Month: May 2026

1st c. statue of Agrippina the Elder restored

Ancient, Museums

A larger than life-sized statue of Agrippina the Elder, niece of Emperor Augustus. discovered at the ancient city of Veleia in Emilia Romagna, northern Italy centuries ago, has been restored and is back on display with 11 members of her family at the Archaeological Museum of Parma.

Conservators from the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta in Parma had to clean the surface of years of grime and carefully remove thick layers of wax and varnish used in previous interventions. The layers had oxidized, darkening the statue and obscuring the details of the fine sculpture. The restoration illuminated Agrippina’s face, and archaeologists were able to see for the first time that the head was made of a block of pure white marble, unlike the rest of the statue which was made from veined marble.

The statue was one of a group of 12 portraits of members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty placed on a long podium next to a wall in the basilica of Veleia. They were discovered when the site was excavated by order of Duke Philip of Bourbon starting in 1760. The statues were one of the earliest discoveries in the initial Bourbonic excavation of Veleia. They underscore the city’s close ties to the imperial family, doubtless tightened by its patron, Lucius Calpurnius Piso who had been Julius Caesar’s brother-in-law. Piso’s portrait is one of the 12 Julio-Claudian sculptures and he is believed to have commissioned the group.

The statues were created in three stages. The first group made during the reign of Tiberius included the portraits of Augustus, his wife Livia, her son and his heir Tiberius and Tiberius’ brother Drusus the Elder and nephew Drusus the Younger. The statue of Piso was also in this first group. The second consisted of a portrait of Caligula, his sister Drusilla and mother Agrippina the Elder. After Caligula’s assassination and damnatio memoriae, the head of his portrait would be replaced with a portrait of Claudius, a substitution seen frequently in imperial statuary. That head of Claudius was created in the third phase, along with the portrait of Agrippina the Younger, Claudius’ wife, and her son Nero, then still a child.

Dresses made from 17th century shipwreck

Modern(ish), Museums

A multi-disciplinary research team at Aalto University in Finland have made a zero-waste dress out of wood from a 17th century shipwreck. The dress has gone on display at the Tomorrow’s Wardrobe exhibit at the Oulu Art Museum and a second one will be exhibited in September at the university.

The wreck was discovered under a parking lot during a renovation of a hotel in Oulu, central Finland, in 2019. The surviving timber structure identified it as a cargo ship and it was radiocarbon dated to the 17th century, making it the oldest shipwreck discovered in this part of Finland. It was dubbed Hahtiperä after Oulu’s first harbor.

A large section of the hull about 23 feet wide and 65 feet long was removed for conservation and eventual display at the Oulu Museum. A few individual fragments of wood were documented but could not be preserved along with the large section. Researchers at Aalto University’s Bioinnovation Center got the idea to use the surplus wood to create a woven textile that would then be knitted into a dress. Finnish Heritage Agency gave the university research team permission to use the wood however they wished, with the only condition being that the end-result paid respect to the unique source of the material.

First, the outer, impurity-containing layer was removed to expose the wood’s core, which was then shredded and processed into dissolving pulp. The pulp was subsequently transformed into fiber through the environmentally friendly Ioncell® process, which was developed at Aalto University in partnership with Helsinki University. Ioncell fibres have a silky feel and are stronger than cotton. In addition to new and reclaimed wood, the Ioncell® method can utilize recycled materials like paper, cardboard, textile waste, and straw for fiber production.

The finished yarn from the wreck has a subtle sheen and a beautiful brown tone. [Aalto researcher Inge] Schlapp-Hackl explains that the yarn remains undyed and unbleached, with its color directly originating from the Hahtiperä wreck.

‘The pulp made from the wreck contained very few impurities and was surprisingly easy to process. This project demonstrated that the Ioncell® method can be used to produce fibre from practically any cellulose-based material.”

The yarn was then used to make two dresses at Aalto’s knitting studio. The design is simple, a sleeveless maxi dress, but lecturer Anna-Mari Leppisaari designed and knitted a pattern inspired by wood grain. They were knitted as single intact pieces with no seams. Without patterns to cut, buttons/zippers/notions, no material was wasted in the production of the dresses.

13th c. cross-engraved tombstone found in Gdańsk

Medieval

A 13th century granite tombstone carved with a relief of a Latin cross has been discovered in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of seven tombstones, including two others also carved with Latin crosses, found in the excavation of the site of the former Miś (Teddy Bear) ice cream parlor. The stone has not been lifted yet, but presumably it marks the spot of a grave containing human remains

The ice cream parlor excavation last year unearthed the remains of the oldest church in Gdańsk, a wooden church built in around 1140. About 200 graves were found surrounding the church. A slab carved with the silhouette of a knight was one of the tombstones found last year.

