World's Oldest Family Tree Pieced Together from 5,700-year-old Cotswolds Tomb

DNA taken from the bones and teeth of 35 individuals found in tombs in the Cotswolds showed that 27 of them were close biological relatives that had lived in Neolithic times.

By Rachel Russell, news reporter

An image showing what the tombs may have looked like. Pic: Cotswold District Council

The world's oldest family tree has been discovered after DNA analysis from a 5,700-year-old tomb in the Cotswolds.

Archaeologists made the landmark discovery into how prehistoric families were structured after a group of 35 people, believed to have lived 3700-3600BC, were found entombed in a cairn near the village of Hazleton.

An international team made of archaeologists from Newcastle University and geneticists from the University of the Basque Country, University of Vienna and Harvard University, found that most of the people buried there were from five generations of a single extended family.

Lead archaeologist of the study, Chris Fowler of Newcastle University, said "one extraordinary finding" in the tombs was that two separated chambers were used to place remains from one of two branches of the same family, including step-children.

Dr Fowler said: "This study gives us an unprecedented insight into kinship in a Neolithic community."

The tombs could hold five generations of one single extended family. Pic: Newcastle University

Inigo Olalde of the University of the Basque Country and Ikerbasque, the lead geneticist for the study, added: "The excellent DNA preservation at the tomb and the use of the latest technologies in ancient DNA recovery and analysis allowed us to uncover the oldest family tree ever reconstructed and analyse it to understand something profound about the social structure of these ancient groups."

The team found that most of the people buried in the tomb were descended from four women who had all had children with the same man.

Men were known to be generally buried with their father and brothers, so this suggested that later generations who were buried at the tomb were connected to the first generation entirely through male relatives.

The team also found no evidence that another eight people in the tomb were biological relatives of those in the family tree, which could suggest individuals could still be buried in the tomb without biological relatedness too.

Spain: Researchers Believe they Found Fabled Temple of Hercules Gaditanus

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BY THE ARCHAEOLOGIST EDITOR GROUP

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A significant pilgrimage place in antiquity was the fabled temple of Hercules Gaditanus, also known as Melqart in Phoenician times. The temple, which dates at least to the ninth century BC, is said to have seen the likes of historical personalities like Julius Caesar and the Carthaginian conqueror Hannibal walk by.

Finding the temple, which has been sought after for ages by historians and archaeologists, has become something of a holy grail for them despite the fact that its location is still unknown thousands of years later.

Aerial view of the temple’s possible location.

Now there is a possible answer to this great mystery. Ricardo Belizón, a Ph.D. student at Seville University in southern Spain, has come up with a new hypothesis, which is backed by scientists from his university and the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage (IAPH). Thanks to free software and digital terrain modeling, Belizón has identified traces of a monumental building in the Cao de Sancti Petri, a shallow channel in the Bay of Cádiz between the towns of Chiclana de Frontera and San Fernando, in the southern region of Andalusia.

Hypothetical view that the archaeologist García y Bellido made of the Hercules temple, in 1968, based on the one in Jerusalem.

The temple of Hercules Gaditanus is mentioned in classical Greek and Latin literature as the place where Julius Caesar wept bitterly before a representation of Alexander the Great and where the Carthaginian conqueror Hannibal went to offer thanks for the success of his military campaign a century and a half earlier. All these references mention “a changing environment, in contact with the sea, subject to the changing tides, in a temple where there must have been port structures and a seafaring environment,” says Milagros Alzaga, head of the Center for Underwater Archaeology (CAS), who also participated in the research.

A 3D model showing the Boqueron point in San Fernando (Cádiz) and the rectangular structure of the possible temple of Hercules Gaditanus now submerged under the Caño of Sancti Petri

The proposal made presently by Seville University and the IAPH is within a radius considered to be the most evident, following decades of academic dispute and several temple location recommendations. The location is a sizable swampy canal that is dominated by an islet and the Sancti Petri fortress that towers above it. The region has produced significant archaeological artifacts for more than two centuries, some of which are now on display in the Museum of Cadiz. They include enormous marble and bronze sculptures of Roman emperors and different statuettes from the Phoenician era. All of these findings contributed to defining the precise position of the Hercules Gaditanus temple as being located between the islet's slopes and the Boquerón point, an area of fine sand and rocky intertidal zone.

Who is Hercules in Greek and Roman mythology?

Hercules is one of the most renowned figures in ancient mythology, known for his superhuman strength and his twelve labors. However, there's an important distinction to make when discussing this legendary hero: the difference between his Greek and Roman portrayals.

In Greek mythology, the hero is known as Heracles (meaning "Glory of Hera"). Born to Zeus, the king of the gods, and Alcmene, a mortal woman, Heracles' life was marked by both glory and suffering, much of it orchestrated by Hera, Zeus's jealous wife. Outraged by Zeus's infidelity and the birth of Heracles, Hera sought to make the hero's life as difficult as possible.

One of the most famous episodes from Heracles' life is the Twelve Labors, a series of near-impossible tasks he was forced to perform as penance for killing his own wife and children during a fit of madness, another tragedy instigated by Hera. These labors ranged from slaying the Nemean Lion and capturing the Golden Hind to cleaning the Augean stables in a single day and capturing the three-headed dog, Cerberus, from the Underworld.

Over time, Heracles became a symbol of strength, courage, and endurance. His adventures intertwine with other famous Greek myths, and his legacy was solidified when he was granted immortality and became a god, joining the Olympians after his mortal death.

The Romans were heavily influenced by Greek culture and mythology, often adopting and adapting Greek deities and stories. In Roman lore, Heracles was transformed into Hercules, and while the core elements of his story remained largely unchanged, certain aspects of his character and tales were adapted to fit the Roman worldview.

Hercules was worshipped as both a god and a hero in Rome. He was especially revered as a protector of humanity, a role that saw him incorporated into various aspects of Roman daily life. For instance, the Hercules Cult was notably popular in Rome, with Hercules being honored for his strength, bravery, and protective qualities.

One significant Roman addition to Hercules's story was his relationship with the goddess Roma, a personification of the city of Rome. By aligning Hercules with Roma, the Romans reinforced their city's greatness and divine protection.

Archaeologists Found a Truly Bizarre Burial in an Isolated Medieval Graveyard

A three-week archaeological dig in the English Channel took a bizarre, inexplicable turn, after researchers chanced upon a carefully cut grave hidden in the soil – the contents of which were definitely not human.

The discovery, made on the small island of Chapelle Dom Hue off the coast of Guernsey in September 2017, revealed the ancient remains of a medieval porpoise buried in the earth, and archaeologists were at a loss to explain the story behind this mysterious animal tomb.

"It's very peculiar, I don't know what to make of it," archaeologist Philip de Jersey from Oxford University in the UK told The Guardian at the time.

"Why go to the trouble of burying a porpoise in what looks like a grave?"

The mystery is all the greater due to the way the animal was buried, which doesn't suggest the dead porpoise was simply disposed of underground.

Instead, it looks like it's been laid to rest, with the body aligned east to west per Christian tradition, and the careful digging of the grave itself suggests it was intended as a solemn resting place.

