Archaeology
Decapitated and dismembered bodies found at Maya pyramid
Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have uncovered burials containing decapitated and dismembered bodies at the stairway of a pyramid in the Maya city of Moral Reforma.
Moral Reforma is a Maya city from the Classic period, located in the municipality of Balancán in the Mexican state of Tabasco.
Occupation of the site dates from around AD 300, emerging into an important centre of trade along the San Pedro Mártir River. The city reached its peak during the years of AD 622 to 756, covering an area of 215 acres that contains palaces, plazas, and several pyramid complexes.
Recent excavations of a pyramid temple called Structure 18 in the city’s eastern plaza, has revealed two groups of burials at the stairway, one dating from between 300 BC to AD 250 during the Late Preclassic, and the other from AD 600 to AD 900 during the Late Classic.
Image Credit : INAH
The Late Preclassic group contains up to 12 individuals, some of which were arranged in a seated and lateral right position at the time of death, while the Late Classic group contains up to 13 burials.
Several of the burials from the Late Classic group were decapitated or dismembered, with skulls found in both groups showing signs of tabular oblique deformation, a form of artificial cranial modification to indicate an elevated social status.
The Late Preclassic group also contained 567 artefacts placed as offerings, consisting of shell and jade beads, shell rings, projectile points, vessels and bone needles.
Based on the depth and manner of the burials, the researchers have suggested that they were placed as sacrifices to a deity of the Mayan underworld in consecration of the temple.
Header Image Credit : INAH
Excavations at the Roman fort of Vindolanda have uncovered a possible phallus carving near Hadrian’s Wall.
Vindolanda (translated as “white field” or “white moor”) was a Roman auxiliary fort that guarded a major highway called the Stanegate.
No less than nine forts were built of timber or stone at Vindolanda from between AD 85 to AD 370, creating one of the most complex archaeological sites in Britain and a unique cultural legacy of frontier life.
Today, Vindolanda is an ongoing active archaeological site, with previous excavations uncovering thousands of perfectly preserved shoes, textiles, wooden objects, and the Vindolanda tablets (the oldest surviving documents in Britain that date from the 1st and 2nd century AD).
During the latest season of excavations, a possible phallus symbol has been uncovered in the last remaining turfed area within the boundaries of the fort. The symbol is carved into a stone slab and could be a depiction of a fascinus, used to invoke divine protection.
Phallic imagery can be found across the Roman world in sculptures, mosaics, frescoes, and portable objects such as pendants or bulla.
The Roman’s believed that the phallus was the embodiment of a masculine generative power, and was one of the tokens of the safety of the state (sacra Romana) that gave protection and good fortune.
Along the corridor of Hadrian’s Wall, there are 59 known phalli which consist of incised, relief, or sculpture phalli. Each architectural type of phalli have been grouped into one of nine morphological traits: the rocket, the hammer, the kinky-winky, the splitcock, the pointer, the double-dong, running hard, the beast, and the lucky dip.
Header Image Credit : Dr Rob Collins, FSA (via Twitter)
Sources : Vindolanda Trust
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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
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