Photo courtesy Arkeologerna.Two 2,500-year-old Bronze Age neck rings have been found in Marby outside Norrköping in southeastern Sweden. They were discovered crammed between two stones on the edge of a burial, an unusual context that suggests they were placed as offerings.

The two rings are different in design: the larger one is thinner, the smaller thicker with much more deeply profiled twists. Made of cast bronze and twisted into spirals, this type of necklace is known as a Wendel ring. They were produced in the late Bronze Age and are typically found in bogs and marshes deposited as part of a group of artifacts. Finding two Wendel rings sandwiched between stones is unprecedented.

They were on the outskirts of a central block grave, a circle of small stones with a large block in the center. Cremated human bones were found in an urn and in several small pits dug into the ground. There were also bone fragments scattered around the stone setting.

Previously known to contain Bronze Age burials, settlement remains and stone shard mounds, the Marby site is being excavated this spring in connection with new construction planned for the area. Archaeologists hope to discover new information about the settlement pattern, what livestock was raised there, who was buried there, what rituals were performed and other aspects of Bronze Age community life.

The focus of the investigation are the two shard mounds, man-made piles of broken stones dating back to the Early Bronze Age. They are often found in settlements, and archaeologists first believed they were midden piles, piles of waste accumulated from cooking and general life. Excavations have found human bones and bronze objects in the stone shard mounds, however, and the Marby site has an unusual combination of a block grave with a circular stone edge that was actually built on top of shard mound.

A massive Iron Age structure of wood and stone in an excellent state of preservation has been discovered on the banks of the Main River in Aschaffenburg, Germany. It dates to the 4th century B.C. The combination of the riverbank find location, the mixture of timber and stone construction and the early Iron Age date makes this a unique find.

The first 10 wooden beams of the structure were discovered 26 feet beneath street level during civil engineering works on stormwater overflow basin in March 2026. The find was reported to the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (BLfD) who followed up with archaeological excavation. The condition of the wood was so extraordinary that at first the BLfD team thought it was the remains early modern or even modern construction, but when the oak beams were analyzed in the dendrochronology laboratory of the state office, the tree rings were compared to known oak ring chronologies and found the beams came from trees felled in the 4th century B.C.

“Initial profiles already indicate that a large number of massive oak beams were incorporated into a structurally sophisticated—and likely also monumental—edifice, given that the structure terminated in a dry-stone wall facing the Main. Stone masonry is extremely rarely attested for the Iron Age. When stone structures from this period are documented, they typically constitute components of fortified complexes—such as timber-laced walls,” explains Dr. Stefanie Berg, Head of the Department of Archaeological Heritage Conservation at the Bavarian State Office for Heritage Conservation (BLfD).

The find site had already been cleared for construction under the mistaken belief that there was no known or suspected archaeological remains there. When the Iron Age structure was found, archaeologists had to scramble to get everything documented and recovered while working in less than ideal conditions at the bottom of a large, flat-sided pit 30 feet deep.

An Early La Tène period settlement has long been hypothesized to have occupied the area of what is today Aschaffenburg’s Old Town, but the kind of archaeological materials found thus far were small portable artifacts like fine jewelry and the occasional isolated architectural feature like postholes. This massive structure on the banks of the river is the first incontrovertible evidence of a permanent settlement from the La Tène period.

Through archaeological excavation, documentation, and further investigations, researchers hope to gain new insights into the function of the complex as well as into the early settlement history of Aschaffenburg.

The intertwined skeletons of two individuals have been discovered in a grain silo from the early 5th century B.C. in Dijon, France. It is the first discovery of its kind of the Dijon area.

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) excavated the site in the Saint-Apollinaire neighborhood last summer, unearthing the remains of a small rural settlement from the 5th century B.C. The settlement contained several storage silos and a water well.

