Category: Arch/ Anthro

Archaeologists conducting rescue excavations at a villa rustica site in Turkey have uncovered Roman mosaics depicting animal figures and sea creatures. The discovery was made in the area of Kela Hanma (Lady’s Castle), located near the village of Uzunkaya in Turkey’s Mardin province. The villa is a rural settlement dated to the 5th and 7th…

According to an announcement by the Rostock City Hall, archaeologists have uncovered a devil curse written on a 15th century tablet in Rostock, Germany. The discovery was made during construction works for the Rostock town hall extension, where excavations of a medieval latrine revealed an inconspicuous piece of rolled up lead. Historical records indicate that…

Archaeologists from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków have announced the discovery of astronomical carvings and paintings associated with the Pueblo culture. The discovery was made at the Castle Rock Pueblo settlement complex, located on the Mesa Verde plateau on the border between Colorado and Utah, United States. Previous research of the area has identified Pueblo…

Archaeologists in Israel have identified a very rare Canaanite inscription on fragments of a pottery jar from the reign of King David (10th century BCE). The Canaanite inscription on the 3,000-year-old jar. Image credit: Tal Rogovsky. The 3,000-year-old jar, broken into many sherds, was unearthed several years ago at an archaeological site near Khirbet Qeiyafa…

Examination of Viking jaw and teeth. Credit: Carolina Bertilsson, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Vikings in Sweden suffered from painful dental issues and occasionally tried to treat them, according to a study published December 13, 2023, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Carolina Bertilsson of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues. In 2005, excavations in…

A new study by researchers from the University of Cambridge has revealed that Interamna Lirenas, traditionally written off as a failed backwater, continued to thrive during the Roman Crisis of the Third Century AD. Interamna Lirenas was founded in 312 BC as a colonia of Latins in the present-day province of Frosinone, central Italy. The…

Archaeologists have discovered an ornately decorated Roman domus between Rome’s Palatine Hill and the forum. According to a statement by the Culture Ministry, the Colosseum Archaeological Park’s research project uncovered the structure within the vicinity of the Horrea Agrippiana warehouse complex along the Vicus Tuscus. The domus was built in multiple phases, between the late…

Egypt and Northeast Africa in Antiquity, with Modern Geographical Boundaries. Credit: The Journal of Interdisciplinary History (2023). DOI: 10.1162/jinh_a_01977 Many reports from antiquity about outbreaks of plague mention Egypt as the source of pestilences that reached the Mediterranean. But was this really the case? Researchers from the University of Basel are conducting a critical analysis…

Migrations of early farmers into Europe. Credit: Nature Human Behaviour (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01756-w The difference in height between female and male individuals in northern Europe during the Early Neolithic (8,000–6,000 years before present, bp) may have been influenced by cultural factors, a paper published in Nature Human Behaviour suggests. The findings indicate that height differences…

View of the Interamna Lirenas excavation from above and from the North. Photograph taken in September 2023. The remains of the theater can be seen in the center, with the remains of the basilica behind it. Credit: Alessandro Launaro A rare roofed theater, markets, warehouses, a river port and other startling discoveries made by a…