Archaeologists Discovery 1.8 Million-Year-Old Human Tooth in Georgia
Archaeologists in Georgia have found a 1.8 million-year-old tooth belonging to an early human species.
Scientists say the find labels the region as home to one of the earliest prehistoric archaic human settlements in Europe.
Scientists discovered the tooth near the village of Orozmani, about 100 kilometers southwest of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi.
The latest discovery provides further evidence that the mountainous South Caucasus region was likely one of the first places early humans settled after migrating from Africa, experts said.
The Molar Found in Georgia is believed to be up to 1.8 Million-Year-Old
Orozmani is located near the city of Dmanisi, where human skulls aged 1.8 million years were found in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Dmanisi’s findings were the world’s oldest such discovery outside of Africa, and one that changed scientists’ understanding of early human evolution and migration patterns.
Giorgi Bidzinashvili, the scientific leader of the dig team, said he considers the tooth belonged to a “cousin” of Zezva and Mzia, the names given to two near-complete 1.8-million-year-old fossilized skulls found at Dmanisi.
“The implications, not just for this site, but for Georgia and the story of humans leaving Africa 1.8 million years ago are enormous,” said British archaeology student Jack Peart, who first found the tooth at Orozmani.
“It solidifies Georgia as a really important place for paleoanthropology and the human story in general,” he told Reuters.
The oldest Homo fossils anywhere in the world date back to around 2.8 million years ago, when a partial jaw was discovered in Ethiopia, reports DW.
Scientists believe that early humans, a species called Homo erectus, probably began migrating out of Africa about 2 million years ago.
Ancient tools dating back around 2.1 million years have been discovered in modern-day China, but sites in Georgia hold the oldest remains of early humans found outside of Africa.
Anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens, are thought to have appeared around 300,000 years ago, although estimates vary, in Africa.
Underground Labyrinth With Secret Passages, Tunnels In Dobrogea Plateau, Romania
In many cases, the world below us is just as fascinating as the ground we walk on. Across Europe, there is a hidden, often millennia-old subterranean realm of tunnels stretching from the north in Scotland leading down to the Mediterranean.
It is an underground world of never-ending tunnels, massive caves, and labyrinths dug by unknown ancient men. There are also underground labyrinths that have not been fully explored yet.
One of them is located about 52 kilometers from Constanța, historically known as Tomis, the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania.
Limanu Cave’s secret, and still unexplored passages and roads. The network gallery actually resembles a city street map, like the street network of an ancient city developed chaotically, thus the impression of an underground city.
A Vast Underground City Where You Can Get Lost
This vast labyrinth of 12 hectares lies beneath the plateau of Limanu. Researchers started to investigate the place in 1916 and discovered traces left by humans, carved walls and ceilings, and ancient ceramic fragments.
Drawings and inscriptions in Roman and Cyrillic alphabets on the walls prove the cave was inhabited between the 1st century BC and the 10th century AD.
The labyrinth is vast, with a total length of passages of approximately 3.5 km. Dacians used it to hide from the Roman proconsul Marcus Licinius Crassus (c. 115 B.C. —53 BC), who played a vital role in transforming the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. The cave’s early inhabitants used a marking system to avoid getting lost.
The network of galleries resembles a city street map like the street network of an ancient city developed chaotically, thus the impression of an underground city.
Approximately 4,000 meters in length, Limanu Cave is the longest in Dobrogea. It has a chaotic branching of galleries, like the street network of an ancient city.
Some researchers believe that at least some of the galleries were entirely dug by human beings, as there are tooling marks on the walls. Certainly, Limanu Cave represented an important human refuge, even since Dacian times.
Remarkable Galleries
Some of the galleries have rectangular, very regular sections, and it seems humans carved them as signs of chiseling are visible. In order to avoid the collapse of ceilings, supporting walls and pillars were built in limestone slabs.
The drawings of galloping horses are of particular interest, while their riders have faces displayed from the front. Their silhouette and presentation strikingly resemble those of Dacian riders depicted on pottery discovered in many settlements in the area inhabited by Thraco-Dacians.
The earliest drawings are very likely from the prosperous time of the Geto-Dacian culture, the time when the cave was furnished as well. Other pictures show Christian religious symbols, letters, or words in the Cyrillic alphabet. This artwork belongs to the Roman-Byzantine period and the subsequent times.
