www.archaeology.ws/archive

http://www.stanford.edu/~harryg/protected/chp22.htm

It is widely accepted that population similar to Homo erectus was directly ancestral to the earliest members of living species Homo sapiens. The exact timing and mode of transformation are still controversial.

 

Homo erectus appears to have evolved in Africa about 1.8 million years ago. Migrations first to Asia and then to Europe. the species became extinct sometimes less than .5 million years ago. This timing places Homo erectus between Homo habilis and the earliest appearance of Homo sapiens. The time of migration out of Africa is unknown. Most scholars agreed migration occur about 1 million years ago but there is continue debate over how much earlier than this had begun.

 

Recently a Homo erectus lower jaw has been found in Georgia and said to be 1.6 million years ago. A number of important firsts were recorded during the Homo erectus’ existence.

The first appearance of hominids outside of Africa.

The first appearance of systematic hunting.

Tool making and use of fire.

First indication of extended childhood.

Homo erectus was capable of a more complex life.

The brain size was increased over halibis ranging between 850 and 1100 cm cube.

Body size also increased. Reaching close to 1.8 meters in male and 1.55 meters in females.

The cranium is long and low and somewhat flattened at the front and back.

The cranial bone being thicker than in earlier hominids.

The face is short but wide and the nasal aperture projected forward, suggesting the first appearance of the typical human external nose with the nostril facing downward.

Pronounced brow ridges are present above the orbits.

The postcranial skeleton is similar to that of modern man but its robust and was clearly heavily muscled.

Homo erectus evidently routinely experienced heavy physical exertion.

The main distinguishing features between Homo habilis and erectus included the increased brain size, the present of brow ridges, a shortened face, and the projecting nasal aperture. The structure of the nose allows for the condensation of moisture from exhales air. This would be beneficial in a species that pursued an active subsistence strategy in warm and arid habitats.

In the cervical and thoracic vertebrae, the hole through which the spinal cord runs is significantly smaller than modern man-indicating a smaller demand for nerve signal traffic. The spines on all the vertebrae are longer and do not point as far back as modern human. The thighbone is unusual in that the femoral neck is long while the femoral head, which is part of the ball, and socket joint with the pelvis is large. This combination is something of a mix between modern human and australopithecine anatomy.

 

 

Modern human have a short femoral neck attached to a large head, while in australopithecines the neck is long and the head is small. The pelvis indicates that the birth canal was smaller than man, which implies that Homo erectus mother would have needed to continue fetal growth rate after birth. More extensive child care was inevitable due to a second altricial condition that the neonatal brain size will tripe in size compared with doubling in size of the ape. Tooth pattern created shift to modern human life history pattern. In apes, first molar eruption occurs over 3 years of age and 40 years lifespan. Humans are 5.9 years and 66 years.

 

The Turkana boy: a Homo erectus individual who died about 10 years of age, lived 1.6 million years ago west of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. It is the most complete early human fossil discovered and includes many skeletal elements of Homo erectus nor previously known.

 

One hallmark of Homo erectus was a stone tool; the teardrop shaped handaxe. These implements which are usually called Acheulian handaxes appear 1.4 million years old deposits at Olduvai Gorge.

 

Significant behavioral changes than begun with habilis became further developed with erectus. Indicative of such a change was the reduction of body size dimorphism between the sexes. Sexual dimorphism in earlier hominids was large with male being almost twice as bulky as females. A situation that had several possible behavioral implications. It might imply significant competition between males for access to females. With Homo erectus, this ratio dropped considerably, with male only 20-30% larger than females, perhaps implying a significant reduction in competition between males. The greater complexity of Homo erectus lifeways included a degree of male-male cooperation? Whether they use a spoken language is a matter of speculation.Homo erectus has long been regarded as the direct antecedent to Homo sapiens. Recently, this assumption has been questioned. Specifically, several investigators propose that many large brained fossil hominids from the Middle Pleistocene that traditionally have been assigned to Homo erectus in fact belong to several species of Homo, not just one. Homo erectus as currently defined from Asia would be one species which became extinct in the last half million years. The second would be populations similar to Homo erectus. This new and distinctly controversial-view stems from a cladistic analysis of the large collection of African and Asian fossils that traditionally have been assigned to Homo erectus.

