The History Blog

A rare monumental inscription likely dating to the Augustan era has been discovered at the site of ancient baths in Fortuna, Spain. It is a fragment, but the surviving lettering is comparatively huge: 23 cm (9 inches) high. Extrapolating from the size of the text, the original inscription would have been about 4.8 meters (15.8 feet) long when intact. Monumental inscriptions on this scale are extremely rare on the Iberian Peninsula. Only three comparable examples are known in the Region of Murcia, all of them in the major metropolis of Carthago Nova (Cartagena).

The ashlar block almost 1.2 meters (4 feet) long was discovered in the northern part of the Roman thermal complex. It was inside a wall that was not its original location, reused as building material in antiquity. Before the discovery, archaeologists thought that wall was part of the northern enclosure of the baths, but the reused stone means that it was built in a larger phase of construction.

There are two lines of text framed by decorative moldings with lettering in two sizes: the large 23 cm text on the top line and about 13 cm (5 inches) high on the line below. Text of these dimensions suggest the inscription was originally part of a large architectural feature, meant to be read from a distance.

Preliminary analysis has identified the end of a Roman name and writing characteristics that point to a chronology situated between the end of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, possibly during the period of Augustus.

Experts suggest that it may have been a commemorative inscription related to a monumental architectural work, although its exact function still needs to be determined.

The baths of Fortuna is one of the most important thermal sites in Roman Murcia. Archaeologist from the University of Murcia have been excavating and studying the thermal complex for years. The current intervention is part of a project funded by the regional government to excavate, document and recover the baths’ ancient structures with the goal of increasing understanding of its usage in the Roman period and to conserve the remains for the long-term stability of the heritage site.

The ashlar has been raised and transferred to the Archaeological Museum of Murcia, where it will be studied, documented, and conserved.

An excavation of a late 5th century burial mound in central Japan has uncovered a clay figurine representing a female shaman (miko). The figurative clay sculpture, a haniwa, is well-preserved, with its features still finely detailed and extensive surviving red paint.

Excavations at the Nishikaminomiya Site began in 2020 as part of a Tone River improvement project. Since then 11 burial mounds from the Kofun period have been discovered. The largest mound is Tumulus No. 1 at approximately 160 feet long. It is surrounded by a moat is 60 feet wide. The haniwa was discovered in this year’s excavation of the southern end of Tumulus No. 1 adjacent to the Tone River. It had rolled down a protruding section of the mound into the moat.

Haniwa were made of unglazed earthenware and placed on grave mounds as protective markers. The figural haniwa were typically sculpted on top of a simple cylinder that had been the earliest form of the statue in the 3rd century. The cylinder was buried leaving the figure above ground to mark the burial sites.

The newly-discovered example is only a torso and head (the buried base has broken off) and is about 16 inches high. It depicts a woman wearing a sash with her hair styled in the Kofun Shimada (topknot) identifying her as a shaman. The top of the head is made of clay cord, conveying with its texture the tied hair. The face, sash lower section of the garment and bracelet on her right wrist are painted red. She holds a rod-shaped object in her left hand that was used in religious rituals. Made in the second half of the 5th century, it is one the earliest anthropomorphic haniwa to have been found in the Gunwa Prefecture.

Miko were popular subjects for haniwa. In the Kofun period, miko performed religious rituals at Shinto shrines and temples, falling into ecstatic trances to relay the words of the gods to worshipers. Historians believe miko held significant religious and political authority in Kofun society, and their visibility on the tombs of the elite confirms they figures of importance and authority.

Excavation is now complete. The haniwa will go on display next week at the Gunma Prefectural Museum of History.

A Bronze Age hoard found near Blyth Bridge in the Scottish Borders contains exceptional surviving raw materials for metal work, including the first copper ingot ever discovered from Bronze Age Scotland and casting moulds used for producing decorative fittings like the ones in the Peebles Hoard.

The Blyth Hoard was discovered in 2022 just seven miles from the Peebles Hoard, the most diverse agglomeration of Bronze Age artifacts in Europe. Amazingly enough, the same metal detectorist, Mariusz Stępień, discovered both hoards, and while he is apparently a magical Bronze Age hoard magnet, he is also so archaeologically conscientious that as soon as he found a socketed axe, he stopped digging and reported it to the Treasure Trove Unit.

Because of Stępień’s scrupulousness, the Blyth hoard was professionally excavated by archeologists from National Museums Scotland. They unearthed a second socketed axe head, a large copper ingot and three fragments of clay moulds used to cast bronze objects. The hoard dates to the Late Bronze Age, 1150-800 B.C.

The copper ingot is complete and is the first of its kind from Scotland. Ingots are more common in southern Britain, particularly on the south coast, but have never been found north of the Border. It is important evidence that raw material was being imported into Scotland 3000 years ago. People weren’t simply recycling existing objects – there was a supply of fresh metal into the area.

Most of the Late Bronze Age moulds that have survived were used to produce weapons or tools. The Blyth moulds, on the other hand, are shaped and patterned to produce smaller decorative pieces. Because Peebles was found two years before the Blyth Hoard, when archaeologists examined the fragments of casting moulds, they were able to recognize the spiral and outlines of the Peebles fittings.

It is rare to find any moulds that link to specific objects from the Bronze Age. This makes the discovery at Blyth quite exceptional. Given the unique nature of the Peebles Hoard fittings, it is highly probable that whoever buried the Blyth Hoard may have been involved in making some, or all, of the Peebles Hoard fittings. This is especially striking given the presence of an ingot.

The survival of metalwork and the remains of manufacturing materials together is rare in Britain, and previously unknown in Scotland. The Blyth Hoard is an opportunity to examine some of the relationships between metal objects, production and deposition. The socketed axeheads and ingot may represent the raw material for casting into new objects, such as the Peebles-style fittings. The person (or people) who buried the Blyth Hoard may have been a metalworker, skilled at making moulds and casting objects.

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an Iron Age defensive barrier in West Jutland, Denmark. It dates to 500 B.C., the earliest Iron Age in Denmark, and may be evidence of a previously unknown conflict.

A team of archaeologists from the Museum Vest were investigating the site of planned road expansion when, in a field near Schæfergårde, they discovered a long stretch of closely-spaced postholes. They aren’t arranged as postholes for dwellings are. These were likely left by pointed wooden stakes that formed a defensive palisade. It crossed the Drivvejen, an ancient road that was the main artery through Western Jutland, and archaeologists hypothesize that it was built to stop an invading army coming from the north.

The road expansion route also intersects with several protected pre-historic burial mounds. In one of them, excavations revealed a 4,500-year-old battle axe. Archaeologists believe it was a grave good for a Stone Age warrior, someone of prominence who earned a tumulus burial.

The team is still excavating the hole belt. They hope to find out more about who built it and who they were fending off.

Museum Vest will continue its investigations throughout the rest of the autumn, including at a number of burial mounds where archaeologists have also found several urns. They hope that the upcoming investigations can add even more pieces to the story of the area’s prehistory.