Ancient Roman Shipwreck Marausa 2 Recovered Off Sicily Coast | Maritime Archaeology Discovery

A historical shipwreck has been successfully recovered from the seabed off the coast of Misiliscemi in the Trapani area, Sicily.

The 11-meter-long Roman commercial transport ship was discovered in July 2020 after a diver reported the presence of amphora fragments and wooden remains just 100 meters from the shore.

After an initial survey, which allowed scientists to understand the importance of the discovery, the Superintendence of the Sea took steps to secure the site by covering it with over 100 bags filled with sand.

Long and careful preparations were required before scientists could launch a project to recover the ancient ship from the waters.

In 1999, a similar ship was discovered at the same place. After being recovered, the find called “Marausa 1” was exhibited in the Baglio Anselmi Museum in Marsala.

Its cargo consisted of African amphorae closed by corks. These ancient jars transported dried fruits (pine nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, peaches, dried figs), olives, and, most likely wine and garum (fish sauce).

Considering its likeness and location, the current ship is thought to be its twin and was therefore given the name Marausa 2 by scientists.

“From the investigations carried out, the “Marausa 2” could be a cargo ship (used for the transport of goods) from the 4th century AD of great scientific interest, especially for the naval construction techniques of this particular historical period,” Regione Sicilia informs.

According to Finestre Sull Arte Marausa 2 is in excellent condition, almost intact. Even after 1,700 years, the preservation state has been described as “astonishing,” recovery operations, coordinated by the Sicilian Region’s Superintendence of the Sea were complex and required cutting-edge technology.

After an initial excavation phase and photographic documentation of the site, work began to secure the wreck, protected by nets and fabric. Next, a metal structure was erected around the hull, allowing the entire vessel to be raised in a unified manner.

Historians are confident that the findings will further illuminate information about trade between Rome and the North African provinces. The amphorae carried by the ship most likely contained wine, olive oil, and other foodstuffs.

“On the Marausa 1, it must be said that it represents one of Italy’s most important underwater finds.

The objects recovered and currently exhibited at the Pepoli Archaeological Museum in Trapani, particularly the ceramics, attest to the wreck’s function as an onerary ship, intended to transport foodstuffs, such as dried fruit, wine, and canned fish, contained in amphorae.

The co-presence of amphorae, both resin-coated and non-resin-coated, demonstrates the variety of goods transported (dated between the late 3rd and 4th centuries CE and predominantly North African production).

The presence of African table and kitchen pottery and the discovery of animal remains for the crew’s feeding constitute important evidence of life on board,” Finestre Sull Arte informs.

Both ships probably sank while maneuvering into the Birgi River.

Motya, Lilybaeum, and Drepanum, ports of reference at different ages in the Mediterranean routes, continue to reveal surprising archaeological discoveries that help researchers opportunity to “reconstruct fragments of our past, elements of the history of our Island, which has always been a crossroads of trade and cultures,” says the Councilor for Cultural Heritage, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato.

Raising the entire ship was possible because the timbers were still well-preserved. The cargo of amphorae and other artifacts are still intact and stored inside.

Researchers Finish Separating World’s Largest Celtic Coin Hoard

Last Friday, conservators at Jersey Heritage finally completed separating and meticulously cleaning the largest hoard of Celtic coins and gold jewelry ever discovered. It took nearly three years of effort to go through the mass of treasure.

“This is a significant milestone for the team. It has been painstaking but thoroughly intriguing work, which has delivered some very unexpected and amazing finds along the way,” Neil Mahrer, who led the conservation effort says in a press release.

“There is still plenty to do and I am sure the Hoard will continue to surprise us as we clean and record the material.”

According to the BBC, the treasure was discovered in 2012 by amateur metal detector enthusiasts Reg Mead and Richard Miles. But it was no accidental discovery; the pair had been searching the area for 30 years looking for it.

They began their quest after a local woman told them that her father had discovered some silver Celtic coins in a pot in a field near her home in Jersey, a British island in the English Channel.

She did not recall the exact location, and the owner of the field only allowed the pair to search the area once a year after he harvested his crops.

Their patience paid off, and they did eventually find several coins in the field. “We then looked deeper into the ground to see if there was anything further.

We came down on a solid object and when Reg dug up a chunk of earth there was immediately five or six discs,” Miles tells the BBC. “We always said if we found anything significant it must remain in situ, it had to remain in its archaeological context so it could be studied.”

The hoard, dubbed Catillon II contained, at last count, at least 68,000 coins, approximately six times larger than any other Celtic hoard ever discovered, according to Jersey Heritage.

It also contained many gold neck torcs, glass beads, a leather purse and a bag with silver and gold decoration. Researchers estimate it was buried by French Celts known as the Coriosolitae around 30-50 B.C., around the time of Julius Caesar, likely as they fled a Roman invasion of the area.

