Sacred Spring Unearthed Beneath Roman Ruins in France

PARIS, FRANCE—According to a Live Science report, near the village of Chamborêt north of the French city of Limoges, archaeologists have uncovered a freshwater spring likely dating to between 4,500 and 6,000 years ago below the remnants of a Roman-era pool. The Roman ruins, which date to the third century A.D., probably formed a landscaped basin surrounded by a wall of granite stones. A team of archaeologists from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) have also recovered Late Roman pottery sherds, coins, and a ceramic fragment that potentially depicts the face of Medusa or a water deity. Prior to Roman occupation, the earliest evidence of structures at the site includes a rectangular dry-stone building, postholes, sandpits, and what may have been a wood building. Such structures, they believe, were likely part of a home and farm that had been abandoned for several centuries before its revival during the Roman era. An ancient pit found beneath the pool alongside several objects date to the site’s earliest occupation during the Neolithic period. Artifacts from that era include fragments of flint, bricks and tiles singed from a fire, and pieces of a Grand Pressigny dagger—named for another Neolithic site in France. The discoveries, according to the team, offer a glimpse into regional life during Late Antiquity and the transition to the early Middle Ages. For more on the archaeology of Roman Gaul, go to “Off the Grid: Vienne, France.” 

“Porcelain Gallbladder” Identified in Mississippi

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI—According to an Atlas Obscura report, a “porcelain gallbladder” has been identified among a woman's 100-year-old bones exhumed from the cemetery at the site of the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum, which operated from 1855 to 1935. A porcelain gallbladder forms through calcium build-up in the wall of the organ, which causes it to harden. Upon initial examination during the course of excavations, researchers did not know what the object, which was approximately the size of a quail egg, was. “Someone thought it was a calcified cyst, someone else thought it was a gallstone, and I thought, ‘that’s way too big to be a gallstone,’” said bioarchaeologist Jennifer Mack of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). A retired surgeon who was a member of the team was able to identify the object. Mack added, “He came over, and as I was opening the bag, he said ‘I think that’s a calcified gallbladder.’ Because as a surgeon, he had seen them on multiple occasions before." A micro-CT scan conducted at the UMMC showed that the woman’s gallbladder also contained a large gallstone. Gallstones were detected in another five people buried in the asylum cemetery, where as many as 7,000 people may have been buried. For more on archaeology in Mississippi, go to "Letter from the American Southeast: Spartans of the Lower Mississippi."

18th-Century Foundation Uncovered at Colonial Williamsburg

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA—The foundation of an eighteenth-century house was uncovered during an excavation at Colonial Williamsburg, according to a WAVY report. The Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center is scheduled to be built on the site. Archaeologist Jack Gary of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation said that the house had plaster walls, casement windows, a chimney on at least one side, and a cellar. The thousands of artifacts recovered during the excavation will be conserved, housed, and exhibited in the new facility. The new building may also be constructed so that visitors can see the site while strolling the hallways, Gary explained. To read about evidence of a seventeenth-century fire that destroyed a church in Jamestown, Virginia, go to "Burn Notice."

Miniature Portrait of Alexander the Great Found in Denmark

RINGSTED, DENMARK—Live Science reports that a miniature bronze alloy fitting bearing a portrait of Alexander the Great was discovered on an island in Denmark by a pair of metal detectorists who were conducting a survey. Alexander the Great succeeded his father as the king of Macedon and eventually created a far-flung empire before his death in Babylon in 323 B.C. at the age of 32. The one-inch round fitting, known as a bracket, shows an engraved image of a man with wavy hair wearing a crown made up of twisted ram horns, which are typical imagery of the ancient ruler. “The image is almost identical to another bracket portrait found years ago that contains the same stylized image,” said archaeologist Freerk Oldenberger of Museum West Zealand, where the newly unearthed bracket is being held. It has been dated to the early third century A.D., during the rule of the Roman emperor Caracalla (reigned A.D. 211–217), and its metal has a high lead content, similar to metal found in Roman bronze statuettes. “It’s possible that a statuette was melted down to make this portrait,” Oldenberger explained. “We know that [Caracalla] was completely obsessed with Alexander the Great and was interested and inspired by him, since he was the greatest conqueror of that time period,” he added. This bracket may have decorated a Roman shield or a sword belt. To read about the search for Alexander's tomb, go to "In Search of History's Greatest Rulers: Alexander the Great, King of Macedon."

