Traces of Medieval Church Unearthed in Southern Poland

SŁAWKÓW, POLAND—Science in Poland reports that the foundations of a medieval Christian church were uncovered in southern Poland during conservation work at the current Chapel of St. Jacob. Archaeologist Jacek Pierzak said the entire outline of the structure, which was known as the Church of John the Baptist, has survived. Built at the turn of the fourteenth century, the church was described in the fifteenth-century writings of a priest named Jan Długosz, but researchers had not been able to look for any trace of it until now. The Church of John the Baptist was destroyed in 1455 by mercenary troops fighting in the Thirteen Years’ War for King Casimir IV Jagiellon against the Teutonic Knights, Pierzak added. When the soldiers were not paid, they burned down the town of Czeladż, destroyed the church, and stole 100 draft horses from the Olkusz mines, he explained. To read about early eleventh-century tombs uncovered near the Polish village of Cieple, go to "Viking Knights, Polish Days."

Revolutionary War Prison Camp Found in Pennsylvania

YORK, PENNSYLVANIA—According to an Associated Press report, postholes from the stockade that once surrounded Camp Security, a Revolutionary War–era prison camp, have been found in south-central Pennsylvania by archaeologist John Crawmer and his colleagues. The camp housed more than 1,000 English, Scottish, and Canadian privates and noncommissioned officers taken prisoner at the 1781 Battle of Yorktown, Virginia, until the British surrender at Saratoga in 1783. Crawmer thinks the posts that made up the stockade may have been reused elsewhere when the war was over. The researchers plan to look for the complete outline of the structure and look for artifacts within it and around it. “We’ll be able to start answering questions about where people were sleeping, where they were living, where they were throwing things away, where the privies are,” he said. No human remains have been found at the site to date, but historic records indicate that a “camp fever” might have killed some of the prisoners. To read about a Revolutionary War–era frontier fort unearthed in Georgia, go to "Small Skirmish in the War for Freedom."

19th-Century Farmer’s Cottage Uncovered in Iceland

REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND—Iceland Review reports that a cottage thought to date to between 1850 and 1920 was in southwestern Iceland during an investigation conducted by archaeologist Hermann Jakob Hjartarson ahead of a construction project. A knife, pottery, plates, cups, glass bottles, and agricultural tools were recovered from the site. No fireplaces were found—it appears that cooking was done in pits, he explained. One of the pits measures about 14 inches deep and contained at least six layers of moss, burnt bones, and charcoal. “Most people here at that time were just cottage farmers,” Hjartarson said. To read about a tenth-century woman whose burial was uncovered in eastern Iceland, go to "Iceland's Young Migrant."

Croatia’s Roman City of Ridit Investigated

DANILO, CROATIA—The foundations of an ancient building thought to be a Roman temple were spotted during a geophysical survey of the site of an eighteenth-century Christian church in a small village located on Croatia’s southern coastline by a team of Croatian and Polish scientists, according to a Science in Poland report. The site was once the Roman city of Ridit. “The data we have collected indicate that under today’s church and the adjacent cemetery there are relics of a temple, which was part of the forum, the most important part of a Roman city,” said Fabian Welc of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University. A medieval cemetery had been set into the site of the forum’s bathhouse and other Roman residential and utility buildings, added project coordinator Ana Konestra. Fragments of Roman monuments had been reused in the stone walls around the graves, she explained. To read about another find from Croatia, go to "The Venus of Vlakno."

Large-Scale Trade in Herring Dates to the Viking Age

OSLO, NORWAY—According to a statement released by the University of Oslo, the origins of the herring trade have been pushed back about 400 years to A.D. 800. Biologist Lane Atmore of the University of Oslo identified herring bones from western populations in the North Sea near Sweden and Denmark in Truso, Poland, a Viking Age trading center. These fish (Clupea harengus), she explained, were adapted to higher salinity than that found in the Baltic Sea, and are therefore likely to have been shipped east. The fatty herring would have gone bad quickly without being cured in salt and smoked, she added. “You need to have extensive trade networks and to catch enough fish if it’s going to be worth the investment,” Atmore explained. The study also indicates that different populations of herring were targeted by the fishing industry into the medieval period. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. To read about rare surviving furs recovered from Viking burials in Denmark, go to "Vikings in Furs."

Frontal Sinuses in Hominin Skulls May Offer Clues to Evolution

LONDON, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by London’s Natural History Museum, a new study of hominin skulls conducted by Chris Stringer, Laura Buck, and their colleagues suggests that changes in the size and shape of the frontal sinuses, which are small, air-filled cavities located just above the nose, can be linked to the development of the frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for speech, emotion, and planning. The researchers created 3-D models from CT scans of the frontal sinuses of 94 individuals from more than 20 species of fossil hominins, and then compared measurements of the structures. They found that Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and modern humans each have a distinct range of sinus size that is directly related to how much space the brain has to grow. They also determined that the sinuses of Homo naledi, a hominin with some prehuman characteristics, were similar to those of Homo erectus. The size and shape of the frontal sinuses could be used to investigate relationships between different species of hominins in future studies, Stringer concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. To read more about Homo naledi, go to "Homo naledi," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade.

Lidar Survey Reveals Urban Sprawl of Ancient Maya City

CAMPECHE, MEXICO—According to a statement released by the University of Calgary, an international team of researchers has conducted a lidar survey of more than 36 square miles of forest canopy in southeastern Mexico in the area of Calakmul, the capital of the Kaanul dynasty from about A.D. 635 to 850. Kathryn Reese-Taylor of the University of Calgary explained that the study revealed an immense urban settlement made up of large residential compounds clustered around temples, shrines, and possible marketplaces. Calakmul’s residents were supported by an intensive agricultural system that included canals, terraces, walls, and dams, she added. Calakmul was one of the largest cities in the Americas in A.D. 700, the researchers concluded. To read about a grand monument that celebrates a Maya dignitary's relationship to the ruler of Calakmul, go to "Autobiography of a Maya Ambassador."