The ancient early Christian basilica that sank into Nicaea’s Lake Ascanius (modern-day Lake Iznik) in the 8th century has opened as an underwater archaeological museum for visitors to explore using specialized diving equipment.

The basilica was spotted during an aerial photography survey of Iznik in early 2014. The mission was to make a thorough inventory of the historical sites in the city, and the structure in the lake with its unmistakable basilica floorplan was clearly visible from above.

The church, built in the 4th century, was dedicated to Saint Neophytos who had been martyred in 303 A.D., just 10 years before the Edict of Milan proclaiming religious toleration in the Roman Empire was issued by emperors Constantine and Licinius. It was built on the shore of Lake Ascanius on the spot where he was said to have been killed.

The basilica became a site of pilgrimage in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, but it was felled by a catastrophic earthquake that devastated Nicaea in 740 A.D. Since its rediscovery, underwater archaeologists have been excavating the site and have found evidence of visitors from distant lands — a memorial stamp of the Scottish knights who are believed to have been the first foreign pilgrims to the church of Saint Neophytos — as well as artifacts predating the construction of the basilica. Coins from the reign of  emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138-161 A.D.) indicate the site may have had a pre-Christian temple or public building (like, oh, say, a basilica whose basic architectural plan formed the core of the Christian churches that took their name).

A 15,000-year-old mammoth hunting trap has been discovered in Tultepec, a town 25 miles north of Mexico City. This is first discovery of a deliberate trap set by humans to capture mammoths (as opposed to natural traps like swamps which humans also took advantage of) and judging by the number of bones found, it was a raging success. In nine months of excavations, archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have recovered 824 bones from 14 of the Pleistocene giants.

A very rare almost complete skeleton of a Columbian mammoth was discovered by accident during sewer construction in another neighborhood of Tultepec in December 2015, so when INAH was alerted that crews working on the municipal landfill had found massive bones on January 29th of this year, archaeologists were deployed to excavate the remains. The context of the 2015 discovery indicated the mammoth met its end at human hands after getting stuck in the mud. The bones were mostly disarticulated, with only the largest (skull, pelvis) found in the proper anatomical relationship to each other, suggesting the animal was butchered. The newly-discovered mammoth bones were also disarticulated, but in a marked difference from the previous find, the excavation revealed vertical cuts in the archaeological layers. The cuts formed two trenches five and a half feet deep and more than 80 feet in diameter. The walls go straight down at an almost 90 degree angle. Stratigraphic analysis dates these pits to 14,700  years ago, thanks to the tell-tale five inches of ash from the eruption of the Popocatepetl volcano that took place then.

Archaeologists also discovered the molar of a horse, the mandible and two vertebrae of a camel, but there’s no evidence those animals were hunted. The size of the pits and the huge number of mammoth bones found inside them make it clear that these traps were meant specifically to catch mammoth. INAH archaeologist Luis Córdoba Barradas believes the two pits were not isolated, but part of a line of traps that would allow hunters to maximum their results and minimize labour. Chasing megafauna into a trap is risky, exhausting business. With a series of traps, they didn’t have to pull all their mammoths in one basket, so to speak. Should one change direction at the last minute away from the trap, the hunting party could try again directing it to the next one.

The bone evidence confirms this was an organized, thorough system that made the most of every catch. The ribs were used as cutting tools to butcher the animals, an ulna believed to have removed subcutaneous fat. The skulls are often found upside down, an indication that the community ate the animals’ brains, and a hefty meal they would have made at up to 25 pounds a pop.

There is also evidence of ritual or at least reverent treatment of the remains. One specimen, of which two-thirds of the bones have been unearthed, was arranged in an unusual configuration: his scapulae stacked and placed on the left side of the skull, a dorsal vertebra between the tusks, and embracing this tableau the 10-foot-long curved tusk of another mammoth. The bones of this individual bear a mark from a previous attack and the left tusk is shorter than the right because it broke and regrew. This suggests the hunters had knew of this one particular mammoth, had battled him before and perhaps positioned his remains as a means of paying their respects.

The skeletal remains of the 14 mammoths found at the site will be transported to the Museum of the Mammoth in Tultepec where the one excavated in 2016 is currently on display. Mineralized bones can be surprisingly delicate, so they will have to be carefully conserved and stabilized before going on display.

That famous dark red/purple dye so prized by ancient Mediterranean peoples for its depth of color that only increased with time is still known today as Tyrian purple because it was produced and traded extensively by Phoenicia and its colonies.  Archaeological evidence points to the Minoans as having beaten the Phoenicians to the punch by centuries. An excavation on the islet of Chryssi in eastern Crete has unearthed remains of an early Minoan-era dye production facility.

The purple dye was manufactured by extracting the secretion from the hypobranchial gland of murex sea snails. The carnivorous molluscs release a bromine compound when attacked, so dye could be extracted by poking and prodding the snails, thus keeping them alive for further production. Much more common, however, was the destruction of the snails and removal of the gland. It was resource-intensive, time-consuming and, according to ancient chroniclers, eye-wateringly smelly work that required processing literally thousands of murex just to produce enough dye for even a single stripe like one on the toga praetexta worn by Roman magistrates.

The Chryssi settlement was inhabited from 1800-1500 B.C. and evidence of murex processing, including stone tanks used to farm the sea snails, have been found in structures from the early end of the range. The most recent excavations of a later building from ca. 1500 B.C. revealed murex shells were used in the construction of its walls.

The large building, B2, is relatively simple in architectural features with focus on practical elements like work surfaces, stoves, slab staircases. Stone tools and pottery types used for cooking and storing food have been recovered from the building. Workmanlike or not, the contents of the dwellings were expensive, high-quality pieces including precious metals, gemstones, copper pots and talents.

It contained a golden ring, 26 golden beads and a golden bracelet, a silver bead, 5 copper ones and a copper ring sling along with a large number of glass beads of various shapes, four of the so-called Egypt blue, 10 from lapis lazuli, one from amethyst and 20 from carnelian, a seal made of agate with the picture of a ship that its stern had the form of an animal’s head and a stone amulet with the shape of a monkey.

In 2019’s excavations another ‘treasury’ was unearthed that included a big saw and three vases, all made of copper. Their total weight was 68 kilos. It is one of the largest found on Crete so far. Inside a vase, they also found part of a talent made of tin.

This is only the second tin talent found on Crete.

The newly-discovered evidence indicates the building was used by people involved in the production and trade of purple dye. Wealthy, but a mercantile rather than a ruling elite.