Archaeology
Archaeologists make new discoveries frozen in glacial ice
“Secrets of the Ice” is a glacier archaeology program, dedicated to studying glacial ice patches which contain preserved artefacts and organic objects.
As part of the 2024 season, archaeologists are conducting surveys in Breheimen National Park, situated in Norway’s Innlandet and Vestland counties.
In a press statement shared on social media, the team announced the discovery of a complete scaring stick flag, along with another broken example, both of which have been preserved in the ice for approximately 1,500 years.
Ancient hunters used the flags by attaching them to scaring sticks, which were placed in lines to guide herds of reindeer for hunting.
Reindeer are highly sensitive animals and tend to avoid human-like silhouettes or moving objects, so the sticks would serve as a moving barrier and steer the reindeer to hunters lying in wait.
According to the researchers, the example from Breheimen National Park “has distinct parallel lines along its length, which are actually year rings from the radially split pine used to make it.”
This is the second significant find of 2024, following the discovery of a Viking-era arrowhead amid rubble and ice in the Jotunheimen Mountains. The arrowhead was uncovered during a preliminary survey of an ice site, which the researchers identified using aerial photographs, satellite imagery, and digital terrain models of the mountains and ice fields.
In previous years, the project has uncovered a variety of hunting-related objects, as well as domestic items such as a woven Viking mitten, a 3,400-year-old hide shoe, and complete tunics from the Iron Age.
Header Image Credit : Secrets Of The Ice
Sources : Secrets Of The Ice
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the APSARA National Authority have uncovered a guardian statue at the Banteay Prey Nokor temple complex in Kompong Cham, Cambodia.
Known locally as the temple of “Wat Nokor in Khum of Kompong Siem”, or “Wat Angkor”, Banteay Prey Nokor was constructed during the reign of Jayavarman VII (AD 1181–1218), the first king devoted to Buddhism in the Khmer Empire.
The complex covers an area of 37 acres and consists of a central tower surrounded by four laterite wall enclosures made from sandstone and laterite.
In addition to being the largest ancient temple complex in Kampong Cham Province, it has several distinguishing features. One of the most notable is its construction from black sandstone, which sets it apart from other temples of the period, typically built from brick or reddish sandstone.
Image Credit : Phouk Chea / Chea Sarith
Archaeologists from the Department of Preservation and Archaeology at the APSARA Authority recently excavated one of the gateways of Banteay Prey Nokor, clearing away layers of rubble from the collapsed upper structure.
Upon removing the rubble material, a guardian door statue was uncovered to the right of the eastern entrance to the gateway. The statue is broken into six pieces – breaking at the neck, the left forearm, the waist, and below the knees of both legs.
According to the researchers, the statue, which originally stood at a height of around 1.6 metres, is of the Bayon style, in reference to the Bayon state temple of Jayavarman VII at the centre of Jayavarman’s capital, Angkor Thom.
“The sandstone gate guardian will now be stored at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum,” Angkor Wat’s heritage police said in a statement. “It will be preserved and studied further.”
Header Image Credit : Phouk Chea / Chea Sarith
Sources : APSARA National Authority
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology (LDA) of Saxony-Anhalt have rediscovered the Mallerbach Chapel at the site of the Kaltenborn monastery.
Between 1524 to 1525, a large number of peasants, urban lower classes, and lesser nobles living in the German-speaking areas in Central Europe rebelled against a combination of economic, social, and religious factors. These include:
Economic hardship and inequality: Peasants faced heavy burdens from taxes, dues, and rents imposed by landlords, the church, and secular rulers.
Feudal oppression: Many peasants grew increasingly resentful of the limitations placed on their freedoms by feudal lords, including restrictions on hunting, fishing, and access to communal lands.
Religious influence: The Reformation inspired many peasants who saw in it a call for social and economic reform against a corrupt church.
Legal grievances: Peasants sought greater control over local governance and justice. They were frustrated by the arbitrary decisions made by their lords and demanded more influence over the laws and rules that governed their daily lives.
Image Credit : LDA
Following the outbreak of the Peasants’ War, insurgents from the nearby villages of Riestedt and Emseloh plundered the Kaltenborn monastery near Allstedt in the German district of Mansfeld-Südharz, leading to the monastery’s decline and eventual dissolution in 1538.
According to a press statement by the LDA: “It’s destruction – an act of rebellion against the Cistercian convent of Naundorf, which was in charge of the Chapel of St. Mary and to which the Allstedt residents were subject to taxes – can be seen as the first flare-up and harbinger of the coming uprising of the ‘common man’ against the authorities.”
Recent excavations at the monastery site have located the 12th/13th century Mallerbach chapel, a sacred place of worship for pilgrims who came to witness a weeping image of the Virgin Mary.
Archaeologists have uncovered the original floor plan of the chapel, which measures around 17 metres in length with a rectangular choir and semicircular apse. Excavations have also found the altar foundations, as well as traces of burning from the time of the German Peasants’ War.
Header Image Credit : LDA
Sources : State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology (LDA)
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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