Month: December 2020

8 ancient tombs found on private land in Peloponnese

Ancient

Archaeologists have unearthed eight tombs from the late Classical, early Hellenistic period on private property in the western Peloponnese municipality of Ilidos. The graves were of varied type — four cist graves lined with stones, three pithoi (massive clay vessels typically used for food storage but so large they could serve as coffins) and one coffin roofed with ceramic tiles — and range in date from the 4th to the 2nd century B.C.

One of the pithoi contained impressive grave goods: a richly decorated bronze vase with its original base and a bronze mirror. The vase has a floral design on its handles and is ornamented with lion heads between handles and rim. The mirror has a carved relief on the back. The style of the artifacts date the grave to the late 4th or early 3rd century B.C.

A tombstone with a gabled pediment is another of the stand-out finds from this excavation.

The burial grounds at Ilia have been a rich source for historians regarding ancient Greek burial practices. Since the ancient cemetery was discovered, over 200 grave sites have been unearthed there, many of which date from the Late Classical to the Hellenistic period.

Archaeologists have found a wealth of graves and funerary objects at Elis, helping them to piece together local funerary customs.

The site was occupied from the Middle Paleolothic (ca. 130,000 years before present) through the 7th century A.D. when it was destroyed by earthquakes. The ancient Greek city of Elis was said to have been founded in the 12th century B.C.,  and was established as the capital of the eponymous city-state in the 5th century B.C. It played a central role in organizing the Olympic Games (Olympia was in the Elis region) which granted it privileges from later conquerors like Philip II of Macedon who took the city in 343 B.C., around the time when the older of the eight tombs were built in the western necropolis. Elis was conquered by Rome in 146 B.C. and became part of the Roman province of Achaia.

Crosby Garret loophole to be closed

Ancient, Modern(ish), Social policy, Treasures

The glaring loophole in the UK’s 1996 Treasure Act that allowed an exceptional Crosby Garrett Roman cavalry helmet to disappear into a private collection will soon be closed. Last year, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced a planned revision to the Treasure Act that would update the definition of “treasure” to preserve priceless archaeological patrimony for the public. The ministry has now announced that after a period of consultation and study, the definition of treasure will be changed to allow the designation of objects of great cultural or historical significance as treasure no matter what their material qualities.

The 1996 Treasure Act defines treasure as coins in a hoard that are 300 years old or older, two or more prehistoric objects made out of base metal, any non-coin object that is at least 300 years old and composed of at least 10% gold or silver, and gold and silver artifacts less than 300 years old with no known owners or heirs of owners. Any object determined to be treasure according to these criteria is assessed for fair market value and offered to a local museum for that sum. The prize is then split between finder and landowner. If it is does not qualify as treasure, it can be sold to whomever. This definition is a holdover from medieval common law standards that claimed treasure trove — gold and silver objects buried with the intent of later retrieval — for the crown. The Act abolished the ancient expectation of retrieval, but the focus on precious metal content and quantity was a direct descendant of this narrow, outdated view of what constitutes historical treasure.

The first year the Treasure Act went into effect, there were 79 treasure cases. Twenty years later in 2017 there were 1,267. There are a lot more metal detector hobbyists today than there were in 1996, and a lot more archaeological treasures have been found, some of which did not meet the criteria for treasure despite their ancient age, rarity, national and international importance. The Crosby Garret helmet and a Roman licking dog statue, both completely unique in the British archaeological record, both dating to the Roman period, both museum quality, failed to meet to the criteria because they were made out of bronze. An Allectus aureus in impeccable condition failed to be declared treasure because it was a single coin instead of one of two or more. They were all sold at auction to the highest bidder.

The revision was open to public consultation from February until the end of April 2019. The ministry received 1,461 responses to the consultation forms, 1,352 submitted online (one of those was me!).  Most of the responses came from individuals, with 190 submitted by organizations or groups. Out of the 190, 51 of them (26.8%) were metal detecting groups, 36 (18.9%) heritage/archaeology groups.  The government’s response to the consultation has now been released.

