4,500-year-old burial found in prison sewer construction
The History Blog
by livius drusus
20h ago
An archaeological dig at the site of a sewer for a new prison currently being built in Full Sutton, East Yorkshire, has unearthed a 4,500-year-old grave and funerary monument. The individual was buried in the crouched position (knees bent and drawn up towards the chest) in a pit grave surrounded by a ring ditch and topped with a mound of stones. This type of mound is known as a round barrow, a common burial monument in Late Neolithic Britain. Interestingly, the round barrow was constructed very close to, but not over, what archaeologists call a ‘burnt mound’. These enigmatic prehistoric sites ..read more
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Ruby Slippers theft saga: now with revenge porn
The History Blog
by livius drusus
2d ago
The saga of the Ruby Slippers stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 has just gotten even weirder. First 76-year-old Terry Martin admitted to the theft and said in his plea agreement that he thought the shoes were festooned with real rubies rather than sequins and glass beads. Now a second man has been charged with the theft plus another count of witness tampering for having threatened to release a sex tape of a woman if she told authorities he had the shoes. The second man, Jerry Hal Saliterman, also 76 years old, was busted after a search of his home on Decem ..read more
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Roman wall, tower found in Narbonne
The History Blog
by livius drusus
3d ago
A preventative archaeology excavation at a real estate development site in the historic center of Narbonne, southern France, has uncovered the remains of an early imperial-era Roman wall and tower. Preliminary estimates based on the measurements and construction style of the wall and tower date them to the last decades of the 1st century B.C. The discovery came as a surprise as this is the first evidence that the ancient city of Narbo Martius, the first Roman colony established outside of Italy, had defensive walls of any kind. The excavation unearthed a section of wall 100 feet long. It is an ..read more
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Sole surviving ancient Greek funerary relief of twin babies unveiled
The History Blog
by livius drusus
4d ago
The National Archaeological Museum of Athens has unveiled a fragment of a funerary stele that is the only surviving carving of a pair of twin babies in arms from ancient Greece. The marble infants cradled in a pair of female hands date to the 4th century B.C. and were likely part of a tomb marker of a woman who died in childbirth. The “stele of the twin babies” was discovered in a stream in Menidi, a municipality a few miles north of downtown Athens, by a shell collector in 2008. He swaddled the marble infants in an old cloth and brought them to the National Archaeological Museum. They have no ..read more
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Section of Roman 3rd century wall found in Aachen
The History Blog
by livius drusus
5d ago
The remains of a 3rd century Roman fortification have been unearthed in Aachen, Germany. An excavation in concert with infrastructure work on the Pontstrasse uncovered the foundation of a large masonry wall of Roman construction. The excavation has so far revealed a 23-foot section of wall three feet thick. The full length and maximum width of the surviving segment have not yet been uncovered. Fames as the capital of Charlemagne’s empire (800-814 A.D.) and the city where subsequent kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors were crowned until 1531, Aachen’s history long predates the Middle Ages ..read more
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100-year-old British train container found in Belgium
The History Blog
by livius drusus
6d ago
A 90-year-old train container of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) has been unearthed in Antwerp, Belgium. The carriage was discovered in an excavation along the route of the Oosterweel Link, a project to complete the R1 Antwerp Ring Road by connecting the highway with tunnels under the Scheldt River and Albert Canal. It had been buried in the Noordkasteel, a 19th century fortress overlooking the Scheldt that was converted into a recreational park in 1934. The wagon was placed on a concrete slab embedded into the embankment filled with sandy soil. Nobody knows why it ended up being b ..read more
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Warring States cemetery with chariot burial found in central China
The History Blog
by livius drusus
1w ago
A large cemetery from the Warring States Period (475–221 B.C.) has been discovered in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, central China, with finely furnished graves and one chariot burial. Archaeologists from the Xiangyang Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology discovered the Baizhuang Cemetery in an excavation associated with an infrastructure project in June and July 2023. Excavations resumed in November 2023 in collaboration with the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and after a comprehensive exploration of the site, 176 tombs were unearthed. All bu ..read more
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Remains of 10th c. baptismal font of Ottonian rulers found
The History Blog
by livius drusus
1w ago
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a quatrefoil-shaped baptismal font from the 10th century in the collegiate church of St. Servatii in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the oldest quatrefoil baptismal font north of the Alps, and was likely used in the baptism of Ottonian dynasty rulers and family members. The base of the font emerged in an excavation of the crypt of the church where members of the Ottonian dynasty, kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors (919-1024), were buried. Parts of the crypt predate the current collegiate church which was built in the 11th-12th cent ..read more
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Rare medieval belt loop found in Poland
The History Blog
by livius drusus
1w ago
A rare medieval belt loop used to hang keys or a purse has been discovered near Kamień Pomorski in northwestern Poland. It is one of only about 15 of this type of belt loop known, and the only one of them found in Poland. It was discovered by metal detectorist Damian Tomczyk scanning the area with the approval of local heritage authorities. The bronze figure is 2.2 inches high and depicts an anthropomorphic figure with hands on hips forming circular divots on the side of the torso. Diagonal, horizontal and vertical cuts on the surface of the chest and waist convey the draping of a tunic typica ..read more
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FBI repatriates 22 artifacts looted from Okinawa in WWII
The History Blog
by livius drusus
1w ago
The FBI has returned 22 objects and artworks looted during the Battle of Okinawa after they were discovered in a Massachusetts attic. The artifacts were found by a family when they were going through their father’s personal effects after his death. They figured the painted scrolls, pottery, metal figurines and a hand-drawn map of Okinawa were Asian pieces that might be antiques, so they did some online research and found the painted scrolls listed in the FBI’s National Stolen Art File. The family reached out to the FBI and reported the artifacts as potentially looted cultural property and ..read more
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