Prehistoric Dolmen Excavated in Sweden

TIARP, SWEDEN—According to a statement released by the University of Gothenburg, an unusual dolmen with a little niche at each end has been dated to 3500 B.C. and excavated in western Sweden by archaeologist Karl-Göran Sjögren and his colleagues. Although the stone burial chamber appeared to be undisturbed, the researchers determined that parts of the skeletons were missing. “Skulls and large bones are missing and may have been removed from the grave,” Sjögren said. “We don’t know whether that has to do with burial rituals or what’s behind it,” he added. The researchers did identify bones from hands and feet, fragments of rib bones, and teeth. These smaller bones are usually the ones missing from megalithic graves from the Neolithic period, Sjögren explained. DNA analysis will look for traces of disease and reconstruct any family relationships between the individuals buried in the dolmen. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Neolithic Archaeology. To read about two burials unearthed at a Viking cemetery in Sweden, go to "Standing Swords."

Fossilized Feces From Neolithic Japan Analyzed

FUKUI PREFECTURE, JAPAN—Cosmos Magazine reports that Luca Nishimura of Japan’s National Institute of Genetics and his colleagues analyzed DNA extracted from samples of coprolites excavated in the 1970s from the Torihama shell mound in central Japan. The shell mound had been built by the Jomon people, who lived in the region between 16,000 and 2,900 years ago. The coprolites have been dated to between 7,000 and 5,500 years old. Four samples yielded small fragments of DNA from thousands of microbes, including viruses, mostly in the form of phages, or viruses that infect bacteria; bacteria; and fungi. Some of the DNA in the samples is thought to have come from food that had been consumed. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. For more on the Jomon, go to "Japan's Genetic History."

Scientists Return to Franklin Expedition Shipwrecks

NUNAVUT, CANADA—According to a report by The Canadian Press, a team of Parks Canada archaeologists and their colleagues made 68 dives in heated diving suits over the past year as part of their investigation of the shipwreck sites of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Sir John Franklin and his crew left England in 1845 in the two ships, on a quest to navigate the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic. Both ships were abandoned in icebound waters in 1848. Multiple rescue missions were attempted, but the Erebus was not found until 2014 and the Terror until 2016. Parks Canada team manager Jonathan Moore said that climate change and the resulting loss of sea ice has taken a toll on the Erebus, which rests in shallower water than the Terror. “In 2018, part of the upper deck flipped over. We’re getting evidence of artifacts moving around and timbers shifting,” he explained. During the most field season in 2023, the researchers therefore focused their efforts on recording the site with high-resolution photography and excavating a seaman’s chest in the forecastle on the ship’s lower deck. The chest contained a sailor’s personal items, including a lens from a pair of glasses. Map-making tools, coins, a pistol, medicine bottles, a leather shoe, shoulder epaulets, a fishing rod with a brass reel, and a group of fossils were also recovered. Scientists from the Geological Survey of Canada are assisting with the identification of the fossils, which may help track the route the ships once traveled. To read more about the wrecks and the discovery of the Erebus, go to "Franklin's Last Voyage."

Millet Study Reflects Ancient Regional Cooking Traditions in China

BEIJING, CHINA—According to a statement released by Antiquity, an international team of scientists, including Hongen Jiang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harriet Hunt and Diane Lister of Kew Gardens and Cambridge University, and Xinyi Liu of Washington University in St. Louis, combined DNA analysis of broomcorn millet and a study of the pottery used to prepare it in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China between 1700 B.C. and A.D. 700. In eastern China, this domesticated grain was boiled and steamed to produce a wet and sticky result controlled by variations in its genes. The pottery used to cook millet in eastern China had a tripod base adapted for the boiling process. In Central Asia, however, grains were typically ground and baked into bread. None of the millet recovered in Xinjiang, however, had these “sticky” genes. Pottery used to prepare millet in Xinjiang had a rounded bottom, a design that came from the Altai Mountains to the north. The researchers concluded that although millet was carried westward and adopted as a staple food, vessels and cooking traditions were not. For more on the role of millet in ancient China's regional cuisines, go to "You Are How You Cook."

Artifacts in Poland Upend Understanding of Bronze Age Culture

PAPOWO BISKUPIE, POLAND—Newsweek reports that some 550 bronze artifacts and human bones thought to represent more than 30 people have been recovered from a dried-out lake bed in north-central Poland by a team of researchers led by Jacek Gackowski of Nicolaus Copernicus University. Radiocarbon dating of the site suggests that the human remains were placed in the lake before the metal deposits were made by members of the Chełmno group of the Lusatian culture, which inhabited the region between 1200 and 450 B.C. It had been previously thought that this group did not place much ritual significance on metal objects, unlike Lusatian peoples to the south. The discovery indicates, however, that the Chełmno group's belief system eventually aligned with the rest of Lusatian culture. These metal objects are thought to have been jewelry worn on the arms and around the neck. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about artifacts deposited as grave goods at a Lusatian cemetery, go to "World Roundup: Poland."

