'Santa's bone' proved to be correct age

A fragment of bone claimed to be from St Nicholas - the 4th-Century saintly inspiration for Father Christmas - has been radio carbon tested by the University of Oxford.

The test has found that the relic does date from the time of St Nicholas, who is believed to have died about 343AD.

While not providing proof that this is from the saint, it has been confirmed as authentically from that era.

The Oxford team says these are the first tests carried out on the bones.

Relics of St Nicholas, who died in modern-day Turkey, have been kept in the crypt of a church in Bari in Italy since the 11th Century.

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Third Roman Temple In Silchester May Have Been Part Of Nero's Vanity Project

Aerial view of the temple site in Silchester [Credit: Dr Kevin White, University of Reading]

The temple remains were found within the grounds of the Old Manor House in the Roman town at Silchester, along with rare tiles stamped with the name of the emperor, who ruled AD54-68.

The temple joined two others to make a group of three when it was investigated in Silchester in autumn 2017, and is the first to be identified in the town for more than 100 years. The three temples are located in a walled sanctuary, numbered Insula XXX by Victorian archaeologists. It would have been a striking gateway to the city for travellers from London.

Four fragments of tiles stamped in Nero's name were found in a ritual pit within the temple site – the largest concentration ever found in the town – along with another three at the kiln site which made the tiles in nearby Little London. These provide further evidence that the temples could all have been part of a Nero-sponsored building project in Silchester.

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Caesar's invasion of Britain began from Pegwell Bay in Kent, say archaeologists

Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain was launched from the sandy shores of Pegwell Bay on the most easterly tip of Kent, according to fresh evidence unearthed by archaeologists.

Researchers named the wide, shallow bay the most likely landing spot for the Roman fleet after excavators found the remains of a defensive base dating to the first century BC in the nearby hamlet of Ebbsfleet, near Ramsgate.
The ancient base covered more than 20 hectares and would have been ideally placed to protect the 800 ships the Roman army had to haul ashore when they were battered by a storm soon after they arrived from France in 54BC.

“This is the first archaeological evidence we have for Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain,” said Andrew Fitzpatrick, a researcher at the University of Leicester. “It’s a large defended site that dates to the first century BC.”

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Julius Caesar's Britain invasion site 'found by archaeologists'

Archaeologists from the University ofLeicester believe the ditch was part of a large fort in Kent

Archaeologists believe they may have uncovered the first evidence of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain in 54BC.

The discovery of a defensive ditch and weapons led them to identify Pegwell Bay in Thanet, Kent, as the place they believe the Romans landed.

The ditch, in the nearby hamlet of Ebbsfleet, was part of a large fort, the University of Leicester team says.

Its location was consistent with clues provided by Caesar's own account of the invasion, the team said.

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Silver Treasure Found near Bulgaria’s Mezdra

A treasure of 187 silver Roman imperial coins was discovered during excavation works in the town of Mezdra, North-West Bulgaria. It has a great cultural-historical and numismatic value, experts say.

The silver treasure was in a clay pot and was found under the roots of an old tree. Historians define the coins as Roman imperial denarii and antonianians, which were minted for a period of two hundred years. They depict the faces of emperors and their wives who lived from the first half of the first century to the middle of the third century.

Archaeologists, however, argue that the find which is now in the museum in the city of Vratsa, is only a small part of the real treasure. It confirms again that in the place of today's Mezdra there was a rich central town with thousands of years of history.

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How the Romans fed their legions thousands of miles from home

Conquering Romans relied on resources from near and far to sustain their forces against the native tribes in Wales, according to new research by Cardiff University archaeologists.

In a study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Dr Peter Guest and Dr Richard Madgwick of the University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion, used biochemical techniques of animal remains to reveal the origin of livestock supplied to the legionary fortress at Caerleon.

Prior to the study, leading theories argued that locally produced agricultural resources must have been vital in feeding and maintaining the substantial occupying army, though this idea was based on very limited evidence.