 

The problem of defining Homo erectus is that it is viewed at present as a grade of human evolution intermediate between the small-brained early Pleistocene hominids and the large brained Homo sapiens. The term grade is used to encompass a population that has reached the same adaptive stage. It does not require that the organisms belong to the same group (species). Peter Andrew stated just because the erectus specimens are all the same size or similar size brains is not evidence that they belong to the same species. When the primitive characters are removed from the list of traditional Homo erectus, only a small number of derived characters remains. Significantly, these characters are found exclusively within Asian fossils leaving African fossils outside the group and they don’t form a link with Homo sapiens. In other words, the Asian Homo erectus population appears to be evolutionarily separated from those hominids of a similar grade in Africa, and eventually became extinct. The African populations would have other species names applied to them such as Homo ergaster and Homo leakeyi. One African species of the Homo erectus grade might have been ancestral first to European archaic sapiens and later to anatomically modern humans.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050822/ap_on_sc/georgia_ancient_skull_1;_ylt=A0SOwjo2JApDnZoA4RL2_sEF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--

Scientists Find Homo Erectus Skull

20.00 22 August 2005

 

TBILISI, Georgia - Archaeologists in the former Soviet republic of Georgia have unearthed a skull they say is 1.8 million years old and part of a find that holds that oldest traces of humankind's closest ancestors ever found in Europe.

 

The Homo erectus skull was found earlier this month about 100 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tbilisi, in the same area where a jawbone believed to be the same age was found in 1991, Georgian National Museum director David Lotkipanidze, who took part in the dig, said by telephone.

 

Lotkipanidze said that the skull, which was unearthed on Sunday and sent to the museum for further study, was in the best condition of any of the five bone fragments that have been found in the area, called Dmanisi, in recent years.

 

"Practically all the remains have been found in one place. This indicates that we have found a place of settlement of primitive people," he said of the spot, where archaeologists have been working since 1939.

 

The findings in Georgia, which researchers said were a million years older than any widely accepted pre-human remains in Europe, have provided additional evidence that Homo erectus left Africa a half-million years or more earlier than scientists had previously thought.

 

Million-year-old fossils of hominids — extinct creatures of the extended ancestral family of modern humans — have been found in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, but not in Western Europe. Georgia is south of the Caucasus Mountains and northeast of Turkey, but is considered part of Europe.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1551121,00.html

Ice Age engravings found in Somerset

Press Association

Thursday August 18, 2005

The Guardian

 

A series of rare engravings, believed to date from the Mesolithic period, 10,000 years ago, have been discovered in a cave in Somerset.

The three abstract squares, thought to have been made with stone tools, were found in Long Hole cave in Cheddar by the University of Bristol Speleological Society.

 

The find follows the discover of ancient inscribed crosses at nearby Aveline's Hole cave in February this year.

 

Experts have not been able to determine the meaning of the engravings yet, but say they are extremely important and one of only three examples of this kind of art to be discovered in Britain.

 

The society's team leader, Graham Mullan, said: "These engravings are not awfully exciting if you're into high art - they are three bunches of straight lines.

 

"But they are very important because we think they were created just after the end of the Ice Age.

 

"This period was very interesting as the environment was heating up and changing and this was affecting the types of animals living in the area.

 

Aveline's Hole, close to the cave, is believed to be the earliest scientifically dated cemetery. Some 20 skeletons, dating back between 10,200 and 10,400 years, were taken from the cave by the society in 1914. They were stored at Bristol University, but destroyed during a second world war raid.

 

Bob Smart, of Cheddar Caves, said: "We are delighted by this new discovery which is an excellent example of the importance Cheddar caves held for our ancestors."

 

The speleological society's research into the engravings is being carried out with the British Museum's department of prehistory and Europe.

 

Jill Cook, the deputy keeper in the department, said: "The new engravings are clearly ancient and comparable to early post glacial pattern panels found elsewhere in Europe.

 

"Their discovery will help breathe new life into this period."

 

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART29967.html

STONE AGE ENGRAVINGS FOUND IN LONG HOLE CAVE, CHEDDAR GORGE

By 24 Hour Museum Staff

19/08/2005

 

Stone Age engravings have been discovered in caves at Cheddar Gorge in Somerset. Members of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society (UBSS) found the engravings, believed to be from the Mesolithic period, on a chamber wall of the cave known as Long Hole. These new finds follow similar engravings discovered by UBSS at Aveline’s Hole in Burrington Combe, Somerset, in February 2005. “We are delighted by this new discovery,” said Bob Smart of Cheddar Caves, “which is an excellent example of the importance Cheddar Caves held for our ancestors. Congratulations to the team for a very exciting and significant discovery.”

 

The engravings are abstract line drawings, which appear to have been cut with stone tools. The investigating team, led by Graham Mullan and Linda Wilson, has provisionally ascribed the drawings to the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) period of more than 10,000 years ago.

“On stylistic grounds,” said Graham Mullan, “we have attributed these engravings to the Mesolithic, rather than the Palaeolithic era because, as in the case of the Aveline’s Hole panel, such abstract designs are more characteristic of that period. Although abstract designs were found in the Palaeolithic, they are almost always in conjunction with representational art.”

