Archaeology
Rock art reveals complex relationship with Amazonian animals
A study of rock art in the Colombian Amazon is providing new insights into the complex relationship between the region’s first settlers and the animals they encountered.
The study, published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, analysed rock art images in the Cerro Azul, a series of rocky outcrops and galleries that served as a canvas for painting rock art over thousands of years.
“These rock art sites include the earliest evidence of humans in western Amazonia, dating back 12,500 years ago,” says Dr Mark Robinson, Associate Professor of Archaeology in Exeter’s Department of Archaeology and History. “As such, the art is an amazing insight into how these first settlers understood their place in the world and how they formed relationships with animals.”
As part of the study, the researchers also studied zooarchaeological remains from nearby excavations, indicating that the early settlers had a varied diet of fish, mammals, and reptiles.
However, the proportions of animal bones do not align with the frequency of the animals depicted in the art, implying that the ancient artists did not depict the animals they frequently ate.
“The context demonstrates the complexity of Amazonian relationships with animals, both as a food source but also as revered beings, which had supernatural connections and demanded complex negotiations from ritual specialists,” said Dr Robinson.
A total of 3,223 images were catalogued using drone photogrammetry and traditional photography. The images were categorised by their form, with figurative images being the most commonly occurring, contributing 58% of the total. More than half of these related to animals. At least 22 different animals were identified, including deer, birds, peccary, lizards, turtles, and tapir.
The diverse array of animals represented in the art and the archaeological remains demonstrates a broad understanding and exploitation of a multitude of environments in the region, including savannah, flooded forests and rivers.
Dr Javier Aceituno, of Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín. “They had intimate knowledge of the various habitats in the region and possessed the relevant skills to track and hunt animals and harvest plants from each, as part of a broad subsistence strategy.”
Header Image Credit : University of Exeter
Sources : Animals of the Serranía de la Lindosa: Exploring representation and categorisation in the rock art and zooarchaeological remains of the Colombian Amazon. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2024.101613
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology (LDA) of Saxony-Anhalt have rediscovered the Mallerbach Chapel at the site of the Kaltenborn monastery.
Between 1524 to 1525, a large number of peasants, urban lower classes, and lesser nobles living in the German-speaking areas in Central Europe rebelled against a combination of economic, social, and religious factors. These include:
Economic hardship and inequality: Peasants faced heavy burdens from taxes, dues, and rents imposed by landlords, the church, and secular rulers.
Feudal oppression: Many peasants grew increasingly resentful of the limitations placed on their freedoms by feudal lords, including restrictions on hunting, fishing, and access to communal lands.
Religious influence: The Reformation inspired many peasants who saw in it a call for social and economic reform against a corrupt church.
Legal grievances: Peasants sought greater control over local governance and justice. They were frustrated by the arbitrary decisions made by their lords and demanded more influence over the laws and rules that governed their daily lives.
Image Credit : LDA
Following the outbreak of the Peasants’ War, insurgents from the nearby villages of Riestedt and Emseloh plundered the Kaltenborn monastery near Allstedt in the German district of Mansfeld-Südharz, leading to the monastery’s decline and eventual dissolution in 1538.
According to a press statement by the LDA: “It’s destruction – an act of rebellion against the Cistercian convent of Naundorf, which was in charge of the Chapel of St. Mary and to which the Allstedt residents were subject to taxes – can be seen as the first flare-up and harbinger of the coming uprising of the ‘common man’ against the authorities.”
Recent excavations at the monastery site have located the 12th/13th century Mallerbach chapel, a sacred place of worship for pilgrims who came to witness a weeping image of the Virgin Mary.
Archaeologists have uncovered the original floor plan of the chapel, which measures around 17 metres in length with a rectangular choir and semicircular apse. Excavations have also found the altar foundations, as well as traces of burning from the time of the German Peasants’ War.
Header Image Credit : LDA
Sources : State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology (LDA)
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists have excavated the remains of Fregellae, an ancient city in central Italy that revolted against the Roman Republic.
Fregellae was founded during the 4th century BC near the present-day commune of Arce in the province of Frosinone. Due to the strategic location of the city, the Romans established a colony in 328 BC as a bulwark against Samnite incursions.
In 125 BC, the inhabitants of Fregellae revolted against Rome, demanding equal standing as Roman citizens. In response, Rome dispatched a force led by praetor Lucius Opimius, who swiftly suppressed the uprising and razed the city to the ground.
Archaeologists from the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) and the University of Trier have excavated the remains of an agricultural villa which belonged to the local elite within the extent of Fregellae.
Image Credit : Dominik Maschek
Based on archaeological evidence, the villa was constructed around AD 45 and produced wine, fruit and grain in a dedicated production complex.
Prof Dr Dominik Maschek, project manager at LEIZA, said: “The wine was probably not only produced for the local market. It is quite possible that it was traded within Mediterranean exchange networks as far as Spain and France. The cultivation of grain and fruit, on the other hand, was certainly intended for the local market.”
Excavations also revealed traces of the encampment used by the Roman forces that destroyed the city. The camp covered an area of 90 x 143 metres and was surrounded by a defensive rampart and ditch.
Archaeologists suggest that the destruction of Fregellae dealt a severe blow to the region’s economy, leaving the area uninhabited for more than 170 years until the site was reused as a rubbish dump in AD 50.
Header Image Credit : Dominik Maschek
Sources : Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA)
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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