Archaeology
Legionary fortress of the Legio VI Ferrata found in Israel
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have announced the discovery of a military fortress garrisoned by the Legio VI Ferrata (“Sixth Ironclad Legion”), also known as the Fidelis Constans, meaning “loyal and steadfast”.
The Legio VI Ferrata was first raised by Julius Caesar during his campaign in Gaul, and would go on to accompany Caesar when he travelled to Alexandria to settle the dispute between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII.
Excavations at the foot of Tel Megiddo have revealed a 1,800-year-old fortress consisting of the Via Pretoria (main central road within a camp or fortress) and part of a monumental building with a semicircular-shaped podium and stone-paved areas.
Dr. Yotam from the IAA, said: “Two main roads intersected at the centre of the 550 m long and 350 m wide camp. It was from this base point that all the distances along the Roman Imperial roads to the main cities in the north of the country were measured and marked with milestones.”
According to the archaeologists, the fortress was the permanent military base for the the Legio VI Ferrata, housing over 5,000 Roman soldiers who were garrisoned from AD 117 to 300.
Image Credit: IAA
Roman military encampments are widely documented in Israel, however, they primarily consist of temporary siege camps or smaller encampments associated with auxiliary divisions. However, according to Dr. Tepper from the IAA, the discovery at Tel Megiddo is a complex legionary fortress, one of the first examples of its kind used for permanent occupation.
Excavations also uncovered a variety of artefacts, both military and domestic, including: coins, weapon fragments, pottery shards, glass fragments, and a large quantity of roof tiles.
“The roof tiles, some of which were stamped with the Legio VI Ferrata stamps, were used for roofing buildings, paving floors, and coating walls. The technology and building techniques, and the weapons that the Legion brought with them reflect the specific Roman Imperial military footprints,” added Dr Tepper.
Header Image Credit: IAA
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the University of Warwick are conducting an underwater study to document the submerged Mesolithic site of Bouldnor Cliff before it vanishes due to erosion.
Bouldnor Cliff is situated in the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the southern coast of England. The site was first discovered in 1999 when divers observed a lobster discarding worked flint tools from its burrow on the seabed.
At a time when Britain was cut off from mainland Europe by rising sea levels, the area of the Solent was a river valley inhabited by an advanced Mesolithic community who developed a boat building technology 2,000 years ahead of their time.
The study aims to find new data on the nature of the late Ice Age environment during the development of the Mesolithic era, and the extent of the interaction between the inhabitants of Bouldnor Cliff and Europe, including the exchange of materials.
Professor Robin Allaby, who is leading the expedition, said: “This is an incredible opportunity to understand the lost world in which the Mesolithic developed using the latest techniques before our chance is gone.”
The study will involve a comprehensive palaeoenvironmental analysis, in addition to state-of-the-art techniques such as optical simulated luminescence for constructing ecological profiles. Furthermore, archaeologists intend to recover archaeological artefacts and environmental markers to reconstruct the past environment.
Dr Kinnaird adds: “This is an exciting research project to showcase the new innovations in luminescence dating, which can tell when an object was last exposed to the Sun. The relevance of this technique in writing the narratives for 4000 years of history, at the time that the British coastline was rapidly changing, is huge!”
According to the researchers, these discoveries carry the potential to significantly transform our comprehension of the era when Britain emerged as an island.
Header Image Credit : University of Warwick
Sources : University of Warwick
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
A study of the “Excalibur” sword found in Valencia has been revealed to have Islamic origins sometime during the 10th century AD.
Valencia is one of the oldest cities in Spain, founded under the name of Valentia Edetanorum by the Romans in 138 BC.
The city was conquered by the Moors in the 8th century AD, and was destroyed by Abd al-Rahman I of the Umayyad dynasty. Under Caliphate rule, the wider city area became known as Madînat al-Turâb (meaning “city of earth” or “sand”).
The sword was discovered back in 1994 in a house on Valencia’s Historiador Chabàs Street, where it was found standing upright in a grave beneath an Islamic era house.
Dubbed “Excalibur” due to the circumstances of its discovery, the sword is made from iron and has a hilt decorated with bronze plates. In mythology, Excalibur was the legendary sword of King Arthur and appears in various medieval poems describing Arthur pulling the sword from a stone.
However, the “Excalibur” from Valencia was found in a sedimentary strata from the 10th century AD and was likely the weapon of a cavalryman from the Andalusian Caliphate Era.
According to the archaeologists, the sword measures 46 centimetres in length and has a slightly curved blade towards the tip. Swords from this period are rarely found well-preserved due to the levels of oxygen and water in the soil that causes oxidation of the iron.
“It is the first Islamic sword that appears in the city of Valencia, with only one similar example being found during the excavations of Medina Azahara, the caliphal city of Abd al-Rahman III, in Córdoba,” said the Valencia City Council.
Header Image Credit : The Archaeology Service (SIAM) of the Valencia City Council
Sources : Valencia City Council
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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