“Unlike Aveline’s Hole, which was sealed from the Early Mesolithic until 1797 ruling out any possibility that the engravings found there were Neolithic or Bronze Age,” he continued, “Long Hole has always been open and subject to visits throughout time. It is known to have been used in Roman times and contains graffiti dating back as far as 1668.”

Long Hole is located immediately above the major show cave, Gough's Cave. It leads 250m into the hillside and the engravings are about 70m from the entrance, on the west wall of a small chamber.

The Spelaeological Society’s research into the engravings is being carried out in conjunction with the British Museum’s Department of Prehistory and Europe.

Jill Cook, Deputy Keeper in the Department, said: “Just when we thought there was not much more to find out about Long Hole, an excellent new discovery has been made which puts it right back into research."

“The new engravings are clearly ancient and comparable to early post glacial pattern panels found elsewhere in Europe. Their discovery will help to breathe new life into research on this period.”

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050817/481/sof10408171520

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article307316.ece

Ancient hoard of royal gold found in Balkans

By David Keys, Archaeology Correspondent

Published: 21 August 2005

 

Archaeologists in Bulgaria have discovered a previously unknown series of royal tombs from a fabulously wealthy civilisation dating back over 4,000 years.

 

Excavations inside a group of ancient burial mounds - 80 miles east of the capital, Sofia - are expected to yield up to 100,000 gold artefacts.

 

So far more than 15,000 gold objects have been unearthed at the site near the village of Dabene - mainly gold beads, originally strung together as spectacular necklaces, and gold hair decorations, all worn as part of the funerary regalia of at least three Bronze Age princesses or princes from around the 23rd century BC.

 

It is the first time that such a rich, gold-working early Bronze Age tradition has been discovered in the Balkans.

 

The discovery may provide a "missing link" between Bulgaria's earlier Copper Age gold-working cultures and later gold-rich civilisations in Mycenaean Greece and late Bronze Age and Iron Age Bulgaria.

 

In terms of sheer numbers of gold artefacts, the Dabene discovery appears to be the largest ever found in Europe. It underscores Bulgaria's international archaeological significance and its vital long-term importance in the ancient world as a source of gold.

 

Bulgaria was home to the world's first gold workers, around 6,700 years ago. Archaeological research over the past three decades has been revealing the spectacular achievements of these ultra-early goldsmiths. At Varna on the Black Sea coast, Bulgarian archaeologists found 3,000 fifth millennium BC gold artefacts weighing a total of six kilos (13lbs). At another Black Sea site of similar antiquity, Duran Kulak, recently published information reveals that 142 gold beads and other items were unearthed.

 

Not only did the ancient inhabitants of Bulgaria develop sophisticated gold-working at a very early period, but a few centuries earlier - in around 5000BC - they began building settlements filled with two-storey partly stone-built houses. By 2300BC current research shows that not only was the gold industry still flourishing, but small towns were coming into existence. Several substantial defended settlements from the period - some covering more than 10 acres - are now being investigated archaeologically. Four thousand years ago, in one area in southern Bulgaria up to a dozen small towns are believed to have flourished in an area just 150 miles across.

 

Recent finds in various parts of the country are also demonstrating how Bulgaria's gold culture continued into classical times. A fourth-century BC gold wreath, decorated with an image of the Greek goddess Nike, a gold ring featuring an ancient initiation ritual, a gold cup, and a solid gold face mask have all been unearthed over the past year .

 

The people of ancient Bulgaria - the Thracians - obtained their gold from mines in the Carpathian and Sredna Gora mountains and by panning for the precious metal in several gold-rich rivers.

 

It is possible that much of the gold of ancient Mycenae, and even of Troy itself, came from Bronze Age Bulgarian sources - but only detailed future research will confirm this.

 

The excavations at Dabene have been carried out by Dr Martin Hristov of the National Historical Museum in Sofia. Conservators have re-strung the ancient necklaces, which last week went on display at the museum.

 

"The discovery of Bronze Age gold at Dabene is of great international importance and should tell us more about the gold trade in the ancient world," said Dr Zosia Archibald of Liverpool University, a leading authority on south-east European pre-history.

 

The first indication that there was Bronze Age gold at Dabene came to light last year when two young archaeologists were buying cigarettes in a local shop. They noticed a local woman wearing a beautifully made gold necklace. The lady explained that her husband was a farmer and had found it while ploughing his fields.

 

Archaeological excavations on the site started 10 months ago and the work is still continuing.

 

Some of the Thracian gold jewellery found in the Bulgarian village of Dabene on display at the National Historical Museum in Sofia

 

Vassil Donev/Epa

 

Archaeologists in Bulgaria have discovered a previously unknown series of royal tombs from a fabulously wealthy civilisation dating back over 4,000 years.

