For Those Interested in Archaeology

I saw what you did there...

 

No link m8. Had a look but couldn't find the original?

 

I put the article here in case the BBC site does not function at all the whole article and photos are here.

Roman road remains uncovered in Northumberland

Weird. It´s a BBC article 31 December 2020

Remains of a Roman road which pre-dates Hadrian's Wall have been uncovered in Northumberland.

The find, which is almost two thousand years old, was made during work on the water network near Settlingstones.

They are thought to be from the road's foundations and built by Agricola or his successors about AD80, although no evidence of its exact date was found.

Archaeologists said given its location it was an "important part" of the early northern Roman frontier.

The ancient remains were discovered by Northumbrian Water when it began improvement works at the site of The Stanegate road, which linked Corbridge and Carlisle.

Philippa Hunter, from Archaeological Research Services Ltd, which worked on the site, said: "While monitoring the excavation pit, our archaeologist identified a deposit of compacted cobbles thought to be the remains of the Roman road's foundations."

The route was constructed using "rounded cobbles" set in a layer which measured around 15cm (6in) deep, with around 25cm (10in) of gravel surfacing laid on top.

"Unfortunately no dating evidence or finds have been recovered to confirm the precise date of the archaeological remains," Ms Hunter added.

"However, given the location of the cobbles along the projected route of the Roman road and its depth below the modern road surface, we are confident the remains identified form an important part of the early northern Roman frontier."



captionThe remains are part of The Stanegate - a Roman road which ran east-west south of Hadrian's Wall:



The ancient route was constructed with a base of "rounded cobbles" which were topped with gravel.

 

Cheers. That's an interesting one.

 

To think who walked that road. My imagination goes nuts.

 

Ancient Greece: 2,500-year-old Shipwreck
With Stone Pyramid Anchors Discovered

Ancient Greek shipwreck with stone pyramid anchors discovered near possible long lost port

marine archaeologists have uncovered five shipwrecks in the waters off the Greek island of Kasos—the southernmost in the Aegean Sea (part of the eastern Mediterranean)—dating from several different historical periods, according to officials.

In addition, researchers have also found evidence for what could potentially be an ancient port facility, the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports said.

Most notable among the wrecks, the researchers say, is one vessel from the late classical period that features five stone, pyramid-shaped anchors.

The marine archaeologists discovered several types of amphorae—characteristic pottery jugs produced by the Greeks and Romans—in addition to fine ceramics. Examination of these items enabled the team to date the shipwreck to the end of the fourth or beginning of the third century B.C.

The other four shipwrecks include one from the first century B.C. and another from the Byzantine period—dating between the eighth and tenth century B.C.—also contained amphorae.

 

Well, shiver me timbers!
"For the pirates of the 18th century, treasure meant gold.
But for the US investigators at Whydah Pirate Museum in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, treasure could simply mean big rocks - as long as there are skeletons tucked inside.
This week, the museum announced that its investigative team had found several concretions off the Massachusetts coast, containing six skeletons.
Some of the remains may belong to the captain of the world's only verified pirate shipwreck, the Whydah, which sank in 1717.
Mr Clifford discovered the Whydah Gally, or ship, in 1984, making him the discoverer of the world's only authenticated pirate shipwreck.
The team hopes the skeletons will lead to pirate identifications, Mr Clifford said in the statement - and maybe to living descendants."
www.9news.com.au/world/pirate-ship-six-skeletons-found-on-sunken-whydah-cape-cod-usa/b484165d-cc91-4fd9-928d-7bb2aedadf2c?fbclid=IwAR19pY3-CG6BFuix2o4eYCD5UQEiE5N-RPKeadB2fx-ijlD-PCP-E0jGOOM

 

Excellent

Excellent one, Gordon.

 

Oldest-known Australian rock art is 17,300-year-old kangaroo

When this kangaroo was painted, the world was in an ice age

This is where the Kimberley is:

 

Superb stuff.

