovered by archaeologists working on behalf of Bovis Homes in Cam, Gloucestershire.

The firm said experts had told them the remains did not qualify for preservation but it had since "found a compromise".

Campaigner Christie McLean said the news was "fantastic".

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New discoveries in the Neolithic landscape of the Callanish Stones

The Callanish Stones (known as Tursachan of Calanais in Gaelic) is the best-known monument in the Neolithic landscape of the Loch Roag area. [Image: Dr Martin Bates]

A project to survey the prehistoric landscape around the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides has revealed evidence of other stone circles hidden beneath the peat, including one with evidence of a large lightning strike in its centre.

The main stone circle, known in Gaelic as Tursachan Chalanais, is a significant Neolithic monument consisting of an arrangement of standing stones situated on a ridge above Loch Roag. In the surrounding area, over 15 other sites have been identified that may be ‘satellite’ stone circles to the main Tursachan, labelled Calanais Sites I to XIII. The Calanais Virtual Reconstruction Project, led by the University of St Andrews with Urras nan Tursachan and the University of Bradford, was designed to increase understanding of these features.

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Ancient Viking Glass Artifact Was A Game Piece Of The Elites

A tiny glass crown is being heralded as a rare archaeological artifact from the first wave of Viking raids in England.

The small worked glass artifact was unearthed at an excavation site on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne , a tidal island situated off the northeast coast of England in Northumberland. Crafted from swirling blue and white glass with white glass bobbles, a report in The Times says archaeologists believe the crown was a gaming piece from the strategy board game  hnefatafl (king’s table) played in Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia before the arrival of chess in the 12th century.

A Glass Artifact With Elite Origins
The relic, which is no bigger than a grape, is described as being “of exquisite workmanship” showing influence from across the North Sea and if it is indeed a hnefatafl gaming piece it is a rare archaeological treasure linking the English island with the Vikings at the beginning of a turbulent period in English and Scandinavian history.

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French bracelet among surprises in mysterious Havering hoard

 A rare terret ring discovered in the Havering hoard. Photograph: David Parry/PA

Bronze age specialists split on why so many objects would have been broken and buried

One of the largest and most mysterious bronze age hoards ever found in the UK contains objects that have astonished archaeologists, including items more commonly found in France and the Alps.

The Museum of London on Monday revealed new finds among the Havering hoard, a remarkable collection of 453 swords, axes, knives, chisels, sickles, razors, ingots and bracelets excavated from a quarry in east London over a period of three months and revealed last year.

Dating from 900-800BC, it is the third largest bronze age hoard ever discovered in the UK.

Closer examination has revealed a pair of terret rings believed to have been used to prevent the reins tangling on horse-drawn carts. Bronze age examples have been found before in France but not the UK.

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Archaeology can be restorative after disasters

Archaeologists should be among the first professionals to get to affected areas and proffer solutions from the perspective of their knowledge and expertise. Thus the CPU should always make archaeologists part of the rapid response team in the event of any disaster.

In mass disaster situations, the positive identification of human remains, as well as the search-and-rescue exercise, is a crucial but delicate task where experts need to be engaged.

The identification process of the victims is usually accomplished by employing scientific methods in the search-and-rescue process, which in most cases requires time and adequate resources. Archaeology, as a profession in Zimbabwe and the world at large, has been designed to handle aftermaths of any kind of disasters faced by any community.

The restoration of communities is an integral component of the various interventions to any affected area, thus the need to involve archaeologists who are trained to work with the affected communities to restore their heritage, both tangible and intangible.

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Board-game piece from period of first Viking raid found on Lindisfarne

The piece of worked glass unearthed during an excavation on Lindisfarne. 

Photograph: Jeff Veitch

Small glass ‘crown’ thought to be rare archaeological link to first Norse raiders

It is not large – the shape and size of a chocolate sweet – and might easily have been discarded as a pebble by a less careful hand.