Epitaphs Tell of Social Mobility in Medieval China

NEW YORK, NEW YORK—According to a statement released by New York University, Fangqi Wen of Ohio State University, and Erik H. Wang and Michael Hout of New York University, processed information related to social mobility in Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–906) epitaphs, and determined that education and the development of the Keju, or Imperial Exam, which was used to select occupants for civil service positions, led to the decline of the aristocracy in medieval China. “Epitaphs written in medieval China, including the Tang Dynasty, tend to be highly detailed descriptions of an individual’s life with stylized prose and poems, and they contain granular information about the ancestral origins, family background, and career history of each deceased individual,” Wen said. The researchers conducted a statistical analysis of the lineages, names, and titles of offices held by the deceased’s father and grandfather, the deceased’s own career history, and educational credentials from more than 3,500 epitaphs, and combined the information with data collected from dynastic records and compiled genealogies. The results of the study suggest that education and the Keju led to the rise of meritocracy and social mobility. “Passing the competitive exam may have even equalized chances of subsequent success, as a father’s status was not a factor in the bureaucratic rank of men who passed the Keju,” Hout explained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To read about Tang Dynasty murals found in a tomb in northwestern China, go to "Beast Masters."

Roman-Era Wine Shop Excavated in Southern Greece

WATERLOO, ONTARIO—According to a Live Science report, traces of a 1,600-year-old wine shop have been uncovered in southern Greece at the site of the ancient city of Sikyon by a team led by Scott Gallimore of Wilfrid Laurier University and Martin Wells of Austin College. The structure is thought to have been abandoned after an earthquake or building collapse, due to the broken vessels made of bronze, glass, and ceramic; 60 bronze coins; and marble tabletops found scattered on the floor. The shop had been located in a neighborhood of workshops containing kilns and presses for grapes or olives. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any direct evidence of the types of wine that may have been sold,” Gallimore said. “We have some evidence of grape pips (Vitis Vinifera), but we aren’t able to say anything more specific than that right now.” Most of the coins found on the floor, Gallimore added, date to the reign of the Roman emperor Constantius II, who ruled from A.D. 337 to 361. The latest coin was minted sometime between 355 and 361. The coins were all probably held in a ceramic vessel or bag that fell to the floor when the shop was destroyed, he concluded. To read about small home vineyards in ancient Pompeii, go to "The Archaeology of Gardens: Food and Wine Gardens."

Scientists Look for Origins of Syphilis-Like Diseases

BASEL, SWITZERLAND—Concave lesions caused by Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes the diseases of syphilis, bejel, and yaws, has been found in 2,000-year-old human remains unearthed at Jabuticabeira II, an archaeological site on Brazil’s southern coastline, according to a statement released by the University of Basel. Verena Schünemann and her colleagues at the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich, the University of Vienna, and the University of Sao Paulo analyzed genetic material obtained from these bone samples and determined that the pathogen was most closely related to the modern subspecies of Treponema pallidum that causes the symptoms of bejel, which is spread by skin contact. The study also suggests that Treponema pallidum first evolved to infect humans some 12,000 years ago, and may have been brought to the Americas by migrants from Asia, Schünemann said. However, the strain of bacteria identified in the study is not an ancestor of the strain that causes modern venereal syphilis, and does not shed light on the origins of Europe’s fifteenth-century epidemic of venereal disease. “As we have not found any sexually transmitted syphilis in South America, the theory that Columbus brought syphilis to Europe seems to appear more improbable,” Schünemann concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Nature. To read about a case of syphilis identified in medieval remains in Europe, go to "World Roundup: Austria."

Peru’s High-Altitude Hunter-Gatherers Ate Mostly Plants

LARAMIE, WYOMING—The Guardian reports that analysis of the levels of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone samples taken from the remains of 24 people who had been interred in the Wilamaya Patjxa and Soro Mik’aya Patjxa burial sites in the Andes Mountains between 9,000 and 6,500 years ago suggests that they consumed a diet based upon wild potatoes and other root vegetables. “Our analysis shows that the diets were composed of 80 percent plant matter and 20 percent meat,” said research team member Randy Haas of the University of Wyoming. Jennifer Chen of Penn State University added that burnt plant remains have also been found at the sites, and wear and tear on the teeth of some of the people in the study shows that they consumed many tubers. The researchers determined that the meat that was eaten likely came from large mammals, such as deer or llamas, based on a comparison of the levels of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in the human bones with those of local animals. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. To read about another discovery from the site, go to "Lady Killer."

Iron Age Bog Body Found in Northern Ireland

COUNTY LONDONDERRY, NORTHERN IRELAND—BBC News reports that well-preserved human remains recovered from Bellaghy peatland last fall have been carbon dated to between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago. Detective Inspector Nikki Deehan of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the remains consist of leg and arm bones, finger bones, fingernails, toenails, the breastbone, skin, and a possible kidney. “A post mortem was carried out by a certified forensic anthropologist and determined that the individual was possibly a male aged between 13 and 17 years old at the time of death,” she added. The individual’s head is missing, however, and it is not clear if it was removed before or after death. Fossilized tree remains found near the body indicate that it had been buried in an area that was wooded at the time. To read about remains recovered from Ireland's Cashel Bog, go to "Oldest Bog Body," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2013.