Rufford Abbey 'photo tripod stone' is Roman artefact

A stone stump used as a photo tripod by country park visitors is an ancient Roman artefact, it has been revealed.

Archaeologists said the 4ft (1.2m) granite stone at Rufford Abbey, near Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, dates back to about 150AD.

It formed part of a column at Roman emperor Antoninus Pius' villa, excavated and brought back by 19th Century archaeologist Lord John Savile.

Visitors to the park had also used the column as a bird feeder.

Nottinghamshire County Council archaeologist Emily Gillot - who has worked at the 210-acre (85-hectare) country park for 11 years - said it was an exciting discovery.

Read the rest of this article...

Hadrian’s Wall Monuments – 3D Scan No.4

Today’s blog on the 3D scans of Roman monuments associated with Hadrian’s Wall, products of our recent collaboration with University of Newcastle as part the NU Digital Heritage project (http://www.nu-digitalheritage.com). One of the planned uses of these digital models will be for use as a teaching resource for initiatives such as their free online Massive Online Open Course Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier. Follow the links to see part one, part two and part three of our blog series. 

 

Today’s blog is a little bit early as we wanted to put something out on Terminalia, which was celebrated by the Ancient Romans on the 23rd of February in honour of the god Terminus. Terminus was the god of boundaries and Hadrian’s Wall is certainly one of the most significant boundaries in the whole of the Roman Empire! Terminus’ statue was merely a stone or post stuck in the ground to distinguish between properties. To celebrate Terminali the two owners of adjacent properties would crown the ‘statue’ with garlands and raise an altar, on which they offered up some corn, honeycombs, and wine, and sacrificed a lamb or a sucking pig. 

Read the rest of this article...

Roman cemetery: Fifteen skeletons found at Ipplepen dig

A "major" Roman cemetery has been discovered during an archaeological dig in Devon.

Experts found 15 skeletons during the excavation of a Roman road at Ipplepen, near Exeter.

Tests on one of the skeletons showed the settlement was in use up to 350 years after the Roman period ended, which has surprised experts.

Archaeologists said the discoveries were both nationally and regionally important.

Read the rest of this article...

2,200 year old Iberian moat found in Valls

Students of the bachelor's degree in Archaeology at the University of Barcelona (UB) have discovered the remains of an Iberian construction during the fieldwork of the subject Archaeological Methodology I. On 28 and 29 October, students found a 2,200-year-old moat that defended the Iberian town of Vilar de Valls, the ancient city of Valls, in Tarragona. 

UB students of Archaeology on a practical sessions developed in the site  [Credit: Universitat de Barcelona] 

According to the directors of the archaeological excavation, Jaume Noguera, researcher in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology of the UB, and Jordi López, expert from the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, the site might have been destroyed by Romans during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC) that pitted Roma against Cartago for the hegemony of the Mediterranean. 

Read the rest of this article...

Herculaneum scrolls unlocked using photon beams

A scientific breakthrough could make it possible to read papers from the only library to have survived from the times of ancient Rome.

The library was in Herculaneum which, like Pompeii, was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Hundreds of charred scrolls were found there but it has been impossible to read them.

Now scientists in France have found a way to peer inside the charred scrolls, seeing letters and words for the first time in almost 2000 years.

Read the rest of this article and watch video...

Large Roman necropolis in Poland to be studied

The largest necropolis from the Roman period in Karczyn in Kujawy is the object of detailed scientific research. Funds received from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage will allow to complete the analyses, that will determine the diet, kinship and origin of the dead buried in the cemetery. 

Tomb of a warrior [Credit: Adriana Romańska] 

Excavations in Karczyn were conducted in 2002-2010 by the Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Prehistory, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. From the very beginning, scientists understood that they were dealing with a unique place. 

"It turned out that the necropolis existed continuously for over 300 years, from the first to the fourth century AD - told PAP says Adriana Romańska, head of the excavation. - We have found more than 120 burials with very diverse rites".

Read the rest of this article...

Found in Spain: traces of Hannibal's troops

Spanish archaeology students have discovered a 2,200-year-old moat in what is now the Catalan town of Valls, filled with objects providing evidence of the presence of troops of the Carthaginian general Hannibal in the area.

The moat, which surrounded the Iberian town of Vilar de Vals, contained coins and lead projectiles, researchers said in a statement.