For that reason, de Jersey expected to find the remains of a medieval monk in the tomb, as the island is thought to have been a religious retreat for monks seeking refuge.

But after noticing changes in the soil, which indicated the likely existence of a grave underneath, the researchers uncovered the skull of a juvenile porpoise, which they think has been entombed alongside the graves of other monks since some time in the 14th century.

It's possible that the porpoise was killed for food, since these mammals were eaten in medieval times.

But if that's the case, the researchers say it would have made a lot more sense for people to have disposed of the remains in the sea – located just 10 meters (32 ft) from the site, and the small island is surrounded by water on all sides.

"If we were in a church and we found something like this, based on the shape, we would think it was a grave cut," de Jersey told the Guernsey Press.

"That is what puzzles me. If they had eaten it or killed it for the blubber, why take the trouble to bury it?"

One possibility is that the animal may have been killed for food and carefully stored until it was needed, but the preserved remains were never used, de Jersey thinks.

"It may have been packed in salt and then for some reason they didn't come back to it," he told The Guardian.

After their discovery, the porpoise bones were removed from their resting place, and handed over to be studied by a marine expert.

For his part, de Jersey says it's the strangest find in his 35-year career as a scientist, and a true riddle for the ages.

"The dolphin has a strong significance in Christianity but I've not come across anything like this before," he said.

"It's the slightly wacky kind of thing that you might get in the Iron Age but not in medieval times."

In a follow up in late 2018, de Jersey told the BBC he now believed it was most likely the animal had indeed been stored for food purposes, but that we would probably never reach a definitive answer, since so little is left of Chapelle Dom Hue.

"I suspect we won't find out," he said.

A version of this article was originally published in March 2018.

Venus of Hohle Fels: The Earliest Known Depiction of a Human Being in Prehistoric Art

The Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen; in German variously Venus vom Hohlen Fels, vom Hohle Fels; Venus von Schelklingen) is an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine made of mammoth ivory that was unearthed in 2008 in Hohle Fels, a cave near Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago, belonging to the early Aurignacian, at the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, which is associated with the earliest presence of Cro-Magnon in Europe.

The figure is the oldest undisputed example of a depiction of a human being. In terms of figurative art only the lion-headed, zoomorphic Löwenmensch figurine is older. The Venus figurine is housed at the Prehistoric Museum of Blaubeuren (Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren).

Hohle Fels Cave, entrance. Photo: E. Sobkowiak.

The Swabian Alb region of Germany has a number of caves that have yielded many mammoth-ivory artifacts of the Upper Paleolithic period. Approximately 25 items have been discovered to date. These include the Löwenmensch figurine of Hohlenstein-Stadel dated to 40,000 years ago and an ivory flute found at Geißenklösterle, dated to 42,000 years ago. This mountainous region is located in Baden-Württemberg and is bounded by the Danube in the southeast, the upper Neckar in the northwest, and in the southwest it rises to the higher mountains of the Black Forest.

This concentration of evidence of full behavioral modernity, including figurative art and instrumental music among humans in the period of 40 to 30 thousand years ago, is unique worldwide and its discoverer, archaeologist Nicholas Conard, speculates that the bearers of the Aurignacian culture in the Swabian Alb may be credited with the invention, not just of figurative art and music, but possibly, the earliest religious practices as well. Within a distance of 70 cm to the Venus figurine, Conard's team also found a flute made from a vulture bone. Additional artifacts excavated from the same cave layer included flint-knapping debris, worked bone, and carved ivory as well as remains of tarpans, reindeer, cave bears, woolly mammoths, and Alpine Ibexes.

Interpretation

The discoverer, anthropologist Nicholas Conard, said: "This [figure] is about sex, reproduction... [it is] an extremely powerful depiction of the essence of being female".

Anthropologists from Victoria University of Wellington have suggested that such figurines were not depictions of beauty, but represented "hope for survival and longevity, within well-nourished and reproductively successful communities", reflecting the conventional interpretation of these types of figurines as representing a fertility goddess.

Saint Nicholas of Myra: The Real Story Behind Santa Claus

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BY THE ARCHAEOLOGIST EDITOR GROUP

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As the holiday season approaches, images of a jolly old man with a white beard and a red suit are ubiquitous in many parts of the world. Santa Claus, as he's known today, has become a symbol of merriment, generosity, and the holiday spirit. Yet few realize that this beloved figure finds its roots in the life of a real person: Saint Nicholas of Myra. This article delves into the true story of Saint Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop whose life and legends paved the way for our modern Santa Claus.

The Historical Nicholas

Saint Nicholas of Myra, sometimes known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop from Myra, a port city in Asia Minor (present-day Demre, Turkey), who lived during the Roman Empire (15 March 270–6 December 343). He also goes by the name Nicholas the Wonderworker because of the numerous miracles credited to his intercession. In many European cities and nations, Saint Nicholas is revered as the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, penitent thieves, prostitutes, kids, brewers, pawnbrokers, singles, and students. As was typical for early Christian saints, his fame grew among the religious, and through Sinterklaas, his fabled practice of presenting gifts in secret gave rise to the modern Santa Claus ("Saint Nick") figure.

In Greece, Saint Nicholas is best known as the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, ships, islands and all cities with harbors.

Saint Nicholas is one of the most revered saints in all of Christianity. On December 6, both East and West observe a day of remembrance. Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican Christians all honor and remember him. He comforted every man in need and was a passionate critic of those who preyed on the weak and underprivileged. He exerted control over everyone who was to blame for the evil of the people with his exceptional bravery. The absolutely destitute Saint gave to the destitute girls, guarded the crops of the destitute farmers, and helped the sailors. He also participated in the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325), when Christian doctrine was primarily formulated by denouncing the Arius faction and articulating the true and unadulterated faith of the Church. He allegedly smacked Arios during the Council, which led to his imprisonment by Emperor Constantine the Great.

The slap of Agios Nikolaos on Arios.

Tales of Generosity

Several stories surrounding Nicholas’ benevolence have survived over the centuries. One of the most famous legends tells of a poor man with three daughters who had no dowry, putting them at risk of a life of servitude or worse. On three separate occasions, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold into their home, ensuring each daughter had a dowry. Some versions claim he threw the gold through an open window, while others say he dropped it down a chimney, where it landed in stockings left to dry by the fire. Sound familiar?

Another account speaks of Nicholas saving three innocent men from execution. He boldly intervened, grabbing the executioner's sword and ensuring their release based on new evidence.

Yet another story tells of a time when Myra faced a severe famine. A ship filled with grain docked at the port, and Nicholas approached the sailors, asking them to spare a portion of their cargo for the starving citizens and assuring them that God would recompense their generosity. When they finally unloaded the grain in Constantinople, their cargo had not diminished at all.

He was a representative embodiment of the ancient Greek tradition. The humanitarian ideals of Hellenism, in combination with Christian ethics, met in the holy face of Nicholas and became a religious practice. His democratic tactics and his collegial methods in his actions were articulated through the experience of the long-standing Greek tradition, which was saved and improved by Christian teaching and practice.

