Archaeology
Archaeologists uncover 3,000-year-old ancient weavings in Alaska
In a press announcement by the Alutiiq Museum, archaeologists have uncovered fragments of ancient weavings during excavations of an ancestral sod house on Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Weaving is a long-practiced Alutiiq art, but one that is difficult to document archaeologically as fibre artifacts are fragile and rarely preserved.
The sod house was part of a Koniag Alutiiq settlement, a Alutiiq / Sugpiaq people that inhabited the coastal environments of south-central Alaska for over 7,500 years. Their ancestral homelands encompass Prince William Sound, the outer Kenai Peninsula, the Kodiak Archipelago, and the Alaska Peninsula.
The Alutiiq / Sugpiaq people share many cultural traditions in common with other coastal groups, particularly the Unangan / Aleut of the Aleutian Chain, and the Yup’ik of the Bering Sea coast. Anthropologists theorize that these cultural similarities are indicative of a shared ancient ancestry.
The woven fragments were discovered in a sod house on the shores of Karluk Lake. Patrick Saltonstall from the Alutiiq Museum, said: “We were excavating a sod house beside Karluk Lake as part of a broader study to understand how Alutiiq people used Kodiak’s interior.”
Carbon dating indicates that the structure burned and collapsed around 3,000-years-ago, with the walls collapsing into the interior and covering a portion of the floor.
“As we removed the remains of the walls, we were surprised and excited to find fragments of charred weaving. It looks like the house had grass mats on the floor. The pieces covered about a two-metre area at the back of the house, perhaps in an area for sleeping,” said Saltonstall.
A close inspection of the woven fragments shows that their makers laid down long parallel strands of grass (the warp) and then secured them with perpendicular rows of twining (the weft) spaced about an inch apart. This technique created an open weave also found in historic examples of Alutiiq grass matting. Small fragments of more complicated braiding may represent the finished edge of a mat.
“It is likely that our ancestors worked with plant fibres for millennia, from the time they arrived on Kodiak 7500 years ago,” said April Laktonen Counceller, the museum’s executive director. “It makes sense. Plants are abundant and easily harvested, and they are excellent materials for making containers, mats, and other useful items. It’s just very hard to document this practice. This wonderful find extends our knowledge of Alutiiq weaving back an additional 2400 years.”
Header Image Credit : Alutiiq Museum
A groundbreaking study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, has revealed why the largest concentration of pyramids in Egypt were built along a narrow desert strip.
Since the beginning of the Pharaonic era, the Nile River has played a fundamental role in the rapid growth and expansion of the Egyptian civilisation.
The Nile provided sustenance and functioned as the primary mode of transportation for goods and building materials, which explains why most of the main cities of the Egyptian civilisation were built in close proximity to the banks of the Nile and its peripheral branches.
Over the centuries, the primary channel of the Nile shifted laterally, causing these peripheral branches to silt up. As a result, population centres were cut off from the vital resources the river provided.
Image Credit : Eman Ghoneim et al
This is apparent with the pyramids along the Western Desert Plateau, where a majority of the pyramids are concentrated along a narrow desert strip several kilometres from the current primary channel of the Nile.
Using a combination of radar satellite imagery, geophysical data, and deep soil coring, the study has investigated the subsurface structure and sedimentology in the Nile Valley adjacent to the pyramid clusters.
This has revealed an extinct branch of the primary channel called the Ahramat Branch, which was connected to the pyramids of the Old and Middle Kingdoms via causeways and their Valley Temples.
According to the study authors: “The Ahramat Branch played a role in the monuments’ construction and was simultaneously active and used as a transportation waterway for workmen and building materials to the pyramids’ sites.”
The eastward migration and abandonment of the Ahramat Branch could be attributed to gradual movement of the river to the lower-lying adjacent floodplain or tilting of the Nile floodplain toward the northeast as a result of tectonic activity, as well as windblown sand incursion due to the branch’s proximity to the Western Desert Plateau.
Header Image Credit : Eman Ghoneim et al
Sources : Ghoneim, E., Ralph, T.J., Onstine, S. et al. The Egyptian pyramid chain was built along the now abandoned Ahramat Nile Branch. Commun Earth Environ 5, 233 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01379-7
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the National Institute of Cultural Heritage have uncovered a Roman villa with an indoor plunge pool during excavations at the port city of Durrës, Albania.
During antiquity, Durrës was founded by Ancient Greek colonists from Corinth and Corcyra.
The colony emerged into a major trading centre, which during the Roman period was annexed into the expanding territory of the Roman Republic following the conclusion of the Illyrian Wars.
By the 4th century, the city (named Dyrrachium), emerged as the capital of the Roman province of Epirus nova, covering the region of Ancient Epirus.
Image Credit : IKTK
Archaeologists excavating a former residential part of the ancient city have uncovered a high status Roman villa that dates from between the 1st and 4th century AD.
The villa interior contains an indoor pool, richly decorated with frescoes on the walls and mosaic flooring with tiles and inlays of marble, stone, glass and ceramics. Located adjacent to the pool are shallow square basins lined with waterproof mortar, believed to be the remains of an ancient water feature.
Within the northern area of the excavation site, archaeologists found a large brick floor from a thermae, a Roman bath, and further traces of walls from the wider complex.
In the western area, the team discovered fragments of relief stucco that was used to decorate the walls and ceilings of the villa. The reliefs depict anthropomorphic and floral motifs, further indicating the wealth of the villa inhabitants.
According to the archaeologists, the villa was destroyed by an earthquake in the 4th century, corresponding with ancient sources that describe a powerful earthquake causing buildings to collapse and the city defences to crumble.
Header Image Credit : IKTK
Sources : National Institute of Cultural Heritage
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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