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Ancient Neolithic ‘Horn Chamber’ reveals ritual performed in north-west Arabia

AlUla, Saudi Arabia: Results of two recent archaeological excavations supported by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) demonstrate that the Neolithic inhabitants of north-west Arabia conducted “complex and sophisticated ritual practices” in the late 6th millennium BCE.

The unprecedented findings open unsuspected horizons for a broader understanding of the social, cultural and spiritual background of the ancient peoples of north-west Arabia.

Researchers emphasize the probable communal character of the ritual and the possibility that people journeyed specifically to prehistoric stone structures known as mustatils to undertake the ritual, which would represent one of the earliest known pilgrimage traditions. Further, greater representation of domestic species among the animal offerings confirms the pastoral nomadic nature of the community, whose members may have built the mustatils as a form of social bonding and/or a marker of territory.

Mustatils are large-scale, open-air rectangular structures with low stone walls. Through aerial surveys, researchers have identified more than 1,600 of them across north Arabia. Though the structures’ function was at first unknown, excavations since 2018 have pointed to a ritual significance and provided increasing insights into the practice.

Results of the two studies have been peer-reviewed and recently published. The study led by Dr Wael Abu-Azizeh of the Archéorient Laboratory and France’s Lyon 2 University appears in the book ‘Revealing Cultural Landscapes in North-West Arabia’, edited by a team of experts led by Dr Rebecca Foote, Director of Archaeology at RCU. The study led by Dr Melissa Kennedy of Australia’s University of Sydney appeared in the journal PLoS One in March.

Abu-Azizeh study

In 2018 Dr Abu-Azizeh began an excavation on behalf of Oxford Archaeology that unearthed the ‘Horn Chamber’ in a mustatil at site IDIHA-0000687 north-east of AlUla dating to circa 5300-5000 BCE. The chamber measures 3.25m by 0.8m and is at the western end of a mustatil measuring 40×12 meters – smaller than most mustatils.

Inside the ‘Horn Chamber’ he and his team made an exceptional discovery of horns and skull fragments, densely packed into a layer 20 to 30 cm deep that covered the floor of the chamber. This, they write, is “a unique and unprecedented assemblage in the context of north Arabian Neolithic.”

About 95% of the horns and skull fragments were from domestic species – goat, sheep and cattle – with the rest from wild species including gazelle, Nubian ibex and aurochs (a now-extinct ancestor of domestic cattle). Beneath the assemblage was a thin bedding of twigs that in preparation for the ritual had been placed on the chamber’s sandstone surface.

The researchers conclude that the horns and skull fragments were probably deposited during a single ceremony. In a tentative reconstruction of the ritual, they propose that pastoral nomads gathered and bore the offerings as part of the ritual performance. To reach the solemn space of the small Horn Chamber they entered one by one through a narrow doorway and small antechamber with hearths to present this trophy on behalf of their social group. The collective hoard of enshrined offerings expressed a cohesive identity for the wider social group.

The researchers write: “By the quantity of remains, the diversity of species represented, and the unusual state of preservation, this assemblage constitutes a unique and unprecedented discovery in the archaeological record of the region. This deposit is interpreted as a testimony of complex and sophisticated ritual practices … ”

Kennedy study

In 2019, the second study, by a team led by Dr Kennedy, then of the University of Western Australia, began excavation of a mustatil deep within dense sandstone canyons east of AlUla, at site IDIHA-0008222. Like Abu-Azizeh’s team, they found a chamber containing horns and skull parts that dated to circa 5200-5000 BCE, though not in as great a quantity. There are further differences: these bones appeared to have been deposited in three or four phases over a generation or two, rather than all at once.

Most of the horns and skull parts were from cattle, and several from goats. The researchers write that this finding is “amongst the earliest attestation of domestic cattle and goat in northern Arabia”.

At the center of the shrine is an upright stone that is believed to have served as the focal point for the ritual. Most of the horns and skull parts were deposited around this standing stone, which stood 0.8m high. The researchers interpret this stone as being a betyl, “a mediator between humankind and the divine, acting as a proxy or a manifestation of an unknown Neolithic deity/deities or religious idea, to which the faunal elements were deposited as votive offerings.” This would constitute one of the earliest known betyls in the Arabian Peninsula.

The researchers further note that the repeated used of the shrine over a period of years “represents one of the earliest examples of ‘pilgrimage’ or shrine revisiting currently identified in the Arabian Peninsula.”

Intriguingly, they hypothesize that the placement of the mustatils might have had an ecological basis. The Arabian climate was growing more arid in the Middle Holocene Period; varying micro-climates made mobility essential and herding viable. The ritual might have been intended to ensure fertility and the continuity of rains, with the mustatils themselves possibly located near water sources such as wadis. This, the writers say, is a key avenue for future research.

Dr Rebecca Foote, Director of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Research at RCU, said: “RCU has embarked on one of the largest archaeological research programmes worldwide. Across AlUla and Khaybar, 12 current surveys, excavations and specialist projects are deepening our understanding of the past environment, land use, and human occupation of the region. Rich cultural landscapes are being revealed, including funerary avenues, mustatils, ancient cities, inscriptions in 10 languages, rock art and complex agricultural practices. AlUla is a leading hub of archaeological activity, a standing that will be enhanced by the inaugural AlUla World Archaeology Summit.”

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In this overview of the horn chamber mustatil, SU300 marks the eastern wall of the mustatil, SU200 marks a stone cairn and SU100 marks the 7×2.5m platform containing the horn chamber. The cliff overhang protected the horn chamber from exposure to the elements. Credit: Wael Abu-Azizeh et al 2022 / RCU

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The outline of the Kennedy team’s mustatil is at the forefront of this image of the landscape east of AlUla. They describe the location as “essentially hidden in the sandstone canyons”. Credit: Hugh Kennedy, AAKSA / RCU

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The team led by Dr Wael Abu-Azizeh excavates the chamber that contained “an exceptional discovery” of skull and horn fragments. Muhammad Al-Dajani / RCU

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At top is a general view of the SU100 platform; at bottom are details of the horn chamber. Credit: Wael Abu-Azizeh et al 2022 / RCU

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The Kennedy team found most of the skulls and horns deposited around a central standing stone that the researchers interpret as a betyl, “a mediator between humankind and the divine”. Credit: Melissa Kennedy, AAKSA / RCU

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The Abu-Azizeh team found horns from several domestic and wild species, ranging from goats to the now-extinct aurochs. The horns were predominantly from male animals. Credit: Wael Abu-Azizeh et al 2022 / RCU

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About the Royal Commission for AlUla

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was established by royal decree in July 2017 to preserve and develop AlUla, a region of outstanding natural and cultural significance in north-west Saudi Arabia. RCU’s long-term plan outlines a responsible, sustainable, and sensitive approach to urban and economic development that preserves the area’s natural and historic heritage while establishing AlUla as a desirable location to live, work, and visit. This encompasses a broad range of initiatives across archaeology, tourism, culture, education, and the arts, reflecting a commitment to meeting the economic diversification, local community empowerment, and heritage preservation priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme.

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Article Source: Royal Commission for AlUlA news release (edited).

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Genomic model suggests population decline in human ancestors

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)—Between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, the population of human ancestors crashed, according to a new genomic model* by Wangjie Hu and colleagues. They suggest that there were only about 1280 breeding individuals during this transition between the early and middle Pleistocene, and that the population bottleneck lasted for about 117,000 years. The researchers say about 98.7% of the ancestral population was lost at the beginning of the bottleneck. This decline coincided with climate changes that turned glaciations into long-term events, a decrease in marine surface temperatures, and a possible long period of drought in Africa and Eurasia. Hu et al. developed a coalescence model that looks at divergence between gene lineages and can be used to estimate past population size, using it to analyze genomic sequences from 3154 people from 10 African and 40 non-African populations. The ancient “bottleneck was directly found in all 10 African populations, but only a weak signal of the existence of such was detected in all 40 non-African populations,” Hu et al. write. The proposed bottleneck also coincided with the time that many researchers think the last common ancestor of Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern Homo sapiens lived, but the bottleneck theory needs to be tested against the archaeological and fossil human evidence, Nick Ashton and Chris Stringer write in a related Perspective. “If, as seems likely, humans were widespread inside and outside of Africa in the period between about 800-900,000 years BP … whatever caused the inferred bottleneck was limited in its effects on the wider non-sapiens lineage populations, or any effects were short-lived,” the Perspective authors add.

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A new genomic model opens a window on a prehistoric bottleneck in human evolution. The Digital Artist, Pixabay

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The scent of the afterlife unbottled in new study of ancient Egyptian mummification balms

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE OF GEOANTHROPOLOGY—In an innovative endeavor to create a sensory bridge to the ancient past, a team of researchers led by Barbara Huber of the MPI of Geoanthropology has recreated one of the scents used in the mummification of an important Egyptian woman more than 3500 years ago.

Coined ‘the scent of the eternity’, the ancient aroma will be presented at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark in an upcoming exhibition, offering visitors a unique sensory experience: to encounter firsthand an ambient smell from antiquity – and catch a whiff of the ancient Egyptian process of mummification.

The team’s research centered on the mummification substances used to embalm the noble lady Senetnay in the 18th dynasty, circa 1450 BCE. The researchers utilized advanced analytical techniques – including Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, High-Temperature Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, and Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry – to reconstruct the substances that helped to preserve and scent Senetnay for eternity.

“We analyzed balm residues found in two canopic jars from the mummification equipment of Senetnay that were excavated over a century ago by Howard Carter from Tomb KV42 in the Valley of the Kings,” says Huber. Today, the jars are housed in the Museum August Kestner in Hannover, Germany. The team found that the balms contained a blend of beeswax, plant oil, fats, bitumen, Pinaceae resins (most likely larch resin), a balsamic substance, and dammar or Pistacia tree resin.

“These complex and diverse ingredients, unique to this early time period, offer a novel understanding of the sophisticated mummification practices and Egypt’s far-reaching trade-routes,” says Christian E. Loeben, Egyptologist and curator at the Museum August Kestner.

“Our methods were also able to provide crucial insights into balm ingredients for which there is limited information in contemporary ancient Egyptian textual sources,” observes Huber.

The work also highlights the trade connections of the Egyptians in the 2nd millennium BCE. “The ingredients in the balm make it clear that the ancient Egyptians were sourcing materials from beyond their realm from an early date,” says Prof. Nicole Boivin, senior researcher on the project. “The number of imported ingredients in her balm also highlights Senetnay’s importance as a key member of the pharaoh’s inner circle.”

Among those imported ingredients were larch tree resin, which likely came from the northern Mediterranean, and possibly dammars, which come exclusively from trees in Southeast Asian tropical forests. If the presence of dammar resin is confirmed, as in balms recently identified from Saqqara dating to the 1st millennium BCE, it would suggest that the ancient Egyptians had access to this Southeast Asian resin via long-distant trade almost a millennium earlier than previously known.

Working closely with the French perfumer Carole Calvez and the sensory museologist Sofia Collette Ehrich, the team meticulously recreated the scent based on their analytical findings.