Sinterklaas arriving in a Dutch town.

Evolution of the Legend

Saint Nicholas was a true exponent of the Greek-Orthodox Christian ideal, who "traveled" the world and was identified with the German god Odin, the Dutch Sinter Klaas, the Scandinavian Nisse, the English "Father Christmas", the "Nice Old Father" of the Chinese, Père Noël of the French and Santa Claus of the Americans, while on his "return back” to his place of origin he was identified with Agios Vasilis (greek: Άγιος Βασίλης, Basil the Elder)!

The "nice old father" of the Chinese.

In Greece, Saint Nicholas is best known as the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, ships, islands, and all cities with harbors, just as Myra was. The feast day of St. Nicholas is on December 6th, the day when the beloved bishop is reported to have died (in the year 342 A.D.). The proximity of this date to Christmas is perhaps one reason why he has become so closely associated with it. Saint Basil of Caesarea, who lived from A.D. 329–379, shares a very similar story to that of St. Nicholas. A contemporary of Nicholas, Saint Basil was the bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, also in modern-day Turkey. Much like St. Benedict in the West, St. Basil established wide-ranging guidelines for monastic life. He died on January 1, 379, and Greeks all over the world honor Saint Basil (“Agios Vasilis”) on that day. Gifts are exchanged on that day, rather than on Dec. 6th or 25th, to remember St. Basil’s ingenious method of giving back to the people.

Father Christmas English Style.

The story of Agios Nikolaos traveled around and was rooted throughout Europe. The name Saint Nikolaus was transferred to Europe, where the Christians received the Greek beliefs of Agios Nikolaos. Russian and Bulgarian folk songs say that it helps those who are in danger at sea. To the German people, St. Nicholas was identified with the pre-Christian pagan deity of Odin, who visited children with his eight-footed horse, and because it was hungry, they had to have their boots full of straw near the chimney or fireplace. With the Christianization of the Germans, the myth of Odin leaves and Saint Nicholas comes, who pretends to ride a white horse and is considered the protector of sailors. But the boots, the hanging socks in the fireplace, the decorated fir tree—all their pre-Christian-pagan customs remain. St. Nicholas became the patron saint of Moscow and agriculture in Russia and the patron saint of the Navy in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where, despite a Protestant ban on the recognition of saints, he survived under the name ‘Sinter Klaas’, who is commemorated on December 6th, depicted with a priestly uniform and an episcopal staff to distribute gifts to children. European settlers, mainly Dutch, carried the myth with them to the New World.

Santa Claus with pagan symbols as continuation of the God Odin’s pattern.

The sequel was written in New York in the early 19th century, when Americans began looking for ways to create nostalgic traditions and turned to St. Nicholas, who is commemorated a few days before Christmas. In 1821, the first lithographed book in America, "The Friend of Children", contained a story about Santa Claus and is estimated to be the first to want the Saint to visit children on Christmas Eve. The poem "The night before Christmas" or "A visit from St. Nicholas ", as it became known at the beginning, contributed to this belief.

A norwegian Nisse.

Korvatunturi in Lapland, which was established as the village of Santa Claus in 1927, was first used by the Finns for tourism in the early 1980s. The rest was taken over by the newspapers that reproduced the legend, while Coca-Cola, with its well-known advertisement, put the final touch: the image of Santa Claus with the red uniform and the white beard was finally made by the American company. It was an advertisement for the popular drink in 1931. So, while Coca-Cola uses the image of Santa Claus to increase its consumption during the winter, after seventy years of cooperation," it is found that the Santa Claus image also spread thanks to advertising.

Today's Santa Claus, with his toy workshop and worldwide Christmas Eve deliveries, might seem like a far cry from a fourth-century bishop from Myra. But at the heart of both stories lies a spirit of generosity, love, and the magic of the holiday season. By understanding Saint Nicholas of Myra, we find a richer depth to the festive traditions and are reminded of the core values that make the season truly special.

Neolithic Site of Monte d'Accoddi: Is this European Megalithic Altar the Oldest Pyramid in the World?

Monte d'Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

We think immediately about the most similar known examples: the Mesopotamian ziqqurat or the first step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt. But is it possible that these monumental types, thousands of miles away, have common ancestry?

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. The original structure was built by the Ozieri culture or earlier c. 4,000–3,650 BC and has a base of 27 m by 27 m and probably reached a height of 5.5 m. It culminated in a platform of about 12.5 m by 7.2 m, accessible via a ramp. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

The dolmen and a carved boulder in the foreground

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d'Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe, providing insight into the development of ritual in prehistoric society, and earning it a designation as "the most singular cultic monument in the early Western Mediterranean".

The carved boulder

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

Based on the evidence of architecture, ritual deposits and diagnostic pottery, G. and M. Webster argued, in 2017 & 2019, for the monument's status as a product of a migration event (probably exilic) initiated from Mesopotamia, during the first half of the 4th millennium B.C. This view is now considered obsolete and scholars are focusing on a different interpretation of local evolution.

The menhir (standing stone)

Surrounding area

The surroundings of the Monte d'Accoddi have been excavated in the 1960s, and have provided the signs of a considerable sacred center. Near the south-eastern corner of the monument there is a dolmen, and across the ramp stands a considerable menhir, one of several standing stones which was formerly found in the vicinity. The foundations of several small structures (possibly residential) were excavated, and several mysterious carved stones. The most impressive of these is a large boulder carved into the shape of an egg and then cut through on a subtle curving three-dimensional line.

One of the altars

Mysterious Papyrus found inside a Hidden "Crypt" in Agia Sophia: What do they say?

The reason for identifying this special find was the observation of a Muslim believer who went to Hagia Sophia to pray (UNESCO condemned Turkey’s court decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque).

The Muslim saw that a stone about 10 cm long and 30 cm wide had come off a wall and notified the authorities.

Surprised, the police could not believe their eyes when they rushed to the spot, discovering five parchments with Hebrew writing (as they first estimated) hidden in a bag.

The first estimates for the parchments found in a crypt in Hagia Sophia were made by art historian Selçuk Eracun.

"The parchments are not written in Hebrew as originally written," Selçuk Eracun told CNN Turk, adding that "one is written in Romanian and one in runic writing."

"Some parchments contain wishes. The person who wrote the parchment in Romanian wishes good luck to his family. He also writes about his dream of living in America. "There are also the names of the children of his family," he said.

He continued: "The other parchment contains writing similar to the runic alphabet used in Scandinavia."

"As we can see, the parchments are not very old. Those who go to Hagia Sophia to pray, write wishes and leave them. It's a tradition," said the art historian.

"It is not uncommon to find parchments in crypts on the walls, as marble often falls," he concluded.

New tests show Neolithic Pits near Stonehenge were human-made (video)

Ring of hollows has been called the largest prehistoric structure found in Britain, but some were sceptical

simulated view of the underground pits near Stonehenge. Credit: Wild Blue Media/Channel 5/University of Bradford

When a series of deep pits were discovered near the world heritage site of Stonehenge last year, archaeologists excitedly described it as the largest prehistoric structure ever found in Britain – only for some colleagues to dismiss the pits as mere natural features.

