Sculpture of Apollo Found in Philippi

THESSALONIKI, GREECE—According to an ArtNet News report, a marble head depicting Apollo, the ancient Greek god of archery, music, dance, healing, and poetry, has been uncovered in northern Greece at the site of Philippi by a team of researchers led by Natalia Poulos of the University of Thessaloniki. The 2,000-year-old sculpture shows a young man with curly hair and a laurel crown. It is thought to have been reused during the medieval period as an adornment on a town square fountain situated near an intersection of the city’s main roads. Last year, the researchers unearthed an ancient statue of Hercules that had also likely been reused as part of the medieval fountain. To read about the Hercules sculpture, go to "A Young Hercules."    

Earthwork Henge Discovered in Eastern England

LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND—Newsweek reports that an earthwork henge measuring nearly 250 feet across has been discovered in eastern England, on what was once a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water and marshes. Smaller henges have been found in the region, indicating that this one may have been a hub for ceremonial activity, according to Duncan Wright of Newcastle University and Hugh Willmott of the University of Sheffield. Based upon information in a medieval text, the researchers had been looking for a hermitage built by an Anglo-Saxon monk on a plundered burial mound when they found the earthwork. “In prehistoric times the henge would have formed a large circular enclosed space, with a huge bank and ditch running around the outside. It may have had one or more burial mounds built inside it during the Bronze Age,” Wright said. The excavation also uncovered pottery, two bone combs, fragments of a glass drinking vessel dated to the eighth century, and traces of an abbey hall and chapel later built on the site in the twelfth century. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Field Archaeology. To read about another henge monumen in England, go to "Stonehenge's New Neighbor."

Study Investigates Early Medieval Animal Burial in Hungary

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—According to a Live Science report, researchers have studied the intact skeletons of a lynx and four dogs that were discovered in a beehive-shaped pit in west-central Hungary, in an area where buildings, pits, wells, and ovens have been found. The small settlement site, known as Zamárdi-Kútvölgyi-dűlő, has been dated to the fifth or sixth century A.D. The male lynx (Lynx lynx) had been placed in an extended position at the bottom of the nearly five-foot-deep pit. The two female and two male dogs were then deposited in the pit one at a time on their right sides, and covered with eight to 16 inches of soil. “It is hard to summarize our interpretation of the lynx/dogs burial as no parallels (archaeological or ethnographic) are known,” said Lászlo Bartosiewicz of Stockholm University. He, Erika Gál of Hungary's Institute of Archaeology, and their colleagues suggest that the dogs may have been killed by the cornered lynx, noting that if the burial had had ritual significance, the placement of the animals in the pit is likely to have been completed with more care. “Unfortunately, the Migration Period population of a former Roman province may have represented almost any ideology given the chaotic history of the period,” Bartosiewicz added. Read the original scholarly article about this research in International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. For more on Hungarian archaeology, go to "Letter From Hungary: The Search for the Sultan's Tomb."

Germany’s Paleolithic Wooden Weapons Analyzed

GÖTTINGEN, GERMANY—According to a statement released by the University of Göttingen, the wooden hunting weapons discovered among animal bones in 300,000-year-old deposits on what had been a lakeshore in northwestern Germany’s Schöningen site have been studied by researchers from the University of Göttingen, the University of Reading, and the Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage (NLD). The wood objects were examined with 3-D microscopy and micro-CT scanners, which revealed that wood was split and sharpened using a wide variety of techniques and sophisticated work processes. The researchers think that the wooden hunting weapons were then carried to the Schöningen site, where evidence suggests that broken tools were repaired and recycled. “Wood was a crucial raw material for human evolution,” commented team leader Thomas Terberger of the University of Göttingen and the NLD, “but it is only in Schöningen that it has survived from the Paleolithic period in such quality," he concluded. For more on these weapons, go to "Weapons of the Ancient World: Hunting Equipment."

2,300-Year-Old Tomb Discovered in Greece

ATHENS, GREECE—Work on a sewerage system has unearthed a tomb in the ancient Macedonian city of Aegae in modern Vergina, Greece, according to an All That’s Interesting report. The tomb is thought to have belonged to a noble couple and date to the third century B.C., according to Angeliki Kottaridi, Honorary Superintendent of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Imathia. The doorway into the tomb, which measures about 12 feet long and nine feet wide, had been blocked by a pile of stones. Paintings on the tomb walls resemble gold ribbons with bows. The man was buried with a shield reinforced with iron parts and well-made weapons. A woman’s remains, thought to belong to his wife, may have been added to the burial at a later date. She was buried with beads, necklaces, and a golden myrtle wreath, Kottaridi explained. To read about the contested location of a Macedonian king's burial, go to "In Search of History's Greatest Rulers: Alexander the Great, King of Macedon."

