Archaeology
Excavations uncover gothic cemetery filled with ornate jewellery
Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old gothic cemetery during excavations in the Wda Landscape Park (Wdecki Park Krajobrazowy), located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland.
According to a press announcement by park authorities, the cemetery was first identified by Olaf Popkiewicz, an archaeologists and content creator who runs a YouTube Channel with over 65,000 followers.
Popkiewicz found traces of the site during a preliminary study near the village of Stara Rzeka, leading to a full scale survey over an area of 250 square metres in the Wda Landscape Park. Archaeologists found 50 ancient burials that date from the 4th century AD, a period when the region was inhabited by the Goths.
Image Credit : Olaf Popkiewicz/Facebook
The Goths were a Germanic ethnic group that significantly contributed to the decline of the Western Roman Empire and the dawn of medieval Europe. In the Gothic language, the Goths were called the *Gut-þiuda (‘Gothic people’) or *Gutans (‘Goths’). A people called the Gutones, possibly early Goths associated with the Wielbark culture, are documented living near the lower Vistula River in Poland during the 1st century AD.
Excavations have uncovered numerous high status grave goods, including two silver necklaces, two silver fibulae, a necklace made from silver beads, jewellery with a snake motif, and a perfectly preserved urn.
Image Credit : Olaf Popkiewicz/Facebook
According to the announcement: “This constitutes only a small fragment of the site area which we estimate to be over 2.4 acres. Unfortunately, the conditions of a large part of the cemetery means that urgent excavations are needed to help save and preserve the site.”
Previous studies in the area have found a Gothic settlement near the village of Osie, with a well-preserved spacial arrangement of objects that date from the 4th century AD.
Header Image Credit : Wda Landscape Park
Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology are excavating the crash site of a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress in an English woodland.
The B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).
The bomber was mainly used in the European theatre for daylight strategic bombing, complimenting the RAF Bomber Command’s night bombers in attacking German industrial, military and civilian targets.
Cotswold Archaeology have been tasked by the Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency to search the crash site for the remains of the pilot, who died when the B-17 crashed following a system failure in 1944.
Image Credit : Cotswold Archaeology
At the time, the plane was carrying a payload of 12,000lbs of Torpex, an explosive comprised of 42% RDX, 40% TNT, and 18% powdered aluminium. Torpex was mainly used for the Upkeep, Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs, as well as underwater munitions.
The pilot was declared MIA when the plane exploded into an inferno, however, using modern archaeological techniques, the researchers plan to systematically excavate and sieve the waterlogged crash site to recover plane ID numbers, personal effects, and any surviving human remains.
It is the hope of the excavation team members that they will be able to recover the pilot’s remains and return him to the United States for burial with full military honours.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense whose mission is to recover unaccounted Department of Defense personnel listed as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) from designated past conflicts.
Header Image Credit : Cotswold Archaeology
Sources : Cotswold Archaeology
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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
-
Ghosts2 years agoZozo: The Ouija Board Demon
-
Space2 years agoScientists claim to have found the answer what existed before the Universe
-
Ghosts2 years agoOld Coot of Mount Greylock
-
Archaeology1 year ago
New discoveries at Ekʼ Balam during conservation works
-
General3 years agoUC San Francisco engaging in horrifying experiments, organ harvesting of live babies in the name of “science”