Archaeology
Archaeologists find burial bundles with carved masks
A team of archaeologists from the PUCP Archaeology Program “Valley of Pachacámac” have uncovered over 70 intact burial bundles with carved masks.
The discovery was made at Pachacámac, an archaeological site in the Valley of the Lurín River, located southeast of Lima, Peru. Pachacámac (named after Pacha Kamaq – the “Earth Maker” creator god) was first settled around AD 200 by the Wari, a Middle Horizon civilisation.
Pachacámac mainly consists of pyramids, plazas, cemeteries, and a series of ramps, centred on a sacred zone containing the Painted Temple, the Temple of the Sun, and the Old Temple of Pachacamac.
Recent excavation results announced on the Archeowieści blog, which is managed by the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, have uncovered over 70 intact burial bundles dating from the second half of the Middle Horizon (AD 800–1100).
Image Credit : PUCP Archaeology Program “Valley of Pachacámac” – CC BY-SA 4.0
The burial bundles were found either deposited individually or in group clusters at the foot of the Painted Temple, some of which are wearing “false head” masks made of carved wood and ceramics, a common burial practice of the Wari culture.
Professor Makowski, said: “In the pre-Hispanic Andes, no-one died; everyone was predestined to continue living in the parallel world of their ancestors.”
Excavations also discovered wooden staffs with images of Wari elite wearing Tiwanaku-type headgear. They were located in a votive deposit covered with a layer of oyster shell fragments imported from Ecuador.
The Wari worshipped the Staff god, the chief creator god, which is often found in both portable and fixed art using different media such as stone, textile, and ceramics. Some scholars believe that some variations of the Staff God are possible depictions of Viracocha or Thunupa, and are the forerunner of the Inca principal gods – the Sun, Moon, and Thunder.
Header Image Credit : PUCP Archaeology Program “Valley of Pachacámac” – CC BY-SA 4.0
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology have uncovered a well-preserved Bronze Age wooden well in Oxfordshire, England.
The discovery was made during construction works for the Benson Relief Road in compliance with planning conditions to ensure archaeological finds are recorded.
John Boothroyd, Senior Project Manager at Oxford Archaeology, said: “When investigating what appeared to be a standard pit for the site, the archaeological team started exposing the remains of a preserved wooden post driven vertically into the ground.”
Excavations revealed that the posts formed the uprights of a wattle structure lining the edge of the pit, which have been well-preserved due to the soil conditions being waterlogged.
The timber structure was digitally recorded, before being carefully dismantled by hand for removal to the Oxfordshire Museum Service.
Samples of the preserved wood have been sent for further analysis to indicate the type of wood used in the construction. Excavations also found pieces of struck flint, animal bone and pottery used for storage and waste.
Previous studies of the area around Benson and as far as Wallingford have revealed traces of Bronze Age activity and settlement.
“Despite the extremely challenging conditions, the team were able to expose and fully record the well. The specialist soil samples collected will also help establish what the surrounding landscape would have been like, and the intensity to which it was settled, when the well was actively being used.”
Councillor Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Development Strategy, said: “This find gives fantastic insight into the area’s past land use. It is thought the well may have been used for agricultural irrigation purposes for settlements nearby. Archaeological surveys like this are an important part of the process of delivering construction schemes. They help us identify and understand past residents of the area and record them for future generations.”
Header Image Credit : Oxford Archaeology
Sources : Oxfordshire County Council
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
A restoration project to remove invasive plants from dunes in the Heist Willemspark, Belgium, has led to the discovery of three intact WWII bunkers.
Heist Willemspark is located in the Knokke-Heist municipality, situated on the coastline of Belgium near the border with the Netherlands.
During WWI, the area of the park was used as a German position for heavy artillery batteries known as “Freya” and “Augusta”, and a series of forward observation bunkers for ranging shipping in the English Channel.
A number of these structures were repurposed by the German army in WWII, and further fortified as part of the Atlantic Wall, a system of coastal defences built between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe. The area of the Atlantic Wall at Heist Willemspark was designated by the German army as Stützpunkt Heyst.
Image Credit : Municipality of Knokke-Heist
According to a press statement by the Municipality of Knokke-Heist, the bunkers were discovered by the Agency for Nature and Forests during a restoration project called LIFE DUNIAS.
Excavations at a depth of only a few feet revealed three Gruppenunterstand Type VF2a bunkers. The VF2a is intended for housing a Gruppe (the smallest German unit consisting of 10 soldiers) who operated forward radar positions. The bunkers at Heist Willemspark measure 6 by 7 metres externally, and are capped by a concrete reinforced roof measuring 1 metre thick.
The project also found traces of brick trenches, a fragment of a concrete track, and large amounts of rubble containing objects such as utensils, ammunition, cabling, and water pipes.
A representative of LIFE DUNIAS said: “These ruins illustrate the previous attempts to completely erase the park’s war history. The lighter structures were demolished and reduced to rubble, while heavier bunkers were covered with a layer of soil and hidden, as if they had never existed.”
Header Image Credit : Municipality of Knokke-Heist
Sources : Municipality of Knokke-Heist
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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