Roman Villa Discovered in Southeastern England

OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that a large Roman villa was discovered during an investigation conducted ahead of the construction of a housing development in southeastern England. The villa was situated in what had been a rural area and featured painted plaster, mosaics, a brickwork floor, an under-floor heating system, and a high-status domestic area with a central corridor and flanking wings of rooms. A nearby monumental building with an aisle was likely built later in the first century A.D. Louis Stafford and Francesca Giarelli of Red River Archaeology said that miniature votive axes, coins, and jewelry were also recovered from the complex site. To read about a Roman building complex uncovered in North Yorkshire, go to "Leisure Seekers."

Pompeii House Yields Evidence of Construction Techniques

NAPLES, ITALY—CBS News reports that a house that was under renovation when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius occurred in A.D. 79 is being analyzed in Pompeii in order to learn about Roman construction practices. Previous excavations at this house in Region IX uncovered the bakery of Rustius Verus, which features a painting of focaccia and a goblet of wine. Now, bricks and tools have been found in the house’s reception area, which was decorated with a painting of Achilles. Numerals written on the walls with charcoal may have been a form of accounting for the job, and would have been easily erased when the work was finished. Amphoras used to immerse lime in water were uncovered in the lararium, or shrine, of the home, while iron hoes were found in other rooms, suggesting that lime was slaked on site and then mixed with sand and stones to produce plaster, mortar, or cement as needed. “It is a further example of how the small city of Pompeii makes us understand many things about the great Roman Empire, not least the use of cement works,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Pompeii Archaeological Park. For more on one of the wall paintings in this house, go to "Pizza! Pizza?" 

Microplastics Detected at Archaeological Sites

LONDON, ENGLAND—According to a CNN report, researchers from the University of York have detected 16 types of microplastic polymers in soil collected from archaeological sites. Archived soil samples were tested, along with fresh samples. “This feels like an important moment, confirming what we should have expected: that what were previously thought to be pristine archaeological deposits, ripe for investigation, are in fact contaminated with plastics, and that this includes deposits sampled and stored in the late 1980s,” said archaeologist John Schofield. David Jennings of York Archaeology explained that the presence of microplastics in the soil changes its chemistry, and therefore could cause organic artifacts to decay. It may no longer be appropriate to preserve archaeological sites in place, he explained. The scientists will continue to investigate the possible impact of the chemicals on archaeological deposits. To read about excavation of modern material at a video game dump site, go to "The Video Game Graveyard."

Early Roman Colony Excavated in Southern France

PARIS, FRANCE—A 100-foot-long section of stone curtain wall and the foundation of a round tower thought to have been part of a warehouse district have been uncovered at Narbonne, the site of the first Roman colony outside of Italy, according to a Miami Herald report. The colony, called Colonia Narbo Martius, was founded in 118 B.C. on the Mediterranean coastline of what is now France as part of Rome’s port system. Researchers from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research said that the colony quickly grew into a city, complete with several blocks with streets, an alley, and water pipes. One of the warehouses had a crawlspace lined with recycled pottery. Goods were likely stored on the ground floor of this structure, which features concrete floors, mudbrick walls, mosaics, and paintings, while the upper floor may have been used as an administrative or living space, the researchers explained. The building was eventually destroyed in a fire. A second warehouse, also destroyed by fire, was decorated with wall paintings mimicking marble slabs. To read about another important ancient Roman provincial port city, go to "France's Roman Heritage."

Replica Wooden Neolithic Well Recreated in Czech Republic

PARDUBICE, CZECH REPUBLIC—Radio Prague International reports that researchers from the Všestary Prehistoric Archaeology Park are working to create a replica of a 7,000-year-old wood-lined well uncovered in 2018 during road work in the central Czech Republic. Team member Radomír Tichý said that the replica well will be constructed using only Neolithic hand tools. “We have to make all the tools ourselves,” he explained. “Getting the materials to make them is difficult because nowadays these natural materials, in the quality that we need to make the tools, are quite rare,” he said. The Neolithic original and the replica well will be put on display at the Museum of East Bohemia. For more, go to "Around the World: Czech Republic."