 

Excavations inside a group of ancient burial mounds - 80 miles east of the capital, Sofia - are expected to yield up to 100,000 gold artefacts.

 

So far more than 15,000 gold objects have been unearthed at the site near the village of Dabene - mainly gold beads, originally strung together as spectacular necklaces, and gold hair decorations, all worn as part of the funerary regalia of at least three Bronze Age princesses or princes from around the 23rd century BC.

 

It is the first time that such a rich, gold-working early Bronze Age tradition has been discovered in the Balkans.

 

The discovery may provide a "missing link" between Bulgaria's earlier Copper Age gold-working cultures and later gold-rich civilisations in Mycenaean Greece and late Bronze Age and Iron Age Bulgaria.

 

In terms of sheer numbers of gold artefacts, the Dabene discovery appears to be the largest ever found in Europe. It underscores Bulgaria's international archaeological significance and its vital long-term importance in the ancient world as a source of gold.

 

Bulgaria was home to the world's first gold workers, around 6,700 years ago. Archaeological research over the past three decades has been revealing the spectacular achievements of these ultra-early goldsmiths. At Varna on the Black Sea coast, Bulgarian archaeologists found 3,000 fifth millennium BC gold artefacts weighing a total of six kilos (13lbs). At another Black Sea site of similar antiquity, Duran Kulak, recently published information reveals that 142 gold beads and other items were unearthed.

 

Not only did the ancient inhabitants of Bulgaria develop sophisticated gold-working at a very early period, but a few centuries earlier - in around 5000BC - they began building settlements filled with two-storey partly stone-built houses. By 2300BC current research shows that not only was the gold industry still flourishing, but small towns were coming into existence. Several substantial defended settlements from the period - some covering more than 10 acres - are now being investigated archaeologically. Four thousand years ago, in one area in southern Bulgaria up to a dozen small towns are believed to have flourished in an area just 150 miles across.

Recent finds in various parts of the country are also demonstrating how Bulgaria's gold culture continued into classical times. A fourth-century BC gold wreath, decorated with an image of the Greek goddess Nike, a gold ring featuring an ancient initiation ritual, a gold cup, and a solid gold face mask have all been unearthed over the past year .

 

The people of ancient Bulgaria - the Thracians - obtained their gold from mines in the Carpathian and Sredna Gora mountains and by panning for the precious metal in several gold-rich rivers.

 

It is possible that much of the gold of ancient Mycenae, and even of Troy itself, came from Bronze Age Bulgarian sources - but only detailed future research will confirm this.

 

The excavations at Dabene have been carried out by Dr Martin Hristov of the National Historical Museum in Sofia. Conservators have re-strung the ancient necklaces, which last week went on display at the museum.

 

"The discovery of Bronze Age gold at Dabene is of great international importance and should tell us more about the gold trade in the ancient world," said Dr Zosia Archibald of Liverpool University, a leading authority on south-east European pre-history.

 

The first indication that there was Bronze Age gold at Dabene came to light last year when two young archaeologists were buying cigarettes in a local shop. They noticed a local woman wearing a beautifully made gold necklace. The lady explained that her husband was a farmer and had found it while ploughing his fields.

 

Archaeological excavations on the site started 10 months ago and the work is still continuing.

 

Some of the Thracian gold jewellery found in the Bulgarian village of Dabene on display at the National Historical Museum in Sofia

 

Vassil Donev/Epa

 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16300880%255E23109,00.html

Archeologists find royal jewellery

From correspondents in Sofia, Bulgaria

August 18, 2005

 

BULGARIAN archaeologists have unearthed more than 15,000 golden pieces of Thracian royal jewellery dating back to the third millennium BC, the director of the National Historical Museum, Bozhidar Dimitrov, said today.

 

"The golden objects unearthed near the village of Dabene in central Bulgaria are not just pieces of Thracian jewellery. They are objects of exquisite regal ornamentation," he said.

 

"In the whole of Europe and the Near East there is only one find that rivals these extremely well-crafted pieces - the golden treasures found in ancient Troy," Mr Dimitrov said.

 

"The large number of golden objects and the expert craftsmanship in their making lead us to question Troy's supremacy as the biggest ancient centre for goldsmiths," he said.

 

Digging started near Dabene a year ago after an archaeologist saw a farmer's wife wearing a necklace of golden rings, assembled by her husband from pieces he had found on his farm.

 

Mr Dimitrov said it was likely that more gold objects would be found.

 

In July, the museum's team of archaeologists discovered the tomb of a Thracian king from the fourth century BC, filled with treasures including a golden crown and body armour along with gold, silver and bronze cups.