 

Meant to post this a while back-
"Homo sapiens today look very different from our evolutionary origins, the microbes wriggling about in the primordial mud. But our emergence as a distinct species cannot, based on the current evidence, be conclusively traced to a single location at any single point in time.
In fact, according to a team of scientists, who have conducted a thorough review of our current understanding of human ancestry, there may never even have been such a time. Instead, the earliest known appearances of Homo sapiens traits and behaviours are consistent with a range of evolutionary histories.
We simply don't have a large enough fossil record to definitively rule on a specific time and place in which modern humans emerged."
www.sciencealert.com/the-origin-of-modern-humans-cannot-be-traced-to-any-one-single-point

 

Birka female Viking warrior

Sorry cannot get the site here. Saw the document on tv.

 

Try this one Kai-
www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/mpif-oto020821.php

 

Not sure if this is a wind-up, or we've gone back to 1752 and changed the calendar again, and it's April Fool's Day already.
"A tourism boss has called for Stonehenge to be returned to Wales - so it can become an attraction for millions of visitors. Farm park owner Lyn Jenkins says the historic stone circle should be "reclaimed" from Salisbury Plain by Welsh people after it was moved around 5,000 years ago. Experts believe the bluestones at the monument's centre originated from the Preseli mountains in Wales before being taken 175-miles to their home at Salisbury Plain. Mr Jenkins said: "Greece is trying to reclaim the Elgin Marbles. What if Wales tries reclaiming Stonehenge? "They can re-erect it here, in Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park, Gwbert, from where we can view the Preseli Hills in the distance. "If not, why doesn’t Mark Drakeford send Boris Johnson a bill for a few million pounds? After all, Stonehenge is an extremely lucrative tourist attraction."
www.itv.com/news/wales/2021-03-10/give-stonehenge-back-calls-for-ancient-stone-circle-to-be-returned-to-wales?fbclid=IwAR3OvAsdwNIhRdNk3_aA1ZJujNw93XJ6P7PDn97s-5EzIzYFmnEoGJJdV3E

 

Recently archeologists in Sweden discovered that a body found over 100 years ago in the Viking Age town of Birka was, in fact, that of a woman, and most likely a very powerful one.



Buried with loads of weapons, with the sword behind her back, and several other battle items, and two horses for her to survive in Valhalla.

Viking Warrior Found Over a Century Ago in Swedish Grave Was Actually A Woman

The site was filled with a trove of weapons, including a sword, spear, shield and two horses, as well as a game board likely used to map out military strategies. Further emphasizing its noteworthiness, out of 1,100 Birka tombs identified on the settlement, it was just one of two that contained a full set of weaponry.

the location of the tomb at the westernmost reaches of Birka suggests it was visible from both the sea and the town. Marked by a large stone boulder, the site would have been known to all as the grave of a likely high-ranking member of the community.

In a further negation of critics’ comments, they also concluded that the mitochondrial DNA from all bones tested matched—and therefore belonged to one XX individual.

 

The tiny Kingdom of the Afro-Bolivians

Bolivia's little-known tribal kingdom

There, hidden amid the tapirs, jaguars and spectacled bears that call the Yungas home is a remarkable community that has remained largely unrecognised by the outside world for nearly 200 years: the Kingdom of the Afro-Bolivians – the spiritual capital of thousands of Bolivians of African descent and one of the last kingdoms left in the Americas.

Afro-Bolivians are descendants of the enslaved West Africans brought by the Spanish between the 16th and 19th Centuries to work in the mines of Potosí, a city in south-western Bolivia that was more populated than London in the early 17th Century.

According to Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano, the mines are notorious for claiming the lives of roughly 8 million enslaved indigenous South Americans and Africans over a 300-year period – many of whom died as a result of being overworked, underfed and suffering in the region's extreme cold.

 

Things happen even today to historical items

Sarajevo library burning



Burned library symbolizes multiethnic Sarajevo | DW | 25.08.2012

Some three million books and countless artifacts were destroyed when Sarajevo's National Library was burned to the ground. It was a clear attack on the cultural identity of a people.

It happened in the night from August 25 to 26, 1992. Bosnia-Herzegovina was in the middle of war and the capital city of Sarajevo was under siege by Bosnian Serbs under the command of Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, who were later charged with war crimes.

The National Library was completely destroyed in the fire, along with 80 percent of its contents. Some three million books went up in flames, along with hundreds of original documents from the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

 

Don't remember the library. What a loss though.