Human remains were found in only one of the silos, and their deposition was intentional and complex. The first individual was placed on their back with the lower limbs crossed, knees out, like they were sitting cross-legged. The right forearm was on the ribs; the left arm extended away from the body. The second individual was placed against the curved edge of the silo against their back and right side. The skeleton is tightly curled up, with the arms in front of the chest and hands. The right leg is raised, knee against the left elbow, and the left leg is sharply bent under the thigh.

These two individuals are interlocked at the lower limbs and feet. The absence of disturbances in the position of the lower skeleton and of sedimentary deposition between the individuals indicates a deliberate organization of the body assembly, the deposition of which was necessarily synchronous.

This clearly demonstrates an intention to link them. The silo was not sealed immediately after the burial of the bodies. It remained accessible for at least two operations: the removal of the second individual’s skull and the subsequent deposition, at a shallower depth than the skeletons, of a skull without a mandible.

The skeletons were placed on a layer of charred grains, legumes and nuts. Analysis of the remains identified the ingredients as barley, wheat, einkorn, lentils, vetch, acorns and hazelnuts. The cereals were typical of what would have been kept in the silo. The legumes would have been collected from the surrounding area. They were accompanied by more exotic produce — grape seeds, wild apple seeds, sloe berries — that suggest there was an offering left, rather than just the random remains of the content of the silo.

The Kasta Tumulus, the largest known burial monument from ancient Macedonia, is now visible along its entire circumference and height for the first time. Restorers have exposed the full peribolos, the marble enclosure wall that surrounds the tomb, a perimeter 497 meters (1631 feet) long. Areas of loss on the southern side of the peribolos were filled with ancient blocks scattered around the immediate vicinity of the tomb and a small number of custom-made artificial stones.

Inside the monument, the structure has been stabilized and strengthened with new metal supports and the old, clunky metal supports and pillars removed making the interior entirely visible. Future repairs are planned that will reinstall the monumental ancient Macedonian marble door to the burial chamber, and the wings and heads broken off the sphinxes.

The tomb was excavated in 2014 amid much excitement due to its size and sculptural decoration, but proved to have been extensively ransacked during antiquity and was bereft of grave goods. It was dated to the last quarter of the 4th century BC and the battered, scattered skeletal remains of five people were found inside – a woman aged over 60, two men aged 35-40, a newborn baby and an adult who had been cremated.

The late 4th century B.C. was the era of Alexander the Great, and the sheer enormity of the tomb’s scale suggests there was a connection to him or the royal family. One hypothesis is that it was the tomb of Hephaestion, Alexander’s closest friend and general who died in Persia in 324 B.C., although no direct evidence supporting the attribution has been discovered.

Last fall, the Ministry of Culture launched the AmphiPoly project to scientifically document, scan and analyze the Kasta Tumulus with the aim of creating an accurate digital reconstruction of the monumental tomb. Archaeometric analyses, high-resolution 3D scanning, photogrammetry and data visualization applications will be used by researchers in collaboration with visual artists to recreate the original colors and iconography of the painted marble friezes and mosaic, even elements that are no longer visible or identifiable to the naked eye today. Ultra-high-resolution imaging an spectroscopic analyses of art in other Macedonian tombs, including the famous abduction of Persephone from Tomb I at Aigai, will provide additional information to help fill in the blanks.

With the data they collect, researchers plan to create virtual tours and interactive virtual reality models for museum visitors to experience the tumulus as it was. The digital reconstructions will also be used to create physical replicas of features like the façade with the sphinxes, the pedestal with the lion and the Persephone pebble mosaic. The AmphiPoly research will also aid in the long-term protection and preservation of this unique monument of exceptional archaeological significance.

The project will run concurrently with the restoration of the tomb and construction of the new visitor’s center and museum on the grounds. Members of the public will only be allowed inside the tumulus eight people at a time for no more than 20 minutes, so a visitor’s center where people can wait safely for the next tour is prudent. The Kasta Tumulus and new facility are scheduled to open in early 2028.