Surveys have revealed archaeological material proving that local Dacians inhabited the cave even in that era. Existing evidence allows us to assume that a local Geto-Dacian authority ordered the maze of Limanu as a defense measure against the Roman danger.”
According to Ph.D. Adina Boroneant, “Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, the Limanu Cave was a shelter for the local population until later, 10th-11th centuries AD.
The account of Dio Cassius shows that the cave was a place of refuge, purposefully chosen and renovated, not some adventitious cavern,” Ph.D. Boroneant writes in his ‘Labirintul subterrane de la Limanu’ (The Underground Labyrinth of Limanu).
Tales Of Mysterious Sounds Coming From Underground Realms
Local stories mention strange and frightening wails like a prolonged high-pitched cry of grief, pain, or anger coming from the depths of the earth.
A scientific explanation for these strange sounds provided by speleologists is that the eerie wails are produced by the wind that sweeps through many underground galleries at Limanu. This noise affects the human psyche.
The cavern has a unique characteristic: although it is located on a complex of lakes and close to the Black Sea, it is so impenetrable that not even water can pass through.
The cave is also known as Caracicula (the old name of the Limanu settlement), Bats’, or Icons’ – due to some images carved in stone that once guarded the entrance.
Limanu Cave is one of the three habitats in Romania for horseshoe bats – Rhinolophus Mehelyi. The species decreased from over 5,000 specimens to about 300 individuals.
However, ecologists warned about the vulnerability of the cave, which is a magnet for treasure hunters. Through their actions, they tend to destroy the fauna.
Being located near the border with Bulgaria, Limanu cave had the reputation of a tunnel carrying fugitives across the border, particularly during the communist time.
There are many reasons to suspect the Dobrogea caves are hiding mysteries still waiting to be discovered.
Archaeologists Discover the 2,000-year-old ‘Sphinx Room’ Hidden in Emperor Nero’s Golden Palace
Archaeologists have discovered a hidden vault in the ruins of Roman Emperor Nero’s sprawling palace, hidden under the hills near Rome’s ancient Colosseum.
According to a statement (translated from Italian) from the Colosseum archaeological park, which includes the palace’s ruins, the chamber has sat hidden for nearly 2,000 years, likely dating to between A.D. 65 and A.D. 68.
The chamber nicknamed the Sphinx Room, is richly adorned with murals of real and mythical creatures including — you guessed it — a sphinx.
One of the walls of the newly discovered room is painted with a little sphinx.
Painted in rich red, green and yellow pigments that have survived the last two millennia incredibly well, the vaulted room is also decorated with images of a centaur, the goat-rumped god Pan, myriad plant and water ornaments, and a scene of a sword-wielding man being attacked by a panther.
According to the statement, the Sphinx Room was discovered accidentally, while researchers were setting up to restore a nearby chamber.
The room’s curved ceilings are 15 feet (4.5 meters) high, and much of the room is still filled in with dirt.
Nero began constructing his massive palace — known as the Domus Aurea, or “golden house” — in A.D. 64 after a devastating, six-day-long fire reduced two-thirds of Rome to ashes.
That researchers are still uncovering new rooms in the Domus Aurea after hundreds of years of excavation (the ruins were first rediscovered in the 15th century) is no surprise.
In its prime, the palace sprawled over four of Rome’s famous seven hills and is believed to have included at least 300 rooms.
One of the centaur’s frescoes in the newly-discovered chamber
Thanks, in part, to his narcissistic construction project, Nero’s reputation suffered in the eyes of history, and he is remembered today as a power-mad despot.
Following Nero’s suicide in A.D. 68, much of his palace was looted, filled with earth, and built over.
One of the palace’s central features, a large manmade lake, was eventually covered up by the Flavian Amphitheater — better known as the Roman Colosseum — in A.D. 70.
Thanks to the lake’s infrastructure, the bottom of the Colosseum was occasionally flooded to wage mock naval battles, bringing glory to the mad emperor’s successors.
Stunning Roman Villa Unearthed Under New Aldi Supermarket Site
Oxford archaeologists have unearthed what they believe to be a Roman villa which features a stunning mosaic under a site earmarked for a new Aldi supermarket.
A bathhouse, which featured beautiful red, white and blue tiles, was discovered on Warrington Road, Buckinghamshire.
The Olney site is currently being prepared for the construction of a brand-new Aldi supermarket.
