U.S. Repatriates Looted Artifact to Iraq

ATLANTA, GEORGIA—11 Alive reports that U.S. officials repatriated a 2,700-year-old artifact known as “Furniture Fitting with Sphinx Trampling a Youth” in a ceremony held at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, D.C., this week. FBI officials believe the ivory artifact, which is decorated with pigment and gold leaf, was taken from Baghdad during the looting of the Iraq Museum in 2003. The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University eventually purchased the object in 2006. “While we realize there was no ill intent on behalf of Emory University, we are glad our agents could return a small part of history back to where it belongs in Iraq,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. To read about an eccentric Mesopotamian ruler in ancient Iraq, go to "The Last King of Babylon."

Bronze Age Ice Skates Found in China

XINJIANG, CHINA—According to a Live Science report, 3,500-year-old ice skates have been found in a tomb at the Goaotai Ruins in western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Goaotai Ruins, thought to have been inhabited by cattle herders of the Andronovo culture, consists of a settlement and a well-preserved tomb complex surrounded by a platform of stone slabs. Made from straight pieces of bone taken from oxen and horses, the skates have holes at both ends to strap the flat “blade” to footwear. Ruan Qiurong of the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology said that the skates are almost exactly the same as 5,000-year-old skates discovered in Finland, and may reflect the exchange of ideas during the Bronze Age. To read about the genetic origins of enigmatic mummies found in the Tarim Basin, go to "Around the World: China."

Unusual Ancient Temple Blocks Unearthed in Sudan

WARSAW, POLAND—Live Science reports that blocks from a possible ancient temple have been unearthed in Sudan, at the medieval citadel in Old Dongola, by a team of researchers led by Artur Obłuski of the University of Warsaw's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. Hieroglyphic inscriptions and figures found on some of the stone blocks date them to some 2,700 years ago, when the region was part of the kingdom of Kush. Nothing this old has previously been uncovered at Old Dongola. Egyptologist Dawid Wieczorek said that one inscription suggests that the temple was dedicated to Amun-Ra of Kawa, another archaeological site in Sudan. It is unclear, however, if the blocks came from the temple at Kawa, from another site in Sudan, or from an unknown structure that once stood at Old Dongola. To read about the capital of the kingdom of Kush, go to "A Nubian Kingdom Rises."

Early Reference to Norse God Identified on Gold Disc in Denmark

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK—The Guardian reports that a reference to the Norse god Odin has been identified on a gold bracteate by runologist Lisbeth Imer of the National Museum of Denmark. The inscription reads, “He is Odin’s man,” and may refer to a king or overlord. The bracteate, a type of thin, ornamental pendant, has been dated to the fifth century, making the reference to Odin 150 years older than the one found on a sixth-century brooch in southern Germany. The object was part of the Vindelev hoard, a 1,500-year-old collection of more than two pounds of gold artifacts discovered in western Denmark in 2020. “It’s one of the best executed runic inscriptions that I have ever seen,” Imer said. To read about the excavation of a "god house" in which Odin and other Norse deities were worshipped, go to "Around the World: Norway."

Double Ming Dynasty Tomb Discovered in China

CHANGSHA, CHINA—Xinhua reports that a Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368–1644) tomb has been discovered in central China’s mountainous Lishui River Basin. Tan Yuanhui of the Lixian County Archaeological Research and Cultural Relics Protection Center said that the joint tomb consists of two arched burial chambers whose walls bear murals of flowers. A niche in the north chamber features 16 auspicious words, he added. And although the tomb has been looted, its shape, scale, and murals suggest that its owners were of high status, explained research team member Zhou Hua. The researchers have completed 3-D scanning of the structures for additional study. To read about murals uncovered in a tomb in northern China, go to "Tomb Couture."

Possible Roman Shrine Found at Leicester Cathedral

LEICESTER, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that traces of a possible Roman shrine, including a broken altar base, have been found under a cemetery next to Leicester Cathedral. More than 1,100 sets of human remains have been removed from the site, where a visitor center will be constructed. “There’s always been a tradition that the cathedral was built on a Roman temple, based on antiquarian discoveries in the nineteenth century,” said Mathew Morris of the University of Leicester. “We are now finding a Roman building that looks like it had a shrine status to it.” The altar base was recovered from what would have been the basement of a large Roman building, he added. Morris thinks a Christian church may have been built on top of the Roman ritual site much earlier than documents dated to the 1220s would suggest. Roman coins dated from the first through the fourth centuries, a Roman hairpin, remains of a brooch, and fragments of pottery made in Gaul with images of a gladiator, and a creature that may be a Pegasus or a griffin have also been recovered. To read about the discovery of a famous monarch's burial in the ruins of Leicester's Greyfriars church, go to "The Grave of Richard III," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade.

Norway’s Medieval Writing Systems Analyzed

OSLO, NORWAY—According to a statement released by the University of Oslo, researcher Johan Bollaert has studied Norway’s medieval inscriptions, some of which were written with letters of the Roman alphabet, and some of which were written with runes. He noted that carving words into wood, stone, or metal takes time and effort, and so inscriptions are therefore shorter and simpler forms of text, and are usually found in places where the context would have been understood, such as on gravestones. The analysis showed that inscriptions written with letters and with runes both featured punctuation, a carefully planned layout, and ornamentation, although letters, which were introduced to Norway with Christianity, were more often used in inscriptions in cities and episcopal seats where bishops resided. These texts were also more standardized and may have been produced in workshops affiliated with the church. In contrast, a lot of variation was found among runic inscriptions, which were more likely to be placed in smaller settlements. Gravestones inscribed with letters often had an image of the deceased, while gravestones with runic inscriptions did not, suggesting that a high rate of runic literacy was expected, Bollaert concluded. To read about a stone unearthed in Sweden with the longest existing runic inscription, go to "The Emperor of Stones."