Archaeology
Missing WWII USAF airman recovered from crash site in Sicily
The Cranfield Forensic Institute, working in collaboration with the POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), has assisted in the identification and recovery of a missing USAF airman near Caltagirone, Sicily.
In 1943, Second Lieutenant Allan W. Knepper (age 27) of the United States Air Force, took off in his P-38 Lightning from a base in Tunisia. The P-38 is a single-seat, twin piston-engined aircraft used for various aerial combat roles, including as a highly effective fighter-bomber.
His squadron was tasked with attacking Axis forces in support of the U.S. Army’s beach landings in Sicily. As they approached their target, intense anti-aircraft fire hit the squadron and Knepper’s aircraft was struck by flak and crashed.
Contemporary reports noted the absence of a parachute, indicating that Knepper died upon impact and was declared missing in action.
For 80 years, the location of the crash site was lost to history, until researchers from the DPAA at the United States National Archives, uncovered a German report detailing the crash of two P-38 planes.
This report enabled archaeologists to pinpoint Knepper’s likely crash site, where extensive research and excavations have recovered material evidence linked to Knepper for identification.
Dr David Errickson, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Anthropology at Cranfield University’s Forensic Institute, said: “At the crash site, you have to use the pattern of the wreckage to judge the location of where the pilot will most likely be. In the case of a single occupant fighter plane such as this, it’s easier because you’re only looking for one person, but in something larger like a bomber it can be much more difficult.”
Everything found at the crash site has been meticulously recorded and handed over to the local authorities – in this case the Italian police – who will then transfer the evidence over to either the US Embassy or direct to the DPAA lab for DNA analysis and identification.
According to the researchers, the process took 8 years from the start of the recovery, until the DPAA was able to officially confirm that Lieutenant Allan W. Knepper had been identified.
His remains have been returned to his hometown of Lewiston, Idaho for burial, and a rosette has been marked alongside his name on the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery to indicate that he has now been accounted for.
Header Image Credit : P-38 – Public Domain
Sources : Cranfield University
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the APSARA National Authority have uncovered a guardian statue at the Banteay Prey Nokor temple complex in Kompong Cham, Cambodia.
Known locally as the temple of “Wat Nokor in Khum of Kompong Siem”, or “Wat Angkor”, Banteay Prey Nokor was constructed during the reign of Jayavarman VII (AD 1181–1218), the first king devoted to Buddhism in the Khmer Empire.
The complex covers an area of 37 acres and consists of a central tower surrounded by four laterite wall enclosures made from sandstone and laterite.
In addition to being the largest ancient temple complex in Kampong Cham Province, it has several distinguishing features. One of the most notable is its construction from black sandstone, which sets it apart from other temples of the period, typically built from brick or reddish sandstone.
Image Credit : Phouk Chea / Chea Sarith
Archaeologists from the Department of Preservation and Archaeology at the APSARA Authority recently excavated one of the gateways of Banteay Prey Nokor, clearing away layers of rubble from the collapsed upper structure.
Upon removing the rubble material, a guardian door statue was uncovered to the right of the eastern entrance to the gateway. The statue is broken into six pieces – breaking at the neck, the left forearm, the waist, and below the knees of both legs.
According to the researchers, the statue, which originally stood at a height of around 1.6 metres, is of the Bayon style, in reference to the Bayon state temple of Jayavarman VII at the centre of Jayavarman’s capital, Angkor Thom.
“The sandstone gate guardian will now be stored at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum,” Angkor Wat’s heritage police said in a statement. “It will be preserved and studied further.”
Header Image Credit : Phouk Chea / Chea Sarith
Sources : APSARA National Authority
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
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