The “intricate” mosaic was found at the site of a new Aldi supermarket in the town near Milton Keynes
Archaeologists said the mosaic featured ‘vibrant colours and intricate decorative patterns’ made up of red, white and blue tiles’.
Oxford Archaeology carried out the work for develop Angle Property and was commissioned due to the site’s proximity to another existing Roman site, according to the BBC.
The group deem the mosaic ‘archaeological remains of high significance’.
The roman villa with a “vibrant” mosaic was deemed of “high significance”
It is believed much of the ancient remains extend under Warrington Road, the digl team said.
The archaeologists said that following talks with Historic England and Milton Keynes Council, the mosaic has been preserved in situ.
Materials have been placed over the brickwork to protect the relics and allow construction to continue without causing damage.
Senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, John Boothroyd, told the BBC: ‘Due to the site location we anticipated some notable Roman remains, but the discovery of this fantastic mosaic far exceeded those expectations.
The site was excavated due to its proximity to an existing Roman settlement monument
‘To be able to preserve remains of this quality and importance is a brilliant outcome, and one that could only have been achieved with the support of Angle Property.’ There are currently 992 ALDI locations in the UK.
More than 230,000 Years Ago, The Earliest Human Remains Were Discovered in Eastern Africa
Ancient human fossils discovered in Ethiopia are much older than previously thought, experts claim, saying they could be as much as 230,000 years old.
The remains – known as Omo I – were discovered in Ethiopia in the late 1960s, and are one of the oldest known examples of Homo sapiens fossils, with earlier attempts to date them placing them at just under 200,000 years old.
However, a new study by the University of Cambridge found that the remains have to pre-date a colossal volcanic eruption in the area, which happened 230,000 years ago.
To make the discovery the team dated the chemical fingerprints of volcanic ash layers, found above and below the sediment where the fossils were discovered.
The Omo Kibish Formation in southwestern Ethiopia, within the East African Rift valley. The oldest human remains in east Africa date back at least 30,000 years earlier than previously thought to around a quarter of a million years ago
The remains – known as Omo I – were discovered in Ethiopia in the late 1960s, and are one of the oldest known examples of Homo sapiens fossils, with earlier attempts to date them placing them at less than 200,000 years old
The team said that while this pushes the minimum age for Homo sapiens in eastern Africa back by 30,000 years, future studies may extend the age even further.
In 2017, archaeologists announced the discovery of the world’s oldest Homo sapiens fossils — a 300,000-year-old skull at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco.
To date, the volcanic remains, the team collected pumice rock samples from the volcanic deposits and ground them down to sub-millimeter size. Scientists have been trying to precisely date the oldest fossils in eastern Africa, widely recognized as representing our species, Homo sapiens, ever since they were discovered in the 1960s.
Earlier attempts to date them suggested they were less than 200,000 years old. The Omo I remains were found in the Omo Kibish Formation in southwestern Ethiopia, which sits within the East African Rift valley. The region is an area of high volcanic activity and a rich source of early human remains and artifacts.
The team said that while this pushes the minimum age for Homo sapiens in eastern Africa back by 30,000 years, future studies may extend the age even further
By dating layers of volcanic ash above and below where fossil materials are found, scientists identified Omo I as one of the earliest examples of our species ever found.
‘Using these methods, the generally accepted age of the Omo fossils is under 200,000 years, but there’s been a lot of uncertainty around this date,’ said Dr. Céline Vidal from Cambridge’s Department of Geography, the paper’s lead author.
‘The fossils were found in a sequence, below a thick layer of volcanic ash that nobody had managed to date because the ash is too fine-grained.’
To date the volcanic remains, the team collected pumice rock samples from the volcanic deposits and ground them down to sub-millimeter size
The four-year project, led by British volcanologist Professor Clive Oppenheimer. is attempting to date all major volcanic eruptions in the Ethiopian Rift. Each eruption has its own fingerprint – its own evolutionary story below the surface, which is determined by the pathway the magma followed,’ said Dr. Vidal.
‘Once you’ve crushed the rock, you free the minerals within, and then you can date them, and identify the chemical signature of the volcanic glass that holds the minerals together.’
The researchers carried out a geochemical analysis on the crushed rock to link the fingerprint of the volcanic ash, from the Kamoya Hominin Site, with an eruption of the Shala volcano.