According to the BBC, now that the contents of the hoard have been separated, the government of Jersey will vote on whether to pay to keep the treasure trove on the island or allow it to be sold off. At the time of its discovery, it was valued at 10 million pounds.

4,500-year-old ‘Stonehenge’ sanctuary discovered in the Netherlands

Archaeologists have discovered a 4,500-year-old sanctuary in the Netherlands that marks the solstices and equinoxes, and was also used as a burial ground.

Archaeologists in the Netherlands have unearthed a 4,500-year-old sanctuary whose earthen mounds align with the sun on solstices and equinoxes. And, just like Stonehenge, the sanctuary was also used for burials and rituals. 

People were buried at the sanctuary over a period of 800 years, according to a translated statement from the Municipality of Tiel, where the remnants of mounds, ditches, a flat burial field and a farm were discovered. 

The largest of the three mounds holds the remains of men, women and many children who died between about 2500 B.C. and 1200 B.C., the researchers said.

Excavators also discovered ancient burials surrounding the sanctuary, making the entire site about 9.4 acres (3.8 hectares), larger than seven American football fields.

More than 80 individuals were unearthed at the site; some were buried, and others were cremated, according to the statement, which noted that “these deceased must have played an important role in the rituals.”

Although the sanctuary doesn’t have stone boulders like Stonehenge does, it appears that the largest burial mound served as a calendar that helped people mark the sun’s movements, the researchers said in a translated statement.

For instance, precious artifacts, such as a bronze spearhead, were buried where the sun’s rays hit the ground through an opening at the sanctuary. 

Tracking the solstices and equinoxes was “important for religious festivals, for example, but also to calculate what the sowing and harvesting times [were],” according to the statement.

It’s likely these special solar days were celebrated, and a farm at the site might have served as a spot for festive gatherings, the archaeologists added.

The team also discovered pits and the remains of poles and buckets. It appears that these pits held water, suggesting they were involved in cleansing rituals, according to the statement.

Researchers discovered the site at an industrial estate known as the Medel business park in late 2016 and spent the next year excavating it. During that time, they uncovered more than 1 million finds from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman Empire and Middle Ages, the team said in the statement.

It took six years to analyze and piece together the finds, which included artifacts of pottery, bone, loam (soil and clay), stone, flint and wood. 

“Rarely do archaeologists get the chance to excavate so much terrain around burial mounds,” the researchers wrote in the statement. “Now it is clear how unique this find and this sanctuary” are.

In the oldest section of the burial field, archaeologists excavating a woman’s burial found a glass bead from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). This bead, which is the oldest known glass bead in the Netherlands, reveals that people in the region 4,000 years ago had contact with cultures nearly 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) away.

Although the site is not open to the public, archaeologists have set up two exhibits showing artifacts from the sanctuary.

At the Flipje and Regional Museum, a selection of Bronze Age grave finds will be on display until October 2023, and the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden is showing finds from a group grave located about 660 feet (200 meters) south of the burial mounds.

2,500-Year-Old Tartessian Anthropomorphic Reliefs Revolutionize Thinking on Ancient Culture

The Tartessian site of Casas del Turuñuelo in Spanish Extremadura, has been under excavation to examine the mythical pre-Roman civilization that occupied southwest Iberia between the 8th and 4th centuries BC.

Now, this vicinity of Guareña has yielded five beautiful anthropomorphic, figured reliefs from the 5th century BC belong to the Tartessian culture, found during excavation of the eastern sector of the deposit.

These are the first of their kind to be discovered in Tartessian culture , which had previously been thought of as an aniconic culture that represented divinity through animal or plant motifs or through betilos (sacred stones), reported the Spanish news agency EFE. 

In layman terms, the representations correspond to human faces, whereas by definition aniconic cultures are opposed to the use of idols or images.

The Building Tartessos Project: A Divine Goddess and a Warrior

The discovery was made during the V excavation campaign, which is part of the Building Tartessos project (known as Construyendo Tarteso in Spanish).

The project is focused on characterizing Tartessian material culture through the architectural analysis of large adobe buildings that have been excavated in recent decades.

The Construyendo Tarteso team began its first excavation campaign of the Tartessian site  in 2015, and the current campaign has received support from the General Secretary for Science, Technology, Innovation and University of the Junta de Extremadura, the Diputación de Badajoz and the Palarq Foundation.

The team from the Institute of Archaeology, a joint center of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Junta de Extremadura, led by Esther Rodríguez González and Sebastián Celestino Pérez, confirmed that two of the figurative reliefs are almost complete and correspond to two female figures adorned with outstanding earrings, reported CSIC, a Spanish research council known as the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.

These represent typical techniques of Tartessian goldsmithing, and are evidence of a highly advanced culture. The reliefs are believed to represent female divinities from the Tartessian pantheon, but the researchers do not rule out the possibility that they may be prominent figures in Tartessian society.