Now scientific tests have proved that those gaping pits, each aligned to form a circle spanning 1.2 miles (2km) in diameter, were definitely human-made, dug into the sacred landscape almost 4,500 years ago.

The structure appears to have been a boundary guiding people to a sacred area, because Durrington Walls, one of Britain’s largest henge monuments, is located precisely at its centre. The site is 1.9 miles north-east of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, near Amesbury in Wiltshire.

Prof Vincent Gaffney, of Bradford University, an archaeologist who headed the team that made the discovery, said science had proved that this was indeed a huge neolithic monument. “Some of the debate about the discovery and Stonehenge seemed bonkers to me,” he said.

Soon after the discovery was announced in June 2020, one doubting archaeologist referred to the pits as “blobs on the ground” and said linking them to Stonehenge was “entirely hypothetical”. Another argued that archaeologists who had previously looked at some of the pits had suggested they were natural hollows, and that they could “be trusted to recognise a natural feature when they encounter one”.

The arguments shocked Gaffney, who recalled one archaeologist suggesting his team should have had a geologist on site to recognise natural features. In fact, he said, they had two.

The distribution of underground pits from above. Credit: Wild Blue Media/Channel 5/University of Bradford

While part of the circle has not survived, owing to modern development, Gaffney said the latest fieldwork involved scientific analysis of nine of the pits. “We’ve now looked at nearly half of them and they’re all the same. So effectively this really does say this is one enormous structure. It may have evolved from a natural feature, but we haven’t located that. So it’s the largest prehistoric structure found in Britain.”

Each pit is about 10 metres across and 5 metres deep, and science supports the theory that the neolithic people who constructed Stonehenge also dug this monument.

Pit 1A as seen through remote sensing scanning. Credit: Wild Blue Media/Channel 5/University of Bradford

The previously unknown subterranean ring is 20 times bigger than Stonehenge. It adds to the evidence that early inhabitants of Britain, mainly farming communities, had developed a way to count, tracking hundreds of paces to measure out the pits. It gives new insights into the complexity of the monumental structures in this landscape. While Stonehenge was positioned in relation to the solstices, the boundary of pits may have had cosmological significance.

Specialists in remote sensing technology that can search below ground have now investigated ancient features in the landscape that traditional archaeology could never detect. They can pinpoint where the ground has been disturbed, even after thousands of years.

The cutting-edge technology includes optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), which can date the last time that sediment was exposed to daylight.

The tests were conducted by Dr Tim Kinnaird, of the school of earth and environmental sciences at the University of St Andrews, who said: “These proved beyond doubt that the pits date to around 2400BC.”

He spoke of the “exciting” findings, including “the remarkable consistency across the cores, the identification of multiple and distinct fills, the suggestion that the pits were infilled at a similar time.” Detailed analytical work in the laboratory further confirmed that “these were not natural features”.

He added: “It’s confirmed that the [pits] are all very similar, which is fascinating.” If these were natural features such as sinkholes, they would be different sizes.

Gaffney, who has studied Stonehenge for 20 years, said: “There’s a real revolution in dating technology happening with OSL. You date the sediments directly. Traditional dating relies on us finding a bit of bone or charcoal and then we date that. We don’t date the soil. OSL does that.”

The data showed that the pits were being used from the late neolithic until the middle bronze age, after which they were left to silt, he said. “So these things are being maintained beyond the monumental phases of Stonehenge.”

The discovery is explored in a Channel 5 documentary titled Stonehenge: The New Revelations, to be aired on 9 December (9pm).

Dalya Alberge, The Guardian

Unique Golden Treasure Found In Denmark - One of the Richest Treasures in Danish History!

One of the largest, richest and most beautiful gold treasures in Danish history has just been found at Vindelev, just outside Jelling. The enormous find of almost 1 kg of gold, i.a. consisting of huge medallions the size of saucers, has again seen the light of day, after 1500 years in the Danish soil.

Ole Ginnerup Schytz had just acquired a metal detector, and was allowed to walk on the ground with his old classmate. After a few hours, he found what is qualitatively one of the greatest gold finds in Danish history. The site has now been excavated by the Archaeologists of the Vejlemuseerne, in collaboration with the National Museum's experts and with funds from the Palaces and Culture Agency.

Archaeologists now know that the treasure was buried in a longhouse in a village about 1,500 years ago. The studies, and the many samples and data collected, will provide invaluable knowledge about the connections and circumstances that led to the tax being abolished by a great man, at that time in the Iron Age.

The great man in Vindelev

The discovery of the enormous amount of gold shows that the site has been a center of power, in the late Iron Age.

"Only one member of society's absolute top has been able to collect a treasure like the one found here" , explains Vejlemuseernes research director Mads Ravn, and continues:

"Although the place name Vindelev can be linked to the time of migration, there was nothing that could make us predict that an unprecedented warlord or great man lived here, long before the kingdom of Denmark arose in the following centuries."

Here, just under 8 km from the Jelling, which in the 900s became Denmark's cradle, there was already a great man in the 500s who managed to create wealth and attract skilled artisans. For as yet unknown reasons, he chose to close down this large gold find in the early 500s.

Maybe to save it in case of war, or maybe as a victim of higher powers.

Mythological motifs and a Roman emperor

The Vindelev treasure consists of saucer-sized, beautifully decorated medallions, so-called bracteates. There are also Roman coins made into jewelry. They occur in a technique and a combination that has never before been seen comparable examples of why the finding of experts is described as completely unique in quality.

Some of the objects have motifs and runic inscriptions that may refer to the rulers of the time, but which also, according to some of the researchers who have so far had the opportunity to examine the treasure, lead the mind to Nordic mythology.

One of the finds is a bracteate that has a male head with a braid and a number of runes on it. Under the head is seen a horse and in front of a bird with which the man communicates. There is a runic inscription between the horse's muzzle and forelegs, which according to the preliminary interpretations says 'houaʀ'; 'the High' .

'The High' may refer to the ruler who abolished the find, but is also in later mythological contexts associated with the god Odin.

There are also much older coins from the Roman Empire. Most notably a heavy gold coin from the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (285-337 AD). Constantine legalized Christianity among the Romans in 313 AD, a few hundred years before the coin that bears his face found rest in under a Jutlandic longhouse, 2,000 km north.

The fascinating journey of gold tells us about a European continent that was already in the Iron Age closely connected by trade and war.

A chaotic time

Many of Scandinavia's largest gold finds date from the middle of the 5th century, when the ash cloud from a large volcanic eruption in the year 536 AD, created a global climate catastrophe with many years of misgrowth and famine.

Preliminary dates suggest that this treasure was also abolished at this chaotic time in world history. A couple of years ago, the archaeologists of the Vejlemuseers excavated another gold treasure from the period on the small island of Hjarnø in Horsens fjord.

According to many researchers, the climate catastrophe in 536 caused the inhabitants of what was then Denmark today to reject the old rulers and lay down lots of gold during this very period. Maybe to save it from enemies, or maybe to appease the gods.

