Archaeology

Royal Sumerian palace and temple uncovered in ancient Girsu

Published

10 months ago

February 17, 2023

Archaeologists from the Girsu Project have uncovered the remains of a Royal Sumerian palace and temple complex in the ancient city of Girsu, located in the Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq.

Girsu was a city of the Sumer, one of the earliest known civilisations in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia. Occupation at Girsu dates from the Early Dynastic period (2900-2335 BC), emerging as the capital of the Lagash Kingdom, and a major administrative centre during the Ur III period (2112-2004 BC).

Girsu was discovered during the 19th century, with the first excavations being conducted in the 1880s by the French archaeologist, Ernest de Sarzec.

These early excavations uncovered the famous Stele of the Vultures (the earliest known war monument), that dates from the Early Dynastic IIIb period (2600–2350 BC) and commemorates the victory of king Eannatum of Lagash, over Ush, king of Umma.

Image Credit : British Museum

The site consists of two large tells (mounds), one rising 50 feet above the plain, and the other 56 feet. Over the centuries, Girsu has been damaged from poor excavation standards during the 19th and 20th century, and illegal excavations searching for artefacts to sell on the black market.

A study in 2021 by the Girsu Project, a joint initiative between the British Museum and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) of Iraq, have been applying remote sensing within the Girsu zone at an area designated as Tablet hill.

The study revealed a vast complex of undisturbed architectural remains, which have now been excavated to reveal a mudbrick-built palace and more than 200 ancient cuneiform tablets containing administrative records.

Archaeologists also discovered a main sanctuary of the great Sumerian god, Ningirsu (from whom the city has taken its name), located in the sacred precinct called the Urukug. The sanctuary is named Eninnu, the White Thunderbird, and would have been revered as one of the most important temples of Mesopotamia.

Dr Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, said: “While our knowledge of the Sumerian world remains limited today, the work at Girsu and the discovery of the lost palace and temple hold enormous potential for our understanding of this important civilisation, shedding light on the past and informing the future.”

The Girsu Project

The Girsu Project, led by the British Museum and funded by Getty, builds on the legacy of the Museum’s Iraq Scheme, developed in 2015 and first funded by the British Government in response to the destruction of heritage sites in Iraq and Syria by Daesh (or Islamic State). The Girsu project addresses the damage caused by early excavations and modern looting.

Header Image – Reconstruction of the palace – Image Credit : British Museum

Archaeology

Archaeologists find 22 mummified burials in Peru

Published

2 mins ago

December 8, 2023

A Polish-Peruvian team of archaeologists have uncovered 22 mummified burials in Barranca, Peru.

The discovery was made on the Cerro Colorado hill, where the researchers unearthed the burials in one of four mounds located in a cluster.

Bioarchaeologist, Łukasz Majchrzak, said: “The bodies are wrapped in fabrics and plant material known as burial bundles. Between the layers of the fabrics we found ceramics, tools, and cult objects placed as funerary offerings.”

The team also found corn cobs and unidentified plant materials, which were likely placed as food for the deceased on their journey to the afterlife.

Six of the burial bundles contain the remains of adults placed in the fetal position, with their upper and lower limbs tucked under their chests.

According to the researchers, the adult burials are arranged vertically, which makes them appear as if they were sitting. They all have a similar external appearance, wrapped in thick fabric and entwined with rope.

One of the adult bundles is decorated with geometric patterns, while the remaining bundles – as Majchrzak suggests – may contain representations of animals and deities.

The other 16 burial bundles mostly contain the remains of children no older than 2 years old who were placed in a horizontal position.

The team plan to use computed tomography to examine completely preserved burial bundles that have no visible damage to allow for a non-invasive anthropological analysis. In further stages, they plan to carry out a chemical and isotope analysis, including the strontium isotope, which will determine whether the burials are from a local population.

Header Image Credit : R. Dziubińska

Archaeology

Oldest prehistoric fortress found in remote Siberia

Published

2 hours ago

December 8, 2023

An international team, led by archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin has uncovered an ancient prehistoric fortress in a remote region of Siberia known as Amnya.

According to a study, published in the scientific journal “Antiquity”, the fortress is a complex system of defensive structures around an ancient settlement, dating from 8,000 years ago.

The fortress is spread across two settlement clusters, Amnya I and Amnya II. Amnya I consists of extant surface features such as banks and ditches, which enclose the tip of a promontory, and 10 house pit depressions. Ten further house pits, located approximately 50m to the east, comprise the open settlement of Amnya II.

Excavations have uncovered approximately 45 pottery vessels within the wider complex, including pointed and flat-based forms that reflect two distinct typological traditions.

The Amnya settlement complex signifies the start of a distinctive, enduring trend of defensive sites among hunter-gatherers in northern Eurasia—an almost continuous tradition that persisted for nearly eight millennia until the Early Modern period.

Tanja Schreiber, archaeologist at the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology in Berlin and co-author of the study, explains, “Through detailed archaeological examinations at Amnya, we collected samples for radiocarbon dating, confirming the prehistoric age of the site and establishing it as the world’s oldest-known fort.

“Our new palaeobotanical and stratigraphical examinations reveal that inhabitants of Western Siberia led a sophisticated lifestyle based on the abundant resources of the taiga environment,” added Schrieber.

The construction of fortifications by foraging groups has been observed in different parts of the world, primarily in coastal regions during later prehistoric periods. However, the early in inland western Siberia is unparalleled.

According to the researchers, the discovery transforms how we perceive ancient human communities, questioning the notion that the establishment of permanent settlements with grand architecture and intricate social systems began solely with the rise of agriculture.

Header Image Credit: Nikita Golovanov