“’The scent of eternity’ represents more than just the aroma of the mummification process,” notes Huber. “It embodies the rich cultural, historical, and spiritual significance of Ancient Egyptian mortuary practices.”

In creating this smell for museum display, the team hopes to help provide an immersive, multisensory experience to visitors, allowing them to connect with the past in a uniquely olfactory way, while bringing the mystique of Ancient Egyptian mummification to the modern day. Their groundbreaking approach not only bridges a deep temporal divide, but also enables visually impaired individuals to participate more fully in the exhibition of Egypt’s past, making new research results on ancient mummification accessible to a broader audience.

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Perfumer Carole Calvez in the process of recreating the scent of eternity. Carole Calvez

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New ancient ape from Türkiye challenges the story of human origins

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO—A new fossil ape from an 8.7-million-year-old site in Türkiye is challenging long-accepted ideas of human origins and adding weight to the theory that the ancestors of African apes and humans evolved in Europe before migrating to Africa between nine and seven million years ago. 

Bronze Age family systems deciphered: Mainz palaeogeneticists analyze a 3,800-year-old extended family

JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITAET MAINZ—The diversity of family systems in prehistoric societies has always fascinated scientists. A groundbreaking study by Mainz anthropologists and an international team of archaeologists now provides new insights into the origins and genetic structure of prehistoric family communities.

Researchers Jens Blöcher and Joachim Burger from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have analyzed the genomes of skeletons from an extended family from a Bronze Age necropolis in the Russian steppe. The 3,800-year-old “Nepluyevsky” burial mound was excavated several years ago and is located on the geographical border between Europe and Asia. Using statistical genomics, the family and marriage relationships of this society have now been deciphered. The study was carried out in cooperation with archaeologists from Ekaterinburg and Frankfurt a. M. and was partly financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Russian Science Foundation (RSCF).

The kurgan (burial mound) investigated was the grave of six brothers, their wives, children and grandchildren. The presumably oldest brother had eight children with two wives, one of whom came from the Asian steppe regions in the east. The other brothers showed no signs of polygamy and probably lived monogamously with far fewer children.

Fascinating snapshot of a prehistoric family

“The burial site provides a fascinating snapshot of a prehistoric family,” explains Jens Blöcher, lead author of the study. “It is remarkable that the first-born brother apparently had a higher status and thus greater chances of reproduction. The right of the male firstborn seems familiar to us, it is known from the Old Testament, for example, but also from the aristocracy in historical Europe.”

The genomic data reveal even more. Most women buried in the kurgan were immigrants. The sisters of the buried brothers, in turn, found new homes elsewhere. Joachim Burger, senior author of the study, explains: “Female marriage mobility is a common pattern that makes sense from an economic and evolutionary perspective. While one sex stays local and ensures the continuity of the family line and property, the other marries in from the outside to prevent inbreeding.”

The genomic diversity of the prehistoric women was higher than that of the men

Accordingly, the Mainz population geneticists found that the genomic diversity of the prehistoric women was higher than that of the men. The women who married into the family thus came from a larger area and were not related to each other. In their new homeland, they followed their husbands into the grave. From this the authors conclude that in Nepluyevsky there was both “patrilineality”, i.e. the transmission of local traditions through the male line, and “patrilocality”, i.e. the place of residence of a family is the place of residence of the men.

“Archaeology shows that 3,800 years ago, the population in the southern Trans-Ural knew cattle breeding and metalworking and subsisted mainly on dairy and meat products,” comments Svetlana Sharapova, archaeologist from Ekaterinburg and head of the excavation, adding, “the state of health of the family buried here must have been very poor. The average life expectancy of the women was 28 years, that of the men 36 years.”

In the last generation, the use of the kurgan suddenly stopped and almost only infants and small children were found. Sharapova adds, “it is possible that the inhabitants were decimated by disease or that the remaining population went elsewhere in search of a better life.”

Multiple partners and many children for the putative firstborn son

“There is a global connection between different family systems and certain forms of life-style and economy,” says Blöcher. “Nevertheless, human societies are characterized by a high degree of flexibility.” He adds, “in Nepluyevsky, we find evidence of a pattern of inequality typical of pastoralists: multiple partners and many children for the putative firstborn son and no or monogamous relationships for most others.”

The authors find additional genomic evidence that populations genetically similar to Neplujevsky society lived throughout most of the Eurasian steppe belt. Burger comments: “It is quite possible that the local pattern we found is relevant to a much larger area.” Future studies will show to what extent the “Neplujevsky” model can be verified at other prehistoric sites in Eurasia.

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A skeleton from the Nepluyevsky site. photo/©: Svetlana Sharapova, CC BY-NC-ND

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Article Source: JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITAET MAINZ news release

La Brea megafaunal extinctions driven by fires 13,000 years ago

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)—Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions from Southern California were driven by large-scale fires in an ecosystem made increasingly vulnerable by climate change and human impacts, according to a new study*. The findings, made possible by a new radiocarbon chronology of fossils from the La Brea tar pits, not only provide insights into the dynamics that contributed to Pleistocene extinctions, but inform understandings of modern ecological change. “The conditions that led to the end-Pleistocene state shift in Southern California are recurring today across the western United States and in numerous other ecosystems worldwide,” write the authors, “and understanding the interplay of climatic and anthropogenic changes in driving this past extinction event may be helpful in mitigating future biodiversity loss in the face of similar pressures.”

At the end of the last Ice Age, roughly two-thirds of Earth’s large mammals in most regions worldwide went extinct. This extinction – the largest of the Cenozoic – coincided with both late-Quaternary climate changes and the growth and expansion of human populations across continents. However, the timing, causes, and consequences of the end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions have been difficult to understand. Much of what is known about the event is based on fragmentary paleontological records that lack the chronological precision required to compare the timing of species disappearances to archaeological and environmental data. Using the abundant fossils preserved at the La Brea tar pits (Rancho La Brea) – a site that contains a nearly continuous record of Pleistocene megafaunal occupation of the Los Angeles Basin from more than 55,0000 years ago to the Holocene – Frank O’Keefe and colleagues investigated the potential drivers of megafaunal extirpations in Southern California. O’Keefe et al. obtained new AMS radiocarbon dates on 172 megafaunal individuals and developed a high-resolution radiocarbon chronology for the eight most common mammal species at La Brea from 15.6 to 10 thousand years before present (ka). They found that 7 of these species were extinct in the region by 12.9 ka. Then, using local sediment core records, the authors evaluated the timing of these extirpations with regional paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental records, as well as continental-scale analyses of megafaunal extinction and human demographic growth in North America. According to the findings, the disappearance of megafauna at La Brea preceded North American megafaunal extinction by at least 1000 years, preceded the Younger Dryas climate event, and coincided with vegetation change and aridification at the end of the Bølling-Allerød – a brief climatic warming event that occurred between 14.6 and 12.8 ka. Moreover, the records reveal an increase in large-scale fire activity in the region, which the authors estimate was the primary cause of La Brea’s regional megafaunal extinction. In sum, O’Keefe et al. argue that this increase in fire may have resulted from climate change-induced warming and drying in conjunction with mounting impacts of human hunting and burning in an increasingly fire-prone ecosystem.

Ötzi: dark skin, bald head, Anatolian ancestry

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY—The genetic makeup of most present-day Europeans has resulted mainly from the admixture of three ancestral groups: western hunter-gatherers gradually merged with early farmers who migrated from Anatolia about 8,000 years ago and who were later on joined by Steppe Herders from Eastern Europe, approximately 4,900 years ago.

The initial analysis of the Iceman’s genome revealed genetic traces of these Steppe Herders. However, the refined new results no longer support this finding. The reason for the inaccuracy: the original sample had been contaminated with modern DNA. Since that first study, not only have sequencing technologies advanced enormously, but many more genomes of other prehistoric Europeans have been fully decoded, often from skeletal finds. This has made it possible to compare Ötzi’s genetic code with his contemporaries. The result: among the hundreds of early European people who lived at the same time as Ötzi and whose genomes are now available, Ötzi’s genome has more ancestry in common with early Anatolian farmers than any of his European counterparts.

Ötzi’s Ancestry and Appearance

The research team concludes that the Iceman came from a relatively isolated population that had very little contact with other European groups. “We were very surprised to find no traces of Eastern European Steppe Herders in the most recent analysis of the Iceman genome; the proportion of hunter-gatherer genes in Ötzi’s genome is also very low. Genetically, his ancestors seem to have arrived directly from Anatolia without mixing with hunter gatherer groups,” explains Johannes Krause, head of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, and co-author of the study*.

The study also yielded new results about Ötzi’s appearance. His skin type, already determined in the first genome analysis to be Mediterranean-European, was even darker than previously thought. “It’s the darkest skin tone that has been recorded in contemporary European individuals,” explains anthropologist Albert Zink, study co-author and head of the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano: “It was previously thought that the mummy’s skin had darkened during its preservation in the ice, but presumably what we see now is actually largely Ötzi’s original skin color. Knowing this, of course, is also important for the proper conservation of the mummy.”

Our previous image of Ötzi is also incorrect regarding his hair: as a mature man, he most likely no longer had long, thick hair on his head, but at most a sparse crown of hair. His genes, in fact, show a predisposition to baldness. “This is a relatively clear result and could also explain why almost no hair was found on the mummy,” says Zink. Genes presenting an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes were also found in Ötzi’s genome; however, these factors probably did not come into play thanks to his healthy lifestyle.

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Since 2012, which is when Ötzi’s genome was sequenced for the first time, DNA sequencing technologies have advanced enormously. This new study reveals that compared to other contemporary Europeans, Ötzi’s genome had an unusually high proportion of genes in common with those of early farmers from Anatolia, that his skin was darker than previously thought, and that he was likely bald or had little hair on his head when he died. © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/Eurac/Marco Samadelli-Gregor Staschitz

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Article Source: MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY news release

Archaeologists Discover One of the World’s Oldest Synagogues in the Black Sea region

Volnoe Delo Foundation—Phanagoria archaeologists have unearthed the foundational structure and wall outlines of the synagogue on the Taman Peninsula, along the Black Sea coast. Inside, they found marble menorahs, liturgy tables, and marble stele fragments. One stele from the 5th century AD bears the Greek inscription “synagogue”. This, along with earlier discoveries including marble tablets inscribed with “house of prayer” and “synagogue” dating to 16 and 51 A.D., respectively, establishes the Phanagoria synagogue as one of the world’s oldest, operating since at least the early 1st century AD.

The Phanagoria synagogue is a rectangular structure, measuring 21 meters by 6 meters, with two chambers each exceeding 60 square meters. The interior boasted marble columns and liturgy tables, showcasing intricate decorative details. The walls were adorned with paintings and tiles. The ornamentation of the marble menorahs discovered within the synagogue displays unique characteristics that differentiate them from their counterparts in the Near East. The Phanagoria synagogue existed until the middle of the 6th century, when the city was pillaged and devastated by local barbarian tribes.