The team then dated pumice samples from the volcano, 250 miles from the site the human remains were discovered, to 230,000 years ago. Since the Omo I fossils were found deeper than this particular ash layer, they must be more than 230,000 years old, the team explained.
‘First I found there was a geochemical match, but we didn’t have the age of the Shala eruption,’ said Vidal.
‘I immediately sent the samples of Shala volcano to our colleagues in Glasgow so they could measure the age of the rocks.
Scientists have been trying to precisely date the oldest fossils in eastern Africa widely recognised as representing our species, Homo sapiens, ever since they were discovered in the 1960s
When I received the results and found out that the oldest Homo sapiens from the region were older than previously assumed, I was really excited. Professor Asfawossen Asrat, a co-author of the study from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, said: ‘The Omo Kibish Formation is an extensive sedimentary deposit which has been barely accessed and investigated in the past.
Our closer look into the stratigraphy of the Omo Kibish Formation, particularly the ash layers, allowed us to push the age of the oldest Homo sapiens in the region to at least 230,000 years.
Unlike other Middle Pleistocene fossils which are thought to belong to the early stages of the Homo sapiens lineage, Omo I possesses unequivocal modern human characteristics, according to co-author Dr. Aurélien Mounier, from the Musée de l’Homme in Paris.
He gave the example of a ‘tall and globular cranial vault and a chin’, before claiming that the new date estimate made the remains ‘the oldest unchallenged Homo sapiens in Africa.
Until the Jebel Irhous discovery four years ago, most researchers believed that all humans living today descended from a population that lived in East Africa around 200,000 years ago.
‘We can only date humanity based on the fossils that we have, so it’s impossible to say that this is the definitive age of our species,’ said Vidal. The study of human evolution is always in motion: boundaries and timelines change as our understanding improves.
But these fossils show just how resilient humans are: that we survived, thrived and migrated in an area that was so prone to natural disasters. It’s probably no coincidence that our earliest ancestors lived in such a geologically active rift valley – it collected rainfall in lakes, providing fresh water and attracting animals, and served as a natural migration corridor stretching thousands of kilometres,’ said Oppenheimer.
The Omo I remains were found in the Omo Kibish Formation in southwestern Ethiopia, which sits within the East African Rift valley
The volcanoes provided fantastic materials to make stone tools and from time to time we had to develop our cognitive skills when large eruptions transformed the landscape.
Our forensic approach provides a new minimum age for Homo sapiens in eastern Africa, but the challenge still remains to provide a cap, a maximum age, for their emergence, which is widely believed to have taken place in this region,’ said co-author Professor Christine Lane, head of the Cambridge Tephra Laboratory.
It’s possible that new finds and new studies may extend the age of our species even further back in time. There are many other ash layers we are trying to correlate with eruptions of the Ethiopian Rift and ash deposits from other sedimentary formations,’ said Vidal. ‘In time, we hope to better constrain the age of other fossils in the region.’
New paintings believed to be from the prehistoric era have come to light during the ongoing studies on Mount Latmos (Beşparmak), home to significant rock paintings from ancient times.
Located in the western province of Aydın, the Latmos region is one of the places that attracts attention with its natural beauties, as it is also on the route of local and foreign tourists who want to explore nature and history.
While studies have been carried out to preserve the region and reveal its historical importance, the rock paintings of Latmos shed light on prehistoric times.
The number of the first known prehistoric rock paintings in Western Anatolia, discovered by German Archaeologist Anneliese Peschlow in 1994, has reached 200, with new paintings found since then.
The main subject of Latmos rock paintings, which have unique features in terms of subject and style, is related to the relationship between men and women, family, spring festivals and wedding ceremonies. In many paintings, decorations and figures resembling weaving patterns are also seen.
The newly discovered painting, which is believed to date back to prehistoric times, was found on a rock and in its cavities during the research conducted by the Ecosystem Conservation and Nature Lovers Association (EKODOSD).
Stating that they applied to the Aydın Cultural Heritage Preservation Board after the new discovery, EKODOSD President Bahattin Sürücü said, “There are human figures and ornamental motifs in the paintings drawn on a rock surface and its natural cavities.
It is seen that a figure drawn in a natural cavity has a different shape from the previous rock paintings. Peschlow, who has been working on prehistoric rock paintings in the Latmos region for years, has studied the newly found paintings. It was reported that the painting with interesting figures was not in Peschlow’s records.”