But a tiny piece of worked glass unearthed during an excavation on Lindisfarne has been revealed to be a rare archaeological treasure linking the Northumbrian island with the Vikings, from the very beginning of one of the most turbulent periods in English history.

Archaeologists believe the object, made from swirling blue and white glass with a small “crown” of white glass droplets, is a gaming piece from the Viking board game Hnefatafl, or a local version of the game.

Whether dropped on the island by a Norse raider or owned by a high-status local imitating their customs, the gaming piece offers a rare tangible link between Lindisfarne’s Anglo-Saxon monastery and the culture that eventually overwhelmed it.

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Pompeii's ancient drains are STILL in working order and will be used again to empty rainwater into the sea 2,300 years after they were built

Since 2018, the 1,500ft (457m) network of tunnels (pictured), which are big enough for a human to fit into, have been carefully assessed

The 1,500ft long network of tunnels empties rainwater into the nearby sea  
It was built in three phases dating back as far as 3rd century BC by the Samnites 
Romans updated the network of tunnels and it is still in excellent condition  
Spans from the Pompeii Forum underneath Via Marina and to the Imperial Villa 

Pompeii's ancient drainage system is in such good condition that it is set to be put back into active service, despite being built almost 2,300 years ago. 

A 1,500ft stretch of tunnels underneath some of the famed Italian city's most iconic structures was originally built to drain water downhill away from Pompeii's centre. 

Analysis of the tunnels revealed they had been almost untouched for millennia and the complex system is still in excellent condition. 

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This 7,000-year-old well is the oldest wooden structure ever discovered, archaeologists say

Archaeologists have discovered a 7,000-year-old Neolithic well in eastern Europe, which they believe is the oldest wooden structure in the world.

The square well was built with oak by farmers around 5256 B.C., according to researchers who pinpointed its origin after analyzing the tree rings in the wood, which is the scientific method known as dendrochronology. The well's age makes it the oldest dendrochronologically dated archaeological wooden construction worldwide, according to the researchers in the Czech Republic.

"The well was only preserved because it had been underwater for centuries. Now we cannot let it dry out, or the well would be destroyed," Karol Bayer of the University of Pardubice's Department of Restoration said in a press release.

Researchers are developing a process to dry the wood and preserve it without deformation using sugar to reinforce the wood's cellular structure.

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1,300-Year-Old Saxon Coin Found by Treasure Hunter Rewrites English History

An English metal detectorist has found a rare coin proving old London did not fall to the West Saxons until later than currently thought.

Buried about four inches deep, Andy Hall, 55, found the 1,300-year-old coin in January of 2016 on Wiltshire farmland at Coombe Bisset, to the southwest of Salisbury in  England. While the artifact’s authenticity had been doubted, with even the finder suspecting that it may have been a contemporary forgery, or what he calls a “19th century fantasy piece,” scientific tests on the silver coin have confirmed it is “95% per cent silver,” which is consistent with coins of the time.

Dating of The Fall Of London Challenged
The controversy arises because the rare silver piece depicts the face of the Saxon king Ludica of Mercia who ruled for just one year from 826–827 AD. This little known Saxon king, Ludica, who ruled the kingdom that included London, or 'Lundenwic' as it was called at the time, challenges the mainstream historical theory that London had fallen to the Wessex King Ecgberht after the Battle of Ellendun in 825 AD.

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Virtual Reality Game Redefines Archaeology Education

Before they can get started at their field site -- a giant cave studded with stalactites, stalagmites and human artifacts -- 15 undergraduate students must figure out how to use their virtual hands and tools. They also must learn to teleport.

This is ANTH 399, a course designed to bring the archaeological field school experience to undergraduate students who never leave campus. Designed by University of Illinois professors and computer science graduate students, the course satisfies the field school requirement for those pursuing an archaeology degree at Illinois.

Virtual Reality Making Archaeology Accessible to All

"Field school is a requirement of most archaeological programs across the country," said Illinois anthropology professor Laura Shackelford, who led development of the class with U. of I. education policy, organization. Leadership professor Wenhao David Huang and computer science graduate student Cameron Merrill said "but traveling to a field school site can cost anywhere from $500 to $5,000."