The changes will bring the treasure process into line with other important legislation to protect cultural heritage and collections, including the listing process for historically significant buildings and the export bar system.

A specialist research project running next year will inform the new definition and there will be opportunities for detectorists, archaeologists, museums, academics and curators to contribute to options in development.

As a result of the public consultation, the government will also introduce new measures to improve the experience of the treasure process which include a new time limit to streamline some stages of the process, limiting the number of times the Treasure Valuation Committee can review a case and developing a mechanism to return unclaimed rewards to museums.

The changes will not go into immediate effect. The redefinition will be researched further, the research published, the changes to the code drafted and the attendant legislation passed through Parliament. Implementation of the new policies will, if all goes well, take place in 2022.

6th c. B.C. grave raised in huge soil block

Ancient

Archaeologists have discovered a large chamber grave from the 6th century B.C. near the Iron Age Heuneburg hillfort outside Herbertingen, southern Germany. The wooden chamber grave was at the center of an early Celtic burial mound which archaeologists have been exploring since last year. A targeted excavation unearthed the wood of the burial chamber and within in, some luxurious grave goods — an amber brooch, ribbed tubular gold beads. One bronze piece found with wood fragments still attached may have been part of a chariot.

The team also found the partially-preserved remains of organic materials which aren’t as shiny as gold jewels, but are of immense archaeological significance and extremely fragile. Several years of drought have already damaged these treasures which have survived the millennia in the waterlogged soil of the Danube plain.

To prevent further rapid deterioration of the organic remains, including the timbers of the chamber and other wood pieces that may have been part of a cart or chariot , and excavate the contents of the grave in controlled conditions, the entire burial was removed en bloc. The giant soil block weighs 80 tons and is 26 by 20 feet in dimensions. It needed two cranes to raise it for transport to the State Office for Monument Preservation laboratory in Stuttgart.

Another large chamber grave from the 6th century B.C. was discovered in 2010 only 320 or so feet from away from this site. It too was removed en bloc (almost exactly the same size a block — 80 tons, 25 by 20 feet) for laboratory excavation and was found to have belonged to an elite Celtic woman who has been dubbed the Princess of Bettelbühl. She was buried with very similar objects — an amber brooch and virtually identical ribbed tubular gold beads.

This results in a variety of questions for archaeologists that will be answered in the coming years. “We want to find out who these splendidly buried people are and how they related to each other. We assume that they are closely related members of the politically leading families who lived around 600 BC. Were in charge of the Heuneburg,” says project manager and regional archaeologist Prof. Dr. Krausse.

Remains of Canadian teen WWI soldier identified

Modern(ish)

After three years of investigation, the Canadian military has identified the remains of a World War I soldier who was killed in action in 1917. He was Private John Lambert of St. John’s, Newfoundland who was barely 16 years old when he lied about his age to enlist in 1916. His remains and those of three  still-unidentified British soldiers were discovered in April 2016 during an archaeological survey near the town of Langemark, Belgium.

Born on July 10th, 1900, Lambert enlisted on August 14th, 1916. He claimed to be 18 years and three months old, which means he lied about his birth date as well as the year. Two weeks later he was on his way to Scotland to join the 2nd Battalion of The Newfoundland Regiment. There he and his comrades were trained before being sent to the Western Front. He joined the 1st Battalion in the field in June 1917. In August, Lambert’s division was deployed to attack the German lines north of Ypres. The advance was successful and the 29th Division took all of its objects, but John Lambert paid the ultimate price. He died of his wounds received during the advance, dubbed the Battle of Langemarck, on August 16th. He was 17 years and six days old.

He was recorded as killed in action and his family notified, but in the confusion of war, his grave site was lost.

The war diary of the 88th Brigade mentions that a ‘Field Ambulance Relay Post’ was located near Tuffs Farm. This relay post was most likely located within 100 meters of the location where Private Lambert was recovered in 2016. It is believed that he and the other soldiers found with him were buried near this ‘Relay Post’ and for unknown reasons their remains were not found and recovered following the war.