The synagogue can be traced back to the end of the Second Temple period, a historical epoch spanning from 516 BC to 70 AD. It is characterized by the religious centrality of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, which was constructed on the ruins of the First Temple following its obliteration by the Babylonians. All religious rituals were conducted within the confines of the Temple, rendering synagogues a rarity, primarily constructed by Diaspora communities residing far from Jerusalem. The earliest synagogues date back to the 3rd century BC, while their construction only saw a notable increase towards the 3rd century AD. Consequently, the Phanagoria synagogue stands as one of the earliest examples globally.

The presence of a robust Jewish community within the city already in the 1st century AD is corroborated by depictions of menorahs on amphorae and tombstones from that era. Historical records from the medieval period also affirm the notion that Jews constituted a significant portion of the city’s inhabitants. Notably, Theophanes, an 8th-century Byzantine chronicler, and Ibn-Hordadbeha, a 9th-century Arabian geographer, both referred to Phanagoria as a “Jewish city”. Contemporary historians believe that the Jewish community of Phanagoria mirrored the city’s cosmopolitan character.

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Above and below: the Phanagoria synagogue excavation site and some of the remains uncovered at the site. Courtesy Phanagoria Archaeological Expedition and the Volnoe Delo Foundation

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About the Phanagoria archaeological expedition

The Phanagoria expedition, led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is currently excavating the ancient Greek city of Phanagoria. Supported by the Oleg Deripaska Volnoe Delo Foundation since 2004, these excavations encompass 7,000 square meters. A team of 250 archaeologists, students, and volunteers conducts these annual explorations.

Founded by Greek settlers on the Taman Gulf’s shores around the middle of the 6th century BC, Phanagoria encompasses an ancient settlement and necropolis across 900 hectares, featuring over 700 mounds. The city flourished for over 1,500 years and was one of the Bosporan Kingdom’s two capitals.

The treasures discovered within Phanagoria’s mounds are housed in esteemed institutions like the Hermitage and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, as well as museums in Great Britain and Germany. The expedition’s findings have been showcased at international scientific gatherings in Germany, France, Denmark, Greece, the United States. In 2009, the uncovering of Mithridates VI’s palace earned a spot on Archaeology Magazine’s list of the world’s ten most remarkable discoveries. www.phanagoria.info

About Volnoe Delo Foundation
Volnoe Delo is one of the largest non-profit organizations in Russia involved in charity, patronage and volunteer projects. The foundation addresses social issues, supports education and the sciences, and helps preserve the country’s cultural and historical heritage. The Foundation has supported more than 500 projects in 50 different regions of Russia to date. The projects’ beneficiaries include around 90,000 school children, 4,000 teachers, 8,000 students from universities and vocational schools, 4,000 scientists, and over 1,200 educational, scientific, cultural, healthcare and sporting institutions. http://volnoe-delo.ru

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Article Source: Volnoe Delo Foundation news release

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Climate modeling reveals new insights into hominin migration and evolution

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)—In two studies*, researchers demonstrate how climate modeling approaches can fill gaps in our understanding of hominin evolution and migration.

Over the last several decades, research efforts into the lives of hominins – humans and their close ancestors – have shifted from identifying fossils and artifacts to understanding the environmental and climate settings in which they lived and how these factors could have influenced hominin evolution and migration. However, like the hominin fossil record, environmental and climate records that accurately capture environmental change and span the period over which hominins evolved and spread across the globe are uncommon and incomplete. Some of these limitations can be addressed through advances in analytical tools, particularly climate and ecosystem models, which can help fill these gaps and provide valuable new insights into hominin migration.

In one study, Vasiliki Margari and colleagues used a deep-sea sediment core, which provided a temperature record for Europe from 800,000 to 1.8 million years ago. Using these data, the authors created a climate envelope model and evaluated the geographic range of hominin species using climate variables such as temperature and precipitation. Margari et al. discovered hominin presence around the Mediterranean before ~1.1 million years ago was characterized by long, stable interglacial conditions with short glacials that would have allowed for hominin establishment and long-term occupation. However, extreme glacial conditions beginning around 1.1 million years ago would likely have made the region too cold for hominins to survive. Margari et al. argue that these extreme conditions likely led to the depopulation of Europe, which could have lasted for several glacial-interglacial cycles.

In another study, Jiaoyang Ruan and colleagues evaluate how climate shifts across central Eurasia during the Pleistocene could have facilitated interbreeding between Denisovans and Neanderthals. Genetic studies have revealed evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthals and Denisovans in Eurasia. However, much about these admixture events remains unknown. Here, Ruan et al. developed a species distribution model combining extensive fossil, archaeological, and genetic data with transient coupled general circulation model simulations of global climate and habitat change for the past 400,000 years, which was used to determine the habitat preferences for both Neanderthals and Denisovans. The authors found that, although both species lived in a variety of environments, Neanderthals preferred temperate forests, whereas Denisovans lived in a much wider range of habitats. However, orbitally driven climate shifts in habitat caused the preferred habitats of Denisovans and Neanderthals to overlap, providing opportunities for interbreeding between the two species.

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Figure showing interbreeding between Neanderthals and Denisovans. Made by Axel Timmermann using Paraview software

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By Walter Beckwith

Article Source: AAAS news release

Northern Spain’s Triple-A: Archaeology, Architecture, and Art

 

Day 1 (October 20)

Arrive in Barcelona from our original departure points and settle into our hotel and amenities. Enjoy an evening meal for the first time as a traveling group.

Day 2 (October 21)

Sagrada Familia. Patrice Audet, Pixabay

Barcelona Casa Battlo & La Sagrada Familia

After breakfast start your trip to Barcelona with a visit to Casa Batlló, a building in the center of Barcelona. It was designed by Antoni Gaudí, and is considered one of his masterpieces. Throughout the tour you’ll see Gaudi influence on architecture all over the city. A remodel of a previously built house, it was redesigned in 1904 by Gaudí and has been refurbished several times after that.

After a break for lunch, we will visit the most iconic Gaudi architecture in the city. The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, also known as the Sagrada Família, is a large unfinished minor basilica in the Eixample district of Barcelona. This magnificent edifice is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Day 3 (October 22)

Barcelona Fundación Joan Miro, Montjuic & Picasso Museum

After breakfast head over to Fundació Joan Miró, a museum of modern art honoring Joan Miró located on the hill called Montjuïc. After the museum continue to explore Montjuic until lunch.

After lunch, head over to the Picasso Museum, housing one of the most extensive collections of artworks by Pablo Picasso. With 4,251 works exhibited by the painter, the museum has one of the most complete permanent collections of his works. Later have dinner at a quaint local café and head back to your hotel.

Day 4 (October 23)

Barcelona Catedral de Barcelona & Santa Maria del Mar, Museu d’Historia de Barcelona & Gothic Quarter

This morning, after breakfast, visit the Cathedral of Barcelona, the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The cathedral was constructed from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, with the principal work done in the fourteenth century.

Cathedral of Barcelona. Catharinarytter, Pixabay

Next, head over to Santa Maria del Mar, a church in the Ribera district of Barcelona, Spain, built between 1329 and 1383 at the height of the Principality of Catalonia’s maritime and mercantile pre-eminence. It is an outstanding example of Catalan Gothic, with a purity and unity of style that is very unusual in large medieval buildings.

Afterwards get lunch and head over to the Museu d’Historia de Barcelona and after the museum, we make stops at Placa del Rei square and the ancient Roman Temple d’August. Then we will explore the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona and get dinner at a local café before heading back to the hotel.

Day 5 (October 24)

A day at Montserrat

Travel through to the breathtaking multi-peaked mountain range of Montserrat. Board a cogwheel train, visit a historic monastery on the Montserrat mountain range, and admire some incredible views. Later, return to your hotel in Barcelona.

Day 6 (October 25)

Off to Madrid

Today we fly to Madrid from Barcelona to begin our journey to other historic and prehistoric sites to the west away from the Barcelona coastal area. We will board a coach to travel northward to the historic city of Burgos, where we will settle in at our hotel with possible optional free time to explore the city. Enjoy an included evening dinner together.

Day 7 (October 26)

Burgos 

Today after breakfast we head into Burgos to see key historic sites, accompanied and led by a special guest/lecturer, Dr. Amalia Perez-Juez. Among other points of interest, Burgos is rich in historic churches and convents, such as the great (Gothic) Burgos Cathedral, the Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales, and the Carthusian monastery, Miraflores Charterhouse (Cartuja de Miraflores). We will also visit the Castle of Burgos, where archaeological and historic research activities have revealed a long human occupation at the site ranging as far back as the European Early Bronze Age through to the early 19th century. Grab lunch during the day’s visits and enjoy a group dinner in the evening, and enjoy an evening lecture from our guide/lecturer.

Day 8 (October 27)

Burgos: Museum of Human Evolution & Atapuerca

Today have a good breakfast and, with the guidance of our guest/lecturer Amalia Perez-Juez, head straight to the Museum of Human Evolution. This museum exhibits, among many other things, the discoveries and finds from the world-famous Atapuerca excavation sites located 16 kilometers to the east.

Skull detail of Homo heidelbergensis, a hominin discovered in the Sima de los Huesos cave system at Atapuerca. Fernando Losada Rodríguez, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons

After the museum grab lunch and head over to the Atapuerca excavation sites. The archaeological sites of Atapuerca are notable for evidence of early human occupation, including artifacts and fossils that attest to the earliest hominin (early relatives of humans) presence in Western Europe. The sites have produced arguably one of the world’s most prolific collections of fossils bearing on human evolution. Atapuerca was designated a World Heritage Site in 2000. After the visits have dinner and head to the hotel.

Day 9 (October 28)

Today we arise to breakfast and then depart to travel northward to the Cantabria region. Here we will settle into our hotel in Santillana del Mar, have lunch, and enjoy some free time in the historic town.

Day 10 (October 29)

Cantabria: Caves of Monte Castillo & Puente Viesgo

Interior detail of main room in Cueva del Castillo. Gabinete de Prensa del Gobierno de Cantabria, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Spain, Wikimedia Commons

After breakfast this morning, accompanied by our special guest/lecturer archaeologist Dr. Joao Zilhao, we will visit the Caves of Monte Castillo, an archaeological site that evidences prehistoric human occupation going back more than 35,000 years. The archaeological stratigraphy has been divided into around 19 layers, beginning in the Proto-Aurignacian, and ending in the Bronze Age. (Only small groups are allowed into the caves. Depending on the size of our overall group, we may need to split the group into 2. The first group will visit El Castillo while the other visit Las Monedas, and then the groups will swap).

After the caves, grab lunch at a local café in the town of Puente Viesgo. Later, we will have free time in Santillana del Mar.

Day 11 (October 30)

Cantabria: Cave of Altamira & Santillana del Mar

Today after breakfast head over to the replica and museum of the Cave of Altamira with Dr. Zilhao. Altamira is a cave complex located near Santillana del Mar. The original cave has been closed to the public for conservation purposes. This cave is renowned for prehistoric parietal cave art featuring charcoal drawings and polychrome paintings of contemporary local fauna and human hands. The earliest paintings were applied during the Upper Paleolithic, around 36,000 years ago. 

