Archaeology
Decorated stela found in the 3,000-year-old funerary complex of Las Capellanías,
Archaeologists have uncovered a decorated stela in the complex of Las Capellanías, located in Cañaveral de León, Spain.
Las Capellanías is a large 3,000-year-old necropolis containing funerary monuments, ancient burial mounds, stone cists, and cremation pits.
Excavations of the site are part of the Maritime Encounters project run by the University of Gothenburg, also involving archaeologists from Durham University, the University of Seville, and the University of Southampton.
In a press release issued by Durham University, the researchers have discovered a decorated stela, the third stela found at the site and the second one still in context.
According to the researchers, the stela was likely placed as a territorial marker for funerary monuments within one of the most important natural pathways linking two main river basins. During late prehistory, these pathways were key communication ‘highways’ between the middle Guadiana and the lower Guadalquivir basins.
This also indicates that stelae-making could have been an activity invested with special meaning, carried out as part of funerary rituals in Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Iberia.
The fact that three stelae have been found at Las Capellanías funerary complex indicates that previous finds of other grouped stelae – e.g. those stelae found in Hernán Pérez in northern Cáceres, central-west Spain, now part of the collections of the National Archaeology Museum in Madrid – could have corresponded also to stelae that were originally set in funerary complexes.
The recently discovered stela in Cañaveral de León exhibits distinctive features, including what appears to be a necklace or a headdress. These characteristics are commonly associated with stelae categorised as ‘headdress’ or ‘diademated’ stelae, often interpreted as representing females.
Conversely, attributes typically encountered on stelae known as ‘warrior’ stelae, such as depictions of swords, are typically linked to male representations. This categorisation of standardised iconography, which may be related to specific societal roles, has been primarily derived from a limited number of stelae displaying sexual characteristics.
According to the study: “The stela 3 of Cañaveral de León changes all this.”
“It combines traits of ‘headdress’ and ‘warrior’ types, showing that the social roles depicted by these standardised iconographies were more fluid than previously thought. Furthermore, as the new stela also includes male genitalia, it demonstrates that these social roles were not restricted to a specific gender, but could be associated with different genders,” said the study authors.
Header Image Credit : University of Durham
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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