In addition to the two female figures, other fragments of reliefs have been recovered, including one identified as a warrior due to a preserved part of the helmet.

The discovery of these figured reliefs is significant as it represents a profound paradigm shift in the interpretation of Tartessos. These human faces on the reliefs, along with the technical quality and artistic detail, suggest that the Tartessians may have had a more complex and diverse religious iconography than previously thought, reported Voz Populi .

Casas del Turuñuelo and the Tartessians

The Casas del Turuñuelo site remains in an excellent state of conservation. To date, it is the best-preserved building built on land in the western Mediterranean, and its two construction floors are still intact. Its excellent state of conservation makes it possible to document construction techniques and architectural solutions much ahead of their time.

Previously, the site has yielded a marble sculpture from Mount Pentelicus, of which only the feet are visible, and a set of glasses of Macedonian origin, next to the collection of Etruscan ivories.

The site is renowned for its mass sacrifice of animals, mainly horses – the largest sacrifice of animals documented till date in the western Mediterranean!

The Tartessian are believed to have been one of the earliest Western European civilizations that thrived in the Iberian Peninsula during the first millennium BC.

The Iberians, Celtiberians and the Phoenicians were all heavily influenced by the Tartessians, whose influence was centered in the region of modern-day Andalusia, along the Guadalquivir River.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Tartessian culture is their writing system, which is known as Tartessian script. This script is still not fully deciphered, and so we know relatively little about the Tartessian language and its literature. However, what we do know is that Tartessian script was used for inscriptions on pottery, metal objects and rock carvings.

The Tartessian religion was polytheistic, and their gods were associated with natural elements such as the sun, moon, and stars, as well as with animals such as bulls and horses.

They also believed in an afterlife and had a strong cult of the dead. One of the most famous Tartessian artifacts is the so-called “Lady of Elche,” a bust that is believed to represent a goddess or priestess of the Tartessian religion.

‘Liquid gypsum’ burial from Roman Britain scanned in 3D, revealing 1,700-year-old secrets

About 1,700 years ago, liquid gypsum was poured over the remains of an elite family in Roman Britain.

About 1,700 years ago, a wealthy Roman family was buried with a bizarre material — liquid gypsum — poured over their corpses. Now, a noninvasive 3D scan of this burial has revealed the insides of their burial cocoon.

Gypsum is a mineral and key ingredient in cement and plaster that, on rare occasions, Roman-era people used in burials. Once the deceased were placed in lead or stone coffins, liquid gypsum was poured over the bodies, which then hardened into protective shells. After that, the coffins were buried in the ground

Most of the coffins’ contents eventually decayed, leaving behind plaster casts with cavities similar to those of the victims discovered at Pompeii. 

The scan’s finding is “unparalleled,” as these gypsum cavities are filled with details, preserving imprints of shrouds, clothes, footwear and even weaving patterns, according to a statement from the University of York in the U.K. 

The burial examined, the multibody grave from York, is presumed to be that of a family who died simultaneously around 1,700 years ago. The scan revealed the contours of two adult bodies, as well as that of an infant who had been wrapped in cloth bands.

Even the small ties used to bind the burial shroud around one of the adults’ heads were visible from the scans.

“The Roman family gypsum casing is particularly valuable because neither the skeletons, nor the coffin, were retained after their discovery in the 19th c[entury],” when there was a building boom in and around the city, project principal investigator Maureen Carroll, chair of Roman archaeology at the University of York, in an email. 

Remarkably, the casing reveals more than the skeletons could, she said. “We are very lucky to have this casing, as it shows the precise position of the bodies and their relationship to each other exactly at the moment when the liquid gypsum was poured over them and the lid of the coffin closed about 1700 years ago!”

However, it’s still a mystery why Romans poured gypsum into coffins. Grave goods indicate that gypsum burials were reserved for an elite social class.

Traces of aromatic resins from Arabia and the Mediterranean have been discovered in other gypsum burials from York. These resins were luxuries accessible only to the very wealthy.

Archaeologists have also discovered gypsum burials in Europe and North Africa, which were also occupied by the Roman Empire, but the burials are most common from the third and fourth centuries in Britain, with York and the surrounding region sporting about 50 of them — the highest concentration of gypsum burials discovered to date, Carroll said.

“3D scanning has never before been applied to the material in Britain or any of the other gypsum/plaster/chalk burials elsewhere,” Carroll noted.

Next, the team plans to scan all 16 gypsum burial cavities in the York museum, in hopes of identifying characteristics of those interred, such as their age, sex, health and region of origin, according to the statement.

The researchers presented their findings, which were done in partnership with the York Museums Trust and Heritage360, on June 3 at the York Festival of Ideas.