Some believe that the foundation of the Viking Age society, and a united Danish kingdom, lies in this period.

More than 40 kg of gold from these very centuries in the Iron Age have been found. But the size, quantity and technical details of the objects in the treasure now found at Vindelev are completely unique, placing the find in the absolute top.

Exhibited already next year

In less than half a year, the Vindelev treasure will be seen as part of the Vejlemuseerne's large Viking exhibition, which opens on 3 February 2022.

The exhibition tells the story of Harald Blåtand's eastern connections, and of the early kingdom formation that created the foundation for the Jelling dynasty.

The Viking exhibition is made in collaboration with Moesgaard Museum, which also has an exhibition that tells about other aspects of the Vikings' travels to the east.

A Viking's 'Langsax' Fighting Knife Discovered in Poland

Archaeologists working in the Wdecki Landscape Park in Poland’s Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship have discovered a rare langsax long knife with potential Viking roots.

Researchers were looking for one of the forgotten combat locations from the Polish-Pomeranian struggle of AD 1091 when Duke Wadysaw I Herman of Poland sought to conquer the area of Pomerania. The knife was discovered by accident. The blade was classified as a “loose find” by archaeologist Mateusz Sosnowski, who participates and coordinates research on behalf of the Wdecki Landscape Park because there were no cultural strata in situ to show a larger link with the surroundings.

The long blade, according to Dr. Piotr Pranke of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru’s Department of History of Scandinavia, Central, and Eastern Europe, was an exceptionally uncommon Norwegian langsax from the 8th century AD. The long blade has a total length of 90 cm and a blade length of 80 cm. “It is a weapon of impressive size for a long knife, which could easily measure up against double-edged swords from that period,” In a statement to PAP, Sosnowski said.

Mateusz Sosnowski holding the blade. Photo: O. Popkiewicz

The long blade appears to be in virtually excellent condition at first glance, with only the blade tip partly bent.

“We intend to carry out detailed metallographic tests (the study of the microstructure of all types of metallic alloys) that may allow us to gain additional knowledge about this unique specimen of a weapon,” told Sosnowski.

In 2015, the object most similar to the langsax found in Wdecki Landscape Park is a long combat blade found in Haukela. This is the area between Vestfold and Telemark in western Norway. The Haukela discovery comes from the middle of the 8th century, i.e. the beginning of the Viking era. The Polish find is most likely the same age.

What is the Langsax or Long Seax?

Blades are 50cm or longer and lengthy hilts like broad seaxes. The edge is typically straight or slightly curved towards the tip. These knives are thought to have been used from the 8th to the 10th centuries.

5,000-Year-Old Wooden Pieces Discovered at the Neolithic Site of Orkney!

Archaeologists say it may be a particularly important part of the site because it features external upright slabs called orthostats.

Archaeologists found the wood while excavating the Ness of Brodgar, home to a vast network of buildings, including a temple-style complex, that thrummed with activity during the Neolithic period. Sigurd Towrie, of the University of Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, said it was the first time wood had been found on the site.

Mr Towrie said: “Over the years of excavation the Ness has produced so many surprises that some archaeologists thought we had exhausted all the possibilities. Not so.”

He said the “astonishing new discovery” of the wood was made at ‘structure 12’ on the site, a large rectangular building that is some 17-metres long.

The building was divided up inside by pillars to create a series of bays, alcoves and recesses which surrounded two large hearths. Access to this was by three entrances, one that was flanked by a pair of standing stones that faced the burial chamber at Maeshowe, with the building likely a “stunning sight” in the immense Neolithic landscape of mainland Orkney.

The vast Ness of Brodgar site in Orkney. PIC: Contributed.

Mr Towrie said the wood was found in a post hole and had survived probably due to its preservation under a tiny amount of water.

"Preservation of organic material is very rare,” he said.

"The post hole sat in a depression and we think some water had gathered. It creates anaerobic conditions, which slows down decay.”

While few trees stand on Orkney today, the islands were once rich in woodland that disappeared over time due to rising sea levels. Recent studies of the “woodlands under the waves” included analysis of remains of a forests, which had been pushed under the water at Bay of Ireland near Stromness, which has been dated to around 6,000-years-old.

“The earliest Neolithic settlements were made of wood and then they later switched to stone,” Mr Towrie said.

"The wood that we found is in very poor condition, but hopefully we will be able to tell what kind of wood it is and whether it was grown locally or imported.”

Ness of Brodgar: Digital reconstruction

The Ness of Brodgar site covers around six acres between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. The earliest structures on the site were built around 3300 BC, with the site closed down and abandoned after around 1,000 years. The site was first excavated in 2003 with the summer excavations ending with Ness of Brodgar being covered up again for the winter.

Decorated stone slabs, thousands of sherds of pottery and a temple-style building are among key finds at Ness of Brodgar, an incredible site given its scale and central function to Neolithic life in Orkney. Earlier this year, a potter’s fingerprint was discovered on a vessel made some 5,000 years ago, creating a “poignant connection” to the people who lived and visited here.

Around 30 archaeologists are on the site this summer, with hundreds of visitors dropping by the site as work progresses. Mr Towrie said: “On one day, we had 450 people here. It’s been great to be back on site again and to see so many people, and to still know that people really care about this place.”

By Alison Campsie, The Scotsman

1,400-Year-Old Visigoth Sarcophagus Found Under Roman Villa In Spain

A research team led by Rafael González Fernández, professor of Ancient History at the University of Murcia, has discovered a spectacular sarcophagus from the Visigothic period at the site of the Roman necropolis of Los Villaricos, in Mula.  

It is a 2-metre long piece with geometric decoration interspersed with ivy leaves. On the front corresponding to the part of the chancel, a Christogram has been documented framed in a border. Its chronology corresponds, in the absence of further studies, possibly to the 6th century.

Rafael González described this finding as spectacular and unexpected, and which corroborates previous studies on the chronology of the necropolis. This necropolis originated next to the basilica church after the abandonment of the town in the 5th century.

This summer's archaeological campaign is taking place in the main necropolis of the site, which occupied the part of the impluvium and rooms adjacent to the Roman house once it had been abandoned. Essentially, the work this summer is focusing on three areas.

Firstly, the cleaning of a fountain that possibly supplied water to the villa; secondly, progress is being made in what we call the "pool area", dedicated to the production and storage of some product that we still do not know today; and thirdly, the aim is to complete the excavation of the tombs that were located above the rooms of the villa when it lost its function, at a time between the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 7th century. 

The presence of this necropolis may be justified by the transformation of the Oecus or Triclinium, a kind of reception hall, the best room in a Roman villa, into a space for Christian worship. This would explain the presence of the burials next to this religious building in what we know as the necropolis ad sanctos.

Source: University of Murcia [trsl. TANN; July 17, 2021]

Ljubljana Marshes Wheel: The Oldest Known Wheel in the World!

