Etruscan Code Uncracked

Stela inscribed in EtruscanAn inscribed stone slab unearthed at an Etruscan site in Tuscany is proving to contain one of the most difficult texts to decipher. It was believed that the sixth-century B.C. stela would shed light on the still-mysterious Etruscan language, but so far it remains a puzzle. “To be honest, I’m not yet sure what type of text was incised on the stela,” says Rex Wallace, professor of classics at the University of Massachusetts. Inscribed with vertical dots and at least 70 legible letters, the four-foot-tall and two-foot-wide slab had been buried for more than 2,500 years in the foundations of a monumental temple at Poggio Colla, some 22 miles northeast of Florence in the Mugello Valley. Archaeologists speculate that the text, written right to left, may refer to a goddess who was worshiped at the site, but so far no name of any god or goddess has been found. “The inscription is divided into words by means of three vertically aligned dots, so it’s possible to identify some of the word forms in the text,” Wallace says. “Unfortunately, most of the words that have been identified, apart from the numeral ki, ‘three,’ appear to be new additions to the Etruscan lexicon and we can’t yet pinpoint the meanings,” he adds.   One of antiquity’s great enigmas, the Etruscans began to flourish around 900 B.C., and dominated much of Italy for five centuries. By around 300 to 100 B.C., they were absorbed into the Roman Empire. Their non-Indo-European language eventually died out, and much of what we know comes from short funerary inscriptions. “Now we are adding another example to the inventory of texts that aren’t short and formulaic,” Wallace explains. “However, this means it will be very difficult to interpret, for that very reason.”

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

Naval Mystery Solved

Main battery of USS Conestoga in 1921 (top) and today (above)The disappearance of USS Conestoga, a seagoing U.S. Navy tugboat traveling from San Francisco Bay to American Samoa, gripped the nation in the summer of 1921. The ship and the 56 officers and sailors on board departed on March 25 but missed a planned stop in Hawaii on April 5. A thorough sea and air search found nothing, and the fate of the ship was unknown until last year, when researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found a wreck in 189 feet of water near Southeast Farallon Island, just 20 miles from the Golden Gate. Video from a remotely operated vehicle has now confirmed the identity of the wreck, and based on its location and orientation, researchers concluded that the crew attempted to reach a cove on the island as shelter from rough seas.

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

Off with Their Heads

Skeletons from Roman graveyard in Guildhall, York, EnglandDNA testing on the skeletons of men buried in a graveyard in York—once one of the largest settlements in Roman Britain—suggests that even the far-flung fringes of the Roman Empire were diverse places. While most of the skeletons had genetic signatures resembling people living in modern-day Wales, one of the men came from thousands of miles away. His genes match those of modern-day Syrians, and chemical analysis of his teeth shows he grew up in a desert climate. “It’s confirmation of the idea that there was a lot of migration inside the Roman Empire,” says Dan Bradley, a geneticist at Trinity College Dublin who led the work.   But what happened to their heads? All the men in the cemetery had been decapitated, and many were buried with their detached skulls nearby. Bradley suggests they may have been Roman soldiers or gladiators, but University of St. Andrews archaeologist Jon Coulston calls the idea that they had been gladiators “wishful thinking.” Beheading wasn’t common for gladiators—or criminals, for that matter. Coulston says, “I see no clear connection between decapitation and gladiatorial displays.” The mystery remains.

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

Cursing the Competition

Lead tablet inscribed with curseIn a fourth-century B.C. cemetery near Athens, a team led by archaeologist Maria Petritaki recently discovered a cache of five lead tablets pierced with iron nails in a grave holding a woman’s cremated remains. Four of the tablets were inscribed with text that Yale classicist Jessica Lamont recently translated. She found they contain nearly identical ritual curses that beseech the gods Hecate, Artemis, and Hermes to punish several sets of husband-and-wife business owners, probably tavern keepers. According to Lamont, it is difficult to know exactly why the person who commissioned the tablets targeted the couples, but they were likely involved in some kind of commercial rivalry. “It is possible that this cache was commissioned in connection with a court case,” she says. Lamont also notes that the style of the curse texts, which were well-written in clean, beautiful script, complete with a phrase from Homer, suggests that some sort of professional scribe or “magician,” well versed in the supernatural, was paid a considerable amount to write them. “This was an elaborate, if not desperate, ritual undertaking,” says Lamont. The tablets were likely interred with the woman’s remains because graves were seen as conduits to the gods.

