Month: June 2025

Roman soldier’s bronze wrist purse found in Czech Republic

Ancient

Archaeologists have unearthed a bronze fragment of a Roman soldier’s forearm purse in South Moravia, Czech Republic. It dates to the 2nd century when the find site was not in Roman territory, which makes it an exceptionally rare artifact.

The fragment was found in January at a site where the 10th Legion had built a fortified camp during the Marcommanic Wars fought by the Roman Empire under Marcus Aurelius against Germanic and Sarmatian tribes. The 10th Legion occupied the camp between 172 and 180 A.D. Marcus Aurelius planned to make the camp a permanent feature in the new province he would carve out of the territories wrested from the defeated Marcomanni, but he never achieved a conclusive victory before his death in 180 A.D. His son and successor Commodus pulled the troops out of the region.

Only about 30% of the purse survives, but its distinctive shape identifies it and while there were no coins inside, large numbers were found in the same archaeological layer.

“It is more like a small money box,” explains Balázs Komoróczy from the Czech Academy of Sciences. “It was worn by sliding it onto the arm or forearm. The tension around the arm kept it closed and secure.” […]

Experts estimate the purse could have held around 50 silver denarii, a significant amount at the time, but not quite a full year’s pay for an ordinary soldier. That suggests it may have belonged to a junior officer or someone responsible for unit expenses while on the move.

It is possible the purse held both personal money and what Mr. Komoróczy calls “service cash” or coins used to cover logistical needs during military operations. Based on its design, it would have been worn on the left arm, keeping the right hand free for combat.

The fragment has gone on display at the Mušov Visitor Centre in Pasohlávky along with a reconstruction of what it would have looked like when complete and several of the coins found with it.

Mosaic inscription found at entrance of early Christian church

Ex Cathedra

Archaeologists excavation the ancient city of Olympos on the southern coast of Antalya, Turkey, have unearthed a mosaic inscription at the entrance to a 5th century church. The Greek inscription exhorts church-goers to walk the straight and narrow. It reads: “Only those on the righteous path may enter here.”

Excavation director Associate Professor Gokcen Kurtulus Oztaskin from Pamukkale University said that Olympos continues to surprise archaeologists with its wealth of mosaics.

She noted similar discoveries had been made in 2017, 2022, and 2023. In this most recent phase, mosaics were found both in the main and annex sections of the church, featuring geometric and botanical motifs, alongside inscriptions bearing the names of patrons who supported the construction.

“These finds confirm Olympos as one of the richest ancient cities in the Lycia region in terms of mosaic flooring,” Oztaskin said.

Founded in the Hellenistic period (3rd century B.C.) on the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Turkey, Olympos was one of the six largest cities of Lycian League. It was privately ruled by Cilician pirates in the early 2nd century B.C. until the pirate king Zekenites was defeated in a series of naval battles by Roman proconsul Publius Servilius Isauricus, assisted by a 22-year-old Julius Caesar, in 78 B.C.

Under the Roman Republic and Empire, the city rose to greater prosperity. The emperor Hadrian visited it personally in 131 A.D. It became a Christian bishopric in the 3rd century and its bishops attended all the ecumenical councils and synods of the early Church.

Comprehensive excavations at the site began in 2006, and over the past four years, the digs have been ongoing year-round, uncovering numerous important structures, including Church No. 1, Church No. 3, the Bishop’s palace, monumental tombs and buildings decorated with mosaic floors.

Colossal marble head emerges at Trajan’s Forum

Ancient, Roma, Caput Mundi

A colossal marble head has been discovered under the Forum of Trajan in Rome. The head depicts an adult male with a thick head of wavy hair and a concentrated expression.

It was unearthed in an excavation of the Via Alessandrina on the southern end of the Imperial For a the spot where the Porticus Trisigmentata, a monumental colonnade with three aisles and marble columns 40 feet high, once stood. The Porticus just north of the Basilica Ulpia was the imposing opening of Trajan’s Forum, built by Apollodorus of Damascus between 107 and 112 A.D. It housed statues, reliefs and trophies captured in battle.

The head may have been part of a colossal statue in the Porticus, but it was not discovered in its original location. It was part of a medieval layer of brick and lime mortar. It had been reused as building material in the construction of a foundation centuries later.

