Archaeology
Archaeologists find remains of a medieval tower in Lublin’s Old Town
Archaeologists conducting excavations in Lublin’s Old Town have found the remains of a medieval tower which is apparent in works by Braun and Hogenberg, known as the “Theatrum praecipuarum totius mundi urbiurti”.
Evidence of the tower was identified on a fragment of the town’s defensive wall at the tenement house at ul. Jezuicka, located in Lublin’s Old Town, Poland. The tower has four sides and appears in the panorama of Lublin by Braun and Hogenberg, which was published in Cologne in 1618.
The panorama shows the tower near the Dung gate, close to the presbytery of the Jesuit monastery church, which today is the Lublin archcathedral of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, consecrated in 1604.
Dariusz Kopciowski, the Lublin voivodeship conservator of monuments, said: “This tower was most likely mentioned in the privilege of Stefan Batory granted to the Jesuits in 1585. This privilege allowed the construction of a Jesuit complex outside the city walls from the south, along with permission to use several defensive works existing in this section – including the Jesuit Gate, the semi-circular tower, and the quadrilateral tower in question.”
Image Credit : Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments
Construction of the town’s fortifications were commissioned by Casimir III the Great (King of Poland from 1333 to 1370), who built a large stone castle in 1341 and encircled the city with defensive walls. However, by the 16th to 17th century, the city walls were mainly obsolete and most were demolished by the 19th century as the city expanded.
“Parallel to the archaeological works, architectural and conservation research is being carried out, during which further remains of the tower and the Lublin fortification system will be located,” added Kopciowski.
Header Image – Braun and Hogenberg’s “Theatrum praecipuarum totius mundi urbiurti”
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
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