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English Family Fined for ‘Cynical’ Destruction of Medieval Village

Historic England have announced the remains of Withybrook medieval village in Warwickshire have been irreparably damaged by a family, who wanted to graze horses.

John Mac, 58, his wife Elizabeth and their daughter Heather have been found guilty of causing “irreparable damage” to a medieval village and have been fined £160,000. Historic England formally charged the Mac family after they carried out illegal building works between 2015 and 2018, without having obtained Scheduled Monument Consent.

The family ignored repeated warnings from Historic England and the local council. They kept digging up land at Withybrook village including, according to the Telegraph, “laying a 4m wide track, and installing a water pipe, troughs and gate posts.”

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Local discovers Bronze Age settlement in Galway

A leading Irish archaeologist believes a local in Spiddal has discovered a Bronze Age dwelling that was unearthed by a recent Atlantic storm.

A storm in mid-January unearthed a new archaeological site, possible of major, importance An Liopa Thoir, east of An Spidéal (Spiddal), in County Galway. A potential crannóg could be proof of settlements in the area dating back to the Bronze Age.

On Monday (Jan 4), RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (an Irish language radio station) reported that local man Jimmy Ó Céide had discussed the archaeological site following Storm Brendan, which hit the west coast of Ireland in mid-January. 

As yet the find has not been confirmed as a crannóg, a lake dwelling, usually built on an artificial lake and found in Ireland and Scotland. 

One of Ireland’s leading field archaeologists, Michael Gibbons, from Clifden, County Galway, told RTE “This is a very important site. It amazes me that a site of such interest is here, not far at all from the other one further west in An Liopa. They are not common in this part of the country, or indeed anywhere in Ireland."

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Spectacular Findings Uncovered in Santorini’s Akrotiri Archaeological Dig

Some of the recent findings at Santorini’s Akrotiri archaeological site. 

Photo credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

Significant new findings were recently revealed during ongoing excavation works at the archaeological site of Akrotiri, on the Greek island of Santorini (Thera), the Ministry of Culture of Greece announced in a statement on Thursday.

Most of the discoveries are related to the everyday life of the people who lived on the island before the volcanic explosion which destroyed most of the island and subsequently the Minoan civilization on Crete.

Ordinary objects used by the people of the island, even including clothing and burned fruit, were found, most likely believed to be the very last objects the people of Santorini were using in the moments before the devastating volcanic eruption.

Additionally, more than 130 micelle vessels were found, which archaeologists believe were most likely related to a burial place.

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New Building Found at Epidaurus’ Asclepieion in Sensational Archaeological Discovery

The Asclepieion of Epidaurus on the Peloponnesian Peninsula is one of the most important ancient sites in the entire world.

Today, it owes a great deal of its fame to the theater, a wonder of acoustics which is still in operation today, but in ancient times it served as a medical sanctuary, and serious illnesses were healed there.

People from all over the Eastern Mediterranean region flocked to Epidaurus in antiquity to find cures for their various maladies. It was a spacious resort which included guesthouses, a gymnasium, a stadium and the famous theater, which served to “elevate the soul,” which ancient Greeks saw as the goal of all theatrical plays, both tragedies and comedies.

Along with its many luxurious facilities, the Asclepieion of Epidaurus offered beautiful, serene natural surroundings, with lush vegetation and stunning views of the surrounding mountaintops.

According to the poet Hesiod, who was active between 750 and 650 BC, Asclepius, the son of Apollo who was considered the ancient Greek god of medicine, was born in Epidaurus.

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Campaign to save Gloucestershire Roman villa unearthed on estate

The discovery includes a bathhouse

A campaign has been launched to protect the remains of a Roman villa unearthed during work on a new housing estate.

The villa was discovered in Cam, Gloucestershire, by archaeologists working on behalf of Bovis Homes.