Replica of interior detail, cave painting in Altamira cave. José-Manuel Benito, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

After the caves, grab lunch and have more time to explore the historic town of Santillana del Mar before heading back to your hotel in Cantabria to settle in and have dinner.

In the evening, enjoy a lecture by Dr. Zilhao about his research and the discoveries in which he took part.

Day 12 (October 31)

Off to Bilbao – Casco Viejo

Today after breakfast we go by motor coach to Bilbao and enjoy the Spanish countryside along the way.  Once we arrive, we check-in to our hotel and get settled. We have the rest of the day to explore Casco Viejo, the medieval old quarter, a lively riverside district of narrow alleys lined with modern shops and traditional taverns. La Ribera market has food stalls in a boat-like waterfront structure, flanked by pintxo bars serving Basque tapas on sticks. We return to the hotel, enjoy dinner and retire for the evening.

Day 13 (November 1)

Bilbao – The Guggenheim Museum & Gaztelugatxe

Bilbao, view of Guggenheim Museum. Javier Alamo, Pixabay

Today, after breakfast, we start our day with a visit to The Guggenheim Museum, a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao. The museum was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, with an exhibition of 250 contemporary works of art.

After the museum grab lunch at the museum café and head over to Gaztelugatxe, an islet on the coast of Biscay. It is connected to the mainland by a man-made bridge. On top of the island stands a hermitage dedicated  to John the Baptist, that dates from the 10th century, although discoveries indicate that the date might be the 9th century. Lodging this evening will be in Bilboa.

Day 14 (November 2)

Today after breakfast we head home from the airport in Bilbao to return to our various home destinations.

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For more information and to sign up, go to the website here.

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Our Guest Lecturers

Dr. Amalia Perez-Juez is Adjunct Professor at Boston University, Co-Director of the Menorca Archaeological Field School, and Director of the Boston University Study Abroad program in Spain. Amalia will impart her knowledge of the cultural and historical background and points of interest in Burgos, including the Museum of Human Evolution and the famous Atapuerca archaeological sites.

Dr. Joao Zilhao, with the University of Lisbon, is an archaeologist and specialist in Paleolithic Archaeology, who’s research focusses on the Stone Age Archaeology of Portugal and Spain. The Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition has been a focus of his research, leading him to conduct fieldwork at a number of sites in Portugal, Spain, and other locations in Europe.

Neolithic necklace from child’s grave reveals complex ancient culture

PLOS—A single accessory – an ornate necklace from a child’s grave in ancient Jordan – provides new insights into social complexity of Neolithic culture, according to a study published August 2, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Hala Alarashi of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain, and the Université Côte d’Azur, France and colleagues.

Body adornments are powerful symbols that communicate cultural values and personal identities, and they are therefore highly valuable in the study of ancient cultures. In this study, Alarashi and colleagues analyze materials that adorned the body of an eight-year-old child buried in a grave at the Neolithic village of Ba’ja in Jordan, dating to between 7400 and 6800 BCE.

The materials in question comprise over 2,500 colorful stone and shell, two exceptional amber beads – the oldest known thus far in the Levant – along with a large stone pendant and a delicately engraved mother-of-pearl ring. Analyzing the composition, craftsmanship, and spatial layout of these items, the authors conclude that they belonged to a single composite multi-row necklace that had since fallen apart. As part of this study, the researchers created a physical reconstruction of the original necklace, which is now on display in the Petra Museum in Southern Jordan.

The multi-row necklace is one of the oldest and most impressive Neolithic ornaments, providing new insights into funerary practices at the time for individuals of apparently high social status. The making of the necklace appears to have involved meticulous work, as well as the import of certain exotic materials from other regions. The study of this necklace reveals complex social dynamics between community members at Ba’ja – including artisans, traders, and high-status authorities who would commission such pieces – which certainly merit further investigation of this Neolithic culture.

The authors add: “Adorning the deceased child, bridging the worlds of life and death: The discovery and reconstruction of an extraordinary necklace from the 9000-year-old village of Ba’ja (Jordan).”

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Final physical reconstruction of the necklace, today exposed at the new museum of Petra in Jordan. Alarashi et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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 Article Source: PLoS ONE news release.

*Alarashi H, Benz M, Gresky J, Burkhardt A, Fischer A, Gourichon L, et al. (2023) Threads of memory: Reviving the ornament of a dead child at the Neolithic village of Ba`ja (Jordan). PLoS ONE 18(8): e0288075. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288075

Funding: ArchaeologyHub.CSIC 2022 Internal Research Grant (HA) https://archaeologyhub.csic.es/. H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, grant number 846097 (HA) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/846097. German Research Foundation (BO 1599/14-1; BO 1599/16-1) (MB, HGG) https://www.dfg.de/en/. Franz-and Eva Rutzen Stiftung Foundation (MB) https://www.deutsches-stiftungszentrum.de/stiftungen/franz-und-eva-rutzen-stiftung. Junta de Andalucía (Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad), under contract P20_01080 (CPO) https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/organismos/universidadinvestigacioneinnovacion.html. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Sufi Stories: A Calming Refuge for Mental Well-being and Moral Upliftment

Life’s fast-paced rhythm, packed with technology and relentless work demands, often leaves us feeling drained and stressed. In this whirlwind of obligations, we might lose touch with our inner selves, compromising our mental well-being. The ancient wisdom of Sufi stories offers a soothing retreat from this intense daily routine. They invite us to contemplate profound moral values, providing an ideal backdrop for bedtime stories for both adults and children.

Sufi Stories: A Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Tranquility

Originating in the Islamic mysticism called Sufism, Sufi stories are parables and fables packed with metaphysical insights and life lessons. Written by Sufi saints and scholars, these stories extend beyond the boundaries of religion, touching upon universal themes of love, compassion, truth, and justice. Reading a Sufi story can feel like slipping into a tranquil meditation, where the hustle and bustle of life fade into the background.

Origin and history of the literary genre

The origin of Sufi stories can be traced back to the early centuries of Islam, around the 7th century CE. The practice of storytelling was a common way of teaching and conveying moral, ethical, and spiritual lessons in the Middle Eastern and Central Asian societies of that time. These stories became an integral part of Sufi teachings and were passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition.

The stories were not just religious texts but were also filled with metaphors, allegories, and symbols. They were used to communicate complex and profound spiritual truths, often involving tales of Sufi saints, mystics, and their experiences on the path of divine love and self-realization. The stories often featured themes such as love, devotion, sacrifice, patience, and the annihilation of the self in the divine.

One of the most famous collections of these Sufi stories is the Mathnawi, composed by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi. This extensive poem, often referred to as the “Quran in Persian,” contains a variety of stories derived from everyday life, the Bible, the Quran, and other traditional folklore. These tales were intended to provide moral instruction and spiritual guidance to the reader or listener.

Another significant contributor was Fariduddin Attar, a 12th-century Persian poet, who is known for his book “The Conference of the Birds.” In this book, the journey of a group of birds seeking the Simorgh, or the mythical bird representing God, is described, which is filled with spiritual symbolism and profound metaphoric meanings.

Sufi stories have remained popular for centuries not only in Islamic culture but also have found resonance in the West due to their universal themes of love, self-discovery, and the quest for divine union. They have been widely translated and interpreted in various languages and continue to be a source of spiritual wisdom and insight for people of various cultural and religious backgrounds.

Sufi stories have been written in many languages, reflecting the widespread influence of Sufism across different cultures and geographical regions. Here are some of the main languages in which Sufi stories and teachings have been written:

  • Arabic: Being the language of the Quran, Arabic holds a central place in all Islamic literature, including Sufism. Many early Sufi texts and stories were written in Arabic.
  • Persian: Persian was the cultural and literary language of many Islamic regions, especially in areas like Iran, parts of Afghanistan, and the Central Asian regions. Many renowned Sufi poets and scholars, including Rumi, Hafez, and Attar, wrote in Persian.
  • Turkish: With the advent of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish became an important language of Sufi literature. Yunus Emre, one of the most famous Turkish Sufi poets, wrote many poems and stories that are considered cornerstones of Turkish literature.
  • Urdu: In South Asia, particularly in areas that are now Pakistan and India, Urdu was a key language for Sufi literature. Poets like Bulleh Shah and Mian Muhammad Bakhsh wrote profound Sufi poetry and stories in this language.
  • Bengali: The Bengal region, straddling present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, has a rich tradition of Sufi literature in the Bengali language. Lalon Fakir is one of the most renowned Bengali Sufi poets.
  • Punjabi: In the Punjab region, spanning parts of present-day India and Pakistan, Sufi poetry and stories were often written in Punjabi. Baba Farid and Bulleh Shah are notable Punjabi Sufi poets.

Other languages in which Sufi literature can be found include Pashto, Sindhi, Kashmiri, and more. Sufi teachings have also been translated into numerous languages worldwide, further broadening their reach. These translations have made Sufi stories accessible to a global audience and ensured their continued influence and relevance.

Stories and Mental Well-being

Our mental well-being is often compromised when we become entangled in our daily work’s tension and intensity. Stress, anxiety, and emotional burnout lurk in the shadows of this relentless pace. Sufi stories offer a remedy, a refuge, a sanctuary where we can realign ourselves.

Reading Sufi stories allows us to disconnect from the outer world and dive into a realm of wisdom and calm. These tales’ soothing nature can help reduce stress levels, while their profound wisdom prompts introspection and self-awareness, promoting better mental health. It’s akin to the tranquility found in the eye of the storm; around us, life may be tumultuous, but inside, we find a calm serenity that strengthens us.

Promoting Truthfulness and Other Moral Values 

Sufi stories offer more than just tranquility; they also act as a conduit for moral values. Among the most profound lessons they teach is truthfulness. Sufi stories illustrate the importance of honesty with oneself and others, a virtue that’s vital in the complex fabric of human relationships. Living a life of truth not only promotes ethical conduct but also fosters self-esteem and mental harmony.

Sufi tales also delve into themes like humility, forgiveness, and selflessness, all integral to personal growth and the creation of a harmonious society. These stories teach us how our actions can have rippling effects on others, nudging us to make moral choices.

Sufi Stories: A Well of Bedtime Stories for Kids and Adults

Sufi stories are remarkably versatile, appealing to both children and adults. For children, they serve as engaging tales that impart valuable lessons subtly. The captivating narratives draw children into an imaginative world, stimulating their creativity and critical thinking while conveying moral teachings.

For adults, Sufi stories resonate on a deeper level. They open up a dialogue with our inner selves, shedding light on our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. As bedtime stories, they offer a quiet space for reflection before sleep, promoting mental relaxation and a good night’s rest.

In Conclusion

Sufi stories provide a haven from the daily grind, a calming refuge where we can soothe our minds and nourish our souls. Their teachings of truthfulness and other moral values guide us in our personal journeys and interpersonal relationships. Moreover, as bedtime stories, they provide comfort and serenity to children and adults alike. In the heart of Sufi stories, we find an ocean of tranquility, a beacon of wisdom, and a path to mental well-being.