 

Last year, another archaeological team unearthed near Shipka, in central Bulgaria, a golden mask similar to the "Mask of Agamemnon" discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in Troy.

 

Central Bulgaria is considered the cradle of ancient Thracian civilisation, which extended from the Caucasus to southwestern Europe from the fourth millennium BC to the third century AD.

 

http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=6632ba63-2ec9-4f83-938e-32857505c2db

Bulgarian archeologists uncover treasure of thousands of golden ornaments

Canadian Press

August 17, 2005

 

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Archeologists working a dig in central Bulgaria have unearthed some 15,000 miniature rings and other gold ornaments that date to the end of the third millennium BC - a find they say matches the famous treasure of Troy, scholars announced Wednesday.

 

The 4,100- to 4,200-year-old golden ornaments have been gradually unearthed over the past year from an ancient tomb near the central village of Dabene, 120 kilometres east of the capital, Sofia, according to Prof. Vasil Nikolov, the consultant on the excavations.

 

"This treasure is a bit older than . . . finds in Troy, and contains much more golden ornaments," Nikolov said by telephone.

 

The treasure consists of 15,000 gold ornaments and miniature golden rings, some of them so finely crafted that the point where the ring is welded is invisible with an ordinary microscope.

 

"We don't know who these people were, but we call them proto-Thracians," Nikolov said, meaning that they were likely ancestors of the Thracians, who lived in what is now Bulgaria and parts of modern Greece, Romania, Macedonia and Turkey until the 8th century AD, when they were assimilated by the invading Slavs.

 

"The buried man was cremated, and then an earth mound was piled over his ashes and his riches, suggesting that he was part of these people's social elite," Nikolov said.

 

Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov, director of Bulgaria's History Museum, said the site consisted of an ancient settlement and three mounds, and that excavations would continue.

 

"This is the oldest golden treasure ever found in Bulgaria after the Varna necropolis," Dimitrov said.

 

The golden artifacts from that vast burial complex discovered in the 1970s near the Black Sea port of Varna date to the end of the fifth millennium BC and are internationally renowned as the world's oldest golden treasure.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1551241,00.html?gusrc=rss

Bulgaria unearths huge hoard of gold

Helena Smith in Athens

Thursday August 18, 2005

The Guardian

 

 

A 4,200-year-old hoard of gold, comparable to the fabulous treasures of Troy, has been found in Bulgaria to the delight of archaeologists desperate to beat looters to tombs in the former communist country.

The miniature pieces were unearthed in an ancient tomb in Dabene, 75 miles east of the capital, Sofia. The objects, including around 15,000 ornate golden rings, may have been made by a race predating the ancient Thracians.

 

Scholars have described the objects as the oldest ever found in Bulgaria.

 

Bulgarian archaeologists said the find matched the magnificent trove of jewels, bracelets, golden diadems, rings, and cups unearthed at Troy in 1873 by the retired German merchant Heinrich Schliemann.

"This treasure is a bit older than Schliemann's finds in Troy and contains many more golden ornaments," said Vasil Nikolov, director of the Bulgarian Archaeological Institute, who oversaw the dig.

 

Prof Nikolov said the finds had been gradually unearthed over the past year.

 

Known as the "jewels of Helen", Schliemann had his Greek wife, Sophia, photographed wearing the Troy jewels before smuggling them to Berlin.

 

The gold has since been on display in Moscow's Pushkin Museum, much to the consternation of Turkey, which wants it back.

 

With tomb raiders also making their presence felt in Bulgaria, local archaeologists are battling to reach the country's ancient burial sites first. Experts estimate there are some 15,000 tombs dotted across the Balkan state.

 

But despite the excitement of the new treasure, archaeologists are uncertain as to which civilisation produced the hoard.

 

Prof Nikolov said it was most likely that it was the work of "proto-Thracians" living in what is now Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Macedonia and Turkey.

 

Dismissed as illiterate "barbarians" by the ancient Greeks, the Thracians remain one of Europe's most mysterious civilisations

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050817/ap_on_sc/austria_old_key_1;_ylt=Ai95rELpNBstbQ4TQOd5w99FeQoB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Ancient Key Found in Austria Tue Aug 16, 8:50 PM ET

 

GRAZ, Austria - Archeologists believe they have found a key dating back to the late Bronze Age in southern Austria, an Austrian news agency reported.

 

The 16 inch long bronze key was only the third of its kind to be found in Austria, archaeologist Maria Windhager-Konrad said according to the Austria Press Agency .

 

Experts were fascinated by the position of the 3,200-year-old key, which was surrounded by Bronze Age axes and other items, the report said.

 

"The items must have been placed like that on purpose," the report quoted archaeologist Bernhard Hebert as saying.