Prehistoric Tools Uncovered in Northern England

CUMBRIA, ENGLAND—An excavation conducted in northern England ahead of a road improvement project along an ancient pathway has uncovered flint tools dated to the Upper Paleolithic period, according to a Newsweek report. The tools could be between 10,000 and 14,000 years old, when the climate would have been colder. Hunter-gatherers likely followed herds of reindeer, wild horses, and wild cattle over a wide range, said archaeologist Stephen Rowland. The tools were found in a pit that had been sealed by soil that washed down a nearby slope. The researchers will look for traces of an encampment that may have also been preserved through the same process. To read about monuments uncovered during construction of Cambridgeshire's A14 roadway, go to "Letter from England: Building a Road Through History."

Stolen Ramesses II Sculpture Returned to Egypt

CAIRO, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that a fragment of a sculpture of Ramesses II stolen some 30 years ago was handed over to Egyptian authorities by Swiss officials. The 3,400-year-old carving, which shows the pharaoh’s face, was taken from the Ramesses II temple in Abydos. The sculpture originally featured Ramesses II with a group of deities. It was recovered in Geneva during a criminal proceeding. To read about recent finds at the temple of Ramesses II in Abydos, go to "Ram Heads for Ramesses."

Bear Bone Engraved by Neanderthals Studied

WROCŁAW, POLAND—IFL Science reports that a team of researchers led by Tomasz Płonka and Andrzej Wiśniewski of the University of Wrocław has examined an engraved bear bone with microscopy and X-ray computed tomography. Discovered in the 1950s in southern Poland’s Dziadowa Skała Cave, the bone has been dated to between 115,000 and 130,000 years ago, and is thought to have been engraved by Neanderthals. The researchers determined that the marks on the bone are orderly, and do not resemble marks made by butchery or accident, or as a side-effect of another activity. Experiments aimed at recreating the marks show that they were made by a right-handed person using a retouched stone tool using repeated movements, all in one direction. All of the marks are also thought to have been made at the same time, perhaps as decoration or as numerical notation. The researchers concluded that the incisions are evidence for the use of symbols. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Archaeological Science. To read about the earliest known bone point, go to "The Bone Collector."

Bottles of 18th-Century Cherries Discovered at Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA—According to a Washington Post report, two bottles containing liquid and some surviving cherries have been uncovered in the dirt basement of George Washington’s plantation home. The excavation was conducted as part of a project to conserve the mansion’s foundation. Archaeologist Jason Boroughs said that much of the liquid in the bottles may be groundwater that entered the vessels after their corks had deteriorated. While emptying the bottles, members of the research team found pits, stems, cherries, and gooey residues. “It actually smelled like cherry blossoms when we got to the bottom,” Boroughs said. The contents were placed in small containers for later analysis. Conservator Lily Carhart determined that the bottles were imported from England in the mid-eighteenth century, and were likely filled with cherries picked at Mount Vernon by enslaved people, then buried in the storage area between 1758 and 1776. “There are eighteenth-century accounts that talk about proper ways of preserving fruits and vegetables,” Boroughs explained. “One of the most common, especially for berries, is to dry them as much as possible… put them in a dry bottle, cork it… and then bury them,” he added. Treated in this manner, the fruit was expected to last for a year. Additional bottles may yet be recovered as the project continues. To read about artifacts uncovered at the site of a 1754 battle where troops were led by Washington, go to "Around the World: Pennsylvania."