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Cover Image, Top Left: milaoktasafitri, Pixabay

Luzio, who lived in São Paulo 10,000 years ago, was Amerindian like Indigenous people now, DNA reveals

FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO—An article* published on July 31 in Nature Ecology & Evolution reveals that Luzio, the oldest human skeleton found in São Paulo state (Brazil), was a descendant of the ancestral population that settled the Americas at least 16,000 years ago and gave rise to all present-day Indigenous peoples, such as the Tupi.

Based on the largest set of Brazilian archaeological genomic data, the study reported in the article also offers an explanation for the disappearance of the oldest coastal communities, who built the icons of Brazilian archaeology known as sambaquis, huge mounds of shells and fishbones used as dwellings, cemeteries and territorial boundaries. Archaeologists often refer to these monuments as shell mounds or kitchen middens.

“After the Andean civilizations, the Atlantic coast sambaqui builders were the human phenomenon with the highest demographic density in pre-colonial South America. They were the ‘kings of the coast’ for thousands and thousands of years. They vanished suddenly about 2,000 years ago,” said André Menezes Strauss, an archaeologist at the University of São Paulo’s Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (MAE-USP) and principal investigator for the study.

The first author of the article is Tiago Ferraz. The study was supported by FAPESP (projects 17/16451-2 and 20/06527-4) and conducted in partnership with researchers at the University of Tübingen’s Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment (Germany).

The authors analyzed the genomes of 34 samples from four different areas of Brazil’s coast. The fossils were at least 10,000 years old. They came from sambaquis and other parts of eight sites (Cabeçuda, Capelinha, Cubatão, Limão, Jabuticabeira II, Palmeiras Xingu, Pedra do Alexandre and Vau Una).

This material included Luzio, São Paulo’s oldest skeleton, found in the Capelinha river midden in the Ribeira de Iguape valley by a group led by Levy Figuti, a professor at MAE-USP. The morphology of its skull is similar to that of Luzia, the oldest human fossil found to date in South America, dating from about 13,000 years ago. The researchers thought it might have belonged to a biologically different population from present-day Amerindians, who settled in what is now Brazil some 14,000 years ago, but it turns out they were mistaken.

“Genetic analysis showed Luzio to be an Amerindian, like the Tupi, Quechua or Cherokee. That doesn’t mean they’re all the same, but from a global perspective, they all derive from a single migratory wave that arrived in the Americas not more than 16,000 years ago. If there was another population here 30,000 years ago, it didn’t leave descendants among these groups,” Strauss said.

Luzio’s DNA also answered another question. River middens are different from coastal ones, so the find cannot be considered a direct ancestor of the huge classical sambaquis that appeared later. This discovery suggests there were two distinct migrations – into the hinterland and along the coast.

What happened to the sambaqui builders?

Analysis of the genetic material revealed heterogeneous communities with cultural similarities but significant biological differences, especially between coastal communities in the southeast and south.

“Studies of cranial morphology conducted in the 2000s had already pointed to a subtle difference between these communities, and our genetic analysis confirmed it,” Strauss said. “We discovered that one of the reasons was that these coastal populations weren’t isolated but ‘swapped genes’ with inland communities. Over thousands of years, this process must have contributed to the regional differences between sambaquis.”

Regarding the mysterious disappearance of this coastal civilization, comprising the first hunter-gatherers of the Holocene, analysis of the DNA samples clearly showed that, in contrast with the European Neolithic substitution of entire populations, what happened in this part of the world was a change of practices, with a decline in construction of shell middens and the introduction of pottery by sambaqui builders. For example, the genetic material found at Galheta IV (Santa Catarina state), the most emblematic site for the period, has remains not of shells but of ceramics and is similar to the classic sambaquis in this respect.

“This information is compatible with a 2014 study that analyzed pottery shards from sambaquis and found that the pots in question were used to cook not domesticated vegetables but fish. They appropriated technology from the hinterland to process food that was already traditional there,” Strauss said.

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About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe.

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The investigation that covered four different parts of Brazil carried out analysis of genomic data from 34 fossils, including larger skeletons and the famous mounds of shells and fishbones built on the coast. André Strauss

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Article Source: FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO news release.

Tombs rich in artifacts discovered by Swedish expedition in Cyprus

UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG—“Considering the richness of the grave goods, it is a reasonable assumption that these were royal tombs, even though we do not know much about the form of government practiced in the city at the time. Undoubtedly those buried here were part of the city’s government,” says Peter Fischer, professor of archaeology and leader of the expedition.

The tombs, located outside the 50-hectare Bronze Age city, consist of underground chambers accessed via a narrow passage from the surface. The chambers varied in size, measuring up to 4 x 5 meters.

More than 500 artifacts

The Swedish Söderberg expedition, which has been excavating in Hala Sultan Tekke near the city of Larnaca on the south coast of Cyprus since 2010, has previously found chamber tombs with valuable grave goods. What distinguishes the newly discovered chamber tombs from those previously excavated is the sheer quantity of artifacts and their superb quality.

“We found more than 500 complete artifacts distributed among two tombs. Many of the artifacts consist of precious metals, gems, ivory and high-quality ceramics.”

About half of the artifacts were imported from neighboring cultures. Gold and ivory came from Egypt. Precious stones, such as blue lapis lazuli, dark red carnelian and blue-green turquoise, were imported from Afghanistan, India and Sinai respectively. The tombs also contain amber objects from the Baltic region.

The tombs were discovered using magnetometers, a type of instrument that can produce images showing objects and structures up to two meters beneath the surface.

“We compared the site where broken pottery had been plowed during farming with the magnetometer map, which showed large cavities one to two meters below the surface. This led us to continue investigating the area and to discover the tombs.”

Woman buried with one-year-old

The several well-preserved skeletons in the tombs include that of a woman surrounded by dozens of ceramic vessels, jewelry and a round bronze mirror that was once polished. A one-year-old child with a ceramic toy lay beside her.

“Several individuals, both men and women, wore diadems, and some had necklaces with pendants of the highest quality, probably made in Egypt during the 18th dynasty at the time of such pharaohs as Thutmos III and Amenophis IV (Akhenaten) and his wife Nefertiti.”

Embossed images of bulls, gazelles, lions and flowers adorn the diadems. Most of the ceramic vessels came from what we now call Greece, and the expedition also found pots from Turkey, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.

The grave goods also included bronze weapons, some inlaid with ivory, and a gold-framed seal made of the hard mineral haematite with inscriptions of gods and rulers.

“The vast wealth of the entombed individuals came from the production of copper. Nearby mines in the Troodos Mountains produced copper ore, which was refined in the city. This port city then exported the refined metal in large quantities to neighboring cultures. Copper was an important commodity because, combined with tin, it becomes the hard alloy bronze, which gave its name to the Bronze Age,” says Peter Fischer.

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Detail of the ”Bull Diadem” (c. 1350 BCE). P.M. Fischer

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One of the skeletons with tomb gifts (c. 1350 BCE). P.M. Fischer

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Excavation and recording in progress. P.M. Fischer

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Large Minoan “Octopus Krater” (Crete) (c. 1350 BCE). P.M. Fischer

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Large Mycenaean (Greek) “Chariot krater” (c. 1350 BCE). P.M. Fischer

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Read more about the excavations here:

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Giant stone artifacts found on rare Ice Age site in Kent

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON—Researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have discovered some of the largest early prehistoric stone tools in Britain.

The excavations, which took place in Kent and were commissioned in advance of development of the Maritime Academy School in Frindsbury, revealed prehistoric artifacts in deep Ice Age sediments preserved on a hillside above the Medway Valley.

The researchers, from UCL Archaeology South-East, discovered 800 stone artifacts thought to be over 300,000 years old, buried in sediments which filled a sinkhole and ancient river channel, outlined in their research, published in Internet Archaeology.

Amongst the unearthed artifacts were two extremely large flint knives described as “giant handaxes”. Handaxes are stone artefacts which have been chipped, or “knapped,” on both sides to produce a symmetrical shape with a long cutting edge. Researchers believe this type of tool was usually held in the hand and may have been used for butchering animals and cutting meat. The two largest handaxes found at the Maritime site have a distinctive shape with a long and finely worked pointed tip, and a much thicker base.

Senior Archaeologist Letty Ingrey (UCL Institute of Archaeology), said: “We describe these tools as ‘giants’ when they are over 22cm long and we have two in this size range. The biggest, a colossal 29.5cm in length, is one of the longest ever found in Britain. ‘Giant handaxes’ like this are usually found in the Thames and Medway regions and date from over 300,000 years ago.

“These handaxes are so big it’s difficult to imagine how they could have been easily held and used. Perhaps they fulfilled a less practical or more symbolic function than other tools, a clear demonstration of strength and skill. While right now, we aren’t sure why such large tools were being made, or which species of early human were making them, this site offers a chance to answer these exciting questions.”

The site is thought to date to a period in the early prehistory of Britain when Neanderthal people and their cultures were beginning to emerge and may even have shared the landscape with other early human species. The Medway Valley at this time would have been a wild landscape of wooded hills and river valleys, inhabited by red deer and horses, as well as less familiar mammals such as the now-extinct straight-tusked elephant and lion.

While archaeological finds of this age, including another spectacular ‘giant’ handaxe, have been found in the Medway Valley before, this is the first time they have been found as part of large-scale excavation, offering the opportunity to glean more insights into the lives of their makers.

Dr Matt Pope (UCL Institute of Archaeology), said: “The excavations at the Maritime Academy have given us an incredibly valuable opportunity to study how an entire Ice Age landscape developed over a quarter of a million years ago. A program of scientific analysis, involving specialists from UCL and other UK institutions, will now help us to understand why the site was important to ancient people and how the stone artifacts, including the ‘giant handaxes’ helped them adapt to the challenges of Ice Age environments.”

The research team is now working on identifying and studying the recovered artifacts to better understand who created them and what they were used for.

Senior Archaeologist Giles Dawkes (UCL Institute of Archaeology) is leading work on a second significant find from the site – a Roman cemetery, dating to at least a quarter of a million years later than the Ice Age activity. The people buried here between the first and fourth centuries AD could have been the inhabitants of a suspected nearby villa that may have lain around 850 meters to the south.

The team found the remains of 25 individuals, 13 of which were cremated. Nine of the buried individuals were found with goods or personal items including bracelets, and four were interred in wooden coffins. Collections of pottery and animal bones found nearby likely relate to feasting rituals at the time of burial. Though Roman buildings and structures have been extensively excavated, cemeteries have historically been less of a focus for archaeologists and the discovery of this site offers potentially new insights into the burial customs and traditions of both the Romans who lived at the villa, and those in the nearby town of Rochester.

