Archaeology
Over 100,000 ancient coins found in hidden cache
Archaeologists have uncovered over 100,000 ancient coins during excavations in Maebashi City, Japan.
The discovery was made during construction works of a new factory in Sojamachi district, where a cache of over 100,000 coins was found in 1,060 bundles.
According to the researchers, an analysis of 334 coins in the cache shows a “remarkable diversity”, encompassing 44 distinct currency types.
The coins have origins that mainly span from China’s Western Han Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, with the most notable being Ban Liang coins. Ban Liang coins were introduced by the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, as China’s first unified currency around 210 BC, and continued to be used under the Western Han dynasty until they were replaced by the Wu Zhu cash coins in 118 BC.
The oldest of the Ban Liang coins has been dated to 175 BC and has a diameter of 2.3 centimetres, a 7-millimetre square hole in the centre, and is inscribed with “liang” (an old Chinese unit of weight) on the left and “ban” on the right.
The most recent coin in the cache dates from AD 1265 during the Southern Song Dynasty period. At this time, the Song Dynasty lost control over its northern territory to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty during the Jin–Song Wars, resulting in the Song court retreating south of the Yangtze River and founding a new capital in Lin’an (now known as Hangzhou).
According to an announcement by the Maebashi City Government, the coins were likely hidden for security during the Kamakura jidai, a period that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate in AD 1192.
The Kamakura jidai was a turbulent time that saw a series of conflicts against the Northern Fujiwara and invasions by the Mongols. This period is also known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan.
The coins are being displayed in the “Newly Excavated Cultural Artefacts Exhibition 2023” in Maebashi City’s Otemachi district.
Header Image Credit : Maebashi City Government
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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