The Ljubljana Marshes Wheel is a wooden wheel that was found in the Ljubljana Marshes some 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, in 2002. Radiocarbon dating, performed in the VERA laboratory (Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator) in Vienna, showed that it is approximately 5,150 years old, which makes it the oldest wooden wheel yet discovered. It was discovered by a team of Slovene archeologists from the Ljubljana Institute of Archaeology, a part of the Research Center at the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences, under the guidance of Anton Velušček.

The archaeological site

Remains of pile dwellings were discovered in the Ljubljana Marshes as early as in 1875. Since 2011, the site has been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as an example of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, a special form of dwellings in areas with lakes and marshes. The archaeologists at the excavation site identified over one thousand piles in the bed of the Iška River, near Ig. They reconstructed the dwellings of 3.5 by 7 metres (11 ft 6 in × 23 ft 0 in) in size, separated by approximately 2 to 3 metres (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in). The analyses of the piles revealed that the dwellings were repaired each year and that a new house had to be built on the same place in as little as 10 to 20 years.

The earliest inhabitants settled in the region as early as 9,000 years ago. In the Mesolithic, they built temporary residences on isolated rocks in the marsh and on the fringe, living by hunting and gathering. The permanent settlements were not built until the first farmers appeared approximately 6,000 years ago during the Neolithic.

The wooden wheel

The wooden wheel belonged to a prehistoric two-wheel cart – a pushcart. Similar wheels have been found in the hilly regions of Switzerland and southwest Germany, but the Ljubljana Marshes wheel is bigger and older. It shows that wooden wheels appeared almost simultaneously in Mesopotamia and Europe.

It has a diameter of 72 centimetres (28+3⁄8 in) and is made of ash wood, and its 124-centimetre-long (48+7⁄8 in) axle is made of oak. The axle was attached to the wheels with oak wood wedges, which meant that the axle rotated together with the wheels. The wheel was made from a tree that grew in the vicinity of the pile dwellings and at the time of the wheel construction was approximately 80 years old.

It appears that the wheel itself is primarily made of two planks of wood which are held together with four cross braces. The cross braces appear to have been held in place simply by a tenon arrangement, the braces being fitted into tenoned slots carved into the two main wheel sections.

Prehistoric animal carvings discovered for first time in Scotland

Prehistoric animal carvings thought to be nearly 5,000 years old have been discovered for the first time in Scotland.

The prehistoric drawings were discovered inside Dunchraigaig Cairn in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll.

They are the first clear examples of deer carvings from the Neolithic to Early Bronze Age in the whole of the UK.

They depict two male red deer, which are considered to have been the largest deer species in the country at the time.

Kilmartin Glen where the rock art carving representing a deer was found. Picture: Historic Environment Scotland

Full-grown antlers can be seen on both animals, and one of the deer can be seen with a short tail.

Three other quadrupeds are also visible, two of which are thought to be juvenile deer – useful to prehistoric communities as a source of food and with bones providing a resource for making tools.

The drawings were found by Hamish Fenton, who has a background in archeology, and it was the first time ancient animal carvings have been discovered in an area alongside cup and ring markings in the UK.

An illustration of the animal carving. Picture: Hamish Fenton

Mr Fenton said: "I was passing Dunchraigaig Cairn at dusk when I noticed the burial chamber in the side of the cairn and decided to slide inside with my torch.

"As I shone the torch around, I noticed a pattern on the underside of the roof slab, which didn't appear to be natural markings in the rock.

"As I shone the light around further, I could see that I was looking at a deer stag upside down, and as I continued looking around, more animals appeared on the rock.

"This was a completely amazing and unexpected find and, to me, discoveries like this are the real treasure of archaeology, helping to reshape our understanding of the past."

Joana Valdez-Tullett, research assistant at Scotland's Rock Art Project, working with Historic Environment Scotland (HES). Picture HES

There are more than 3,000 prehistoric carved rocks in Scotland with the vast majority of cup and ring markings which are created by striking the rock surface with a stone tool, such as a large river-washed pebble.

Many of these mysterious carvings can still be seen in the open landscape, yet there is still little known about how they were used, or what purpose they served.

Experts from Scotland's Rock Art Project examined the carvings to confirm their authenticity by using innovative technology in their analysis.

A structured light scan was carried out by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) digital documentation experts to create an accurate and detailed 3D model with photographic texture.

Various visualisation techniques were then applied to the model in order to reveal more details of the carvings.

Dr Tertia Barnett, principal investigator for Scotland's Rock Art Project at HES, said: "It was previously thought that prehistoric animal carvings of this date didn't exist in Scotland, although they are known in parts of Europe, so it is very exciting that they have now been discovered here for the first time in the historic Kilmartin Glen.

"This extremely rare discovery completely changes the assumption that prehistoric rock art in Britain was mainly geometric and non-figurative.

"While there are a few prehistoric carvings of deer in the UK, the only other ones created in the Early Bronze Age are very schematic. It is remarkable that these carvings in Dunchraigaig Cairn show such great anatomical detail and there is no doubt about which animal species they represent."

By Calum Loudon, The Scotsman

The Etruscan Wolf’s Helmet: A Masterpiece of Ancient Equipment

The Etruscan wolf’s helmet, that is currently kept in Harvard’s Art Museum, is undoubtedly a masterpiece of ancient equipment. Despite it’s name, the etruscan helmet resembles a boar head. It dates back to archaic to classical period (6th-5th century BCE) an has modern additions. It is bronze and cast and hammered.

Other Elements of the helmet are lead, iron and arsenic. These pieces were part of an old repair and were removed from the object.

The patina is green and has areas of black and underlying areas of red. The top components of the nose and the hemispherical dome have areas of rough, raised green corrosion products and brown burial accretions.

Numerous large losses are the result of corrosion and breaks in the brittle, mineralized metal. There are numerous ancient repairs, including the flaps of metal folded and riveted around cracks on the lower edge of the hemispherical dome and the irregular shapes of metal riveted to the dome where it meets the lower jaw on both sides. The cast teeth are modern additions. They are not life casts and were irregularly modeled directly in wax to fit the shapes of the sheet metal assembly that form the jaw and top portions of the mouth. A modern sheet-copper framework in the top and bottom sections of the mouth and a patinated but modern ridged palette-shape on the top of the mouth both help to support weight of these teeth. Many of the rivets are ancient, but some have been replaced with modern copper pins or brass screws.

The hemispherical dome was raised by hammering, and its irregular thickness ranges from 0.3 to 0.7 mm. The top and snout sections of the nose have the same thickness as the dome, which in neither case was a measurement error caused by the rough corrosion products on the surface of these components. The other parts of the object are also raised by hammering but are generally thinner (2.0 to 4.0 mm). They form the bottom exterior and interior surfaces of the mouth, the narrow strips at the lower edges of the top of the mouth, and the repair reinforcements previously mentioned. A serrated sheet inserted in the folded and riveted front section of the nose is less deeply corroded than the snout but appears to be ancient. The serrations may depict teeth, and it is possible that similar teeth once decorated the other portions of the mouth. The remains of two oval repoussé depressions on the front of the dome depict eyes. No inlay or added material is visible in the eyes.

