Traded Tasmanian Devil Tooth Uncovered in Australia

PILBARA, AUSTRALIA—ABC News Australia reports that an excavation conducted at the site of a rock shelter destroyed by mine blasting in 2020 in north Western Australia’s Juukan Gorge has uncovered a tooth from a Tasmanian devil. Archaeologist Michael Slack said that the tooth likely reached the rock shelter through trade with people living on the coast to the south, since there is no evidence that Tasmanian devils ever lived in the region surrounding the rock shelter. Evidence does indicate that the animals lived in southwestern Western Australia some 3,000 years ago, however. Pieces of braided human hair, a shell bead, and artifacts made of quartz held together with resin were also found. Pieces of braided human hair discovered at the rock shelter in 2014 have been dated to about 5,000 years ago and linked to Aboriginal people living in the Pilbara today. To read about 20,000-year-old butchered kangaroo bones that archaeologists found in a Pilbara cave, go to "World Roundup: Australia."

Sumerian Sculpture Repatriated to Iraq

NEW YORK, NEW YORK—According to a statement released by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, museum officials handed over a Sumerian sculpture to representatives from Iraq in a ceremony conducted in Washington, D.C. The copper alloy figurine, dated to between 2900 and 2600 B.C., depicts a man carrying a box or potential temple offering on his head. The Met purchased the sculpture in 1955 and decided to return the artifact to Iraq after an internal review of its provenance. To read about the composer of 4,000-year-old Sumerian songs, go to "Priestess, Poet, Politician."

Contents of Roman Lead Coffin Examined in England

WEST YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND—Newsweek reports that the examination of the contents of a Roman lead coffin discovered in 2022 in the city of Leeds has identified the partial remains of a child. The initial evaluation of the coffin’s poorly preserved contents found the remains of a woman between the ages of 25 and 35 at the time of her death some 1,600 years ago, a bracelet, a glass bead necklace, and a finger ring or an earring. Researchers at Leeds City Museum have now determined that the remains a child of about 10 years of age had also been placed in the coffin. “We won’t know—and probably never will—who the child was or what their relationship was to the Roman woman, but we do know that their burials took place around the same period,” explained Stuart Robinson of Leeds City Council. To read about a rare Roman gravestone uncovered in western England, go to "What's in a Name?"

2,200-Year-Old Chu State Tomb Excavated in China

HUAINAN, CHINA—China Daily reports that a tomb built by the Chu vassal state at the end of the Warring States Period (475–221 B.C.) has been excavated at the Wuwangdun site in eastern China. Looting has severely damaged the tomb, prompting this rescue excavation. The site features a cemetery surrounded by a moat. The largest tomb, made up of eight chambers arranged in the shape of a cross around a central chamber, had been topped with an earthen mound. Each of the eight chambers was covered with four layers of planks inscribed in ink and bamboo mats. So far, 78 of these bamboo mats have been removed and stabilized. “This is currently the largest-scale ancient bamboo mat extraction project conducted worldwide,” said Zhang Zhiguo of the National Center for Archaeology. The inscriptions on the layers of planks described the function of each chamber, added archaeologist Gong Xicheng of the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Lacquer objects, bronze ritual artifacts, utensils, wooden figurines, and musical instruments were found in these chambers. Smaller tombs, chariot pits, and sacrificial deposits have also been uncovered in the cemetery. To read about a burial in China's Henan province that researchers believe belonged to the Luhun Rong, a people that were eliminated during the Warring States Period, go to "Tomb from a Lost Tribe."

Australia’s Ice Age Tools Analyzed

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA—According to a Live Science report, David Zeanah of California State University, Sacramento, representatives of the Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation, and their colleagues have analyzed more than 4,400 cutting and grinding tools recovered from open-air sites on Barrow Island, which is located off the coast of northwestern Australia. Between 29,000 and 19,000 years ago, when sea levels were lower, the island would have been a high plateau connected to what is now Australia by a coastal plain. Zeanah said that most of the tools found in caves on Barrow Island were made from limestone, which was readily available in the area. The tools recovered from open-air sites, however, were made mostly of rocks that match sources on what is now mainland Australia. “The open sites provide clear links to the mainland geologies, and that infers that people were using the coastal plain that’s underwater now,” Zeanah said. As for the number of limestone tools recovered in caves, Zeanah thinks that limestone tools left at open-air sites may not have survived the millennia of exposure to the elements. Then, as sea levels rose and Barrow Island was separated from the mainland, people who settled in the caves would have had to rely on the local limestone to make tools, he explained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Quaternary Science Reviews. To read about stone tools found at an Aboriginal site that is now underwater in the Dampier Archipelago, go to "Around the World: Australia."

