Unusual Animal Burials Excavated in Ancient Cemetery in Italy

VERONA, ITALY—According to a Newsweek report, the excavation of a cemetery at the Cenomane site of Seminario Vescovile has uncovered the remains of 161 people, 16 of whom were buried with complete animal skeletons or animal parts. Zita Laffranchi of the University of Bern, Stefania Zingale of the Institute for Mummy Studies, Umberto Tecchiati of the University of Milan, and their colleagues suggest that some of the partial animal remains may have been intended as food offerings, but noted that horses and dogs were not commonly eaten in northern Italy between the third and first centuries B.C. For example, one grave contained the remains of a baby and a complete dog skeleton; another held a young man who had been buried with parts of a horse; a third grave consisted of a middle-aged man buried with a small dog; and a fourth held the remains of a middle-aged woman who had been buried with a whole horse, a dog skull, and parts of other horses. No genetic link was found among the people who had been buried with animals. The researchers suggest that the animals may have been pets, or were perhaps important to the person’s life, although the inclusion of animals in the burials could also reflect the person’s status, or specific funeral rites involving organic materials that have not survived. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. To read about a Roman tomb uncovered in southern Italy whose walls were adorned with a painting of the mythological three-headed guard dog Cerberus, go to "Watchdog for the Afterlife."

Possible Viking-Age Marketplace Found in Norway

STAVANGER, NORWAY—According to a statement released by the University of Stavanger, a ground-penetrating radar survey conducted on Klosterøy, an island off Norway’s southwestern coast, has detected traces of possible pit houses, cooking pits, and pier or boathouse foundations that may have been part of a Viking Age marketplace. Investigation of this area of private farmland around the medieval Utstein Monastery over the years with metal detectors has also revealed coins and weights usually associated with trade, explained archaeologist Håkon Reiersen of the University of Stavanger Museum of Archaeology. “While many indicators suggest that this may be a marketplace, we cannot be 100 percent certain until further investigations are conducted in the area to verify the findings,” added archaeologist Grethe Moéll Pedersen of the Museum of Archaeology. To read about possible evidence for the Vikings' long-distance trading activity, go to "Viking Trading or Raiding?"

19th-Century Chocolate Factory Identified in Spain

BARCELONA, SPAIN—According to an ArtNet News report, excavation of a medieval manor house in Barcelona, combined with historical research, has identified several uses for the building over the past 600 years. The researchers found original fourteenth-century arches and doors in the structure. By the fifteenth century, the building was used as a hostel, until there was a major renovation in the sixteenth century. In the eighteenth century, the manor house was divided into three different properties. Large containers from this period have been found, but additional analysis is needed for researchers to determine their contents. In 1825, another renovation was carried out, which corresponds to what is still visible at the site. Reference to “Guardia (Clemente) Chocolates y pastillaje” appears with the chocolate shop’s address in the Almanac of the Universal Exhibition of 1888. Researchers have also uncovered engraved lead plates in the manor house that would have been used to make “Clemente Guardia” labels for the chocolates. To read about early consumption of cacao seeds in Ecuador, go to "Ancient Amazonian Chocolatiers."

Ship’s Bell Recovered From Torpedoed WWI Destroyer

WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to a U.S. Naval Institute News report, the bell of the USS Jacob Jones (DD-61), an American destroyer built in New York in 1916 and sunk off the Isles of Scilly during World War I, has been recovered by a salvage unit with the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence, Salvage and Marine Operations. The ship was one of six Tucker class destroyers, the first U.S. destroyers to displace more than 1,000 tons. The Jacob Jones was sent to Queenstown, Ireland, to protect the western approaches to the United Kingdom and France from U-boat attacks in May of 1917. The vessel was torpedoed by a U-boat on December 6, 1917, while returning to Queenstown after handing off a convoy near France, and sank in about eight minutes. Rear Admiral Sam Cox of the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command explained that the bell was recovered due to the risk of looting of the shipwreck site, which was discovered in 2022. “The wreck of the ship is a hallowed war grave and is the last resting places for many of the 64 men who were lost in the sinking,” Cox said. To read about the underwater archaeology of the attack on Pearl Harbor, go to "December 7, 1941."