Prior to the 1998 conservation treatment of this object, numerous additional fragments, many of them modern, were joined to the object and completed many of the losses to the original components. These fragments greatly confused the question of what was original as well as what the original object looked like. They were removed and stored separately from other loose fragments that are ancient but either do not belong to this object or cannot be properly fitted to it. Future work on the object could involve completely removing the replacement teeth. It is also possible that the entire lower jaw is a modern fabrication from ancient sheets of metal.

Henry Lie

English Dictionary of Ancient Greek ‘spares no blushes’ with fresh look at crudity

Victorian attempts to veil the meanings of crude ancient Greek words are set to be brushed away by a new dictionary 23 years in the making. It is the first to take a fresh look at the language in almost 200 years and promises to “spare no blushes” for today’s classics students.

The late scholar John Chadwick first came up with the idea to update HG Liddell and Robert Scott’s 1889 dictionary, the Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, in 1997. An abridged version of a lexicon published in 1843, the Liddell and Scott had never been revised, and is packed with antiquated terms and modestly Victorian translations of the more colourful ancient Greek words. Despite this, it remains the most commonly used reference work for students in English schools and universities.

It was initially thought that Chadwick’s project would take five years, but Cambridge professor James Diggle, who was then chair of the advisory committee, said it soon became clear that the Intermediate Lexicon was “too antiquated in concept, design and content”, and the team would need to start afresh.

Diggle and his fellow editors then set out on the “Herculean task” of rereading most examples of ancient Greek literature, from Homer to the early second century AD. They then worked through the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet to create a modern guide for today’s students to the meanings of ancient Greek words and their development through the years. The lexicon is the first to be based on an entirely new reading of the Greek texts since 1843.

“At the outset of the project I undertook to read everything which the editors wrote. I soon realised that if we were ever to finish I had better start to write entries myself,” said Diggle.

“The moment of greatest relief and joy was when I was able to sign off the final proofs and say to the publisher, ‘It’s finished. You can print it.’ You can’t imagine what it was like, to realise that we had finally got there. I literally wept with joy.”

The completed Cambridge Greek Lexicon, which is being published by Cambridge University Press, runs to two volumes and features around 37,000 Greek words, drawn from 90 authors and set out across 1,500 pages.

The new dictionary’s editors “spare no blushes”, Diggle said, when it comes to the words that “brought a blush to Victorian cheeks”. The verb χέζω (chezo), translated by Liddell and Scott as “ease oneself, do one’s need”, is defined in the new dictionary as “to defecate” and translated as “to shit”; βινέω (bineo) is no longer “inire, coire, of illicit intercourse”, but “fuck”; λαικάζω (laikazo), in the 19th-century dictionary translated as “to wench”, is now defined as “perform fellatio” and translated as “suck cocks”.

Antiquated and offensive language also gets a makeover. While Liddell and Scott defined βλαύτη (blaute) as “a kind of slipper worn by fops”, in the Cambridge Greek Lexicon it is described as “a kind of simple footwear, slipper”; κροκωτός (krokotos) is no longer defined as “a saffron-coloured robe worn by gay women”, but as a “saffron gown (worn by women)”.

“Liddell and Scott could have claimed, in the words of Edward Gibbon, ‘My English is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the obscurity of a learned language,’” Diggle said. “We use contemporary English.”

The Cambridge Greek Lexicon also begins each entry with the rootmeaning of a word, a fundamentally different approach to the 19th-century lexicon, which started entries with a word’s earliest appearance in literature. “Take a word like πόλις, which will be familiar to many in its English form ‘polis’,” said Diggle. “Our article shows the variety of senses which the word can have: in its earliest usage ‘citadel, acropolis’; then, more generally, ‘city, town’ and also ‘territory, land’; and, more specifically, in the classical period, ‘city as a political entity, city-state’; also, with reference to the occupants of a city, ‘community, citizen body’.”

Professor Robin Osborne, chair of Cambridge’s classics faculty, said the department invested in the new lexicon in order to “make a contribution to the teaching of Greek over the next century”.

“This puts into the hands of students a resource that will enable them access to ancient Greek more securely and easily,” said Osborne. “It is hugely important that we continue to engage with the literature of ancient Greece, not as texts frozen in a past world, but which engage with the world in which we live.”

The Lexicon’s publisher at Cambridge University Press, Michael Sharp, said it was “one of the most important classics books we have ever published”, and “a milestone in the history of classics”.

Diggle, however, said he had no plans for further lexicographical ventures. “No, no, no, no, no,” he said. “I finished it with an enormous sense of relief and joy – for the last 15 years of it I did nothing else, it really dominated my life.”

Source: The Guardian

Villa Kérylos: A Greek Classically Inspired House in French Riviera

Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France, is a house in Ancient Greek Revival style built in the early 1900s by French archaeologist Theodore Reinach. It has been listed since 1966 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. A Greek word, kerylos means halcyon or kingfisher, which in Greek mythology was considered a bird of good omen.

The French archaeologist and statesman Théodore Reinach spent his family’s banking inheritance to live in exotic magnificence. In the early 1900s, he commissioned a house on a French Riviera peninsula with rooms frescoed in sea creatures and mosaicked with deities — all based on ancient buildings that he had documented on Delos island in Greece.

Mr. Reinach in 1913. He died in 1928.(Agence Meurisse/Bibliothèque nationale de France)

He commissioned Emmanuel Pontremoli, a French Architect and Archaeologist to foresee the building works. The project started in 1906 and took six years to complete. It then became their family home until 1967.

Quietly poised in the Southern Mediterranean town of Beaulieu Sur Mer lies his Greek style Villa Kérylos. The white and brick red shuttered villa is nestled in one of the prettiest areas in the south of France; directly on the tip of the Baie des Fourmis overlooking the Mediterranean sea. 

The entrance to the villa is right at the tip of the ocean. Reinach chose this coastal spot as it echoed the style of Greek temple locations. He also welcomes us eternally with the entrance floor inscription in ancient Greek ‘ΧΑΊΡΕ’ (chaíre, “hello; goodbye”, literally: "rejoice, be glad").

Surrounded by a pretty, formal garden and the water’s edge the property stands on three floors. From the basement of the building when it was a family home, there was access to a mooring and swimming directly in the sea.  Some areas are closed off and restricted due to the villa being listed, becoming a Museum in 1966 and a historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture. There is the opportunity to buy gifts and information in the entrance to the villa, and it probably takes an hour to walk around. 

The ground floor area of the house styled around an open peristyle courtyard which brought to life films I have watched that are now popular representing the Roman Empire and the dramas that belong to that period. It would make a fantastic film location. However,  it is now only open to the public with no opportunities for private parties or filming. 

The Greeks loved bathing, and this has defiantly not been overlooked, with sauna-like bathrooms and walk-in showers. It has the feel of a modern day spa, but even better. The first room is, in fact, a spa with a huge sunken bath adorned with grey and white marble languishing a golden-lit dressing area suggesting warmth and comfort. The features are unique; in another bathroom area, brass taps are opening to the mouths of lions with matching soap saucers and a plunging marble bath supported by the lion’s feet.