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050815/stibadium.html

Fancy Roman Dining Hall Found

By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

 

 

Aug. 15, 2005— Startling evidence of ancient Romans' most exclusive way of dining has been uncovered in a villa in southern Italy, local archaeologists announced.

 

Excavation at the residence of an aristocratic family in Faragola, in Puglia, has brought to light a rare example of a stibadium, a semicircular couch on which selected guests sat at the most fashionable dinner parties.

 

Complete with a fountain, which provided fresh water for the meals, the stibadium consisted of a semicircular platform of masonry that formed the basis for mattresses or bolsters on which the guests reclined.

 

"Only a few stibadia survive, but none of them is so lavishly decorated and well preserved as the one found at Faragola," Giuliano Volpe, the archaeologist from the University of Foggia in charge of the digging, told Discovery News.

 

Decorated with carvings of dancing maenads, or Bacchantes (the female devotees of the wine-god Dionysus), the newly discovered stibadium couch was covered with "opus sectile," decorations made by using precisely cut pieces of colorful marble.

 

Described by Latin writers such as Quintus Aurelius Simmacus, Sidonius Apollinaris and Ausonius, the stibadium is also depicted on mosaics, such as the one showing the Last Supper in the church of St. Apollinaire, in Ravenna.

 

"It started as a fashion for outdoor dining — originally a cushion or bolster on the ground — and later came to be adopted indoors. I think it was seen at first as more casual and relaxed than the normal rectangular arrangement of couches for dining, though it later simply became the fashionable way of dining in style," Katherine Dunbabin, professor of classics at McMaster University in Canada and author of the book "The Roman Banquet: Images Of Conviviality," told Discovery News.

 

"Its use would be confined to those who were wealthy enough, and had leisure enough, to give elegant dinner parties. Certainly anyone who could afford to have a permanent fixture of this sort decorated with marble in their villa would have had to be pretty rich," she said.

 

Luxury and opulence abounded at the villa in Faragola.

 

Built in the 4th century, the residence reached its height of splendor during the 5th century. Belonging to the senatorial Cornelii Scipiones Orfiti family, it featured big and luxurious thermal baths, with rooms for cold, lukewarm and hot baths.

 

In a large room with a precious mosaic floor, guests indulged in massages.

 

But the most spectacular room was the cenatio, the dining hall. The dominus, the house owner, sat at the right on the stibadium, while the most important guest sat at the left in front of the dominus.

 

No more than five to seven selected guests could sit on the semicircular divan.

 

Sitting there, they could admire musicians, dancers and jugglers and the "carpets of glass" — glass panels with ivory and marble encased in them — which stood on the polychrome marble floors.

 

"Putting on the floor such precious and frail artworks is really a provocative display of wealth," Volpe said.

 

Growing wealthy on the grain production, the Orfiti family lived at the villa during the harvest season, and managed all of their lands from there.

 

Perhaps because of an economic crisis, the Faragola "dolce vita" ended in the 6th century, and the villa was abandoned and forgotten.

 

"This is a very interesting discovery. The stibadium is indeed spectacular, certainly the most impressive example to have been discovered," Dunbabin said.

 

http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=274340

Hadrian’s Wall bowl suggests new name

Published on 19/08/2005

 

HADRIAN’S Wall should be renamed Aelius’ Wall according to a Roman inscriptions expert who examined a bronze bowl – soon to be displayed at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle.

 

Dr Roger Tomlin of Oxford University studied the brief text inscribed on the bronze patera, which has been hailed as the most important Roman find in recent years.

 

It was unearthed in the Midlands and is believed to be an up-market souvenir of a Roman legionnaire’s time in the far North.

 

It is due to be displayed in Tullie House in 2007.

 

Dr Tomlin says the inscription may point to the real name of the wall. It has been translated as saying: “Along the line of the Wall of Aelius, [this pan] belongs to Draco”.

 

Draco is thought to have been a soldier stationed on the wall.

 

Aelius was the emperor Hadrian’s family name, Dr Tomlin says. The wall itself has only been known as Hadrian’s Wall for 100 years after scholars in the 20th century argued over which emperor ordered its construction.

 

Experts are still thrilled by the find. “The inscription on this flamboyant enamel inlaid pan is particularly important because, for the first time, it allows us to link the name of Hadrian both to a specific object and to the wall we know he built,” said Dr Ralph Jackson, at the British Museum.

 

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=13043224

ANCIENT BEAD MAY BE CLUE TO KING OF ORKNEY 

09:00 - 20 August 2005 

 

A small brown and yellow bead which travelled 600 miles from one end of the country to the other has yielded another clue about where a King of Orkney might have lived around 2,000 years ago.