Using strontium isotope analysis to analyse the bones of domestic animals from the fortress, the researchers identified a mix of sources. Significantly, the diverse pattern of results does not suggest a centralised supply chain from near or far – results that challenge existing theories.

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A part of Hadrian's Wall has been found in Newcastle city centre, shedding new light on its route

Hadrians’s Wall has been uncovered during site investigations as part of a scheme to revive a historic building in Newcastle city centre.

The section of the wall has been revealed outside the Mining Institute on Westgate Road.

It was reportedly last seen during an excavation on the site in 1952.
But Simon Brooks, acting general manager of the Mining Institute, said: “There was some controversy about whether the Wall had been found. A lot of people were sceptical but now we have proof positive and we are delighted.”

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Rare tiles found near Basingstoke shed insight on Roman history

Evidence of one of the Roman Empire’s best-known rulers has been discovered near Basingstoke.

A team of archaeologists from the University of Reading has found three tiles bearing the stamp of Emperor Nero at a site in Little London.

The tiles date back almost 2,000 years, and were found earlier this month at the Roman Tile Kiln site.

Only 14 such tiles have ever been found in the UK, including another found at Little London back in 1925 and four discovered within a ritual put at a temple in nearby Silchester.

The University of Reading team is currently excavating a series of Roman kiln structures at the Little London site, which includes some huge brick and tile production facilities.

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Unearthed near Hadrian’s Wall: lost secrets of first Roman soldiers to fight the barbarians

Dig team stumble across thousands of pristine artefacts at ancient Vindolanda garrison site in Northumberland

Dig volunteer Sarah Baker with one of the rare cavalry swords. 

Photograph: Sonya Galloway

Archaeologists are likening the discovery to winning the lottery. A Roman cavalry barracks has been unearthed near Hadrian’s Wall, complete with extraordinary military and personal possessions left behind by soldiers and their families almost 2,000 years ago. A treasure trove of thousands of artefacts dating from the early second century has been excavated over the past fortnight.

The find is significant not just because of its size and pristine state, but also for its contribution to the history of Hadrian’s Wall, showing the military build-up that led to its construction in AD122. The barracks pre-dates the wall: the Romans already had a huge military presence in the area, keeping the local population under control.

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Cache of Roman cavalry weapons found at Vindolanda

Swords, arrow heads and ballista bolts amongst a cache of artefacts discovered during cavalry barrack excavations at Roman Vindolanda.

Aerial view of remains of 4th century stone fort at Vindolanda 

[Credit: Sonya Galloway, Vindolanda Trust]

During the past few weeks archaeologists at the Roman fort of Vindolanda have made one remarkable discovery after another in what has been an exceptional year for the research excavations.

Test pit excavations, below the stone foundations of the last stone fortress revealed a layer of black, sweet smelling and perfectly preserved anaerobic, oxygen free, soils in an area where they were completely unexpected. Hidden in this soil were the timber walls and floors, fences, pottery and animal bones, from the abandonment of a Roman cavalry barrack. The excavated rooms included stables for horses, living accommodation, ovens and fireplaces.

While excavating the material from the corner of one of the living rooms a volunteer excavator made an outstanding discovery.

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UN VASTE DOMAINE ANTIQUE À CESSON-SÉVIGNÉ

À Cesson-Sévigné (Ille-et-Vilaine), en amont de l’aménagement des ZAC Atalante ViaSilva et Les Pierrins, une prescription de l’État (Drac Bretagne) conduit une équipe de l’Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives à réaliser une fouille sur une surface de près de 7 hectares.

Cette intervention, démarrée le 26 juin 2017, a actuellement permis de mettre au jour une partie d’un vaste domaine rural gallo-romain, de type villa, ainsi qu’une portion du fossé ceinturant une motte castrale du Moyen Âge. Ces occupations anciennes s’inscrivent dans un espace traversé par un faisceau de voies, depuis la ville antique de Rennes et desservant Avranches, Jublains et Angers.