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Candles would have lit many of the rooms and together with their effects and the art adorning the walls it would have accelerated an atmosphere of sheer indulgence and luxury. The walls and floors mirror their beliefs with classical Greek motifs representing stories of the gods and mythical animals. This all adds to the fantasy world of the Classical period and creates an illusion of more space. 

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The attention to detail is just stunning. Nothing is overlooked; from the pretty tiled floors running throughout the villa to the star decorated ceiling. The ancient Greeks were fascinated by astrology,  reflected in their use of patterns and colour. The walls are delicately embellished with gardens of ancient olive trees and birds. The name Kerylos means Halcyon or kingfisher which in Greek mythology refers to a bird of good omen. 

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The main room overlooking the sea is large with high ceilings, perfect for the summer climate; elegant and formal leads off from the inner courtyard, the heart of the villa. 

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Some of the tapestries are still decorating the bedroom walls, and the embroidered original curtains remain intact. The Greeks were also inspired most of all by nature, and this too is echoed in the wall hangings and contrasted by the symmetrical design. 

The views throughout the villa are spectacular, and even on a cold, miserable day, there would be the inspiration. The first floor of the house is light and breezy with all the bedrooms adorned with frescoes representing heroic and imaginative stories.

It may have been cold in winter with no double glazing and all the marble but underfloor heating was incorporated, and with the Mediterranean climate this house would have been a palace and paradise home.  

by Kay Hare

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Swedish orienteering enthusiast finds rare Bronze Age treasure

Astash of 50 Bronze Age relics dating back over 2,500 years was discovered by a Swedish orienteering enthusiast working on a map earlier in April, authorities said Thursday.

Bronze pieces of jewelry found in Alingsas, in Gothenburg, Sweden, April 29, 2021. (EPA Photo)

Mainly consisting of ancient jewelry, the find outside the small town of Alingsas in western Sweden represents one of "the most spectacular and largest cache finds" from the Bronze Age ever in the Nordic country, the county administrative board said in a statement.

Among the relics, believed to be from the period between 750 and 500 B.C., are some "very well-preserved necklaces, chains and needles" made out of bronze.

The objects were lying out in the open in front of some boulders out in the forest.

"Presumably animals have dug them out of a crevice between the boulders, where you can assume that they had been lying before," the government agency said.

Tomas Karlsson, the cartographer who made the discovery when he was out updating a map, at first thought it was just junk.

"It looked like metal garbage. Is that a lamp lying here, I thought at first," Karlsson told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

He told the paper he then hunched over and saw a spiral and a necklace.

"But it all looked so new. I thought they were fake," he continued.

He reported the find to local authorities who sent out a team of archaeologists to examine the site.

"Most of the finds are made up of bronze items that can be associated with a woman of high status from the Bronze Age," Johan Ling, professor of archeology at the University of Gothenburg, said in the statement.

"They have been used to adorn different body parts, such as necklaces, bracelets and ankle bracelets, but there were also large needles and eyelets used to decorate and hold up different pieces of clothing, probably made of wool," Ling added.

Photo: Adam Ihse/TT

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Viking Scholars ‘Thrilled’ by Discovery of Celtic Ornament in Norway

A leading Viking scholar says she and fellow archaeologists are thrilled with the discovery of what appears to be an ancient Celtic ornament in a field in Norway that is believed to be among a cache of Viking loot.

Dr Cat Jarman, a senior adviser to the New Museum of the Viking Age in Norway, said she was “very excited” about the discovery of what appeared to be a medieval ornament depicting a face that would have been fitted on a bucket most likely used by monks in Ireland between 500AD and 700AD.

The ornament – along with ancient Islamic coins known as Dirham, circa 800AD – were found by metal detectorists combing a farmer’s field for valuables near Trondheim in central Norway last week.

The extremely rare find has been handed over to archaeological experts at the Trondheim Archaeological Museum who will clean it up and examine it further.

However, Dr Jarman suspects it is of a similar vintage to other Celtic bucket ornaments taken by the Vikings from medieval monasteries in Ireland and the UK during looting raids in the 9th century that have since been discovered in Norway.

“They are beautiful, with religious significance,” she told the Irish Independent.

Once the ornament is cleaned up by conservators, she expects it will reveal two faces depicted in similar finds.

“It would have been very valuable back then,” she said of religious and other artefacts that Vikings plundered during raids here between around 790AD to 900AD.

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“It’s not very likely that it would have been brought in a peaceful way,” she said of the violent looting raids in which Vikings prided themselves on bringing back “exotic” finds during attacks on churches and monastic sites in Ireland. 

Allison Bray

370-Year-Old Gold Ring May Have Honored Beheaded Earl

The initials J.D., crafted from gold thread, are visible.

This gold ring, discovered by metal detectorist Lee Morgan, likely dates to the English Civil War. (Image credit: Manx Museum)

A metal detectorist in the United Kingdom has unearthed a 370-year-old gold and crystal ring that might have been crafted in honor of a beheaded earl who lived during the English Civil War.

The slender gold band has a diameter of 0.8 inches (21.5 millimeters) and is topped with a 0.5-inch-wide (12 mm) crystal stone that covers two ornate letters made with gold thread: the initials J.D. (or I.D.), according to Manx National Heritage on the Isle of Man.

If the first letter is a "J," that could mean this ring once belonged to James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby and Lord of Man, a supporter of the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. "Letters and documents from the time show that he signed his name as J Derby, so the initials JD would be appropriate for him," Allison Fox, curator of archaeology at Manx National Heritage, said in a statement. 

Moreover, the ring is "of a high quality," indicating "that it was made for, or on behalf of, an individual of high status" — a profile that fits James Stanley, Fox said.

Metal detectorist Lee Morgan found the ring on the southern part of the Isle of Man, an island between Great Britain and Ireland, in December 2020. The ring was officially declared a "treasure" — a label given to artifacts that meet certain archaeological criteria — by the Isle of Man coroner of inquests, Jayne Hughes, on April 19, 2021. 

The ring's two shoulders, on either side of the crystal, are decorated with inlaid black enamel. Archaeologists have dated it to the late 1600s and identified it as a Stuart-period (1603-1714) mourning ring, a type of jewelry that was sometimes given out at funerals to commemorate a person who had died, often holding their initials.

James Stanley, also known as Baron Strange and the Great Earl Of Derby, supported the cause of King Charles I — who ruled England, Scotland and Ireland from 1625 until 1649, when he was executed. Charles' authoritarian rule didn't sit well with the English Parliament, and that animosity eventually led to the series of battles known as the English Civil War (1642-1651).

In this case, the ring was likely made after Parliamentarians executed James Stanley in October 1651, just a few years after King Charles I died. Today, there is a historic plaque on the Bolton Market Cross at Churchgate in his memory, saying "1651. James, Seventh Earl of Derby, beheaded near this spot."

James Stanley's wife, Charlotte, Lady Derby, likely had the mourning ring made in his honor, according to the statement. 

The gold ring will go on display at the Manx Museum.

Originally published on Live Science.