Archaeology
Bust depicting Greek god of wine making found in Cockermouth, England
Archaeologists excavating in Cockermouth, England, have uncovered a bust of Silenus, the Greek god of wine making.
In Greek mythology, Silenus was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus, and is associated with wine making, musical creativity, prophetic ecstasy, drunken joy, and drunken dances.
Depictions of Silenus often portray him as being intoxicated and requiring the assistance from satyrs or a donkey to remain upright. Regarded as the eldest, most knowledgeable, and heavily inebriated among the devotees of Dionysus, Silenus was identified as the young god’s mentor in Orphic hymns.
The bust is a steelyard weight from the 1st century AD which was used to weigh items on a device called a steelyard balance. The device worked by using a counterweight (the steelyard weight) which slides along the longer arm to counterbalance the load and indicate an objects weight.
Speaking to ITV, finds officer, Julie Shoemark, said: “The size of the weight is definitely surprising. These weights usually tend to be a little bit smaller. I would say one in this condition and one depicting Silenus particularly is a little more unusual.”
According to Edward Dougherty from Northern Archaeological Associates Ltd, the area of Cockermouth in the Roman period during the 1st and 2nd century AD would have been a regional hub leading to forts on the Cumbrian cast such as nearby Burrow Walls Roman Fort and Alauna (Maryport).
Excavations also uncovered evidence of a Roman road that appears to be aligned towards a bridge crossing on the River Derwent, in addition to the foundations of what appears to be Roman house plots. Most of the ceramics recovered are Samian ware, a high-status pottery used in Roman Britain which was mainly made in the southern, central and eastern areas of Gaul (France).
Header Image Credit : ITV
Archaeologists from the University of Warwick are conducting an underwater study to document the submerged Mesolithic site of Bouldnor Cliff before it vanishes due to erosion.
Bouldnor Cliff is situated in the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the southern coast of England. The site was first discovered in 1999 when divers observed a lobster discarding worked flint tools from its burrow on the seabed.
At a time when Britain was cut off from mainland Europe by rising sea levels, the area of the Solent was a river valley inhabited by an advanced Mesolithic community who developed a boat building technology 2,000 years ahead of their time.
The study aims to find new data on the nature of the late Ice Age environment during the development of the Mesolithic era, and the extent of the interaction between the inhabitants of Bouldnor Cliff and Europe, including the exchange of materials.
Professor Robin Allaby, who is leading the expedition, said: “This is an incredible opportunity to understand the lost world in which the Mesolithic developed using the latest techniques before our chance is gone.”
The study will involve a comprehensive palaeoenvironmental analysis, in addition to state-of-the-art techniques such as optical simulated luminescence for constructing ecological profiles. Furthermore, archaeologists intend to recover archaeological artefacts and environmental markers to reconstruct the past environment.
Dr Kinnaird adds: “This is an exciting research project to showcase the new innovations in luminescence dating, which can tell when an object was last exposed to the Sun. The relevance of this technique in writing the narratives for 4000 years of history, at the time that the British coastline was rapidly changing, is huge!”
According to the researchers, these discoveries carry the potential to significantly transform our comprehension of the era when Britain emerged as an island.
Header Image Credit : University of Warwick
Sources : University of Warwick
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
A study of the “Excalibur” sword found in Valencia has been revealed to have Islamic origins sometime during the 10th century AD.
Valencia is one of the oldest cities in Spain, founded under the name of Valentia Edetanorum by the Romans in 138 BC.
The city was conquered by the Moors in the 8th century AD, and was destroyed by Abd al-Rahman I of the Umayyad dynasty. Under Caliphate rule, the wider city area became known as Madînat al-Turâb (meaning “city of earth” or “sand”).
The sword was discovered back in 1994 in a house on Valencia’s Historiador Chabàs Street, where it was found standing upright in a grave beneath an Islamic era house.
Dubbed “Excalibur” due to the circumstances of its discovery, the sword is made from iron and has a hilt decorated with bronze plates. In mythology, Excalibur was the legendary sword of King Arthur and appears in various medieval poems describing Arthur pulling the sword from a stone.
However, the “Excalibur” from Valencia was found in a sedimentary strata from the 10th century AD and was likely the weapon of a cavalryman from the Andalusian Caliphate Era.
According to the archaeologists, the sword measures 46 centimetres in length and has a slightly curved blade towards the tip. Swords from this period are rarely found well-preserved due to the levels of oxygen and water in the soil that causes oxidation of the iron.
“It is the first Islamic sword that appears in the city of Valencia, with only one similar example being found during the excavations of Medina Azahara, the caliphal city of Abd al-Rahman III, in Córdoba,” said the Valencia City Council.
Header Image Credit : The Archaeology Service (SIAM) of the Valencia City Council
Sources : Valencia City Council
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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