Excavation of Castle Site in Poland Uncovers Royal Kitchen

POZNAŃ, POLAND—Artnet News reports that a kitchen dated to the fourteenth or fifteenth century has been found in the basement of The Museum of Applied Arts in Poznań by researchers from Adam Mickiewicz University. The room measures about 10 feet wide by 16 feet long. The structure was first built as a castle in 1249 by Duke Przemysł I with a tower and square surrounded by a rampart, but was burned, sacked, and rebuilt over time. A Gothic pillar in the basement room, measuring about nine feet wide by 11 feet long, held the royal kitchen’s stove and acted as a hood to filter exhaust and gases. Historical sources indicate that a well had been dug in one corner of the room. The researchers will look for the well next, which is expected to rest under about six feet of rubble. An excavation conducted in the castle’s former courtyard uncovered sixteenth-century pottery, animal bones, and fragments of tile from the castle’s heating system. To read about clay figurines found at a Bronze Age hillfort in Poland, go to "Piggy Playthings."

Meteoritic Iron Detected in Bronze Age Items From Spain

MADRID, SPAIN—El País reports that mass spectrometery analysis of two artifacts from eastern Spain’s Treasure of Villena, conducted by Salvadore Rovira-Llorens of Spain’s National Archaeological Museum, Martina Renzi of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority of Saudi Arabia, and Ignacio Montero-Ruiz of the Institute of History at the Spanish Research Council, suggests that they were crafted with iron from a meteorite sometime in the Late Bronze Age, between 1400 and 1200 B.C. Meteoritic iron can be identified because it contains more nickel than terrestrial iron, and it can contain traces of other elements such as cobalt as well. The first iron artifact, which is decorated with gold, is thought to be the pommel of a sword hilt. The second object is a C-shaped bracelet, now heavily corroded. “These two pieces of iron had enormous value,” Montero Ruiz said. “Who manufactured them and where this material was obtained are still questions that remain to be answered,” he concluded. To read about a piece of Libyan Desert glass found in Tutankhamun's tomb that was formed by a meteorite impact, go to "Scarab From Space."

Poisonous Seed Stash Discovered in the Netherlands

BERLIN, GERMANY—According to a Live Science report, hundreds of black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) seeds have been discovered in a container made from a hollowed-out goat or sheep thigh bone that had been sealed with a plug made of black birch bark. The container was discovered in a pit at Houten-Castellum, a settlement in the Netherlands, and has been dated to between A.D. 70 and 100, based upon the style of ceramics and a wire brooch that were also recovered from the pit. First-century A.D. Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote that the tiny, highly poisonous seeds could induce insanity and giddiness. The seeds have previously been found at other archaeological sites in Europe, but because the plant grows as a weed, it was not clear if black henbane had been used medicinally. “The find is unique and provides unmistakable proof for the intentional use of black henbane seeds in the Roman Netherlands,” concluded zooarchaeologist Maaike Groot of the Free University of Berlin. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. For more on the history of medicinal plants, go to "The Archaeology of Gardens: Medical Gardens."

Gold Ring Uncovered at Medieval Castle Site in Poland

KRAKÓW, POLAND—Notes from Poland reports that a gold ring thought to date to the eleventh or twelfth century has been discovered in the basement of one of the four residential towers at Wawel Royal Castle. Construction of this tower began in the late fourteenth century. The ring, decorated with two engraved faces turned in opposite directions, was resting on what may have been a defensive rampart from an older structure. “This is the only example in which human images (or figural ones in general) are depicted on an early medieval ring from Poland,” said Jerzy Trzebiński of the archaeology department in the castle museum. He thinks the two faces may represent Janus, the two-faced Roman god. The ring may have belonged to a member of the elite class during the reign of the Piasts, who governed Poland between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. To read more about the castle and Krakow's history, go to "Off the Grid: Krakow, Poland."

Ancient Bedbug Body Parts Identified at Vindolanda

NORTHUMBERLAND, ENGLAND—The Guardian reports that two thoraxes thought to belong to the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, have been identified among artifacts excavated at Vindolanda, a Roman garrison site located near Hadrian’s Wall, the northern border of the Roman Empire in what is now northern England. Archaeoentomologist Katie Wyse Jackson of University College Dublin found the insect parts among items dated to about A.D. 100. The bedbugs likely traveled to Britain on clothing and mattresses carried by Romans, she surmised. Wyse Jackson has also found insects in soil samples from the site that offer clues to daily life. “I can learn about trade, food storage, hygiene, [and] waste disposal from what species are present and in what numbers,” she said. “At the moment, I’m finding a large amount of grain and dung beetles.” These insects, she explained, suggest that the space was not clean. For more on Vindolanda, go to "The Wall at the End of the Empire: Life on the Frontier."

