Sweden’s 1,300-Year-Old Down Bedding Analyzed

TRONDHEIM, NORWAY—According to a statement released by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Birgitta Berglund and Jørgen Rosvold identified the birds that contributed feathers to the bedding recovered from two boat graves dated to between A.D. 600 and 700 at Valsgärde, a cemetery of more than 90 graves in central Sweden. It had been previously thought that the feathers could have been imported from eider duck farms in northern Norway, but the analysis revealed that the bedding was made with feathers from geese, ducks, grouse, crows, sparrows, waders, and eagle owls. These choices could have held symbolic meaning, Berglund said. In Nordic folklore recorded in the eighteenth century, she explained, feathers from owls and birds of prey and domestic chickens could prolong the struggle against death, while goose feathers could help the soul to be released from the body. These beliefs may date back to prehistory, Berglund said. Read the original scholarly article about this research in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. To read about grass bedding used by dwellers in South Africa's Border Cave up to 200,000 years ago, go to "Paleolithic Bedtime."

Study Examines Neolithic Animal Husbandry Practices

MUNICH, GERMANY—According to a statement released by Ludwig Maximilian University, early Neolithic sheep herders in central Anatolia learned how to care for their livestock on the job over a period of about 1,000 years. Curator Nadja Pöllath of the State Collection for Anthropology and Palaeoanatomy in Munich, and zooarchaeologist Joris Peters and statistician Sevag Kevork of Ludwig Maximilian University, analyzed the bones of fetal and neonatal lambs unearthed at Aşikli Höyük, an early Neolithic site in central Anatolia where compacted layers of animal dung have been uncovered. The researchers then compared what they found with other collections of sheep bones to identify the stages of a young lamb’s life. They determined that between 8350 and 7300 B.C., the life expectancy of newborn lambs gradually improved as herders learned to reduce the number of infections and improve nutrition by moving the animals out to open grass from overcrowded conditions in the settlement. Read the original scholarly article about this research in the Journal of Archaeological Science. To read about an 8,000-year-old figurine discovered in a house at the site of Çatalhöyük, go to "Figure of Distinction."   

Bronze Age Miners May Have Dined on Delivered Meals

VIENNA, AUSTRIA—According to a statement released by the Public Library of Science, evidence of pre-processed plant food has been uncovered at Prigglitz-Gasteil, a site in the Eastern Alps where copper was mined between the eleventh and ninth centuries B.C. Andreas Heiss of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and his colleagues found cereal plants that had been ground and dehulled, but little chaff or tools used to process grain. The researchers suggest that the cereals were processed and maybe even cooked before they were transported to the miners. Further research is needed to determine where the grains might have been grown and processed. To read about determining medieval lead pollution levels from an Alps ice core, go to "History in Ice."

3,200-Year-Old Spider Mural Identified in Peru

LA LIBERTAD, PERU—The Guardian reports that a 3,200-year-old mural on a mudbrick structure situated near a river in northwestern Peru depicts a knife-wielding spider god associated with rain and fertility. The image was painted with yellow, grey, and white paint in addition to ochre. Archaeologist Régulo Franco Jordán said the structure, named Tomabalito, was a shrine built by the Cupisnique culture. “It’s likely that there was a special, sacred water ceremony held between January and March when the rains came down from the higher areas,” Jordán said. Much of the site was destroyed last fall by farmers with heavy machinery, he added. To read about a feline geoglyph recently restored in southern Peru, go to "Cat's Eye View."

Were England’s Legal Documents Designed to Prevent Fraud?

EXETER, ENGLAND—A new study of British legal documents dating from the thirteenth through the twentieth centuries indicates that most of them were written on parchment containing sheepskin, according to a Science News report. Sean Doherty of the University of Exeter said that 30 to 50 percent of the weight of sheepskin is fat, and when that fat is removed from the skin by submerging it in lime, the resulting parchment has bigger gaps between its layers than parchment made from the leaner skins of other animals. Alterations made to sheepskin documents can detach and shift these layers, making the changes more noticeable, Doherty explained. Sheepskin parchment may have been widely used in legal documents, he added, in order to prevent fraud. For more on the study of parchment documents, go to "The Hidden Stories of the York Gospel."