 

The round Meare bead has just been found in what was thought to be a rubbish site beside the Minehowe rock-built underground structure.

 

Excavation started in 2000 after local farmer Douglas Paterson of Tankerness rediscovered the site. It was originally found in the 1950s and covered up again for the safety of farm animals. The latest dig has been focusing on a ditch, encircling the Iron Age underground structure, and a metalworker's workshop nearby.

 

A big pile of metal deposits and a rubbish heap have been found beside the workshop. It was there that the Meare bead - thought to have originated in Somerset in the south of England - was uncovered.

 

Archaeologist Julie Gibson, of Orkney Archaeological Trust which is conducting the dig, said it was a significant find.

 

"A couple of beads of this kind have been found down the east coast of Scotland, but this is the farthest north so far," she said.

 

She said that the bead represented another piece in the jigsaw of what Minehowe was used for.

 

The oldest garment of clothing found in Britain was also found in the area.

 

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=28304&ew_0_a_id=148457

08/09/2005 | 13:05

Grave of Egil Skalla-Grímsson found?

Icelandic State Radio reports that the possible grave site of Egil Skalla-Grímsson, one of Iceland's most famous vikings, has been found under the altar of a church from the settlement period. No bones were found at the burial site.

 

Jessie Byock, archeology professor at the University of California in Los Angeles who is in charge of the excavation, emphasizes that the work being done in Mosfellsdal is not directed at finding the grave site of Egil Skalla-Grímsson. The excavation has taken many years and the church at Hrísbrú is the seventh dig site.

 

The purpose of the dig is to map the settlement in Mosfellsdal as it was in the time of the Vikings and understand how people lived. Professor Byock told television station Stod 2 that if they also find the burial site for Egil Skalla-Grímsson he will be very happy; it is known that Egill was buried in the area.

 

In the Icelandic Saga, Egil's Saga, Egil is said to have been buried underneath a church that his foster daughter Thórdís had built, but his bones were subsequently moved to a site near Mosafellsdal. The grave under the church is over two meters long, and Egil is described as having been a tall and powerfully built man.

 

Professor Byock says the excavation team has gained insight into the Viking Age settlement in Mosfellsdal  The excavation has unveiled information on the health conditions of the people - cancer and tuberculosis were prevalent - as well as other aspects of the cultural make up.

 

Born around 910 A.D., Egil early showed considerable promise; he got drunk at three and killed at six. But he also revealed a more cerebral and softer side by commemorating his first slaying with a poem, paying tribute to his mother and presciently predicting his own glorious career as a viking.

 

During his long life, Egil not only killed but also gouged eyes out of some of his enemies and vomited over others.When his brother Thorolf died as they were fighting for King Athelstan at the battle of Vin Moor (also known as the battle of Brunnanburh) during the Scots invasion of England in 937, Egil went berserk and chased the enemy until there was no one left to kill. Only the English King's gift of two chests full of silver soothed his murderous mood.

A long running feud with Erik Bloodaxe, King of Norway, reached a climax when Egil became Erik's captive at York. Overnight he paid tribute to Erik in a poem, "Head-Ransom", and the King could only release him the next day.

 

Later in life, Egil fell in to a deep suicidal depression after loosing two sons. At the instigation of his daughter, instead of taking his life he eulogized them in a poem, "Lament of my sons", recovering his spirits along the way.

 

In old age Egil lost his sight and lived with his foster daughter and her husband at Mosfell. Shortly before his death, he asked if he could join them for the annual session of parliament at Thingvellir. When they inquired why, he replied that he intended to scatter the English silver around when parliament was in full session, hoping to instigate a fight. "It will be a big surprise to me if people agree to divide the silver evenly," he said. But his hosts were less keen on the plan, and Egil had to stay home. While everyone was away at parliament, he took his two chests of silver, a horse and two slaves and "for a short trip" he claimed. The next day, Egil and the horse were found wandering in the fields, but neither the chests of silver nor the slaves have been seen since.

 

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&art_id=qw112451940534B241

Mexico digs up Aztec sacrificial stone

August 20 2005 at 09:44AM 

 

Mexico City - Mexican archeologists have dug past phone lines, electricity cables and a traffic light under chaotic city streets to excavate a large sculptured stone that was part of an Aztec sacrificial temple.

 

The Templo Mayor museum said on Friday the stone, dating from the 15th or 16th centuries and shaped like a round "biznaga" cactus, was discovered last October in the center of Mexico City.

 

It took 10 months to receive permission from a telephone company, a electricity utility, city hall and archeological authorities to dig under the road to reach the stone, which is 77cm high and 56cm in diameter.