The face has not been identified yet, but archaeologists hypothesize that it may be a depiction of the god of wine Dionysus. A similar head with attributes of the god (ivy leaves and flower clusters) was found at the site years ago. Another possibility is that it is an imperial figure, perhaps Trajan or one of his successors. The fine carving, the intensity of the facial expression, massive size and high quality of the marble marks as official imperial statuary. It has features in common with formal portraiture of Trajan — the proportions of the face, the bone structure, the upward-slanting eyes, the wavy hair — from the central years of his rule between 105 and 115 A.D., overlapping the period when the forum was built.

The sculpture will be studied and conserved in the coming months. Petrographic analysis may answer some questions about its origin. When the study is complete, the head will go on display in the Museums of the Imperial Forums.

Neolithic Venus found in Poland

Ancient

A Neolithic sculpture of a female figure has been discovered in Kołobrzeg, Poland. Dating back at least 6,000 years, the Venus of Kołobrzeg is the first of its kind ever found in Poland.

The limestone figurine is 12 cm (4.7 inches) high and depicts a stylized female figure with exaggerated emphasis on sexual characteristics and distorted proportions. The arms and legs are shortened, symbolically carved to imply a seated position and arms folded over the breasts. The face is featureless. This type of figurine is known as a Venus because it is considered a symbolic representation of fertility and female generative power.

It was found by a farmer in a field near the Parsęta River in December 2022. In early 2023, a photo of the figurine was sent to Jan Orliński, president of the Parsęta Exploration and Search Group. He and other researchers identified it as a worked figurine of the prehistoric Venus type, and shortly thereafter it was handed over to the Provincial Conservator of Monuments.

On the surface of the figurine, there are visible indentations resulting from the nature of the raw material from which it was made – a trace of the presence of mollusk shells. On the convex parts of the body, there are delicate traces of smoothing, especially around the breasts and hips, which may suggest the use of the figurine (e.g. storage in a package made of organic material – e.g. leather?). The back of the figure is relatively flat, which may indicate that the figurine was placed vertically or attached to some base.

Schematic anthropomorphic figurines are commonly found in Neolithic sites from the 6th and 5th millennium BC in the vast areas south and southeast of the Carpathians. Similar figurines are discovered in Anatolia and southern Europe. The Kołobrzeg Venus is a unique find from Poland, where no analogy has been found so far.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists has been studying the Venus and will soon published the results of their analyses. The figurine will be exhibited to the public for the first time at the Polish Arms Museum this fall.

17th c. Samurai armor restored at museum in Rome

Modern(ish), Museums

A rare suit of samurai armor in the Pietro Canonica Museum in Rome has returned to public view after a complex restoration. It is one of very few complete suits of Japanese armor in Italy, and the restoration required a cooperative approach blending traditional Japanese crafts and Italian conservation skills.

Housed in the 17th century “Fortezzuola” (fortresslet) on the Village Borghese grounds, the museum hosts works by the sculptor Pietro Canonica (1869-1959) and the eclectic personal collection of art and objects he acquired in his travels all over the world. The samurai armor is one of them.

It is a complete suit of armor with different parts to protect the body from head to toe. The helmet (kabuto) has a front crest with two long bronze prominences and a half mask (mempō) that covered nose and chin. The body is protected by a cuirass (dō), a gesan (the skirt that covers waist to thighs), haidate (thigh guard) and sode (shoulder guard), all characteristic elements of traditional samurai armor. The cuirass is signed by the renown 17th century master armorer Myōchin Munesuke, and the inscription dates the armor to between 1644 and 1648. The helmet is of later manufacture. It was made by Yoshinaga, a mid-19th century forger of the Myōchin Mytho School.

The shoulder straps of the breastplate and the belt are held together by blue silk laces and leather ties. The kneepads are padded and quilted with damask on the inside. The shoes are leather. The gauntlets and shin guards are made of studded iron plates.

The complex structure and variety of materials (several metals, leather, silk, wood, bone, linen, lacquer) made the armor challenging to restore. Weathering, poor historic maintenance, its perishable materials and a display stand that put pressure on its fragile components had severely compromised the armor. The restoration began last year, starting with an in-depth study by some of Italy’s greatest experts in Asian art. They discovered that it is in fact a hybrid set, assembled over time and later repaired and reworked. Some modifications date to the 18th century. Others date to the post-Meiji reform era when the Samurai caste was suppressed, forcing old families to sell their traditional armor.

This fascinating video breaks down all the component parts of the armor using a 3D model to visualize where each piece fits on the body, and then shows details of the front and back of the pieces in photographs.