Possible Signs of Border Violence Found in Scottish Churchyard

SWINTON, SCOTLAND—Chronicle Live reports that human bone fragments have been discovered in disturbed soil in the area of Swinton Parish Church, which is located in Scotland near the Anglo-Scottish border, by researchers from the Border Reivers Archaeology Unit. The bones are thought to represent two adults and three children who suffered multiple injuries around the time of their deaths. Blade wounds thought to have been made with an ax or sword were found on three of the leg bones. One of these bones and another thigh bone bear teeth marks from a large dog or wolf, indicating that they had been left unburied for a time, perhaps after a battle or massacre. Wolves were also known to have dug up graves in order to eat human remains during the sixteenth century, however. Swinton Parish Church is thought to have been used as a refuge during the border raids of the Anglo-Scottish wars from the fourteenth century through the sixteenth century, and raids conducted from the late thirteenth century to the seventeenth century by both English and Scottish border reivers. Traces of a possible defensive earthwork have also been identified in the churchyard. To read about the fortifications of a crucial bastion during the Wars of Scottish Independence, go to "Storming the Castle."

German Museum Returns Wine Jug to Greece

HANOVER, GERMANY—The National Herald reports that the August Kestner Museum has repatriated a seventh-century B.C. oenochoe, or wine jug, to Greece. Traces of decoration are still visible on the neck of the jug. The museum received the oenochoe as a gift in 1986, along with a letter stating that the artifact had been found at one end of the Corinth Canal in an excavation conducted in 1943, during the Nazi occupation of Greece. The letter also includes a description of the trench in which the jug was found and its position in it. “The August Kestner Museum joins the group of international museums that have in recent years made great efforts to investigate provenance issues of artifacts in their collections,” said Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni. To read more about Greek drinking vessels, go to "Alcohol Through the Ages: Socializing at the Symposium."

Clovis Points May Have Had Multiple Uses

KENT, OHIO—A new study suggests that Clovis spear points may have been used for butchering as well as hunting big game, according to a Phys.org report. Clovis points and tools, dated to between 13,500 and 12,800 years ago, were first identified at a site near Clovis, New Mexico. A team of researchers led by Metin I. Eren of Kent State University and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History asked five modern hunters to use large, hand-held stone flakes and replica Clovis points mounted on wooden handles to process a full-grown bison. The hunters were able to butcher the animal in three hours and 10 minutes, and reported that the Clovis points worked more efficiently than the stone flakes. In fact, four of the hunters cut themselves using the hand-held stone flakes, while no injuries occurred using the Clovis points affixed to handles. The hunters did note, however, that the Clovis points had to be sharpened often and that they broke more easily than the hand-held flakes. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. For more on Clovis points, go to "Destination: The Americas."

Ancient Graves Uncovered in Southern Portugal

FARO, PORTUGAL—Portugal Resident reports that three burials dated to the fifth or sixth century A.D. have been unearthed in southern Portugal, at the site of the ancient Roman city of Ossónoba. The tombs, which held the remains of a man, a young woman, and baby who was no more than six months of age at the time of death, had been sealed with limestone slabs taken from older monumental buildings. It is not clear if the individuals were related to each other, but analysis of DNA samples and isotopic analysis of the bones may offer more information about who these people were, what they ate, and where they lived, said archaeologist Francisco Correio of ERA Arqueologia. The burials appear to have been looted in the past, added biological anthropologist Cláudia Maio. She expects that small bracelets, necklaces, and rings were taken. The researchers also recovered Roman artifacts in the area, including ceramics, bone dice, nails, pins, a spoon, possible evidence of a dye factory, and coins minted during the reign of Constantine the Great, between A.D. 306 and 337. To read about one of the largest known Roman towns in northern Portugal, go to "Off the Grid: Tongobriga, Portugal."