 

The Aztecs, conquered by the Spanish in the early 16th century, would sacrifice victims, often prisoners of war, by cutting their hearts out to placate angry gods.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4163982.stm

Lessons from our ancestors about the countryside 

By Megan Lane

BBC News Magazine 

 

Living the 1620s life

For a year five experts ditched theory for practice, running a Welsh farm using 17th Century methods. What lessons for modern living did they learn?

 

The BBC series Tales from the Green Valley follows historians and archaeologists as they recreate farm life from the age of the Stuarts. They wear the clothes, eat the food and use the tools, skills and technology of the 1620s.

 

It was a time when daily life was a hard grind, intimately connected with the physical environment where routines were dictated by the weather and the seasons. A far cry from today's experience of the countryside, which for many involves a bracing walk ahead of a pub lunch.

 

While few would choose to live a 17th Century lifestyle, the participants found they picked up some valuable tips for modern life.

 

1. Know thy neighbours. Today it's possible to live alone, without knowing anyone within a 20-mile radius (the same goes for townies). That was simply not possible in the past - not only did the neighbours provide social contact, people shared labour, specialist skills and produce. "And women were judged on good neighbourliness," says historian Ruth Goodman. "If you were willing to help others - particularly during and after childbirth - then others would be more prepared to help you in times of need."

 

2. Share the load. It was nigh on impossible to run a 1620s farm single-handedly, and the family - either blood relatives, or a farmer, his wife and hired help - had to be multi-skilled. Labour, too, was often divided along gender lines, but at busy periods, such as harvest time, it was all hands on deck.

 

The secret to clean clothes? Water and bashing

3. Fewer creature comforts have some benefits. No electricity meant once daylight faded, work stopped in favour of conversation, music-making and knitting. And no carpets meant fewer dust mites, which are linked to asthma and allergies. "They scattered herbs on the floor which released scent when trodden on - this drove out flies and other insects," says Ms Goodman.

 

4. Eat seasonally. Today it's because of "food miles" and the inferior quality of forced products. In the 1620s, it was because foods were only available at certain times of year - and not just fruit and veg. Mutton, for instance, was in abundance in spring, soon after shearing time. This was because a sheep's wool quality plunges after eight years - thus animals of that age were killed after their final fleece was removed.

 

5. Tasty food comes in small batches. Today farmers' markets are a tourist attraction and many delight in regional specialities. For these producers play to the strengths of their ingredients, unlike, for instance, the makers of mass-produced cheese. This has to taste the same year-round, despite seasonal variations in milk quality. "So high-quality milk in the spring is downgraded so the finished product is consistent throughout the year," says Ms Goodman.

 

6. Reuse and recycle. Today we throw away vast mountains of packaging, food, garden waste and other materials. In 1620s, there was a use for everything, with tattered bed linens made into fire-lighters and animal fat into soap. Even human waste had uses. Faeces was a fertiliser, and urine was stored to make ammonia to remove laundry stains.

 

Alex dressed in period clothes

7. Dress for practicalities. Today fashion and social convention dictate our wardrobes. While polar fleeces and high-performance tramping boots may be all the rage when going rural, the wardrobe of 400 years ago proved more comfortable. "While the crew shivered in their modern garb, we never felt the cold in just two layers - a linen shirt and woollen doublet," says archaeologist Alex Langlands. Breeches meant no wet and muddy trouser legs, and staying covered up - rather than stripping off in the heat - prevented bites, stings, sunburn and scratches.

 

8. Corsets, not bras. "By that I don't mean Victorian corseting," says Ms Goodman. "Corsets support your back as well as your chest, and don't leave red welts on your skin like bra elastic does. They made it hard to breath walking up hills, but I get short of breath doing that anyway. And most people feel sexy in a corset."

 

Animals were smaller and hardier

9. Biodiversity protects against unforeseen calamity. While the developed world no longer counts the cost of crop failure in starvation and mass migration - the result of Ireland's Great Potato Famine in 1845 - the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis decimated farms up and down the country as animals, the farmers' livelihoods, were put to death. The 1620s farm had grains, fruit and vegetables, and a range of animals - if one failed, alternatives were available.

 

9. Reliance on any one thing leaves you vulnerable. Hence the country ground to a halt during the petrol blockades of 2000, and a shortage of coal during 1978-9's Winter of Discontent caused electricity shortages. On the 1620s farm, when oxen used to plough fields fell ill, the implements were reshaped and horses did the job instead.

 

10. No pesticides means a richer variety of birds, butterflies and other insects, many of which feast on pests - a result as desirable for the gardener as the farmer. And the hedgerow and fields of wild flowers of the past are today making a comeback, as these provide habitats for these creatures and allow edible plants to flourish.

 

Tales from the Green Valley will be broadcast weekly on BBC Two from Friday, 19 August, at 1930BST.