L’emprise de la fouille permet d’étudier la quasi-intégralité du domaine foncier antique et son insertion dans son environnement naturel. Ces découvertes contribueront ainsi à la compréhension de l’organisation des campagnes à l’époque gallo-romaine et leur mutation durant la période médiévale.

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Christopher Kissane: ‘Historical myopia is to blame for the attacks on Mary Beard’

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ‘legitimises autocracy with historical myths’.

Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

2017 Anadolu Agency

On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the historian calls for an end to the trivialisation of the lessons of the past

Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther sparked a movement of Reformation that would leave indelible marks on European history. While some have used this anniversary as an opportunity for reflection, and others a chance to heal old wounds, 2017 finds us in an age of intense historical myopia. Breathless news cycles and furious outrage are shrinking our horizons just as they need to widen. Public debate barely remembers the world of last year, “old news”, let alone that of a decade or few ago.

History’s expertise, and most dangerously its perspective, are being lost in our inability to look beyond the here and now. We stumble into crises of finance and inequality with ignorance of economic history, and forget even the recent background to our current politics. We fail to think in the long term and miss a growing environmental catastrophe. We refuse help to millions of refugees by turning away from our own history. As technology and globalisation bring the world closer together, we have narrowed rather than broadened our perspective. With challenges on many fronts, history needs to be at the heart of how we think about our ever-changing world.

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Mary Beard is right – ‘Romans’ could be from anywhere, from Carlisle to Cairo

Mary Beard has faced ‘unnecessary insult, misogyny and language of war’ for defending the BBC cartoon.

The classics professor’s naysayers refuse to believe ancient civilisations could have been anything but Caucasian, but there is evidence that proves them wrong.

The wonderful Mary Beard has been sucked into another Twitter row – where she faced, in her words, “unnecessary insult, misogyny and language of war”. This latest tussle has been about her defence (which, as usual, was measured, graceful and – above all – well-informed) of a BBC cartoon showing a Roman British family with a black father. For some people this was infuriating, disgusting: a politically correct piece of anachronistic nonsense, throwing modern multicultural values back on to the past. And yet, as Prof Beard has pointed out, of course it is perfectly possible, even pretty likely, that such families existed in Roman Britain, and an entirely reasonable thing for the BBC cartoon to have posited.

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Construction of a Luxury Hotel is Continuing in Sofia Despite the Discovery of an Ancient Roman Necropolis

Work was in full swing at the building site of the first Hyatt hotel in Bulgaria, in the centre of the capital, Sofia, on Monday, Balkaninsight reported. 

While numerous machines laid concrete and strengthened the foundations of the future 190-room five-star hotel, a team of archaeologists with an excavator was carefully digging a rare find out of the ground.

They recently discovered an ancient Roman tomb – part of the eastern side of the necropolis of the Roman city of Serdica, which lies under Bulgaria’s capital – which could soon be buried under the luxury new hotel.

The same fate has already befallen six other tombs discovered at the construction site in April.

They were recently covered up by the construction company, Tera Tour Service, sparkling public outrage.

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Archaeologists uncover 'little Pompeii' in southeast France

Archaeologists work on a mosaic on July 31, 2017, on the archaeological antiquity site of Sainte-Colombe, near Vienne, eastern France. Remains of an entire neighbourhood of the Roman city of Vienne have been uncovered in Sainte-Colombe, with lavish residences decorated with mosaics, a philosophy school and shops. The dig of the site, discovered prior to housing construction on a parcel of 5000 m2, began in April 2017 and was due to last six months, but have been extended to December 15, 2017, after the site was classified as an "exceptional discovery" by the French Culture Minsitry 

[Credit: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP]

A "little Pompeii" is how French archaeologists are describing an entire ancient Roman neighbourhood uncovered on the outskirts of the southeastern city of Vienne, featuring remarkably preserved remains of luxury homes and public buildings.

"We're unbelievably lucky. This is undoubtedly the most exceptional excavation of a Roman site in 40 or 50 years," said Benjamin Clement, the archaeologist leading the dig on the banks of the Rhone river, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Lyon.

The city of Vienne -- famous for its Roman theatre and temple -- was an important hub on the route connecting northern Gaul with the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis in southern France.