Jody Murphy, Director of Education at the Thinking Schools Academy Trust said: “We, at Maritime Academy and the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, feel very lucky to be a part of this phenomenal discovery. We take great pride in our connection to our local community and region, with much of our school identity linked to the history of Medway. We look forward to taking advantage of this unique opportunity to teach our young people about these finds, creating a lasting legacy for those who came before us.”

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The largest giant handaxe. Archaeology South-East/ UCL

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ASE Senior Archaeologist Letty Ingrey measures the largest giant handaxe. Archaeology South-East/ UCL

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Archaeologists excavating at the Maritime Academy School site in Frinsdbury. Archaeology South-East/ UCL

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One of the handaxes at the point of discovery on site. Archaeology South-East/ UCL

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON news release

*On the Discovery of a Late Acheulean ‘Giant’ Handaxe from the Maritime Academy, Frindsbury, Kent, Internet Archaeology, 6-Jul-2023. 10.11141/ia.61.6 

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The Forgotten City

Near Pollonia, Milos, Greece — At first blush, my uninitiated eye could only see what appeared to be random jumbles and scatterings of large volcanic stones strewn across an arid, sloping, rocky island landscape. As I looked closer and longer, however, I could see some organization and structure to this expanse. Though the natural fury of volcanism was responsible for creating these stones, I knew nature did not place them here like this.

Humans did.

More than 4,000 years ago.

The site, known today to archaeologists and historians as ancient Phylakopi, was for centuries one of the most important commercial and trading centers of the Bronze Age Aegean. Situated on the northeast coast of what is present-day Milos, ships laden with goods from Minoan Crete, Mycenaean Greece and Pharaonic Egypt would ply their trade here and receive in return the best products the people of the island of Milos could offer. Here, a sophisticated community of people built and sustained administrative palaces, structures dedicated to sacred ritual spaces, house structures, and monumental defensive fortifications, among other features typical of Bronze Age urban settlements. Other significant Bronze Age urban settlements of the Aegean, like Phylakopi’s contemporaneous city of Knossos on the island of Crete and Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, have loomed much larger in the minds and imagination of the scholarly world and the public. Yet, at least among scholars of the Bronze Age Aegean, Phylakopi has not been lost in the shadow of those sites. In fact, in some ways, the archaeology of this island city has eclipsed them in the gravity of its importance. Archaeologists began to realize this as they explored this island-dotted Mediterranean region late in the 19th century.

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A view of the Phylakopi site as it exists today.

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The Fruits of Excavation

Adamas, the main coastal town of Milos, affords a rich variety of places to relax for an outdoor meal, and with the right location, one can view the blue water of the adjacent Milos Harbor while sitting and eating traditional Greek cuisine. It was under these circumstances that I met and conversed with Pavlos Kotronakis, a long-time resident of Milos and, for a time, an actively engaged archaeologist at the Phylakopi site. From 2004 to 2008 ( July 2004 until December 2008) he managed a team of excavators under the overall direction of Marisa Martha, who was then Director of the 21st Ephorate of Classical Antiquities of Greece’s Ministry of Culture.

Duncan MacKenzie, kneeling at the right during an excavation. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Unlike previous excavations at the site, this project was primarily a clean-up operation, meant to clear the site of debris that remained after years of excavations earlier in the late 19th and then later in the 20th century, to make the site accessible to visitors. Historically, Phylakopi saw several British expeditions under the auspices of the British School at Athens, the first conducted between 1896 and 1899 by Duncan MacKenzie, the second from 1910 to 1911, and the third under Colin Renfrew from 1974 to 1977. A limited excavation was conducted in 1964 under Zepheiropoulou on behalf of the Zephorate of Antiquities for the Cyclades.

“Digging in and gradually removing the old British debris proved much more interesting and fruitful than anticipated, “ said Pavlos about the latest excavation of 2004 — 2008. “Excavators in the late 19th century, though close to modern standards, were quite far from paying much attention to excavation techniques, such as sieving the soil to find small artifacts, as would normally be required today for such an important site as Phylakopi. Consequently, we found many objects, even of significant archaeological value, that 19th century workers had simply overseen and thrown away. We were also able to bring to light again a part of the city walls that had been covered by the excavation debris.”

Some of the significant small finds of the excavations are now housed and exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Milos, a modest yet architecturally beautiful edifice, affording well-appointed spaces richly endowed with artifacts not just from Phylakopi but from other sites and time periods, as well. 

Beyond artifacts, however, the physical site and features of Phylakopi bespeak a long-occupied ancient center that must have been an important player in the heydays of Aegean commerce from as early as the Late Neolithic through the Late Bronze Age. Key to this was one product Phylakopi, and by extension the volcanic island of Milos of which it was a part, had in abundance:

Obsidian.

“It is commonly believed that Phylakopi played a major role in the obsidian trade during the Later Neolithic – Early Bronze Age,” said Pavlos. “Phylakopi may well have been, if not the sole, perhaps main exporting center of obsidian — and that not only in Milos, but in the whole of the Aegean. But Phylakopi was not a production center. It was a refinement and exporting one. Obsidian was brought to Phylakopi from the production centers [also located on Milos], and was then refined on the spot and finally exported.”

The (often) black, hard, glassy consistency of this volcanically produced rock was enormously useful and effective for producing tools, its sharp, knifelike edges ideal for cutting and other productive activities. Though demand was robust for obsidian even during Neolithic times, trade and the use of it increased exponentially during the Bronze Age. Thus, Phylakopi is thought to have been a major destination or stopping point for maritime trade, in large part because it was one of only a few locations in the Mediterranean where obsidian could be acquired in such abundance with such high quality.

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Obsidian artifacts discovered on the island of Milos, as exhibited in the Milos Mining Museum.

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Obsidian artifacts discovered at Phylakopi, as exhibited in the Milos Mining Museum

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But obsidian was not all. Archaeological investigations turned up signs of another precious product — lithargyros fragments.

“Lithargyros was a by-product of the process of making silver (the Greek words “lithos” and “argyros” meaning “stone” and “silver”),” added Pavlos. “Renfrew has published some fragments of lithargyros found in his excavations. Lithargyros was “garbage” to be frank, and it was thrown away by the ancient workers. However, the existence of such “garbage” in Phylakopi shows that there may have existed workshops on the spot dealing with the production of silver. Though it was the “Bronze” Age, the people of Phylakopi may have had much more advanced knowledge in dealing with metals than previously thought.”

A Bonze Age Motherlode

I asked Pavlos about his thoughts on the most salient small finds of the combined series of excavations at Phylakopi. In his own words, he summarized the prolific results of the major efforts conducted at the site. What follows reflects his personal experience and perspective:

“First of all, unearthing a hitherto unknown and major commercial center of the Aegean Bronze Age was a great achievement; the British were lucky in “stumbling upon” its remains. The finds and findings of the British excavations were, of course, too many to number – however, some of them stand out in my mind:

Pottery, perhaps, would be number one: seemingly countless sherds appeared and a great percentage among them were decorated sherds; even whole vases appeared. This led to the building of a typology (a succession of ceramic styles, based on the relevant depth in which the sherds and the vases were found). This, in turn, greatly enabled dating and the building of chronological charts (the deeper a sherd/vase was found, the older it was. If found under a wall, for example, the sherd could date the wall and the whole building). The British were, thus, able to establish a solid new chronology for the specific era and place (Later Neolitihic / Bronze Age Aegean). This chronology applied not only to Phylakopi, Milos, but to the other Cycladic islands, as well.

“Linear A” findings could, perhaps, be number two. The inhabitants of Phylakopi knew how to read and write. Renfrew published a fragment of a clay tablet inscribed in Linear A script. Although this script has not yet been deciphered, it clearly shows connections with Crete. It also suggests that many more inscribed clay tablets once existed in the archives of the palace — in Knossos, for example, many tablets were saved because of the fire which destroyed the palace, thus “baking” the tablets and making clay durable. But in Phylakopi there was no fire; the city was simply abandoned sometime in the late 12th century B.C. and nobody knows what happened to the archives of the palace. It has even been supposed that the 19th century A.D. workers may have destroyed the tablets while digging, quite by accident, since unbaked clay would be almost indistinguishable  from the surrounding earth context and there was no knowledge of the existence of inscribed clay tablets at the time. Though the latter is a possibility explaining why no archives have been found except a sole tablet, I do not think it is a strong one.” 

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Above and below: Pottery and clay artifacts discovered at Phylakopi, as exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Milos.

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A Monumental Place

For the casual observer, what stands out most strikingly is the massive assortment of scattered volcanic stones. Collectively, they distinguish the face of the site from the surrounding landscape much like an expansive, rocky outcrop might present in any other natural scene. But careful survey and investigation by archaeologists with trained eyes and excavation experience over the past century have gleaned a picture of a coastal city that boasted (for the Bronze Age Cyclades) a monumental presence. Although its evolutionary beginning as an urban center extends as far back as 3300 BC, in its heyday, particularly between 1550 and 1100 BC, Phylakopi must have struck an impressive view from the ships that approached its docks.

Most visible and prominent is the stone defensive wall, of which today only a small segment remains. Close to the edge of the site where the land meets the sea, it straddles the top of the cliffs that overlook the inlet. They appear as if suspended, situated as it were precariously above the waves that have continuously eroded the land upon which the site sits. The wall was constructed between 1600 — 1400 BC, during the Middle Bronze Age, a time when Minoan influence was strong at Phylakopi, and in the Cyclades generally. This wall was destroyed and then later reconstructed during the last phase of the settlement, a time when the Mycenaeans wielded great influence over the city. It is the remnant of this later wall that is primarily visible on the landscape. 

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Above and below: The Mycenaean wall as it is seen today.

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The Pillar Room

The excavations of 1896 — 1899 uncovered what remained of a structure named by the site investigators as the “Pillar Room”, a building complex that features two ground-floor rooms with a pillar in the center, a characteristic typical for Minoan architecture. Based on architecture alone, therefore, the archaeologists have ascertained influence from Crete, where the Minoan civilization was centered. But further evidence of this influence was discovered when excavators encountered fragments of fresco paintings, which they determined had fallen from what once were upper rooms. Some of the fragments came from the scene of an offering to a seated female, interpreted to be a goddess, in a coastal setting. Others originated from two narrow friezes of flying fish, a composition of white Lilly flowers, and a frieze featuring blue monkeys. Archaeologists have interpreted the rooms in which the fresco paintings were located as serving a religious function. The room featuring the seated goddess, for example, was quite possibly a shrine. The paintings have been dated to 1600 — 1500 BC, somewhat later than the dates for similar works discovered at the site of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini (ancient Thera).

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Flying-fish diving and swimming among fish-eggs and sponges attached on rocks. Wall painting fragment from Phylakopi III/1, Melos. Late Cycladic I, 17th century BC. National Archaeological Museum Athens 5844. Zde, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons

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Published report illustration of the wall painting illustrating the flying fish.

