Archaeology
Tools for bleeding cows uncovered in 7,000-year-old cemetery
Archaeologists from the Polish Academy of Sciences have uncovered bone tools used for bleeding cows during excavations in the Letti Basin in northern Sudan.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, who were researching early communities that dealt with cattle breeding in the Middle Nile Valley to determine whether domestication of cattle occurred independently or were imported from the Middle East.
Excavations of a cemetery in the Letti Basin revealed 7,000-year-old burials, with one burial pit containing the remains of an elderly man with fragments of animal skin that were coloured with a red mineral dye – ochre. Ochre is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand, which has been used as a colouring agent in Africa for over 200,000 years.
The burial pit also contained a small bowl with traces of ochre and 5 bone blades most likely made from cattle bones. A closer examination of the bone blades showed that they had a funnel or gutter form and were still very sharp.
Dr. Piotr Osypiński, said: “Given the characteristic shape of the blades, they could have been used to bleed cows, similar to modern African shepherds, such as the Maasai. Without any harm to the animals, cows’ blood is drunk on special occasions, usually mixed with milk. It would be the oldest known record of this type of practice”.
In another burial, archaeologists discovered a small oval cavity containing the remains of a young man also buried with animal skin that is coloured with red ochre. The skeleton was placed in the fetal position, however, an anthropological study of the man’s skull revealed a precisely cut round hole measuring 5 cm’s in diameter.
“The man showed no signs of advanced healing, so it is likely that this procedure may have been related to his death. It is hard to imagine how 7,000 years ago, people undertook dangerous and complicated surgical procedures using primitive tools,” added Osypiński.
“The Neolithic pastoral communities of sub-Saharan Africa are extremely important to the history of this continent. They were at the genesis of the formation of ancient civilisations – including the Ancient Egyptians. Due to their mobile lifestyle and the thousands of years that separate us from them, we still know very little about them” – explained Dr. Osypiński.
Header Image Credit : M.Osypinska
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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