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Malaria already endemic in the Mediterranean by the Roman period

Malaria was already widespread on Sardinia by the Roman period, long before the Middle Ages, as indicated by research at the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine of the University of Zurich with the help of a Roman who died 2,000 years ago.

Even today, Malaria is one of the greatest medical challenges worldwide, killing hundreds of thousands of people every year. In the past, people have adapted to the threat of malaria in various ways. These methods range from interventions in the environment like draining swamps, to genetic adaptations in the human body.

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Tomb depicting famous gladiator brawl discovered in Pompeii

A brawl between gladiators that ended in tragedy, narrated by Tacitus, and a mysterious character that probably died in it is a 2,000-year-old mystery of Pompeii brought to light by a marble monumental tomb with the longest funerary epigraph ever found. The excavation was connected with the rehabilitation of state-owned property as part of the Great Pompeii Project in the San Paolino area near Porta Stabia, one of the accesses to the ancient city.

The tombstone was made shortly before the eruption that destroyed Pompeii in 69 AD and was presented on Thursday in the archaeological area. The inscription is over 4 meters long, in seven narrative registers, and though it does not include the deceased's name, it describes in detail the major events in the life of the man buried within it: from the acquisition of the 'toga virilis' to his wedding, and describes the munificent activities that accompanied such events such as public banquets, largess, the holding of gladiatorial games and battling large beasts.

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Fused imaging reveals sixth century Roman Law text in Medieval book binding

16th century copy of Hesiod examined with different imaging techniques by Northwestern researchers 

[Credit: Emeline Pouyet]

After being hidden for centuries, the secrets within medieval manuscripts might soon come to light. By fusing two imaging techniques — visible hyperspectral imaging and x-ray fluorescence — an interdisciplinary team of Northwestern University researchers has developed a new, non-destructive technology that gives access to medieval texts hidden inside of ancient bookbindings.

Between the 15th and 18th centuries, bookbinders recycled the bindings from medieval parchments into new binding materials for printed books. While scholars have long been aware that books from this time period often contain hidden fragments of earlier manuscripts, they never had the means to read them.

“For generations, scholars have thought this information was inaccessible, so they thought, ‘Why bother?’” said Marc Walton, senior scientist at the Northwestern University-Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies (NU-ACCESS). “But now computational imaging and signal processing advances open up a whole new way to read these texts.”

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Extremely rare Roman sarcophagus lifted from ancient Southwark burial site

rchaeologists prepare to lift the lid of Roman sarcophagus found in Southwark, London 

[Credit: Lauren Hurley/PA Wire]

This is an exceptional find for London, where only two similar late Roman sarcophagi have been discovered in their original place of burial in recent years: one from St Martin-in-the Fields near Trafalgar Square (2006) and one from Spitalfields in 1999.

The excavation, which began in January this year, revealed a large robber trench around the coffin and found that the lid had been moved, suggesting that the coffin was discovered and robbed in the past. However, it is possible that only the precious items were removed, and the less valuable artefacts, such as the body itself, still remain within the stone sarcophagus.

Southwark and the City of London are remarkable in being the only two London Boroughs that have their own, in-house, dedicated archaeologist. Southwark Council champions archaeology and has dedicated planning policies to ensure that the borough’s ancient history is identified, protected and managed for future generations. The Harper Road excavation is just one of the many archaeological projects that are currently running across Southwark.

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More extraordinary Roman writing tablets found at Vindolanda Roman Fort

More ‘Vindolanda writing tablets’ full of visible cursive Latin text have been unearthed at Vindolanda Roman Fort, on Hadrian’s Wall

Archaeologists at Vindolanda Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall have discovered a new hoard of around 25 Roman ink documents, known as the Vindolanda writing tablets, as part of an extraordinary excavation season at the archaeological site.

Found during the latest dig at the former Roman Army encampment, the tablets containing letters, lists and personal correspondence were discovered lying in the damp and anaerobic earth where they had been discarded towards the end of the 1st century AD.

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