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Offering table wall painting fragment with floral motifs. Zde, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons

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The Megaron

Not far from the Pillar Room, archaeologists encountered evidence for a ‘mansion’ complex. Dated to the 16th-15th c. BC, it was built during the time of Minoan influence. Not actually a private residential structure, it is thought to have been an administrative center for the city. Here, excavators unearthed a clay tablet inscribed in Linear A script. Linear A has yet to be deciphered, but it is often associated with palatial administrative contexts at sites in Crete that are dated to Minoan times. Later, a Megaron was constructed at the same location, and it is the remains of this latter structure that can be seen. Dated to the early 14th century BC, it is identified as a Mycenaean building, resembling similar such Mycenaean structures in Mainland Greece but somewhat simpler in complexity. Archaeologists uncovered defining features of an antechamber at its core with a threshold of two large stone ashlar blocks and a large hall with a plaster floor and hearth. This central portion was flanked by corridors and then a series of small rooms and spaces. 

The Sanctuary

Other than the defensive wall, perhaps the best defined and most visibly recognizable structural features at Phylakopi are the remains of what archaeologists have designated as the Mycenaean Sanctuary. Dated to an original nucleus (West Shrine) construction of 1360 BC, it was rectangular with a flat roof supported by wooden columns. The main room featured benches along the walls, with a doorway in its west wall leading to two ancillary rooms. The doorway was flanked by platforms with niches that supported figurines. About 1270 BC a new major rectangular construction was added, designated the East Shrine. Both the West and East Shrines functioned jointly. A structural collapse that occurred in 1130 BC led to architectural alterations, but the Sanctuary continued to be functional until around 1090 BC. Archaeologists recovered a significant number of clay figurines during excavation of the Sanctuary, including both female and male as well as bovine figurines. Here, the famous ‘Lady of Phylakopi’ figurine (c. 1350 BC) was found. Also found were three stone columnar lamps, tortoise shells that are thought to be parts of lyres, a gold mask, two bronze male figurines and two scarabs. Many of the finds have been interpreted as cult images and votive offerings and thus the Sanctuary is thought to have been a center for religious activity.

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Above and below: Remains of the Sanctuary, as they can be seen today.

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The South Entrance

A common feature of Bronze Age cities were monumental gates, or gateways, that led by definition into the settlement’s interior spaces. These gates were often part of the city fortifications, characterized by bastions and towers. This is no less true of Phylakopi and excavators encountered the remains of such in the area designated as the South Entrance. Here, archaeologists uncovered evidence of a bastion with a stone-built staircase that possibly led up to a tower. This is the only entrance to this city discovered, though archaeologists are certain there were more entrances. Erosion of the site by the adjacent sea has since destroyed all evidence of these entrances, excepting the South Entrance.

The Legacy of Phylakopi

One could say that Phylakopi, compared to better-known ancient Aegean sites such as Knossos, Akrotiri, and Phaistos, is a forgotten city. Few, other than scholars, students, and enthusiasts of Aegean and Cycladic history, have ever heard of the place. Yet unbeknownst to most, the site boasts a profound significance. 

“[Archaeologists] have unearthed a hitherto unknown Aegean civilization and a major commercial center of the Later Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, that had previously been completely unknown,” said Pavlos. “They were able to establish connections between Milos and Crete, since the findings clearly indicated close ties between these two islands and Cretan (“Minoan”) influence on Phylakopi.” Moreover, “Phylakopi, is considered to be one of the main centers of export for obsidian. It could well be possible that Phylakopi was the main center of this trade. This, apparently, makes Phylakopi stand out, since very few such exporting centers for obsidian are known (e.g. Nissyros), which, however, seem to have had a lesser part in this trade. And the obsidian exported from other centers was of rather inferior quality. The obsidian of Milos was number one.”

Beyond the fact that Phylakopi was the main center of a previously unknown Cycladic civilization, excavation work at the site established a foundation upon which later excavations and archaeological investigations of early Aegean civilizations could be based. The excavations at Phylakopi were particularly beneficial for the famous excavations conducted later under the direction of Arthur Evans at Knossos on the island of Crete.

“They [meaning the excavators of Phylakopi] were able to establish a stratigraphy, since different strata (layers) were documented and studied,” continues Pavlos. “This led to modeling a much-needed chronology pattern for the site. With the help of pottery found in these strata, the British were able to model chronological patterns for the era that also applied to other Cycladic islands. Last but not least, the investigators learned excavation techniques! Phylakopi was the first “modern”, so to say, excavation held in Greece. It was the first strictly “scientific” excavation, paying attention to stratigraphy, pottery evolution and chronology……. Duncan MacKenzie, the leader of the Phylakopi excavations, later went on to Crete at the beginnings of the 20th century, where the British School also held excavations at Knossos under Sir Arthur Evans. MacKenzie became the “right hand” of Evans and, with his valuable experience gained at Phylakopi, greatly helped in establishing chronology in the Knossos excavations. It is quite probable that without Phylakopi, MacKenzie would not have been able to help Evans as much and a solid stratigraphy and chronology pattern would not have been as easily produced.”

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Mycenaean fortifications, south of the top of the Archeological site in Phylakopi. Late Bronze Age. View from west. Zde, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons

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Finally, Phylakopi is among the longest lasting urban centers of the Aegean, progressing through a number of different developmental and construction phases, beginning in the Neolithic, but then continuing seamlessly throughout the Bronze Age (i.e. from the 3rd millennium BC until the 12th century BC), thus establishing its place as an important type-site for several chronological periods of the Aegean Bronze Age.

An Endangered Site

Today, thanks to site clean-up and preparations, the Phylakopi archaeological site draws hundreds if not thousands of visitors per year. With greater publicity, the numbers would surely climb. But Phylakopi faces a slow killer — erosion. For centuries, the sea has gradually eroded away the coastline of the ancient city, eating into the city itself. Much of what remains of this once critically important commercial port settlement has disappeared into the sea. The section of the city’s fortification wall that can still be seen at the edge of the cliff that overhangs the ocean appears precariously on the precipice of plummeting into the water below it. 

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Some remains of the wall precariously hug the edge of the cliff that overlooks the sea.

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I asked Pavlos about the plight of the site.

“Erosion by the sea of the volcanic rock on which the city lies continues,” he said. “One could say that erosion will, eventually, some day “eat” the rest of the city. Of course, centuries will need to pass before Phylakopi becomes ‘extinct’ in this way; but this is what will eventually happen unless modern technology finds a way to stop it. Rain and wind during winter also produce damage; the ancient walls of the city houses cannot withstand harsh weather conditions, unless they are reinforced [or protected] somehow.” 

“Nothing is being done to stop the erosion of the soil by the sea, nor to somehow protect the remains of the city from the impacts of harsh weather. It is such a pity.”

Efforts to protect the site will require an important resource — new money — words easier said than done in the current economy. But Phylakopi is not alone. It is an issue affecting many other ancient sites across the world. 

 

Walking among this ancient port city’s remains, I could imagine a bustling monumental center of tradesmen, skilled artisans, laborers, palace administrators,  religious officials and many others carrying out their daily tasks. Here was a center of work, government, and cultural symbolism, as well as a place where the elite ran their up-scale households. Goods from Crete and Mainland Greece found their way here, and scribes recorded important business transactions and other documents on clay tablets, first in the form of a script (Linear A) that is today yet undeciphered, and then likely later in a script (Linear B) with which many scholars of Greek today are already familiar. People lived and worked here continuously for centuries, and people living and working in far-flung communities across the sea likely knew the names of this city and their inhabitants. After the 12th century BC, however, there was silence and stillness. The city was abandoned or slowly depopulated and never re-occupied. It was not until the late 19th century that explorers and scholars came to recognize and act on what the local population had known for centuries — that there was something very significant going on in this place in the distant past. The jumbled stones and the artifacts they picked up and dug up at the site over the years told them so. 

It may be many years before archaeologists return to this site to investigate its secrets further.  Pavlos, and others like him, are only hoping that the sea, the wind, rain and global warming will be merciful long enough to allow them the chance to add to the city’s story — provided there is the financial grace to make it happen.

 

Cover Image, Top Left: The western edge of the Mycenaean fortification in Phylakopi. Zde, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons

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The Great Maya Tombstone

Freelance writer, researcher and photographer, Georges Fery (georgefery.com) addresses topics from history, culture, and beliefs to daily living of ancient and today’s indigenous societies of Mesoamerica and South America. His articles are published online at travelthruhistory.com, ancient-origins.net and popular-archaeology.com, and in the quarterly magazine Ancient American (ancientamerican.com). In the U.K. his articles are found in mexicolore.co.uk.

The author is a fellow of the Institute of Maya Studies instituteofmayastudies.org, Miami, FL and The Royal Geographical Society, London, U.K. (rgs.org). He is a member in good standing with the Maya Exploration Center, Austin, TX (mayaexploration.org) the Archaeological Institute of America, Boston, MA (archaeological.org), NFAA-Non Fiction Authors Association (nonfictionauthrosassociation.com) and the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC. (americanindian.si.edu).

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Ancient European Wayfinders: The Minoans Who Sailed By The Stars

Alessandro Berio is a researcher who specializes in skyscape archaeology, which combines his interests in ancient history and the stars. He has a master of arts in Cultural Astronomy from the University of Wales Trinity St. David and has completed continuing education on Minoan and Mycenaean archaeology at Oxford University. He has conducted pioneering field work in Crete on Minoan celestial navigation. 

Over a millennia before Homer’s Odysseus followed Ursa Major home from Troy, the Minoans of Crete were already sailing by the stars. According to a new study* published in the Mediterranean Journal of Archaeology and Archaeomety, Bronze Age Minoans used celestial navigation techniques similar to the Polynesians, despite living over 17,800 km and thousands of years apart.

The Minoans flourished on the Greek island of Crete in 2,600–1,100 BCE and are considered the first European civilization. Crete quickly became a place of immense wealth (which was consolidated in the hands of the elites) and specialized in trade with the Near East and Egypt. Access to the gold, ivory, and tin that the Minoans craved required advanced sailing techniques.

The findings have shown that the technique of using star paths to navigate the seas emerged much earlier than previously thought. Ancient Minoan traders, and possibly even the legendary navy of King Minos (thought to be the world’s first professional navy), used the rising of key stars to traverse the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.

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A simulated example of a star path

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Minoan palaces and the stars of the east

The many grand palaces built on Crete by the Minoans point to the importance of international trade. These palaces, including those at Knossos, Kato Zakro, and five other locations, were orientated towards trading partners to the east and south and toward the navigational stars that would take them there. Wealthy Minoans looked out upon famous bright stars, like Sirius, Orion’s Belt, and Spica. As these stars rose to the horizon, they could be used to direct open sea navigators to the east.

Crete maintained important trade partnerships in the east, including with Sidon and Byblos (both in present-day Lebanon), Tel Kabri (in modern Israel), Tell el-Dab’a (Egypt), and other key locations. Evidence of Minoan artifacts and murals has been found in many of these places.

