For Those Interested in Archaeology

"A pirate shipwreck was discovered at a depth of around 2,700 feet below the Mediterranean.
The small vessel, measuring no more than around 45 feet in length, was identified in international waters midway between Morocco and Spain at the westernmost fringe of the Mediterranean.
It was found by Florida-based company Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME) in 2005, although the discovery has been kept under wraps until now. The unpublished story of the wreck appears in the summer 2024 issue of Wreckwatch Magazine, which explores the real world of pirates.
The ship was once manned by Barbary corsairs, who were primarily Muslim pirates and privateers. They operated from the coast of North Africa and were a constant scourge for European ships—and coastal settlements—in the Mediterranean and beyond in the post-medieval era."
Pirate Shipwreck Discovery Sheds Light on 'Great Maritime Horror' - Newsweek

 

Instantly visualised Richard Widmark when you posted that.

 

Another feast -
Archaeologica

 

"A cluster of Scottish islands could help solve one of our planet's greatest mysteries, scientists say.
The Garvellach islands off the west coast of Scotland are the best record of Earth entering its biggest ever ice age around 720 million years ago, researchers have discovered.
The big freeze, which covered nearly all the globe in two phases for 80 million years, is known as "Snowball Earth", after which the first animal life emerged.
Clues hidden in rocks about the freeze have been wiped out everywhere - except in the Garvellachs. Researchers hope the islands will tell us why Earth went into such an extreme icy state for so long and why it was necessary for complex life to emerge.
Layers of rock can be thought of as pages of a history book – with each layer containing details of the Earth’s condition in the distant past.
But the critical period leading up to Snowball Earth was thought to be missing because the rock layers were eroded by the big freeze.
Now a new study by researchers at University College, London, has revealed that the Garvellachs somehow escaped unscathed. It may be the only place on Earth to have a detailed record of how the Earth entered one of the most catastrophic periods in its history – as well as what happened when the first animal life emerged when the snowball thawed hundreds of millions of years ago."
Scottish Isles hold key to mystery of Snowball Earth - BBC News

 

Sounds like my wallet...

 

"An archaeology student in Denmark has unearthed a “spectacular silver treasure” from the Viking Age, shedding more light on early Scandinavian trade and economy.
Gustav Bruunsgaard, 22, from Aarhus University found seven silver bracelets while walking with a metal detector in a field near Elsted, where previous excavations had found traces of Viking Age settlements.
The treasure, weighing over half a kilogram, has been dated to the 9th century and may have represented “significant value” during the early Viking Age between 793AD to 1066AD in Scandinavia, experts said.
The bracelets may have been produced in southern Scandinavia, possibly Denmark, archaeologists said, adding that they formed part of a common weight system that allowed individual rings to be used as a means of payment.
One of the bangles has a coiled ring structure that originally came from Russia, while three band-shaped stamped bracelets seem to have inspired bangle designs that became popular in Ireland.
Three other bracelets uncovered have smooth designs which are rare but “known from Scandinavia and England”, researchers said."
Denmark student unearths ‘spectacular’ Viking Age silver treasure (msn.com)

 

"A submerged bridge made by ancient humans has been discovered in a Spanish cave, revealing human colonisation of the western Mediterranean happened much earlier than previously thought.
Archaeologists unearthed the 25-foot submerged bridge at a cave on the Spanish island of Mallorca, providing the earliest uncontested evidence of human activity in the region.
Mallorca, the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean, was among the last to be colonised by humans.
The most solid research analysing archaeological finds like charcoal, ash and bones on the island suggested a timeline of human settlement on the island beginning only about 4,400 years ago. Other studies have claimed evidence of human presence on Mallorca as far back as 9,000 years, but their findings have been debated due to several inconsistencies.
Now a cave discovered near the coast of the island was found to have passages that had flooded due to rising sea levels, with distinct calcium-rich deposits forming on it during periods of high sea level.
Earlier studies have shown that such calcium deposits along with colouration bands on submerged human-made objects can serve as proxies for tracking historical sea-level changes.
Using these encrusted deposits and light-coloured bands on the bridges, the research, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, dated the infrastructure’s construction to about 6,000 years ago.
This is more than two thousand years older than the previous best estimates of the first human occupation of the western Mediterranean island, researchers say.
“The presence of this submerged bridge and other artefacts indicates a sophisticated level of activity, implying that early settlers recognised the cave’s water resources and strategically built infrastructure to navigate it,” study co-author Bogdan Onac said."
Discovery of submerged bridge built by ancient humans rewrites Mediterranean island’s history (msn.com)

 

Again things that amateur historians have been saying for decades…But what would we know?

 

Aye, bloody annoys me too.