Facial Reconstruction May Depict Pharaoh Akhenaten

AVOLA, ITALY—A digital model has been made of a human skull recovered in 1907 from tomb KV 55 in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, according to a Live Science report. Francesco Galassi of Sicily’s Forensic Anthropology, Paleopathology, Bioarchaeology Research Center, and 3-D forensic artist Cicero Moraes, used the Manchester method to add facial muscles and ligaments to the model skull according to the rules of anatomy, Galassi explained. “The skin is placed on top of this, and the tissue thicknesses are average values that have been scientifically determined,” he added. Galassi and his team also relied upon notes, detailed measurements, photographs, and X-rays from prior examinations of the skeletal remains. Genetic analysis suggests that the man may have been Tutankhamun’s father, Akhenaten, who reigned from 1353 to 1335 B.C., although the practice of incest among ancient Egypt’s royal dynasties could complicate scientists' understanding of this genetic data. Examination of the man’s teeth and bones, which were exposed when the mummy was discovered, suggests he was about 26 years old at the time of death. Records suggest that Akhenaten ruled for 17 years, and fathered a daughter during the first year of his reign, thus calling the identification of the man buried in KV 55 into question. To read about Akhenaten's wife, go to "In Search of History's Greatest Rulers: Nefertiti, Great Royal Wife and Queen of Egypt."

Statistical Model Predicts New Dates for Early Stone Tools

CANTERBURY, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by the University of Kent, Alastair Key and David Roberts of the University of Kent, and Ivan Jarić of the Czech Academy of Sciences applied statistical modeling techniques originally developed for the extinction dates of animal species to dating the possible first appearance of Oldowan and Acheulean stone tool technologies. The model pushes back the origin of Oldowan stone tools by 36,000 to 63,000 years, to between 2.617 to 2.644 million years ago, and the origin of Acheulean technology by at least 55,000 years, to 1.815 to 1.823 million years ago. Key explained that the earlier dates also push back behavioral shifts associated with the use of flaked stone tools, such as the consumption of new foods and the crafting of wooden tools. The new dates could also help archaeologists predict where to find additional early stone tool sites, he explained. To read about the earliest known stone tools, go to "The First Toolkit."

Possible 2,000-Year-Old Port Found in Northern England

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that Roman artifacts, including stone anchors fashioned with a single hole, coins, nails, sharpening tools, and a brooch, have been recovered from a possible port site in the River Wear in northeastern England. “It’s the first occasion in the UK where the anchors have been found in a river, normally they are found in a maritime environment off shore,” said underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead. Four of the anchors were made from local stone, while one was made from stone thought to have come from North Yorkshire. Bankhead said a seagoing vessel may have come up the northeast coast to the mouth of the River Wear and anchored at low tide, perhaps at a dam, bridge, or wharf, when it could no longer maneuver in the river. The cargo could have then been transferred to smaller vessels to continue the voyage further north to Roman forts at Chester-le-Street and Binchester, he explained. For more on the Roman presence in northern England, go to "The Wall at the End of the Empire."

Ancient Well in Egypt Offers Clues to Possible Drought

WARSAW, POLAND—Some 2,000 years ago, a volcanic eruption may have triggered a drought and the abandonment of the port of Berenice, according to a New Scientist report. Marek Woźniak of the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures and James Harrell of the University of Toledo have found a well in a tower at the site, which is located on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. Although there is water in the well today, the researchers determined that it dried up between 220 and 200 B.C. Two bronze coins recovered from a layer of sand in the well date to before 199 B.C. A previous study indicates that a volcanic eruption in 209 B.C. released sulphate aerosols into the Earth’s atmosphere that caused a lack of summer rain in Egypt. This volcano could have been as far away as Mexico, Martinique, or Japan, the researchers explained. People eventually returned to Berenice, however, and the city was annexed by the Romans in 30 B.C., to become the empire’s southernmost port. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about an animal cemetery uncovered at Berenice, go to "Around the World: Egypt."