11,000-Year-Old Carvings Uncovered in Turkey
11,000-Year-Old Carvings Uncovered in Turkey In Sayburç, Turkey, not far from the famous settlement of Göbekli Tepe, an archaeologist discovered an 11,000-year-old scene carved into a wall. It’s one of the oldest narrative depictions in the archaeological record. The narrative scene depicts five figures: two humans, a bull, and two leopards. One of the humans is holding a snake, …
Huge funerary building and Fayoum portraits discovered in Egypt Fayoum
Huge funerary building and Fayoum portraits discovered in Egypt Fayoum The Egyptian archaeological mission working in the Gerza archaeological site in Fayoum revealed a huge funerary building from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, as well as a number of Fayoum portraits. These are the first mummy portraits discovered at Fayoum during an archaeological dig since …
3,300-Year-Old Tomb with Pyramid Entrance Discovered in Egypt
3,300-Year-Old Tomb with Pyramid Entrance Discovered in Egypt The tomb, found at the site of Abydos, dates back around 3,300 years. Within one of its vaulted burial chambers, a team of archaeologists found a finely crafted sandstone sarcophagus, painted red, which was created for a scribe named Horemheb. The sarcophagus has images of several Egyptian gods on …
‘Highway of ancient world’: Part of an 1,800-year-old Roman road found in Galilee
‘Highway of ancient world’: Part of an 1,800-year-old Roman road found in Galilee Antiquities Authority says it was paved during the reign of emperor Hadrian; excavation works also unearth pottery shards, metal vessels and coins. Archeologists have uncovered part of an 1,800-year-old Roman road in northern Israel, built in the time of emperor Hadrian, the …
Could Homo Naledi Control Fire?
Could Homo Naledi Control Fire? An ancient hominid dubbed Homo naledi may have lit controlled fires in the pitch-dark chambers of an underground cave system, new discoveries hint. Researchers have found remnants of small fireplaces and sooty wall and ceiling smudges in pᴀssages and chambers throughout South Africa’s Rising Star cave complex, paleoanthropologist Lee Berger announced in …
Findings from 3,300-year-old Uluburun shipwreck reveal complex trade network
Findings from 3,300-year-old Uluburun shipwreck reveal complex trade network More than 3,000 years before the тιтanic sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean, another famous ship wrecked in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern shores of Uluburun—in present-day Turkey— carrying tons of rare metal. Since its discovery in 1982, scientists have been studying the contents of …
1,300-Year-Old Gold Necklace Unearthed in England
1,300-Year-Old Gold Necklace Unearthed in England Archaeologists have found a “once-in-a-lifetime” gold necklace dating back to 630-670 AD and described as the richest of its type ever uncovered in Britain. The jewellery, found near Northampton, has at least 30 pendants and beads made of Roman coins, gold, garnets, glᴀss and semi-precious stones. The 1,300-year-old object …
New Thoughts on Prehistoric Owl Plaques
New Thoughts on Prehistoric Owl Plaques Over the past century, thousands of pieces of slate engraved with images of owls have been unearthed from tombs and pits across the Iberian Peninsula, in what’s now Portugal and Spain. The artifacts date from around 5,000 years ago, and for more than a century their function has flummoxed …
DNA Offers Clues to Medieval Ashkenazi Jewish Communities
DNA Offers Clues to Medieval Ashkenazi Jewish Communities A rare look at the genetics of Ashkenazi Jews who lived in medieval Germany reveals this group had more genetic diversity 600 years ago than today, and reaffirms a recent finding that a “genetic bottleneck” in the Ashkenazi population occurred before the Middle Ages. Religious laws usually …
Egypt’s Fayum Oasis Yields Funerary Structure and Portraits
Egypt’s Fayum Oasis Yields Funerary Structure and Portraits The Egyptian archaeological mission at the Garza archaeological site in Egypt’s Fayoum city uncovered on Thursday a large funerary building/structure dating back to the Ptolemaic and Roman eras. This is the 10th excavation season for this mission, which began excavations in 2016. The Garza village, previously known …