It is estimated the moat could have had a width of 40 metres (131 feet), a depth of five metres, and a length of nearly half a kilometre.

Read the rest of this article...

Scientists use X-rays to decipher charred Vesuvius scrolls

David Blank, professor of Classics from University of California, left, uses his laptop computer as he studies an ancient papyrus at the Naples' National Library, Italy Photo: AP

The contents of hundreds of papyrus scrolls that were turned into charcoal during the eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD - one of the great natural disasters of antiquity - have long remained a mystery. That soon may change.

Scientists said on Tuesday a sophisticated form of X-ray technology has enabled them to decipher some of the writing in the charred scrolls from a library once housed in a sumptuous villa in ancient Herculaneum, a city that overlooked the Bay of Naples.

The library was part of what's called the Villa of the Papyri, which may have belonged to Julius Caesar's father-in-law. Other libraries from antiquity have been discovered but this is the only one that had its scrolls still present.

Read the rest of this article...

X-ray technique reads burnt Vesuvius scroll

For the first time, words have been read from a burnt, rolled-up scroll buried by Mount Vesuvius in AD79.

The scrolls of Herculaneum, the only classical library still in existence, were blasted by volcanic gas hotter than 300C and are desperately fragile.

Deep inside one scroll, physicists distinguished the ink from the paper using a 3D X-ray imaging technique sometimes used in breast scans.

They believe that other scrolls could also be deciphered without unrolling.

Read the rest of this article...

Excavation plans for Exeter's Roman Baths

A set of "internationally significant" Roman Baths which lay hidden for almost 2,000 years could be opened to the public in a restoration project announced by Exeter Cathedral. 

The Roman Baths were discovered in 1971 after excavating  a Saxon burial ground [Credit: Exter Cathedral] 

The site was discovered in 1971 but due to a lack of funds was reburied under the cathedral green to protect it. 

A bid for £8.7m has now been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). 

Roman archaeology specialist Dr Martin Pitts said the site "is of major significance". 

Read the rest of this article...

Excavation plans for Exeter's Roman Baths

The Roman Baths were discovered in 1971 after excavating a Saxon burial ground

A set of "internationally significant" Roman Baths which lay hidden for almost 2,000 years could be opened to the public in a restoration project announced by Exeter Cathedral.

The site was discovered in 1971 but due to a lack of funds was reburied under the cathedral green to protect it.

A bid for £8.7m has now been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Roman archaeology specialist Dr Martin Pitts said the site "is of major significance".

Read the rest of this article...

Bronze figure of Silenus found on Danish island

A bronze figure representing the Greek figure Silenus, from the time of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, has been found on the south-eastern Danish island of Falster. 

The 4.5 cm tall Roman bronze figure represents Silenus, a mythological creature based  on the Greek figure of the same name. The bronze figure was found recently on the  island of Falster and can be dated back to the time of the Roman emperor. Augustus. It is unknown how the figure ended up on a Danish island  [Credit: National Museum of Denmark] 

This find suggests that there was close contact between the Roman empire and Scandinavia, before and after the emperor's reign. 

A Roman on Falster 

The tiny bronze figure represents an elderly, bearded, balding man with thick lips and a plump nose. The find, just 4.5 cm tall, was found using a metal detector.

Read the rest of this article...

Ancient Roman fort designed for celestial show

The gateways of an ancient Roman fort in Britain are roughly aligned with the light from the sun during the summer and winter solstices a design that would have resulted in a striking scene on the shortest and longest days of the year, a researcher says. 

The fort was constructed during the rule of Roman Emperor Hadrian (reign A.D. 117-138).  It was part of a system of fortifications that protected the frontier of Roman Britain  [Credit: PHB.cz (Richard Semik) | Shutterstock.com] 

The fort had four gateways facing one another. During the summer solstice, the sun would rise in alignment with the fort's northeastern and southwestern gates, and set in alignment with its northwestern and southeastern gates, the researcher reported in the new study. 

During the winter solstice, the sun would rise in line with the fort's southeastern and northwestern gates, and set in line with the fort's southwestern and northeastern gates.

Read the rest of this article...