CT Scans Expose Medieval Coin Hoards From France

GUÉRANDE, FRANCE—Four coin deposits, discovered during an excavation ahead of a construction project near the west coast of France, were examined in 3-D through computed tomography scans at the University of Caen, according to a statement released by France’s National Institute for Preventative Archaeological Research (INRAP). The coins in the first cache, dated to between 1180 and 1204, had been placed in an oak container. A building was later constructed on the site in the fourteenth century. The other three deposits, dated to 1341 or 1342, were found in a corner of one of the rooms of this building. Coins in these deposits had been placed in ceramic containers. All of the fragile caches were removed from the site in soil blocks. Information obtained through the imaging process allowed the scientists to determine what materials were involved and helped them to ascertain the best way to proceed with the excavation in the laboratory. For example, the scans revealed that the coins in one of the fourteenth-century containers had been sorted and placed into four squares of linen fabric. These cloth envelopes had then been placed into a larger leather one. The researchers were therefore ready to handle the delicate organic materials. Photogrammetry was also used to create 3-D models of the contents of all four containers before they were disassembled. These models will help the scientists to investigate how money was managed as they work to identify the more than 2,000 coins. To read about CT scanning of a clump of corroded silver coins from a Portuguese shipwreck, go to "Is It Esmeralda?"

Tuberculosis Detected in Neanderthal Remains

SZEGED, HUNGARY—According to a Live Science report, a study including biomolecular analysis and morphological observations of two skeletons bearing both Neanderthal and modern human features reveals that both individuals had tuberculosis (TB). Carbon dating of the bones, found in northern Hungary’s Subalyuk Cave in 1932, revealed that the adult died between about 37,000 and 38,000 years ago, while the three- or four-year-old child died between 33,000 and 34,000 years ago. Researchers led by György Pálfi of the University of Szeged found bony lesions likely brought about by TB infection on the adult’s spine and on the interior of the child’s skull. Bone samples from each of the skeletons also tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB. Additionally, the researchers confirmed the diagnosis in the child with spoligotyping, a technique used to identify gene sequences of TB in a sample. The presence of the bacterium was confirmed in both individuals with lipid biomarker analysis, which is used to characterize communities of microbes in a sample. Pálfi and his colleagues think that Neanderthals could have contracted TB from hunting and eating infected animals, such as bison, and that the disease may have contributed to their extinction. To read about the ancient spread of tuberculosis, go to "Across the Atlantic by Flipper."

Medieval Sculptures Recovered in India

KARNATAKA, INDIA—The Hans India reports that bridge construction on the Krishna River near the city of Raichur in southwestern India uncovered two ancient Hindu sculptures carved from green rock. The first depicts an avatar of Lord Krishna, and the second is a lingam representing Lord Shiva. Historian Padmaja Desai thinks the sculptures may have been carved in the eleventh century, during the rule of the Western Chalukya Empire. Archaeologists from the Karnataka Department of Archaeology suggest that the sculptures may have been submerged in the river to protect them during the rise of the Bahamani Sultanate in 1347 or the Adil Shahi Dynasty in 1489. Further study of the sculptures and exploration of the area where they were found is being planned. To read about a third-century B.C. sculpture of an elephant discovered in India's state of Odisha, go to "The Elephant and the Buddha."

2,000-Year-Old Collection of Iron Weapons Found in Poland

HRUBIESZÓW, POLAND—According to a Science in Poland report, a collection of iron spearheads, battle axes, and a wood-cutting ax were discovered in disturbed earth in a forest in southeastern Poland and taken to archaeologists Bartłomiej Bartecki and Anna Hyrchała of the Hrubieszów Museum. Three of the heavily corroded items have not yet been identified, but Bartecki and Hyrchała think the items may have belonged to warriors from the Przeworsk culture, who lived in the region from about the first century B.C. through the second or third century A.D. The grave of a warrior of the Przeworsk culture had previously been unearthed near the spot where the weapons were found, although there is no evidence that there was once a larger cemetery at the site. The objects could also have been left behind by the Goths, who lived in the region from the second or third century through the fifth century A.D. In either case, it appears that the items had been collected into a bag or another container made of organic materials and then thrown into a swamp, Bartecki explained. Conservation of the artifacts will be undertaken at the Stanisław Staszic Museum, he added. “Only after these procedures will it be possible to properly determine the nature of the discovery in question and its chronological and culture affiliation,” he said. Researchers will also investigate the site where the weapons were found. For more on ancient arms, go to "Weapons of the Ancient World."