BBC TV presenter and archaeology expert Professor Mark Horton is among those calling for it to be saved, describing it as "a very important discovery".

But the developer says archaeologists have told them the villa does not qualify for preservation.

Resident Christie McLean has started a petition to help save the villa, which had over 2,000 signatures within a day of launching.

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Detectorists unearth record breaking haul of 69,347 Iron Age coins after 30-year search

The discovery by Reg Mead (left) and Richard Miles could be worth £10m 

CREDIT: SWNS

A hoard of Iron Age coins worth up to £10 million has been officially recognised as the largest collection ever found on the British Isles after two detectorists' were tipped off by a woman who spotted a 'shiny button' in a field.

Reg Mead and Richard Miles have spent the last 30 years searching for the 69,347 piece coin collection on Jersey after initially receiving a tip-off in the 1980s from a woman who said she had spotted something that looked like silver buttons in a field.

They eventually struck gold in 2012 and uncovered the coins which date from the 1st Century BC and lain buried for 2,000 years.

The duo have now had their collection recognised by Guinness World Records.

It overtakes the previous record for the largest collection of Iron Age coins of 54,951 found more than 40 years ago in Wiltshire.

Some of the treasure from the hoard is now on display at La Hougue Bie Museum and the hope is that it will allow people to understand the development of economies and coinage from over two thousand years ago.

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Hoard of ancient Roman coins found in Derbyshire field

Metal detector enthusiasts have unearthed a hoard of ancient Roman coins in a Derbyshire field.

The coins, dating back to the 4th century, were discovered by Thomas Dobson and Robbie Wilson in Parwich in May 2019.

The hoard of 61 coins were classed as treasure at Derby and Derbyshire Coroner's Court on Monday, February 3.

The treasure trove inquest heard that the coins were minted between 380AD and 405AD. Person or persons unknown hid them on land in Parwich and never came back to retrieve them.

The detectorists contacted authorities once they had found the items.

The value of the hoard is not yet known.

Anyone who finds items believed to be more than 300-years-old has a legal obligation to report it under the Treasure Act 1996.

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2000-Year-Old Iron Age Warrior Grave Unearthed in England

Archaeologists in the United Kingdom have unearthed the grave of an Iron Age warrior. It has been described as a very rare find. A number of significant artifacts that are 2000 years old have been unearthed. These finds are providing insights into an important stage in ancient British history.

Construction workers were working on a housing project, just outside Walberton, West Sussex in southern England, when they came across the grave and as required by law, they notified the relevant authorities. Archaeology South East (ASE) was contracted to undertake an investigation of the site. ASE “work across south-eastern and eastern England, offering a broad range of professional archaeological services and expertise,” according to the  Archaeology South East website.

Incredibly Rare Finds From Key Point in History
The ASE archaeologists established that a grave had been found. The Chichester Observer reports that it “is incredibly rare, as only a handful are known to exist in the South of England.” It was later established that it dated from the late Iron Age, roughly from the 1 st century BC to 50 AD.

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Unique Bone Figurine Discovered in One of World`s Oldest Cities

Anthropomorphic figurine discovered by a Polish researcher, photo by J. Quinlan

Polish researcher discovered a human-like figurine in one of the oldest cities in the world: Çatalhöyük in Turkey. This is the first such object made of bone known from this place. The find is about 8 thousand years old.

The discovery was made in one of the largest proto-city centres of the first farmers and one of the most famous archaeological sites of the world: Çatalhöyük, located in the southern part of the Anatolian Plateau in central Turkey. Çatalhöyük was inhabited continuously for over a thousand years between 7100 and 6000 BC, i.e. in the Neolithic era. The figurine was found in 2016. The conclusions of its expert analyses are presented in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.

The most famous artefacts from this place are clay female figurines, until recently considered to be mother goddesses due to their massive posture and exposed breasts. Today, they are usually interpreted as depicting the elderly and objects related to ancestor worship. Now scientists have announced the discovery of a bone figurine that is anthropomorphic, i.e. has human features.

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