Archaeology
Neolithic shell dragon discovered in Inner Mongolia
According to a news announcement by China’s Global Times, archaeologists have discovered a shell dragon made from mussels during excavations in the city of Chifeng, Inner Mongolia.
The discovery has been associated with the Hongshan Culture, a Neolithic people that emerged in the West Liao river basin and inhabited northeast China and Inner Mongolia from 4700 to 2900 BC. The culture is best known for its ornate jade pig dragons and embryo dragons, some of the earliest known examples of jade working.
Chinese archaeologists, including Guo Da-shun, regard the Hongshan culture as a significant phase in the early development of China. Regardless of the linguistic connections of the ancient inhabitants, the Hongshan culture is thought to have played a role in shaping the progression of early Chinese civilisation.
The 20 centimetre long shell dragon was discovered in the Caitaopo archaeological site, located in the Songshan district of Chifeng. The artefact was pieced together using several mussel shells that form its head, body and tail, predating the C-shaped jade dragons typical of the culture.
Archaeologists suggest that jade artefacts from the Hongshan Culture were intentionally deposited within sophisticated ritual edifices or ceremonial grounds. In contrast, the shell dragon serves as an indicator of the metaphysical beliefs held by inhabitants of less advanced low grade Hongshan Culture settlements.
Song Jinshan, President of the Inner Mongolia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told Global Times: “The discovery is an important find that fills a gap in archaeologists’ knowledge of the dragon symbol within the early Hongshan Culture.”
Excavations at the Caitaopo archaeological site also found objects and fragments of two pottery wares typical of the Hongshan Culture.
Header Image Credit : Inner Mongolia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
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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