Archaeology
Stone glyph with spiral representation found beneath Mexican church
Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have uncovered a stone glyph with a spiral representation in the church of the Lateran Parish of San Pedro Apostol.
The church is located in the city of Zacapoaxtla in the Mexican state of Puebla, where experts from the INAH Puebla Centre were supervising floor levelling works in the church nave.
Very little archaeological evidence survives to build the historical founding of Zacapoaxtla, however, one reference records that in AD 1270, an eruption of the Apaxtepec volcano buried the town of Xaltetelli, possibly giving rise to Zacapoaloyan, now known as Zacapoaxtla.
The glyph dates from before the Spanish conquest when the region was inhabited by the Totonac and Nahua cultures, and may have been part of the façade of a pyramid platform with a symbolic association to water. Spirals have been used by many cultures across Mexico, most notably by the Aztecs, which used spirals to mimic natural forms such as water.
The discovery was made in the foundations of an early Christian hermitage and appears to have been symbolically placed under the hermitage’s altar.
The hermitage is likely the same recorded by contemporary chroniclers, whom describe how Jacinto Portillo, a Spanish conquistador, built the first hermitage at Zacapoaxtla in the 16th century, and would later become a missionary of the Order of Friars Minor of St. Francis, known as Fra Cintos.
Project supervisor, Alberto Diez Barroso, said: “the glyph contains the representation of a spiral and measures 40 centimetres tall by 16 centimetres wide, and still has the preserved stucco coating.”
Given the importance of the hermitage and stone glyph, the director of the INAH Puebla Centre, Manuel Villarruel Vázquez, is currently in discussions with the church parish with the aim of preserving the discovery and installing a viewing window for the public.
Header Image Credit : INAH
Archaeologists excavating at the ancient Tharsa necropolis have uncovered a Roman Era tomb guarded by two carved bull heads.
Tharsa is located near Kuyulu village in southeastern Turkey along the Adıyaman-Şanlıurfa Highway.
The site was situated on a major Roman highway from Doliche to Samosata, which today consists of a two settlement mounds and a large necropolis that dates from the 3rd century to the Byzantine period.
Excavations first commenced in 2021 which discovered a collection of Turuş Rock Tombs, a type of tomb construction carved directly into the bedrock.
In the latest season, archaeologists have excavated another Turuş Rock Tomb, however, this example was found to have two carved bull heads which is decorated with garlands and rosettes between the horns.
Bull heads, known as Bucranium, were a form of carved decoration commonly used in Classical architecture. In Ancient Rome, bucrania were often used on the friezes of temples in the Doric order of architecture, later influencing the architecture of buildings from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical periods.
Architectural examples of bucrania are representations of the practice of displaying garlanded, sacrificial oxen, whose heads were displayed on the temple walls.
Like similar Turuş Rock Tombs, the bull heads are carved directly into the bedrock, guarding a dozen rock cut steps descending into the burial chamber which has three arched niches known as acrosolia.
Mustafa Çelik, Deputy Director of Adıyaman Museum, said, “Tharsa Ancient City consists of 3 main archaeological areas: Big Mound, Small Mound and Necropolis Area. We started excavations in the necropolis area in 2024. We added 2 more rock tombs to the rock tombs we had previously uncovered. One of them is the rock tomb we identified today.”
Header Image Credit : Adıyaman Museum
Sources : Adıyaman Museum
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists excavating at Colonial Williamsburg have discovered a barracks for soldiers of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence.
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum that forms part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia.
Williamsburg was the capital of the Virginia colony from 1699 until 1779, founded by English settlers during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622–1632).
Tensions with England mounted over fundamental civil and economic rights for the colonists, resulting in the American Revolution and the American War of Independence.
Image Credit : Colonial Williamsburg
Archaeologists excavating next to the museum’s visitor’s centre uncovered foundations of a barracks that could accommodate up to 2,000 soldiers from the Continental Army and up to 100 horses.
“We have horseshoes,” said Jack Gary, Colonial Williamsburg executive director of archaeology. “We also have this object here which is a snaffle bit, so it’s part of a horse bit that goes in the mouth to control the horse. And this object here is part of a curry comb for brushing down the horse’s coat.”
Excavations have so far unearthed only a small part of the complex, but experts suggest that it covered roughly three to four acres.
The barracks were known from Eighteenth-century maps and other historical documents, but until now, the exact location of where it existed within the colony interior was unknown.
According to the historical sources, the barracks were built between 1776 and 1777, and were later destroyed by fire in 1781 by soldiers of the British Army under the command of General Cornwallis.
Excavations also uncovered mid-1700 chimney bases, ceramics, gun flint, coins, musket balls, military buckles, and items of decorative jewellery worn by high-ranking officers as cufflinks.
An interesting discovery are examples of lead shot with indications of tooth-marks, suggesting that the soldiers chewed on the lead shot because it tasted sweet.
Header Image Credit : Colonial Williamsburg
Sources : Colonial Williamsburg
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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