2,000-Year-Old Structures Unearthed in Nepal

JHAPA, NEPAL—The Kathmandu Post reports that remnants of a possible palace and fortress have been uncovered in eastern Nepal at the site of Kichak Badh. Archaeologist Uddhav Acharya has dated the structures to between A.D. 30 and 375, during the rule of the Kushan Empire, which included territory in what are now India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. This region served as a trade center between the Roman Empire and China, he explained. Previous research into the geology of the region suggests that these buildings were likely destroyed by an earthquake in the fifth century. To read about excavations of a sixth-century B.C. Buddhist shrine in Lumbini, Nepal, go to "Buddhism, in the Beginning," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2014.

Did Preserved Footprints Inspire Prehistoric Artists in Brazil?

SOUSA, BRAZIL—According to a Newsweek report, petroglyphs created between 3,000 and 9,000 years ago in eastern Brazil at the Serrote do Letreiro may have been inspired by the presence of preserved dinosaur footprints in the area. The footprints, made by ornithopod, theropod, and sauropod dinosaurs, are about 140 million years old. Leonardo P. Troiano of Brazil’s National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute and his colleagues suggest that ancient artists may have used hallucinogens while creating the petroglyphs, many of which have been found next to the dinosaur footprints. The images, Troiano explained, are similar to visions reported by modern people under the influence of such drugs. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Scientific Reports. To read more about prehistoric Brazil, go to "Dark Earth in the Amazon."

4,300-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Uncovered

CAIRO, EGYPT—According to a Live Science report, a team of Egyptian and German archaeologists excavating the Egyptian site of Dahshur's royal pyramids and sprawling necropolis near Cairo has unearthed a 4,300-year-old tomb belonging to a priestess and royal official decorated with depictions of everyday life in ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. The burial is a mastaba, a flat-topped rectangular mudbrick tomb with sloping walls. Based on its style and pottery found within, Stephan Seidlmayer, formerly of the German Archaeological Institute, and his colleagues have dated it to around 2300 B.C., during the late 5th or early 6th Dynasty. The atypical wall paintings illustrate scenes of sailing on the Nile River, market interactions, and donkeys trampling grain in order to thresh it. They are accompanied by a hieroglyphic inscription indicating the owners of the burial goods as a man named Seneb-Neb-Af, an official who dealt with tenant administration, and his wife Idet, who is referred to as a priestess of the sky goddess Hathor, or “Lady of the Sycamore.” Seidlmayer confirmed that the next step in the decades-long excavation of the site will likely focus on excavating the burial shafts in search of mummies. For more on excavations of Egypt's Old Kingdom funerary complexes, go to “In the Reign of the Sun Kings.”

Investigating the Origins of Tudor England's Elite Horses

EXETER, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by the University of Exeter, a team of researchers used isotope analysis to determine the origins of horses that were imported to Tudor-era England for jousting tournaments and as signifiers of the owners' elite status. The equine skeletons, many of which were well above average size, were uncovered during construction investigations almost 30 years ago at an animal cemetery that would have originally been located outside the walls of medieval London near the royal complex at Westminster. The researchers took samples from the teeth of 15 horses and measured the isotopic ratios of oxygen, carbon, and strontium. They found that at least half of the horses came from locations in Scandinavia, the Alpine region, and other locations in northern and Eastern Europe, though not from known horse-breeding hubs such as southern Italy and Spain. “The chemical signatures we measured in the horse’s teeth are highly distinctive and very different to anything we would expect to see in a horse that grew up in the UK,” said University of Exeter archaeologist Alex Pryor. “Representatives for the King and other medieval London elites were scouring horse trading markets across Europe seeking out the best quality horses they could find and bringing them to London. It’s quite possible that the horses were ridden in the jousting contests we know were held in Westminster, close to where the horses were buried.” Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. To read about the discovery of Henry VIII's jousting yard on the grounds of Greenwich Palace, go to "Joust Like a King."