When the remains of the four soldiers were discovered in 2016, one of the artifacts found in the grave was the shoulder title of The Newfoundland Regiment. Armed with this key clue, the Canadian Armed Forces’ Casualty Identification Program set to discovering the identity of the soldier.

Only 16 Newfoundlanders were listed as missing from World War I, which helpfully limited the number of possibilities, but the process was challenging nonetheless. Osteological analysis and DNA retrieved from his bones revealed his age and height. Here John Lambert’s century-old lies put a spanner in the works, because the army’s records for his age obviously did not match the biological evidence.

Extensive historical and genealogical research was able to locate descendants of 13 of the 16 missing Newfoundlanders, and Patricia Egan, Lambert’s 90-year-old niece, provided her DNA to test against his. It was a match.

St. John’s resident Shirlene Murphy, [Egan’s daughter,] said the family kept his memory alive through the years.

“The family dearly loved him,” Murphy said in an interview Tuesday, noting that Lambert was her grandmother’s brother. “He was always talked about. There’s pictures of him in everybody’s house.”

Everyone in the family referred to him as “Uncle Jack.” […]

A padre and the commanding officer of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment officially delivered the news to Eagan on Friday that her uncle had been identified.

“She’s just amazed,” said Murphy, referring to her mother. “The first thing she thought about was her mother and how good it would have been if she was around to see this.”

Private Lambert’s remains will be reburied, probably next summer, in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s New Irish Farm Cemetery in West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. The three British soldiers who were laid to rest with him 103 years ago will be reburied alongside him as well.

Unusual medieval knife found in Scotland

Medieval

A metal detectorist has discovered an unusual medieval knife in the woods near Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland. Craig Johnstone theorized that survivors of the Battle of Rullion Green in 1666 had escaped through Deanburn woods and was hoping to find archaeological evidence of it when he came across the much earlier and more precious object. The knife was caked in mud so it looked like a tapered piece of metal topped with a fleur-de-lis. Johnstone thought it might be the top of an iron railing that had broken off.

A friend on the Midlothian council showed it to the council archaeologist and she recognized it as a knife. She recommended (and this sounds a little crazy to me) that they heat it up in an oven at a low temperature with the door open. The heated blade pulled easily out of the sheath along with two pieces of leather that protected the knife from wear in the scabbard.

With a blade only three inches long, the knife is a Skean-Dhu, meaning black or hidden knife in Gaelic. They were concealed carry weapons for noblemen, basically, so small they could be easily hidden in sleeves and waistbands. It is a high-quality blade with a hollow grind (a very sharp beveled cutting edge like a straight razor). The fleur-de-lis handle is bronze which may have originally been gilded.

The first expert to examine the knife thought it dated to the 16th century. Johnstone reported it to local Treasure Trove authorities who at first dismissed it as “relatively modern.” Only after Johnstone had the object radiocarbon dated at his own expense did he get evidence that it was far older than anybody had yet realized. The leather dates to between 1191 and 1273. Armed with this new data, he informed Treasure Trove that his knife was, in fact, relatively medieval and it will now be assessed by the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel.

A Treasure Trove spokeswoman said: “This is a highly unusual object, comprising of a blade with a hilt and a metal scabbard with leather inside. While the leather and blade date from the medieval period, the hilt and scabbard are unusual for the period.

“Treasure Trove are still carrying out investigations into the object. It was due to be x-rayed as part of the investigation process, but this has unfortunately been delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions.”

I’m guessing the fleur-de-lis handle was a later modification. Scotland’s association with the fleur-de-lis goes back to its alliance with France against England in the Hundred Years’ War. When this blade was crafted at the end of the 12th or early 13th century, the French monarchy had only begun to use the fleur-de-lis as a symbol of divine right rule. It wasn’t even on the Arms of France until the 1220s, although it does make an appearance on the seal of the future king Louis VIII in 1211.