 

Obviously the Roman version of the Khyber Pass.
"Archaeologists from the University of Basel, in collaboration with the Archaeological Service of Graubünden, have discovered a roman military camp in the Colm la Runga corridor.
The researchers were investigating the site of an ancient battlefield in Oberhalbstein, where the Romans were campaigning against the local Suanetes tribe (identified as Raeti by Pliny) for dominance of the mountainous Alps.
Following a LiDAR survey of the surrounding area, archaeologists identified the trace remains of a Roman military encampment at an elevation of over 7,200 feet above sea level.
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a remote sensing technique that uses pulsed laser light to measure distances to the Earth’s surface. By analysing the time it takes for the laser pulses to return and the wavelengths involved, LiDAR can be used to compile detailed digital maps of the landscape.
The camp is fortified with three ditches and a rampart, occupying a stragic position that enabled defenders to control access to the surrounding valleys via mountain passes.
Following a series of geophysical surveys, exploratory excavations have unearthed weapons used by the soldiers, such as slingshots and shoe nails. Some of the slingshots are stamped with the mark of the 3rd Legion, who fought at the battles of Crap Ses Gorge and on the Septimer Pass alongside the 10th and 12th Legions in 15 BC."
Roman military camp found on Swiss mountain (heritagedaily.com)

 

They may have discovered a previously unknown Roman fort in Wales near a previously unknown Roman road.
"A researcher in Pembrokeshire, Wales, has uncovered a previously unknown Roman fort, challenging long-held beliefs about the relationship between the region’s indigenous Celtic tribe and the Roman invaders. The fort, concealed beneath an overgrown field, is now regarded as a find of national importance.
The discovery was made by Dr. Mark Merrony, a Roman specialist and tutor at Oxford University, who has a deep connection to Pembrokeshire as a native of the area. “It is a humongous fort, an incredible find of national importance,” Merrony told The Guardian. His discovery suggests that the Roman influence in West Wales was far more extensive and militarized than previously thought.
The fort, estimated to date from the first to the third centuries CE, was found after Merrony identified a Roman road nearby—a road that had long intrigued him due to its unusual straightness. His suspicions were confirmed when he spotted what appeared to be a Roman fort through satellite imagery. Upon visiting the site, Merrony found a triangular piece of slate sticking out of the ground, which he identified as a Roman roofing slate.
“I pulled it up and lo and behold, it’s an archetypal Roman roofing slate, an absolute peach,” Merrony said. This discovery, along with the presence of more roofing slates with diagnostic features consistent with other Romano-British buildings, confirmed the site’s Roman origins.
The fort, measuring approximately 185 by 155 meters (around 5 to 7.5 acres), is believed to have housed around 500 soldiers, suggesting it served as an auxiliary fort rather than a primary defensive position. Its “playing-card” form with rounded corners, massive ditches, and fortifications constructed from large stones and earth are typical of Roman military architecture."
https://archaeologymag.com/.../newly-found-roman-fort-in.../

 

"Since the discovery of Harappan sites at Lothal, located about 30 kilometers inland from the coast of the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat, India, in the 1950s, archaeologists have been divided on whether a dockyard existed at the location during the Indus Valley Civilisation.
This may now change as a new study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Gandhinagar (IITGn) has found fresh evidence that can confirm the dockyard’s existence. This pioneering research reveals fresh insights into how the region’s hydrography shaped ancient trade and cultural interactions...
... Approximately 222 meters long, 37 meters wide, and 4 meters deep, a sizable trapezoidal basin of baked bricks is found in Lothal’s eastern region. The existence of an inlet and outlet channel, a 240-meter-wide mudbrick platform on the western edge to facilitate cargo handling, and the presence of a “warehouse” close to this structure are some of the features that lend credence to the dockyard theory.
This hypothesis, however, has been a subject of debate among scholars. Despite this evidence, some scholars, alternative theories have been proposed that consider the structure as a water reservoir for irrigation and human consumption.
The study has revealed that the Sabarmati River used to flow by Lothal (currently, it flows 20 km away from the location) during the Harappan Civilisation. There was also a travel route connecting Ahmedabad, through Lothal, the Nal Sarovar wetland, and the Little Rann, to Dholavira — another Harappan site, according to analysis."
New studies confirm that there was indeed a shipyard at Lothal, the commercial center of the Harappan civilization and world’s oldest port - Arkeonews

 

Some archaeological titbits from yesterday-
Archaeologica

 

Now this is what you call style. Went looking for a lost 18th C village, and found a Bronze Age one instead!
"For the last few years I’ve been working with the Fintry Museum Trust to explore their past. Each year we do another dig.
On paper we were looking for a lost village and I had stayed late to work with the local Brownies.
In the 18th century the village (Hill of Balgair) was home to several thousand people. It vanished as people moved to the newer factories in Fintry and Balfron leaving only sheep to graze in empty streets that were soon ploughed up.
Of the village there was no sign but we found something much older: a spread of worked quartz and the remains of a line of houses all about 3500 years old. All built into a south facing slope.
These precious remains had survived centuries of ploughing, although all that’s left is the very end of their foundations."
Archaeological dig unearths remnants of 3,500-year-old houses near Stirlingshire village (msn.com)

 

Sorry it's Communist News Nitwit, but they report about a German battlefield that is 1,250 BC.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/23/science/tollense-valley-bronze-age-battlefield-arrowheads/index.htmle

 

"A giant fossilised head of a dinosaur has been discovered after 72 million years.
Dinosaur experts, known as palaeontologists, found the skull during a dig in Alberta, Canada.
The large plant-eating dinosaur called Pachyrhinosaurus, has also been nicknamed Big Sam.
The animal's skull weighs 600lb (272kg), which about as heavy as 40 bowling balls and was found in an area called Pipestone Creek.
It is the second adult and biggest skull discovered in the area which is known a location where several dinosaur bones have been uncovered."
The massive dinosaur skull found after 72 million years in Canada - BBC Newsround