Archaeology
Spoken legend of temple on the Cerro de San Miguel confirmed
Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have confirmed a local legend of a temple on the Cerro de San Miguel in the Mexican city of Atlixco.
Generations of people have spoken of a pre-Hispanic temple on the hill’s summit, which for the first time has been explored by researchers from INAH as part of a project by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico.
Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area of present-day Atlixco was first inhabited by the Teo-chichimecas, and later the Xicalanca, before being subjugated by the expanding Aztec Empire.
Ethnohistoric sources refer to a settlement named Cuauhquechollan, which was occupied continuously from the Early Preclassic period to the middle of the Late Postclassic, later relocated 20 km to the southwest in present-day Huaquechula.
Towering above the region is the Cerro de San Miguel, pyramidal shaped hill of volcanic origin, which today sits the Saint Michael the Archangel Chapel on the summit. During a series of works to improve walkways and viewpoints on the hill, archaeologists conducted surveys and an archaeological investigation of the church’s atrium.
The initial study uncovered thick layers of construction fills made with earth and stones, which were used to level the rocky summit and create a platform. Within the construction fill the researchers found fragments of clay vessels, stone tools, and artefacts which date from the Late Preclassic to Early Postclassic period.
To find evidence of subsurface structures, the team excavated to a depth of 25 centimetres beneath the current level of the atrium, revealing the remains of a lime and sand floor delimited by a wall. Further excavations at a depth of 90 centimetres found a second floor, confirming that a structure was built on the hill summit during two phases.
According to the researchers, the discovery is likely a teocalli, a temple usually built on the summit of a truncated pyramid, confirming the oral tradition spoken by generations of people since the Spanish conquest.
Header Image Credit : Shutterstock
A Polish-Peruvian team of archaeologists have uncovered 22 mummified burials in Barranca, Peru.
The discovery was made on the Cerro Colorado hill, where the researchers unearthed the burials in one of four mounds located in a cluster.
Bioarchaeologist, Łukasz Majchrzak, said: “The bodies are wrapped in fabrics and plant material known as burial bundles. Between the layers of the fabrics we found ceramics, tools, and cult objects placed as funerary offerings.”
The team also found corn cobs and unidentified plant materials, which were likely placed as food for the deceased on their journey to the afterlife.
Six of the burial bundles contain the remains of adults placed in the fetal position, with their upper and lower limbs tucked under their chests.
According to the researchers, the adult burials are arranged vertically, which makes them appear as if they were sitting. They all have a similar external appearance, wrapped in thick fabric and entwined with rope.
One of the adult bundles is decorated with geometric patterns, while the remaining bundles – as Majchrzak suggests – may contain representations of animals and deities.
The other 16 burial bundles mostly contain the remains of children no older than 2 years old who were placed in a horizontal position.
The team plan to use computed tomography to examine completely preserved burial bundles that have no visible damage to allow for a non-invasive anthropological analysis. In further stages, they plan to carry out a chemical and isotope analysis, including the strontium isotope, which will determine whether the burials are from a local population.
Header Image Credit : R. Dziubińska
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
An international team, led by archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin has uncovered an ancient prehistoric fortress in a remote region of Siberia known as Amnya.
According to a study, published in the scientific journal “Antiquity”, the fortress is a complex system of defensive structures around an ancient settlement, dating from 8,000 years ago.
The fortress is spread across two settlement clusters, Amnya I and Amnya II. Amnya I consists of extant surface features such as banks and ditches, which enclose the tip of a promontory, and 10 house pit depressions. Ten further house pits, located approximately 50m to the east, comprise the open settlement of Amnya II.
Excavations have uncovered approximately 45 pottery vessels within the wider complex, including pointed and flat-based forms that reflect two distinct typological traditions.
The Amnya settlement complex signifies the start of a distinctive, enduring trend of defensive sites among hunter-gatherers in northern Eurasia—an almost continuous tradition that persisted for nearly eight millennia until the Early Modern period.
Tanja Schreiber, archaeologist at the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology in Berlin and co-author of the study, explains, “Through detailed archaeological examinations at Amnya, we collected samples for radiocarbon dating, confirming the prehistoric age of the site and establishing it as the world’s oldest-known fort.
“Our new palaeobotanical and stratigraphical examinations reveal that inhabitants of Western Siberia led a sophisticated lifestyle based on the abundant resources of the taiga environment,” added Schrieber.
The construction of fortifications by foraging groups has been observed in different parts of the world, primarily in coastal regions during later prehistoric periods. However, the early in inland western Siberia is unparalleled.
According to the researchers, the discovery transforms how we perceive ancient human communities, questioning the notion that the establishment of permanent settlements with grand architecture and intricate social systems began solely with the rise of agriculture.
Header Image Credit: Nikita Golovanov
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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