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

An Update From Cambodia’s Lidar Campaign

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA—According to a report in The Guardian, analysis of data collected last year with lidar (light detection and ranging) technology over a 734-square-mile area reveals the extent of multiple cities, iron smelting sites, and a system of waterways that surrounded Angkor Wat and other medieval temple complexes built by the Khmer Empire. The results of the study, led by Australian archaeologist Damian Evans of the École Française d’Extrême-Orient and the Cambodian Archaeological Lidar Initiative, suggest that Mahendraparvata, discovered in 2012 beneath Mount Kulen, was larger than had been previously thought. Evans’ team also discovered a city surrounding the archaeological site of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay. In addition, the researchers expect that the lidar information will help them understand what has been thought of as the collapse of Angkor. “There’s an idea that somehow the Thais invaded and everyone fled down south—that didn’t happen, there are no cities [revealed by the aerial survey] that they fled to. It calls into question the whole notion of an Angkorian collapse,” Evans said. For more, go to "Letter From Cambodia: Storied Landscape."

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

Inside a Scythian Burial Mound

When archaeologists recently began excavating a small burial mound in southern Russia they had low expectations. But to their surprise, they found two elaborate gold vessels, as well as an array of other gold objects, that made up one of the most elaborate Scythian hoards ever discovered. Below are images from the excavation showing the context of these spectacular finds.

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

This Segregated Railway Car Offers a Visceral Reminder of the Jim Crow Era

Subtle and not-so-subtle reminders of a time when local and state laws forced racial segration

Via: History | Smithsonian

Ship Sheds of Ancient Naval Bases Found in Greece

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK—Haaretz reports that the Zea Harbor Project mapped the remains of ancient Greek naval bases in Mounichia Harbor and Zea Harbor between 2001 and 2012. The team of archaeologists, working on land and under water, has found massive fortifications and a total of 15 structures that were used to house ships when they were pulled ashore. “It is an enticing thought that some of the Athenian triremes that fought against the Persians at Salamis in 480 B.C. were most probably housed in these ship-sheds,” said project director Bjørn Lovén of the Danish Institute at Athens. The foundations for the sheds measured more than four feet wide and stood more than 160 feet long and 20 feet tall. For more, go to "The Acropolis of Athens."

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

Lead Sling Bullets May Have “Whistled” During Battle

DUMFRIESSHIRE, SCOTLAND—Cast-lead sling bullets recently unearthed in southwestern Scotland are thought to have been used by Roman auxiliary troops during an attack of a fort on Burnswark Hill some 1,800 years ago. Such sling bullets range in size from an acorn to a lemon. About 20 percent of the sling bullets recovered from the site had been drilled with a small hole. Similar sling bullets have been found at ancient battle sites in Greece, and at first, researchers thought the small holes might have contained poison. Now archaeologist John Reid of the Trimontium Trust thinks the projectiles with holes might have produced a whistling sound intended to terrify opponents, since his brother pointed out that lead weights used for casting fishing lines can produce a whistle in flight. “We think it was an all-out assault on the hilltop, to demonstrate to the natives what would happen to them if they resisted,” Reid said in a Live Science report. His team thinks the small bullets, shot in groups of three or four from a pouch attached to two long cords, were used for close-range fighting. For more on archaeology in Scotland, go to "Neolithic Europe's Remote Heart."

Via: Archaeological Headlines - Archaeology Magazine

Ancient DNA analysis explains spread of domestic goats from Fertile Crescent into Caucasus

Nagoya University-based researchers analyze ancient DNA of Neolithic domestic goats to reveal that the goats were introduced into the Southern Caucasus from the Fertile Crescent during the early sixth millennium BC, probably alongside establishment of trade links or population movement. Ancient goat bone from Göytepe used for DNA analyses [Credit: Nagoya University]Domestic goats first appeared in the Fertile Crescent, in modern-day...

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Via: The Archaeology News Network