He said that further examinations will be made on the rock paintings by the Directorate General for Preservation of Natural Heritage.
After the first rock painting was discovered in Söğütözü in 1994, nearly 200 paintings have been so far found, Sürücü said.
“Considering that there are thousands of rock shelters and caves on a wide area among the rugged, stacked rocks of the Latmos Mountains, it is a fact that it is difficult and takes decades to study and detect them.
It is not easy to find rock paintings in the complex structure of the Latmos Mountains, which is almost an open-air museum with its castles, ancient stone roads, monasteries and defensive structures.”
“The newly found rock painting shows once again that many paintings drawn by prehistoric artists on thousands of rocks in the Latmos region are waiting to be discovered. Latmos Mountains are world heritage and should be protected as a whole,” he added.
Ancient Shipwreck is Discovered 1,200 Years After Sinking in the Holy Land
Sunken remains from a Royal Navy warship have been seen for the first time in over a century after divers located the wreck from World War One.
Back in April 1917, HMS Jason struck a German mine off the Scottish island of Coll and as a result, it sank and killed 25 men.
The exact location of the wreck was listed for decades on nautical charts, until 2011 when a seabed survey found no trace of her where she was supposed to be, meaning it was struck from the records.
Now, after five years of research, the remains have been found. Project leader Kevin Heath said: “It’s been known about in diving circles and shipwreck circles in Scotland for a long time.
“It was one of those mysteries – it was out there, people had looked and couldn’t find it, so I thought I’d take it upon myself to have a look.”
He used a side scan sonar to search the seabed when a possible wreck was revealed 600 meters from where Jason was supposed to be lying next to a large rock.
Later on her identity was confirmed on April 12 by a SULA Diving crew, sailing aboard MV Clasina.
Lieutenant Jen Smith of the Royal Navy, who was part of the dive team, said it was an “incredibly moving” discovery. “There was excitement at finding the wreck, but that’s quickly tempered by the fact that it’s a war grave – 25 men died here,” she said.
HMS Jason sunk in 1917 with 25 men killed
“It’s incredibly moving to think that no one has seen the ship since her stern disappeared 105 years ago. “Families knew the fate of the ship, but now they will know where she is and that can bring closure.”
Now the wreck lies at a depth of 93m and has several identifying features, including a pointed stern, a distinctive propeller, two 4.7in guns and crockery.
There is also evidence of the fateful moment that doomed the ship. “It’s been there since World War One so it’s very broken down,” said Mr. Heath.
“But it’s upright, with a slight list to port, the aft gun is there, then all of the machinery is exposed, then there’s the bridge, then there’s a forward gun.
“And just at the forward gun there is a break where the wreckage is missing and that’s where she hit the mine.”
Steps will now be taken to ensure the Jason is protected under law as an official war grave, allowing divers to visit but not touch the wreck.
Lt Smith said: “Documenting the ship, showing people what she’s like today is important to me. Naval war graves are often forgotten, as it’s hard for people to remember what you can’t see.
“Whilst land battlefields and cemeteries such as those in Normandy or the Somme can be visited by anyone, only a few of us can visit a shipwreck.
“So the more we can show and explain what happened to her and her sailors, the better. It’s important to make sure those who served are not forgotten.”
HMS Jason was built as a torpedo gunboat in 1892 but was later converted into a minesweeper by 1909, continuing her duties throughout the First World War.
Sadly she sank in little more than five minutes – enough time for nearly 80 survivors to escape, before being rescued by HMS Circe.
Steve Mortimer, who led the dive group, said: “It was a privilege to help identify the remains of this vessel. “25 families can now take comfort that the location of their relative’s ship is precisely known. We think that’s important.”
Mr. Heath and his fellow historian Wendy Sadler have documented the story of the Jason and its crew at lostinwatersdeep.co.uk
The Everlasting Shoe: What Does a 5,500-Year-Old Shoe Discovered in a Cave Tell Us About Ancient Armenians?
As any archaeologist knows, very few things other than stone last for a long time. In a moist, warm climate, most organic material such as hemp, cloth, wood, and leather will decay, leaving nothing but stone and perhaps bone at an archaeological site.
This is one reason why the Stone Age got its name, not because everything was made of stone, but because it is mostly stone tools and ornaments that have survived and thus it is mainly stone items that are representative of that time-period.
All organic materials such animal skins worn by Paleolithic or Neolithic peoples have, for the most part, disappeared. In the right environment though, such materials can last for thousands of years.