Une nécropole antique dans le quartier périphérique occidental de la ville de Saintes : plusieurs individus entravés, dont un enfant

De septembre à novembre 2014, une équipe d’archéologues de l’Inrap a mené, sur prescription de l’État (Drac Poitou-Charentes), une fouille préventive sur un terrain de 613 m2, dans le cadre de la construction d’une maison individuelle dans le quartier ouest de Saintes. Une première campagne de fouille réalisée en 2013 sur une parcelle contigüe avait mis en évidence la vocation funéraire de cet espace au cours de l’Antiquité. L’opération de cette année a permis la découverte d’une centaine de sépultures. 

Read the rest of this article...

Giant Ancient Roman Water Basin Uncovered

Italian archaeologists have unearthed the largest Roman water basin ever found, right in the heart of modern Rome.

Found some 65 feet down near St. John in Lateran Basilica during the excavation of the new metro C line, the huge irrigation basin measures 115 feet by 230 feet.

“It’s so big that it goes beyond the perimeter of the metro work site. It has not been possible to uncover it completely,” Rossella Rea, the dig’s director, said at a news conference in Rome.

Photos: Ancient Water Basin Found in Rome

Rea, who led an all-woman team of archaeologists, noted the basin was lined with hydraulic plaster and most likely extends, still preserved, beyond the work site toward the ancient city walls.

Read the rest of this article...

EMAS Easter Study Tour to North Scotland and the Isle of Skye

EMAS Easter Study Tour to North Scotland 

and the Isle of Skye

2 - 8 April 2015

The 2015 EMAS Easter Study Tour is to the North of Scotland, including one day on the Isle of Skye.

We will travel from London Embankment by coach, staying overnight at Carlisle on the 2nd and 7th April.

We shall be based at a hotel in Inverness, which is a very good central point from which to explore the region.

The itinerary includes a wide range of prehistoric and medieval sites, including some of the famous Pictish symbol stones.

Click Here for full details of this study tour...

Vases in Pompeii Reveal Panic Before Eruption

French and Italian archaeologists digging out a pottery workshop in Pompeii have brought to light 10 raw clay vases, revealing a frozen-in-time picture of the exact moment panicked potters realized they were facing an impending catastrophe.

The vases were found sealed under a layer of ash and pumice from Mount Vesuvius' devastating eruption of 79 A.D. and it appears they were just ready to be fired.

Read the rest of this article...

Magnificent Ancient Roman Silver Treasure Revealed

Accidentally discovered by a French farmer plowing his field near the village of Berthouville in rural Normandy in 1830, the spectacular hoard of gilt-silver statuettes and vessels known as the Berthouville Treasure was an ancient offering to the Gallo-Roman god Mercury. Following four years of meticulous conservation and research in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Antiquities Conservation Department, the exhibition Ancient Luxury and the Roman Silver Treasure from Berthouville, on view at the Getty Villa November 19, 2014, to August 17, 2015, will present this unique collection of ancient silver in its full splendor and offer new insights about ancient art, technology, religion, and cultural interaction.

Read the rest of this article...

Archaeologists find fertility genius, godheads and oil lamps in Roman Cumbria

A fertility genius in “amazing” condition, believed to be a local deity thousands of years ago, and the carved heads of male and female Roman gods have been found by archaeologists digging at a village in Cumbria.

The vague outline of an altar can be seen below the hand of the genius, unearthed in a 2,500-square metre area at Papcastle, where the 2009 floods gave excavators the first glimpses of Roman remains.

A cap worn by the male statue comes from thePhrygian kingdom in modern-day Turkey, meaning the figure could be Mithras, who was worshipped in the north between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. Archaeologists are also speculating that he could be the Greek god Attis, which would be likely to identify the female head asCybele – Phrygia's only known goddess.

Read the rest of this article...

Roman Gladiators ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank a tonic of ashes after training

Roman gladiators ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank ashes after training as a tonic. These are the findings of anthropological investigations carried out on bones of warriors found during excavations in the ancient city of Ephesos.

Historic sources report that gladiators had their own diet. This comprised beans and grains. Contemporary reports referred to them as "hordearii" ("barley eaters").

In a study by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the MedUni Vienna in cooperation with the Department of Anthropology at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bern, bones were examined from a gladiator cemetery uncovered in 1993 which dates back to the 2^nd or 3^rd century BC in the then Roman city of Ephesos (now in modern-day Turkey). At the time, Ephesos was the capital of the Roman province of Asia and had over 200,000 inhabitants.

Read the rest of this article...