Archaeology
Archaeologists shed new light on ritual stone monuments found in Saudi Arabia
A paper published in the journal PLOS ONE, has shed new light on prehistoric monuments known as mustatils found in Saudi Arabia.
The study was conducted by archaeologists from the University of Western Australia, Perth, and colleagues, in conjunction with The Royal Commission for AlUla, in which the researchers have been excavating a mustatil near the city of AlUla.
A mustatil, meaning “rectangle”, typically have walls made from sandstone surrounding a long central courtyard. They range from 20 to over 600 metres in length, with walls that are 1.2 metres high. Over 1,600 mustatils have been identified primarily in northern Saudi Arabia, which were built around 7,000 years ago during the Holocene Humid Phase.
A study of a 140-metre long mustatil near AlUla, suggests that they were used for ritualistic purposes involving placement of animal offerings.
The researchers’ analysis included identification of 260 fragments of animal skulls and horns, primarily from domestic cattle, as well as from domestic goats, gazelle, and small ruminants.
Image Credit : Kennedy et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0
Most of the remains were found clustered next to an upright stone interpreted to be a betyl. A radiocarbon analysis of the remains indicates that the betyl is one of the earliest identified in the Arabian Peninsula, and the bones provide some of the earliest evidence for domestication of cattle in the northern Arabia.
According to the researchers: “The ritual deposition of animal horns and upper cranial element within the mustatil suggests a profound intersection of belief and economic life-ways in the Late Neolithic of Northern Arabia. The incorporation of these two facets suggests a deeply rooted ideological entanglement, one which was shared over a vast geographic distance, indicating a far more interconnected landscape and culture than had previously been supposed for the Neolithic period in north-west Arabia.”
The team also found evidence of multiple phases of ritual offerings at the mustatil, including the burial of an adult male, suggesting that the site could have been a religious destination for repeated pilgrimages.
University of Western Australia
Header Image Credit : Kennedy et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0
An analysis of carbonised papyrus from the Roman town of Herculaneum has revealed the burial place of Plato.
Plato (427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period and taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato’s most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals.
The scroll is one of many examples recovered at Herculaneum, a Roman town in the present-day comune of Ercolano in South-West Italy.
Along with the nearby city of Pompeii, Herculaneum was destroyed during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, burying the town under thick layers of ash and pumice.
Image Credit : CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Numerous scrolls and parchments made from papyrus were carbonised under the intense heat, however, as part of an ongoing project by archaeologists, a scroll containing the History of the Academy of Philodemus of Gadara (110-40 BC) has been partially deciphered.
The team used modern imaging techniques such as infrared, ultraviolet optical imaging, molecular and elemental imaging, thermal imaging, tomography, and optical microscopy digital.
Approximately 1,000 words have been identified (around 30% of the text entirety) which includes new details about Plato, the development of his Platonic Academy, and information that identifies his place of burial.
Archaeologists already knew that Plato was buried somewhere in the Platonic School in Athens, however, this latest revelation has pinpointed his burial to a private garden near the so-called Museion or sacellum sacred to the Muses.
Furthermore, the text has revealed that Plato was sold as a slave following the conquest of the island of Aegina by the Spartans sometime around 404 BC to 399 BC.
Header Image Credit : CNR – Image Credit : iStock
Sources : CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerchenrc
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
As part of a $40 million Mansion Revitalisation Project, archaeologists have discovered two sealed 18th century glass bottles at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States.
Construction of the present manor began in 1734 by George Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, which was built in incremental stages by an unknown architect.
Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is owned and maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organisation in the United States.
From 2023 to 2026, the Mansion Revitalisation Project is conducting a landmark preservation project to safeguard the Mansion’s original building fabric and ensure its structural integrity.
During phase 1 of the project, archaeologists conducted small-scale excavations in the Mansion cellar where they discovered two intact European-manufactured bottles which date from the 1740s to 1750s.
Both bottles are made from a dark green glass and contain a liquid, which were recovered from a pit buried beneath the cellar’s 1770’s brick flooring.
Mount Vernon President & CEO Doug Bradburn, said: “We have made a number of interesting discoveries, including this blockbuster find of two fully intact glass bottles containing liquid that have not been seen since before the war for American independence.”
The bottles were sent for conservation and their contents shipped to a laboratory for a scientific analysis in a controlled environment.
The analysis revealed that the liquid contents still had the characteristic scent of cherry blossoms (familiar to residents of the region during the spring season), and also contained preserved cherries, including the stems and pits.
Header Image Credit : Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association
Sources : George Washington’s Mount Vernon
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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