Archaeology
Workshop discovered in former Warsaw Ghetto
Archaeological works in the area of the former Warsaw Ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, have led to the discovery of a completely preserved workshop.
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II. It was established in November 1940 by the German authorities, housing as many as 460,000 imprisoned Jews in an area of 3.4 km2.
During the summer of 1942, the Nazi’s initiated the “Großaktion Warschau”, a codename for the transportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps and mass-killing centres. The ghetto was demolished by the Germans in May 1943 in response to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II.
Excavations in the area of present-day Anielewicza Street at the former site of 33 Gęsia Street have uncovered a completely preserved workshop. The workshop dealt with the production of cutlery, decorations and emblems for the needs of the pre-war inhabitants of the district, as well as during the war – as evidenced by the discovery of cutlery with the image of the German eagle.
Image Credit : PAP
Michał Grabowski, an archaeologist involved in the excavations said: This discovery is unique because the workshop is almost completely preserved. The wooden floor and the bases of the machines are preserved.”
Beneath the wooden floor, archaeologists uncovered packaging of pre-war Makówki sweets, part of a book, and a fragment of the badge worn by employees of the Fiat factory that opened in 1935. The researchers also found badges from the Dror, a Jewish organisation that helped prepare young people leaving for Palestine, and whose members joined the resistance movement and took part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Header Image Credit : PAP
Archaeologists excavating the grounds of Govan Old Church in Glasgow, England, have discovered an early medieval carved stone figure dubbed the “Govan Warrior”.
Govan Old Church is the home of the Govan Stone Museum, a collection of early medieval and Viking-Age sculptures found in the grounds, including 30 sculptures from a lost kingdom of Old Welsh-speaking Britons known as the Ystrad Clud who dominated the Clyde valley from the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
Excavations have been conducted by the University of Glasgow and Clyde Archaeology, in which a carved stone of a warrior was uncovered during a community fun day organised as part of the Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival.
The carved stone depicts a man standing side on and carrying a round shield and a shaft. According to the researchers, the discovery dates from around 1,000-years-ago and is unlike any of the other carved stones found at Govan Old.
According to a press statement by the University of Glasgow: “The Govan Warrior is unique within the existing collection due to its stylistic characteristics, which has drawn parallels with Pictish art and carvings from the Isle of Man. Unlike the other stones in the Govan collection, whose chunky style of carving is so distinctive that it has been described as a school of carving in its own right (the ‘Govan School’), the Govan Warrior is lightly incised, which may bring parallels with famous Pictish stones like the Rhynie Man from Aberdeenshire.”
Professor Stephen Driscoll said: “It’s a style that makes us think both about the Pictish world and also about the Isle of Man and it’s interesting that we are halfway between these two places. Govan is the ideal place for these two artistic traditions or styles to come together.”
Header Image Credit : Govan Heritage Trust
An excavation project, in collaboration with archaeologists from Södertörn University, Uppsala University’s Campus Gotland, Gotland Museum, and the Swedish National Heritage Board, has led to the discovery of an Iron Age port on Gotska Sandön.
Gotska Sandön is an island and national park in Sweden’s Gotland County, situated 24 miles north of Faro in the Baltic Sea.
Earlier in 2023, archaeologists found two 2,000-year-old Roman coins on one of the island’s beaches. Both coins are made of silver, with one coin dating from AD 98-117 during the reign of Emperor Trajan, and the other coin dating from AD 138-161 during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius
In the latest excavations, archaeologists have now discovered evidence of twenty hearths on the same beach as the Roman coins discovery.
According to Johan Rönnby, a professor of marine archaeology at Södertörn University, the site is an Iron Age port, not in the sense of quays we imply in the modern era, but instead a place where Iron Age people regularly landed their boats and formed an encampment.
Although the purpose of the encampment is speculated, the researchers suggest that it may have been linked to an emerging seal hunting industry.
“Seal hunters may have come from the island of Gotland and landed on Sandön to boil seal blubber. This could have been what the hearths were used for, but we don’t yet know – there may be other reasons why the site looks like it does, such as it being a trading post,” said Rönnby.
Excavations and carbon-14 dating of one of the hearths has indicated that they also date from 2,000-years-ago, suggesting a possible link between the encampment and the Roman coins.
Header Image Credit : idw
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