Archaeology
Painted tomb discovered at Pontecagnano necropolis
Archaeologists have discovered a painted tomb depicting Italic warriors during excavations at the Pontecagnano necropolis.
The Pontecagnano necropolis is located adjacent to an ancient Villanovan settlement (early Etruscan), which emerged east of the present-day city of Salerno, Italy.
Previous excavations of the necropolis have yielded over 9,000 tombs and burials, dating from 3,000 BC during the Bronze Age, to the 3rd century AD in the Roman era.
In a press announcement by the Superintendence of Archaeology, fine arts, and landscape for the provinces of Salerno and Avellino, a team of archaeologists have excavated a painted tomb from the 4th century BC, following the initial discovery during construction works.
The tomb, designed number 10043, is lined with travertine blocks of stone and contains various imagery depicting scenes of Italic warriors. One of the warriors is shown riding a horse armed with a spear, while another warrior is cloaked and carrying what appears to be a club. The side walls are decorated with ornamental festoons and imagery of pomegranates.
The tomb belonged to a high-status individual, who was buried with a gold leaf crown, of which only several fragments have been persevered. The tomb was likely constructed during the Etruscan expansion into the Salerno region and southern Italy, which would later be annexed by Greek colonists.
According to the archaeologists, the discovery is a rarely in the wider necropolis, as only a handful of painted tombs from this period having previously been discovered.
Superintendence of Archaeology, fine arts, and landscape for the provinces of Salerno and Avellino
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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