If an environment is dry, and undisturbed, normally fragile, perishable material can last for millennia. One example of this is a 5,500-year-old leather shoe found in an Armenian cave which is one of several other examples of ancient footwear.
Entrance to the Areni-1 cave in southern Armenia near the town of Areni. The cave is where the world’s oldest known shoe has been found.
Other Preserved Ancient Shoes
Two other famous examples of ancient footwear are sandals found in the Arnold Research Cave in Missouri and another in the Cave of the Warrior in the Judaean Desert.
The shoes in the Arnold Research Cave are between 800 and 8,000 years old. The youngest were made of deerskin while the oldest were sandals made of fibers from a plant called rattlesnake master.
The shoes found in the Cave of the Warrior were also sandals made from leather that were determined to be about 6,000 years old. The leather sandals were found with a reed mat, a bow with a quiver of arrows, and a flint knife, among other items.
The Judaean Desert is known for its dry climate, providing excellent preserving conditions. The desert has also been used for thousands of years by fugitives on the run who hid their belongings in caves and never retrieved them.
Other items found in the Judaean Desert include the Dead Sea Scrolls dating to between 200 BC and 200 AD and a cache of bronze instruments and ornaments determined to be about 6,000 years old.
A pair of sandals from the Middle Neolithic
It should be noted that the two other examples of ancient footwear were not directly dated, but were dated using comparison with other artifacts found in the caves.
The Armenian shoes were directly dated with radiocarbon dating. The great antiquity of the Armenian shoe is thus more certain than the antiquity of the other shoes.
The Armenian Shoe
The 5,500-year-old shoe was discovered by an Armenian graduate student from the Institute of Archaeology of Armenia, Diana Zandaryan. The shoe was preserved by both the cold, dry conditions of the cave and a layer of sheep dung which was covering it, acting as a weathering seal.
Along with the shoe, containers of wheat, barley, and apricots were also discovered. The shoe dates to about 3,500 BC making it is a few centuries older than the initial levels of Stonehenge, the construction of which began in 3,000 BC.
It is not certain why the shoe or the other items were left there. They could have been left for storage or hidden there in a time of conflict. It is also possible that they were left there as an offering, possibly of a religious nature.
Another question is whether it was worn by a man or a woman. The shoe is small, women’s size by modern European and American standards, however it could have also been worn by a man in this time-period.
Life and Times of the Shoe
During the time that this shoe was in use, the inhabitants of Armenia had already been farming for thousands of years, having adopted domesticates from the Levant.
It is also around this time that the Kurgan culture, the proposed carriers of the Proto-Indo-European language began to move out of their ancestral homeland.
Little is known about the Kurgan culture except that they buried their dead in large mounds referred to as kurgans. These mounds are the most archaeologically visible features that they left behind, hence the name of the culture.
It is unknown whether the inhabitants of the caves were in some way related to the Kurgan culture, but we do know interesting things about them.
The people of Armenia of this day used domesticates prevalent during the Neolithic, including wheat, barley and sheep. Armenia was one of the earliest regions to adopt farming and pastoralism.
The archaeological site of Aratashen, which was inhabited about 8,000 years ago, has shown many details of the Neolithic culture of Armenia. They lived in adobe houses, raised barley and had shovels, spoons, and other tools made from wood, bone, and obsidian.
These shoes reveal yet another facet of Prehistoric Armenia, which is already known for its relatively rich archaeological record.
Eventually with enough research, we may learn more things about their culture beyond just what type of shoes they wore, what they ate and other aspects of their material culture.
We may also learn about the immaterial aspects of their culture, such as small glimpses of how they viewed the world.
Archaeologists in Egypt discovered a giant man still lying in an 8.7-foot-long sarcophagus
Archaeologists in Egypt have a hard question to answer: who is the colossal figure buried inside this massive sarcophagus?
The discovery was made during an excavation in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria.
Measuring a whopping 2.65 meters (8.7 feet) in length, the discovery is the largest granite sarcophagus ever found in the area, which is renowned for its ancient relics.
An initial look over at the black granite sarcophagus indicates that it dates back to the Ptolemaic period, an era of Egyptian history that started in 323 BCE following the death of Alexander the Great and ended in 30 BCE after the death of Cleopatra VII and the invasion by the Romans.