Avar Grave Offers Clues to 7th-Century Heavy Cavalry

DEBRECEN, HUNGARY—According to a Newsweek report, the 1,300-year-old intact burial of an Avar warrior, including the remains of a horse, weapons, and armor, has been discovered in eastern Hungary. The Avars were nomads who occupied the region of the Carpathian Basin in the mid-sixth century A.D., and gradually shifted to living in settlements before their collapse in the ninth century. Archaeologist Tamara Hága of the Déri Museum said that the warrior had been placed in a relatively shallow grave. What is thought to be a complete set of lamellar armor, which was made from hundreds of small iron plates, was spread out over the warrior. A quiver with arrows, a bow, and a sword were placed on the armor, and then topped with the horse. “Though burying with armor was not a common practice in the Avar period, it is known from several male, female, and child graves too,” Hága said. “In most cases, however, only a few plates or fragments of armor…are recovered from the graves,” she explained. The discovery of this burial will allow researchers to create a highly accurate reconstruction of Avar lamellar armor. “The excavation of the burial in the workshop is still ongoing, so we do not yet know what other finds are under the armor,” Hága added. For more on the Avars, go to "The Avars Advance."

Ancient Marble Sculpture From Sicily Reassessed

PALERMO, SICILY—Newsweek reports that a marble sculpture thought to have come from the site of the ancient Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento has been recovered off the coast of Sicily, near the mouth of the Akragas River. The city of Agrigento, known today for the Valley of the Temples, was founded under the name Akragas in the sixth century B.C. by colonists from Greece. The unfinished Temple of Olympian Zeus, constructed around 480 B.C., is thought to have been about 370 feet long, 185 feet wide, and 66 feet tall. “If after cleaning and restoration, the hypothesis that it is a frieze of the temple of Zeus is confirmed, it would be the greatest discovery of the last hundred years in the archaeological history of Agrigento,” said Alfonso Lo Cascio of the volunteer organization BCsicilia. The sculpture, found about 1,000 feet from the island’s southern coast, had previously been thought to be a tub or basin. Members of BCsicilia, however, created a 3-D model of the object from more than 200 photographs, showing it to be a relief in the shape of a prancing horse that may have been intended to be placed over a monumental door or window. The organization reported their discovery to the Superintendency of the Sea for the region of Sicily and assisted with its recovery. To read about the discovery of the ancient theater at Agrigento, go to "Sicily's Lost Theater." 

Clovis Hare-Bone Bead Identified in Wyoming

LARAMIE, WYOMING—According to a statement released by the University of Wyoming, a small, tube-shaped bead unearthed at Wyoming’s La Prele Mammoth site has been dated to about 12,940 years ago by Todd Surovell of the University of Wyoming and his colleagues. Previous studies have shown that a young mammoth was butchered at the La Prele Mammoth site; the bone bead was recovered about three feet away from a collection of other artifacts. Analysis of collagen extracted from the bead with mass spectrometry indicates that it was made from the bone of a hare, while the shape of the bone suggests it came from a hare’s paw. Marks on the outside of the bead, which was likely used to decorate clothing or was worn as jewelry, are consistent with marks made by people working with stones or their teeth, Surovell explained. The bead is the first evidence that hares were used by the Clovis people, who were named for the archaeological site in New Mexico where their distinctive stone tools were first unearthed, he added. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Scientific Reports. For more on archaeology at La Prele, go to "Excavating a Mammoth Hunters' Campsite."

Megalithic “Blinkerwall” Found in the Baltic Sea

WARNEMÜNDE, GERMANY—The Guardian reports that a section of wall stretching for nearly one-half mile was found in the Bay of Mecklenburg, off the coast of Germany, during a survey conducted with a multibeam sonar system. Inspection of the wall revealed that it was made up of about 300 boulders connected with some 1,400 smaller stones. The structure is thought to have been constructed more than 10,000 years ago, near a lake or marsh. Jacob Geersen of the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde suggests that the wall may have been part of a driving lane used by hunters in pursuit of reindeer before the area was inundated with almost 70 feet of water some 8,500 years ago. “When you chase the animals, they follow these structures, they don’t attempt to jump over them,” he said. “The idea would be to create an artificial bottleneck with a second wall or with the lake shore,” he explained. The rest of the structure, which has been dubbed the “Blinkerwall,” may be buried in sediments. Geersen and his colleagues plan to search the area for animal bones and projectiles as well. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To read about stone caribou-hunting structures that are now submerged beneath Lake Huron, go to "Where the Ice Age Caribou Ranged."