This place is absolutely unique. It was here last summer that the grave of someone of note was discovered—perhaps a member of the princely elite. This is evidenced by a limestone tombstone depicting a knight in chainmail, with a sword and shield—crafted from imported Gotland limestone. Beneath the tombstone lay the complete skeleton of a tall man for the time, likely someone of considerable importance.

Large granite slabs with Latin crosses are often associated with the burials of Teutonic Knights. Two similar pieces found years ago at Gdańsk Castle and now in the collection of the Malbork Castle Museum are indeed Teutonic tombstones. The ice cream parlor tombstones are earlier, however. The Teutonic Knights took over Gdańsk in 1308, whereas the cross-engraved slabs found in the recent excavation date to the 13th century when Gdańsk was ruled by the dukes of Pomerania.

Ancient Greek theater mask found in Croatian cave

Ancient

A complete terracotta Greek theater mask was found in an excavation of the Black Lake cave on Croatia’s Pelješac peninsula. It is has a hanging hole at the top of the head and is hollow in the middle, so was probably designed to be hung, like on the wall of the cave when it was used as a cult sanctuary.

Archaeological investigations in 2025 and earlier this year found evidence of human use of the cave entrance and side areas dating back to the 2nd millennium B.C. Bronze Age peoples used it for temporary habitation, taking refuge there during times of conflict, inclement weather or for seasonal stays. In the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, it was used as a necropolis. Radiocarbon analysis of the skeletal remains found they date to between 1012 and 481 B.C. After this 500 year period, burials stopped.

The use of the cave did not stop, however. In the next phase of occupation from the late 4th to the mid-1st century B.C., the Illyrians used the cave as a sanctuary. Miniature vessels, most of them imported Greek forms but also some made in local workshops, were deposited in the cave as votive offerings. Fragments of larger Greek vessels — amphorae used to store wine and vessels used to drink it — were also found. Illyrians did not use these very expensive objects in everyday life, so they must have had religious reasons to include them in the rituals performed in the cave or to leave them for the gods.

While none of the votive offerings name the god or gods worshiped at the site, the mask strongly points to Dionysus, the god of wine and patron of theatrical performances, or the Illyrian version thereof. The fragments of Greek wine vessels also suggest a Dionysian cult.

Votive vessels found in cave. Photo courtesy Dubrovnik Museums.“We can only speculate whether we can connect Dionysus or his Illyrian counterpart with the wine vessels, and at the same time with the aforementioned mask, and whether we can find in them the deity to whom the cave served as a sanctuary and what rituals were performed there. The fact is that most of the finds associated with the sanctuary are located in the entrance and side parts of the cave, which were almost hidden and buried until excavation. Thanks to their location in a hidden, intact part of the cave, the finds have remained intact and almost completely preserved, almost like a frozen image more than two thousand years old,” said archaeologist Domagoj Perkić, head of the Archaeological Museum [of Dubrovnik Museums].

Rare Venetic inscriptions, sanctuary found in Italy

Ancient

A large pre-Roman sanctuary has been discovered in Ponso, in the province of Padua in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. Archaeologists discovered the remains of a sacred area with the remains of columns, pavements and dozens of stone slabs inscribed in the Venetic language. The inscribed stones have been tentatively dated to between the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.

The site was excavated in a salvage excavation along the route of a planned regional road. The first discovery was a cylindrical stone inscribed in Latin. Over the next few days, more stones emerged, these inscribed in the Venetic language of the people who inhabited the area before the arrival of the Romans. Some of the inscriptions run across two or three sides of the stones. Preliminary translations point to the inscriptions being votive requests which include the name of the person petitioning the gods. The name of the god being addressed has not yet been found.

The inscriptions are written in “Venetken” characters, a version of the Northern Italic alphabet similar to the Etruscan alphabet. The Venetic language drops off the archaeological record in the 1st century B.C., indicating the Veneti were fully assimilated into Roman culture and language by that time. About 300 inscriptions in Venetic are known, ranging in date from the 6th century B.C. to the 1st century B.C., so the discovery of dozens of them in a single location is extraordinary.

The sanctuary’s layout and remains were preserved for 2,000 years under 6.5 feet of mud deposited in a flood of the Adige River which at that time flowed through the area. allowing archaeologists to identify at least two phases of construction over five centuries of continuous use. Some of the inscribed stones were reused in a pavement dating to the 1st century A.D. Others were found in their original locations, although the force of the flooding has tilted them.

The investigation of the site is ongoing, and archaeologists are hoping to be able to pin down the dates of the construction and renovation phases and the different cultural practices associated with the phases.