Archaeology
Submerged evidence of rice cultivation and slavery found in North Carolina
Researchers from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) are using side-scan sonar and positioning systems to find evidence of rice cultivation and slavery beneath the depths of North Carolina’s lower Cape Fear and Brunswick rivers.
The region was an agricultural centre worked by enslaved West Africans, whose isolation resulted in a distinct language, religion, and lifestyle traits that emerged to create the Gullah Geechee culture.
“While the rice was the cash crop of the coastal Southeast, along with Sea Island cotton and indigo, Gullah Geechee ancestors provided both the brain trust and physical labour needed to change the landscapes into spaces that created commercial yields of the crop,” said Sean Palmer, director of UNCW’s Upperman African American Cultural Centre and a board member of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission.
“The children of West Africa, who came to be known as Gullah Geechee, were agricultural engineers who, like the rice, were harvested for their vast knowledge,” added Palmer.
The UNCW team conducted a study of the riverbanks along the northern end of Eagles Island, a 2,100-acre expanse located in Brunswick and New Hanover counties.
The study found a network of floodgates, bulkheads, landings, and complex canal systems, in addition to large areas of canals used to irrigate the rice fields.
“We’re able to see things like structures, features, different kinds of sediment types; we can identify sand and mud. We can also get accurate GPS positions to know exactly where artefacts are and what they look like,” said Mark Wilde-Ramsing, underwater archaeologist and former director of the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology.
The archaeologists plan to share their findings with Eagles Island preservation groups in their effort to conserve and manage the natural and cultural assets of Eagles Island, as well as with the Town of Navassa, a community within the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.
Header Image Credit : University of North Carolina Wilmington
Sources : University of North Carolina Wilmington – Excavating Evidence of Early Agricultural Engineering
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
The Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Caserta and Benevento have announced the discovery of a vast Iron Age necropolis in Amorosi, located in the Italian province of Benevento.
The necropolis was found in the Valle Telesina in the vicinity of the Volturno River during works for a new power plant being constructed by the Terna Group.
Excavations over an area of 13,000 square metres have identified 88 burials belonging to the “Pit Tomb Culture”, an Iron Age people that inhabited Campania before the emergence of the Italic Samnites.
The burials date from the 8th to the mid-7th century BC, and are a mix of male and female burials containing associated grave goods and funerary offerings. Ceramics of various shapes were placed as offerings at the feat of the deceased.
Image Credit : Superintendency of Archaeology
The male burials mainly contain weaponry, while the female burials have ornamental objects such as fibulae, bracelets, pendants, worked bone and amber.
According to the archaeologists, the burials are the interred remains of high status individuals, evidenced by the “objects of extraordinary prestige” that includes finely decorated bronze belts or bronze-rolled vessels.
The most significant discoveries are two monumental mound burials indicated by the presence of substantial stone circles measuring approximately 15 metres in diameter. The archaeologists theorise that the mound burials belonged to the elite members of the culture, possibly the ruling chieftain.
Samples of soil taken during the excavations were sent for an archaeobotanical analysis to provide data on the environment and flora, in addition to an anthropological analysis of the bone remains.
Header Image Credit : Superintendency of Archaeology
Sources : Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Caserta and Benevento
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the Ministry of Culture (Peruvian State) have uncovered ceramic vessels from the Chancay culture in the Chancay district of Lima, Peru.
The discovery was made following reports by locals of illegal excavations, an endemic problem in the region known as “Huaqueo” involving the exploitation of archaeological sites for artefacts to be sold on the black market.
Around 20,000 archaeological pieces are illegally extracted and trafficked out of Peru annually, which poses a constant danger to the preservation of the country’s cultural heritage.
Following a joint inspection by officials of the Municipality of Chancay and the Ministry of Culture, archaeologists have recovered ten pre-Hispanic ceramic vessels belonging to the Chancay culture at the Lauri Archaeological Site.
The Chancay culture emerged after the fall of the Wari civilisation around AD 1,000 on the central coast of Peru. Parts of the southern Chancay area were conquered by the Chimú in the early 1400s, and by around AD 1450 the Inca had dominated the entire Chimú territory.
Among the recovered vessels are ceramic jugs, pots and plates, which the Chimú manufactured using moulds.
The vessels are decorated with the “black on white” style, a technique commonly associated with the Chimú that involved painting a white background on a rough matt surface, followed by a dark colour for the decorative elements.
According to the Peruvian State: “The initial evaluation of the vessels confirmed that they are noticeably deteriorated, and in some cases fragmented due to their exposure to adverse environmental conditions or their violent manipulation. Subsequently, the pieces were transferred to the institutional headquarters for their preservation.”
Header Image Credit : Ministry of Culture
Sources : Peruvian State
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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