The History Blog

A unique bronze seal ring engraved with a depiction of the famed Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, has been discovered in the city’s harbour. It is the first depiction of the Lighthouse ever found on a seal ring.

Underwater archaeologists found the ring in an exploration of the submerged royal island of Antirhodos which was part of ancient Alexandria’s Eastern Harbour. The discovery location is significant because Antirhodos was the site of a Ptolemaic royal palace documented by geographer Strabo when he visited Alexandria between 29 and 25 B.C.

Other objects recovered near the ring include pottery, glass, tableware, amphorae, bottles, lamps and other utilitarian objects dating from the 4th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built on the island of Pharos at the entrance to the Portus Magnus, the great harbor, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the 3rd century B.C. It consisted of three levels: a square base, an octagonal body and a circular tower topped with the great fire. The flames were fueled by wood and resin, and amplified by metal mirrors. It could be seen from at least two dozen miles away and guided ships navigating the coast safely into the harbour.

It was a symbol of Alexandria and its commercial success, and an acknowledged architectural masterpiece. Depictions of it appeared on coins in the Ptolemaic era and under Roman imperial rule. The image engraved on the ring is similar to the depictions of the Lighthouse on 2nd century coins, so archaeologists have tentatively dated the ring to that period.

An excavation in the city of Troyes in northeastern France has unearthed three burials from Late Antiquity with well-preserved grave goods, including intact glass vessels. The fine glassware is an extremely rare find in the area.

A team from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) excavated the site on the bank of the Vienne River prior to construction of a new housing development. They found the remains of a post-built settlement from early antiquity (1st century A.D.) that was protected by a sturdy ditched wall. A large palisade divided the settlement, and most of the 300 domestic structures unearthed were on the east side.

There’s evidence of a second phase of construction in which masonry buildings were raised next to the post-built ones. Tegulae, roof tiles, and hypocaust tile pillars confirm masonry construction of urban buildings, and judging from the profusion of metal artifacts like coins, fibulae and furniture fittings, the town was well-populated and prosperous.

The three burials were discovered outside the ditched perimeter of the settlement. They date to the late 3rd or early 4th century A.D. They were dug very closely together and contain the skeletal remains of an adult woman, a child and a second adult whose bones are too degraded to determine their sex. Archaeologists believe it was a family grouping.

One of the adults was buried with glass vessels around their head. Two of the vessels are cylindrical and with thin glass walls. An intact pot-bellied amphora was found at the feet of the deceased. It was locally made and of good quality.

The site appears to have been abandoned after Late Antiquity, although the excavation did uncover a small group of huts from the turn of the 11th/12th century just to the north of the ancient town. There was a well and a silo, so it seems to have been a small community, although it’s not possible to tell from the sparse artifacts how long it was inhabited.

What at first sight looked like an ancient firepit has proven to be a rare 4,000-year-old stone cist grave in Halden, southeastern Norway. It is one of only about 20 stone cists found in Norway, in contrast to Sweden where 2,000 are known, and this is the only ever to be excavated by professional archaeologists.

Just a few miles from the border with Sweden, the area is slated for development into a new industrial park. Archaeologists are excavating the site to document and recover everything they can find before construction begins. The team uncovered some stones sticking up out of the soil, and a charcoal layer which suggested to them it was an ancient firepit. It was only when they removed some of the stones that they saw the stone slab sides of a cist grave.

The cist was built using stone slabs weighing hundreds of pounds with wedges driven down into the corners to create an in-ground coffin. The stone slabs are neatly placed and carefully wedged to keep them stable. Small, smooth stones were used to line the bottom of the grave creating a floor.

No traces of human remains were found inside the grave. Comparable examples have contained the skeletal remains of young men, some showing evidence of battle injuries. They were buried with daggers and arrowheads, suggesting they may have been warriors in life. The Halden cist did contain an arrowhead, but no daggers. They also found one amber bead and a fragment of corded ware pottery.

Archaeologists believe the deceased was likely a local resident, perhaps a farmer. To answer some of the questions about the grave and its owner, archaeologists are employing an experimental technique: they will be extracting DNA from soil samples. The body has decomposed, but the soil it decomposed into is still there and still retains traces of DNA. Archaeologists hope they’ll be able to find out more about the deceased from those traces.

The Cultural History Museum is now discussing the fate of the cist grave with Østfold County Council. The debate is whether it should be allowed to remain in situ so that people can visit it in its original location, or recovered and reconstructed inside the museum.