Sphinx Uncovered in Upper Egypt

QENA, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that traces of a shrine, including a sphinx with the smiling face of an individual who is believed to be a Roman emperor, were uncovered at the site of the Horus Temple in the Dendera Temple complex by a team of researchers led by Mamdouh El-Damaty of Ain Shams University. El-Damaty said that the shrine had a two-level platform and a ramp, which had been carved from limestone. Inside the shrine, he and his team members found a mudbrick basin built during the Byzantine era and a ladder covered with plaster. The sphinx was found within this basin, El-Damaty said. A Roman stela carved with Demotic and hieroglyphic inscriptions was found beneath the statue. Its text could help to identify the face of the sphinx, he explained. To read about innovative research on Roman mummy portraits from the Fayum region of Lower Egypt, go to "At Face Value."

Skeleton Study Tracks Europe’s First Equestrians

HELSINKI, FINLAND—A new analysis of 217 sets of human remains unearthed from 39 sites in Eastern Europe suggests that the Yamnaya people began riding horses at least 5,000 years ago, according to a Live Science report. Although many of the bones were poorly preserved, Martin Trautmann of the University of Helsinki and his colleagues found wear and tear on 24 of the skeletons that was likely to have been caused by regular horseback riding. Such wear and tear can include degeneration of the bones in the spine and changes to the leg and hip bones. Five Yamnaya individuals from Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary were likely skilled equestrians as early as 3000 B.C., Trautmann added. He estimates that as many as 30 percent of adult Yamnaya men rode frequently, probably in connection with herding. Horseback riding would also help to explain the rapid spread of the Yamnaya across Eurasia, the researchers concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. To read about the history of horses in human culture, go to "The Story of the Horse."

Colchester Vase May Be Roman Sports Memorabilia

COLCHESTER, ENGLAND—The Guardian reports that archaeologists have conducted a new series of tests on the Colchester Vase, which was discovered in a Roman grave in southeastern England in 1853. The vessel is decorated with images of bear-baiting, a gladiatorial combat scene, and the names Memnon and Valentinus, which may have been stage names for the enslaved fighters. It had been previously thought that the names had been carved into the vase after it had been fired. But the new study indicates that the well-made vase had been fashioned from local clay between A.D. 160 and 200, and that the names had been cut into the clay before it went into a kiln. It could therefore have been commissioned by someone who owned or trained gladiators locally. The combat also likely took place in the region, explained John Pearce of King’s College London, perhaps in one of Colchester’s two theaters. Archaeologist Glynn Davis of Colchester and Ipswich Museums added that the vessel may have been a memento of a particular fight before it was used as a funerary vessel. For more on gladiatorial combat, go to "Weapons of the Ancient World: Gladiator Weapons."

Genetic Study Examines Europe’s Hunter-Gatherers

TÜBINGEN, GERMANY—According to a Live Science report, an analysis of the genomes of 356 European hunter-gatherers who lived between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago suggests that two genetically distinct groups comprised the Gravettian culture, which produced similar weapons and art known today between 33,000 and 26,000 years ago. Cosimo Posth of the University of Tübingen said that one of these lineages, dubbed Fournol after a site in France, belonged to a group of people whose remains have been recovered in France and Spain, while the other, named Věstonice for a site in the Czech Republic, came from the Czech Republic and Italy. He added that the Fournol were descended from the Aurignacians, who lived in Europe between 43,000 and 33,000 years ago. Ancestors of the Věstonice came from western Russia, however. The study also indicates that the Fournol survived the Last Glacial Maximum, but the Věstonice died out. It had been previously thought that the Věstonice lived in Italy during the Last Glacial Maximum, with their descendants producing what is known as Epigravettian culture after the glaciers retreated. Instead, migrants from the Balkans as early as 17,000 years ago are likely to have produced Epigravettian culture. Finally, the study suggests that as the climate warmed and forests spread across Europe some 14,000 years ago, the Epigravettians spread northward as the descendants of the Fournol died out. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Nature. To read about recent research on a famous Gravettian figurine, go to "The Birth of Venus," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2022.

Were Steel Tools Used in the Late Bronze Age?

FREIBURG, GERMANY—According to a statement released by the University of Freiburg, archaeologist Ralph Araque Gonzalez and his colleagues suggest that steel tools were used by the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula to carve stone pillars some 2,900 years ago. Gonzalez and his colleagues first analyzed the composition of the rock used to make the pillars, and determined that it was made of silicate quartz sandstone, which is extremely hard. They then attempted to reproduce the ancient stone carvings, and found that it was impossible to do so with stone, bronze, and untempered iron tools. The researchers then analyzed the composition of a stonemason’s iron chisel unearthed in Rocha do Vigio, Portugal, which has been dated to 900 B.C., and determined that it contained enough carbon to be considered steel. It had been previously thought that steel was not widely used in Europe before the Roman era. To read about the Persians' creation of a strong steel as early as the eleventh century A.D., go to "Persian Steel."

800-Year-Old Hoard Unearthed in Northern Germany

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, GERMANY—A metal detectorist discovered an 800-year-old hoard of gold jewelry and silver coins in northern Germany, in the region of the Viking trade center of Hedeby, and reported the find to the State Archaeology Department of Schleswig-Holstein (ALSH), according to a Live Science report. Ulf Ickerodt of the ALSH said that the hoard, which was excavated by archaeologists, includes two Byzantine-style gold earrings set with semiprecious stones, a gilded brooch made to look like an Islamic coin, two gilded rings set with stones, a ring fragment, a perforated disc that had been gilded, a ring brooch, and 30 silver coins minted during the reign of Danish king Valdemar II, between 1202 and 1241. The items in the hoard may have been stolen, meant to have been delivered to someone, buried for ritual reasons, or hidden during a crisis some 200 years after the Vikings abandoned their town, Ickerodt explained. “An extensive north-south and east-west trade network has developed here since the early Middle Ages, in which the Mediterranean region, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea were integrated,” he added. “The hoard was certainly not put down by chance.”  To read about a cache of ancient weapons uncovered in western Germany, go to "A Twisted Hoard."

Camera Glimpses Hidden Corridor in Egypt’s Great Pyramid

CAIRO, EGYPT—BBC News reports that a corridor first detected in the Great Pyramid of Giza in 2016 with muography, a non-invasive technique that tracks the path of muons from space, has been viewed with an endoscope. The corridor, which measures about 30 feet long and seven feet wide, is situated about 22 feet above the pyramid’s main entrance. The endoscope was fed into the corridor through a joint in a stone chevron structure. The vaulted space may have been constructed to redistribute the pyramid’s weight around the entrance, or perhaps over an undiscovered chamber. “We’re going to continue our scanning so we will see what we can do… to figure out what we can find out beneath it, or just by the end of this corridor,” said Mostafa Waziri of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. To read about the highly skilled workers who helped construct the Great Pyramid, go to "Journeys of the Pyramid Builders."