Roman Wall Unearthed in Western Germany

AACHEN, GERMANY—Live Science reports that traces of a 1,700-year-old Roman fort have been found under a cobblestone street in western Germany’s city of Aachen. “The way the wall was built left no doubt it had to be of Roman origin,” said archaeologist Donata Kyritz. “The concrete-like mortar and the choice of rock was typical for the Roman period. Also, the dimensions and the way the foundation was built differed from the technique used in medieval times,” she explained. The section of surviving wall is about 23 feet long and 35 inches wide. The structure may have surrounded the city in the third century. For more on Roman Germany, go to "The Road Almost Taken."

Medieval Belt Hook Unearthed in Poland

WEST POMERANIA, POLAND—According to a Science in Poland report, a medieval belt hook for hanging keys or a purse has been unearthed in northwestern Poland by a metal detectorist. Archaeologist Grzegorz Kurka of the Kamień Land History Museum said that similar rare belt hooks have been found in Hungary, Austria, and Germany. This one is in the shape of a person with his hands resting on his hips and elbows out, creating two holes. A hole for another hanging item was placed at the bottom of the figure. A face and clothing are engraved in the metal. To read about the burials of medieval knights near the village of Cieple, go to "Viking Knights, Polish Days."

Ice Age Lineage Detected in Genetic Study of Blackfoot Peoples

URBANA, ILLINOIS—Science Magazine reports that the analysis of DNA samples from six living members of the Blackfoot Confederacy, and samples taken from the remains of four ancestors held at the Blackfeet Tribal Historic Preservation Office and three ancestors held by the Smithsonian Institution, supports Blackfoot oral history and archaeological evidence indicating that Blackfoot people have occupied areas of what are now Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan for more than 10,000 years. The Blackfoot Confederacy is made up of the Blackfeet, Kainai-Blood, Peigan-Piikani, and Siksika nations. Radiocarbon dating of the ancestors’ remains in the study shows that they are between 100 and 200 years old. Information on the provenance of the remains held at the Smithsonian is incomplete, but they are thought to have been stolen from burials on Blackfoot land in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The results of the study, which was conducted as a collaboration between the Kainai-Blood Nation and geneticists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, indicate that modern Blackfoot people are closely related to these ancestors. The study has also determined that modern Blackfoot people descended from a previously unknown genetic lineage. This lineage split from the major known lineage, the ancestors to all other studied Indigenous people living in North and South America, about 18,000 years ago. The researchers also noted that the ancestors’ remains that were sampled as part of the study may be repatriated in the future. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. For more on the Blackfoot, go to "Letter From Montana: The Buffalo Chasers."

New Thoughts on a 16th-Century Ship’s Cargo

ESPOSENDE, PORTUGAL—ArtNet News reports that a study of artifacts that washed ashore in Portugal about 10 years ago suggests that they did not come from the wreckage of the Nossa Senhora da Rosa, an Iberian vessel carrying wine that sank in 1577, as had been previously thought. The artifacts include 490 pewter fragments, and 254 pewter plates, porringers, and spoons. Marks on these pewter objects indicate that they were made in European workshops in the sixteenth century. The researchers also determined that the 125 copper fragments recovered on Portugal’s Belinho Beach came from 34 plates. Biblical and religious decorations, including images of Adam and Eve and St. George fighting a dragon, suggest that these were alms dishes resembling those produced in Nuremberg, Germany. X-rays of seven highly degraded iron items among the collection identified two ax heads, at least two swords, and one nail. Cannonballs of various sizes and two pieces of glazed ceramic were also identified. Researchers now think the ship belonged to a sixteenth-century merchant who was transporting goods made in northern Europe for use on other ships. The study also suggests that the ship’s cargo was loaded all at once. Its destination remains undetermined, however. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Maritime Archaeology. To read about examination of artifacts recovered from a seventeenth-century shipwreck in the Wadden Sea, go to "An Elegant Enigma."