Archaeology
Archaeologists find network of hidden megastructures using satellite imagery
Archaeologists have found a network of codependent communities in Central Europe – the largest prehistoric constructions seen prior to the Iron Age.
A study analysing satellite imagery and aerial photography was conducted by researchers from University College Dublin, working with colleagues from Serbia and Slovenia. The team found over 100 previously unknown sites belonging to a complex society in the landscape of Central Europe’s south Carpathian Basin.
Assoc Professor Molloy, said “We tested the findings from satellite images on the ground using survey, excavation, and geophysical prospection. The vast majority of sites were established between 1600 and 1450 B,C and virtually all of them came crashing down around 1200 BC, being abandoned en masse.”
The use of defensible enclosures by early societies served as a forerunner and probable influence for the renowned hillforts of Europe, which were constructed to safeguard communities during the latter stages of the Bronze Age.
Map of TSG sites:
Some of the larger sites were already known, such as Gradište Iđoš, Csanádpalota, Sântana, and Corneşti Iarcuri, however, the analysis indicates that these mega-forts were part of a network of closely related and codependent communities that may have numbered into the tens of thousands.
In a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE, over 100 sites identified in the hinterlands of the Tisza river lead to these communities, which have been collectively called the Tisza Site Group (TSG). A majority of these TSG sites are within 5km’s of each other, suggesting that the network was a cooperative community.
According to the paper, the TSG played a significant role as a centre of innovation in prehistoric Europe, serving as a central network hub during the peak periods of the Mycenaeans, Hittites, and New Kingdom Egypt around 1500-1200 BC.
This revelation offers new insights on the interconnections within Europe during the pivotal 2nd millennium BC, often regarded as a significant turning point in European prehistory. However, during the TSG decline in 1200 BC, the sophisticated military techniques and earthwork technologies of this society disseminated throughout Europe, evidenced in the spread of their material culture and iconography.
Assoc Professor Molloy, said: “Our understanding of how their society worked challenges many aspects of European prehistory. We are able to do more than identify the location of a few sites using satellite imagery, and have been able to define an entire settled landscape, complete with maps of the size and layout of sites, even down to the locations of people’s homes within them. This really gives an unprecedented view of how these Bronze Age people lived with each other and their many neighbours.”
Header Image Credit : Goethe University
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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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