The announcement made by Dr. Ayman Ashmawy, head of the government’s Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, noted that the tomb was found at a depth of 5 meters (16 feet) beneath the ground’s surface. Along with its considerable length, it is also 1.85 meters (6 feet) tall and 1.65 meters (5.4 feet) wide.
Most interestingly, Dr. Ashmawy said the layer of mortar between the lid and the body of the sarcophagus appears to be intact, indicating the contents of the stone casket have not seen the light of day since antiquity.
Judging by the exceptional size of the casket, this was most likely the burial place of someone at least of moderate status and wealth, but who?
Well, unfortunately, it probably isn’t some ancient giant. Sarcophagi tend to be a fair bit bigger than the person they carry.
For example, the longest sarcophagus ever discovered in Egypt was over 4 meters (13 feet) long. The person inside, the averagely-designed ruler Merneptah, was certainly not this tall.
Fortunately, there are some big clues laying around. Not far from the sarcophagus, the team found a carved head made out of alabaster believed to depict the “owner” of the tomb.
Alabaster is a soft rock, commonly used for carving, so most of the features have eroded away. However, some further detective work might be able to uncover its mysterious identity.
Thanks to its rich and varied history, the city of Alexandria is regularly the site of incredible archaeological discoveries.
Like many of the coastal ports in the Mediterranean, the city has been an invaluable trading post of goods, ideas, people, and cultures.
Just a few months ago, just off the coast of the city, underwater archaeologists found a collection of ancient shipwrecks and treasures that would make Indiana Jones himself jealous.
4,000-year-old skeletons of a mother and her child embrace
Victims of an ancient earthquake that had once struck the Chinese community of Lajia are now on display at the Lajia Ruins Museum.
The ruins of Lajia are in Qinghai Province in Northwest China, near the Upper Yellow River. China People’s Daily has said that the site is bringing people to tears; victims are shown to be huddling together in what were their final moments. One display shows women embracing their children in an attempt to protect them.
Heartbreaking: Skeletal remains show the mother kneeling down on the ground with her arms around her son in central China
This scene is reminiscent of the victims of the Roman city Pompeii, which was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
One difference is that the Pompeiian people are shown with such humanity because they have been preserved by volcanic ash and mud, while the skeletal remains at Lajia inspire horror.
An earthquake shook the ground around them, triggering a mudslide that came down and demolished a Bronze Age building that the people had taken cover in.
The building was a family home that the people ran into thinking they would be safe. On one of the walls preserved for all of the eternity is a woman embracing her child, her skull looking upwards as she caresses the child in her arms.
The remains of two children clinging to an adult lie against another wall. Upstairs, you will find another woman and child in almost the same position as the first two. These people are from the Bronze Age Qijia culture, their remains date back to around 2,000 BC, making them 4,000 years old.
Earlier this year the remains of a child clinging to his mother were displayed in Pompeii. There are no skeletons in Pompeii – the ancient mud and ash saw to that.
Pompeii was destroyed by a pyroclastic flow: an extremely fast-moving cloud of rock and hot gas that can move at speeds of 450 miles an hour. Given these speeds, it is instantaneous death for those that chose to ignore the warnings given by Vesuvius.
It hugs the ground while it moves and spreads laterally, consisting of two parts: a hot ash plume that hovers above and the basal flow that consists of heavy rocks.
The ash plume incinerates anything it touches while the basal flow destroys anything in its path. Herculaneum was also devastated when Vesuvius exploded.
It is unknown how many died when Vesuvius exploded but it is estimated to be between 10,000 and 25,000. Many victims perished at the city port while trying to take cover in warehouses that were near the dock.
Others tried to get to the last remaining boats while others ran for their homes, most likely then praying to their household gods.
The mother and child were discovered in what archaeologists call the House of the Golden Bracelet. The home of a wealthy family, the walls covered in frescoes and also contained a large garden. It was all carbonized when the 300 degree cloud hit.
“Even though it happened 2000 years ago, it could be a boy, a mother, or a family,” said Stefania Giudice of Naples National Archaeological Museum. “It’s not just archaeology; it’s human archaeology.”
Now branded as the “Pompeii of the East,” the poor town of Lajia is now one of the most important archaeology sites in China.
Mirrors, oracle bones, and stone knives are just a few of the artifacts found at the site.
The victims of Lajia were first found in 2000 in a loess cave, one of many in the settlement that consisted of caves and houses.