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Map of proposed star path orientations from Crete to the Near East

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Minoan elites: wealth, knowledge, and trading by starlight

Connections with the east mattered to the elites of Bronze Age Crete. The eastward orientation of Minoan palaces symbolized elite influence in foreign trade. Wealthy Minoans likely monopolized long-distance trade (and the profits made from exporting Crete’s wine and oils). Just as the uber-wealthy of the 21st century flaunt their Birkin bags and Rolex watches, Bronze Age elites exhibited their wealth through prestige goods, such as ivory and gold, which came from abroad.

Minoan elites may have protected their trade networks by gatekeeping the knowledge of celestial navigation. Studies in the 1990s showed that the Minoans had knowledge of night sailing and further work in 2013 by Thomas Tartaron suggested that the elites kept the knowledge of using stars for navigation a secret (like the chief navigator families of the Pacific). According to Tartaron, maritime knowledge was ‘worth guarding as a potential source of power and independence…those with access to distant places with their exotic products and…knowledge possessed a special, perhaps even mystical status.’

The wealth of Minoan elites would have allowed them to access foreign knowledge, like an incipient trigonometry perhaps used for establishing the orientations of the palaces, as well as develop their own technologies such as the sidereal compass. Used by traditional sailors in the Caroline Islands of Micronesia, the sidereal compass, known from at least the 9th century in the Indian Ocean, could determine the directions to specific islands based on star paths, which were marked as points analogous to a mariner’s compass. It’s possible existence in the Bronze Age highlights the sophisticated understanding of navigation that existed at this time.

A new study looks to Crete’s palaces for answers

The problem often facing classical and ancient scholars – that is, the lack of written evidence – makes an appearance here. But the lack of written evidence from Crete can be partially overcome. The comparative study of Polynesian and Micronesian sea-faring can point to possible techniques used by the Minoans — for example, the Polynesian practice of observing star paths for navigation or even the use of the sidereal compass.

My recent study used ancient sea routes, software simulations of ancient skies, archaeological records, and wind patterns to highlight the link between Minoan palaces and sea-faring techniques.

A key example was the orientation of the palace of Knossos – the largest Minoan palace in Crete and home to the legendary King Minos. This important palace was oriented toward the star Spica – the movement of which would have helped navigators sail to the important Levantine harbor of Sidon, where evidence of Minoan artifacts has been found. Although mythology should not be taken as concrete evidence, the connection between Crete and Sidon was memorialized on ancient Minoan coins which showed the myth of Zeus turning into a bull and abducting Princess Europa (mother of King Minos) on the beaches of Sidon, from where she was taken to Crete.

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A view of the palace at Knossos. ii7017, Pixabay

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Satellite photo of the Minoan Knossos palace showing the short axis of the central court pointing along the star path of Spica toward the ancient trade harbor of Sidon, the location where Minos’s mother Europa was abducted.

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Comprehending the importance of stars for navigation brings us a step closer to understanding the Minoan civilization and its role in the ancient world. By looking to the stars, the study shows us the island’s centrality in the Bronze Age economic and cultural landscape and the importance of trade in shaping Crete’s palaces. 

A sophisticated maritime culture existed in Bronze Age Crete, and the study showed that the Minoans ‘relied on long-distance sea voyages for trade’. These findings offer a better understanding of ancient culture and connections in the Bronze Age Mediterranean.

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A. Berio

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*Berio, Alessandro, Minoan Star Sailors: Linking Palace Orientations with Maritime Trade Routes and Celestial Navigation, Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 22, No 3, (2022), pp. 149-177

 

Publishing……Ancient Roman Style

Professor Frank J. Korn has retired from his teaching position on the Classical Studies faculty at Seton Hall University.  He is a Fulbright Scholar at the American Academy in Rome and the author of nine books on various aspects of the Eternal City.  He is listed in Marquis Who’s Who as “a notable classical educator and writer.”  Recipient of the Princeton Prize for Distinguished Teaching, he resides with his wife Camille in Scotch Plains, N.J.  The couple’s three sons –  Frank, Ronald, and John and their families live nearby.  His latest book    Below Rome, the Story of the Catacombs    which he co-authored with his wife, is available on Amazon or from the publisher, St. Johann Press, Haworth, N.J.

Along the Argiletum, a heavily trafficked street in old Rome that led down from the summit of the Esquiline Hill, then through the Subura quarter, entering the Forum Romanum between the Senate House and the Basilica Aemilia, one could encounter a daily microcosm of the city’s populace.

A person could stake out a shady sidewalk spot beneath an umbrella pine and divert themself for hours just watching the ceaseless river of changing faces flow by. The eclectic multitude might include a prominent senator, with a conspicuous entourage of bodyguards, an obnoxious man of great wealth with a cadre of obsequious clients, actors, bankers, businessmen, teachers and teenagers, ladies of the social register, down-and-outers, veterans, and pickpockets.

Their one common denominator?

A passion for good books.

The Argiletum, you see, was Rome’s answer to London’s Paternoster Row, or New York’s ‘’Publishers Row” on 5th Avenue, i.e., the heart of the publishing and book-selling trade. Many of the Eternal City’s publishers not only had their offices along the clamorous paved thoroughfare, but their factories and retail outlets as well. It was also a rendezvous for the distinguished literati of the day who would be on hand to help promote sales of their latest “volumes.” (The Romans often used the word volumen instead of the word liber for book.)

And what did a book look like in Roman times? While no original manuscripts survive, archeologists excavating Herculaneum – the other city buried, like Pompeii, in A.D. 79 by the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano – discovered a house with an extensive library of eight hundred plus “books,” i.e. scrolls, that afford us the answer to that question. These consisted of long strips of fine bark papyrus imported from Egypt. After the papyrus had been pressed into “sheets,” it was pressed a second time and sun-dried before being cut into “page” widths that could be written on, on one side, with a stylus dipped in ink made from lampblack. These pages would be glued one to another at the edges and then rolled tightly around two wooden rods, or dowels, about twelve inches long. The last leaf, or page, would be fastened to the right hand rod. The left hand rod would serve as the take-up reel. The reader would hold the “book” with both hands and unroll it from right to left until a page was centered between the two rods, and repeat this step for each subsequent page. These books ranged in length from as little as six feet (a pamphlet) to as much as sixty feet or more for an edition, say, of Virgil’s Aeneid.

Each of the rods would be tipped with metal or ivory for decorative purposes. To the top end a small tag of parchment bearing the title, and perhaps the author’s name, would be attached, hanging down when the book was placed on its side in a bookcase.

There were no breaks between the words nor the sentences. There was no paragraphing nor punctuation. These devices were introduced in later centuries as a service to the reader.

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The beginning of what we know of today as books made its premier as the unrolling scroll. Smufotos, Pixabay

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Photos of the papyrus fragments PHerc.1103 (a) and PHerc.110 (b,c). Image contrast and brightness were enhanced to better visualize the details visible to the naked eye on their external surface. Sara Stabile, Francesca Palermo, Inna Bukreeva, Daniela Mele, Vincenzo Formoso, Roberto Bartolino & Alessia Cedola.  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons

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Up to the first century before Christ, the publishing business was virtually non-existent. There were as yet no public libraries and the literacy rate was woefully low. In the Roman world of letters, such as it was, authors would produce copies of their writings in their own homes for distribution among friends and kin.

Cicero however, the great statesman, orator, and essayist, had the advantage of a wealthy entrepreneurial friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus, who put his corps of skilled slaves to work mass-producing editions of Cicero’s manuscripts. When Atticus noted the literacy rate significantly growing, and the ever increasing market of book lovers, the astute financier jumped into the publishing business with both feet. He soon entered into agreement with a number of accomplished poets, satirists, story-tellers, biographers, and historians. Naturally Cicero, the master wordsmith of the day, headed his list of authors. It was a stroke of genius on Atticus’ part to add to his portfolio a bookshop and a publishing firm. He quickly struck gold with beautiful editions of the two most brilliant of all Ciceronian essays: De Amicitia (on Friendship) and De Senectute (On Old Age).

In a letter to Atticus from 13 February in 61 B.C., Cicero had pointed out the high real estate values on the Argiletum:

“My brother Quintus has purchased the remaining three-quarters of the Argiletum property for 735,000 sesterces.

(Classical scholars calculate that today such a sum would come to about 350,000 U.S. dollars.)

Accordingly, Atticus established his production plant in that fast developing business district. The establishment had a room where slaves pressed the papyrus into sheets, another where they glued the edges together. In the third room – a rather large hall in fact – dozens of his workers skillful in penmanship sat at drafting tables and wrote feverishly on these sheets, while a reader at a lectern dictated, in a loud, deliberate voice, from the original manuscript.

Another word or two, now, about Marcus Tullius Cicero. “Tully,” as third-level Latin students and their teachers fondly refer to him, maintained a prolific correspondence which was destined to have a significant impact on the nascent book-making industry. Tiro, Cicero’s intellectually gifted Greek slave – whom he dearly loved and treated as a member of the family – carefully wrote out the great man’s dictated letters and always made a second copy of each, which he meticulously maintained in a file. After his master’s death in 43 B.C., Tiro turned over some nine hundred of them for publication by the firm of Titus Pomponius Atticus. Their release met with such wide acclaim and wild enthusiasm that soon letter-collections of prominent Romans became a popular new literary form with avid readers, and publishers were only too eager to accommodate this growing mania.

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Cicero with his friend Atticus and brother Quintus, at his villa at Arpinum. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

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In the late first and early second century A.D., the personal correspondence of Pliny the Younger topped the sales charts on the Argiletum. These epistolary writings of such literary celebrities afford the modern reader fascinating and authentic insights into numerous aspects of Roman life, e.g. the leisure interests, the politics, the culinary preferences, the religious beliefs and practices, the medical advancements, the family unit, the home decor, the raising of children, the legal profession, the variety of occupations, the compulsory military service, the ownership and treatment of slaves, the entertainment industry, the government welfare programs, the holiday festivals, the trade and commerce, the frantic pace of urban life vis-a-vis the tranquility of residence in a country villa, summer vacations, travel abroad, the Zeitgeist, and so much else of each era of Roman antiquity. All this made for very scintillating reading and a new, very marketable genre for the publishers.

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Pliny the Younger and His Mother at Misenum. Painting by Angelica Kauffmann, Exhibit in the Princeton University Art Museum. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

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According to Martial, the first century poet, Roman readers could be quite discerning, fussy if you will, about choosing a book:

“The people of Rome have demanding tastes in literature. The young, the old, even the children have the nose of a rhinoceros [an idiom meaning, back then, knowing how to judge well].”

In 39 B.C., as the literacy rate continued to grow dramatically, the affluent C. Asinius Pollio founded a for-profit lending library on the Aventine Hill. With the resultant growing demand for books, the fledgling publishing trade began to flourish and more and more companies and shops blossomed on the Argiletum. Just before his assassination, Julius Caesar had plans in the works to build the first State Library. It was left to his successor Augustus to complete the ambitious project.

Libraries began to be organized in the provinces and municipalities throughout the empire. By the end of the first century A.D. there were numerous such facilities – as many as twenty-nine in the capital alone, the most impressive among them being the twin libraries built by Trajan, one stocked entirely with works in Latin, the other in Greek. (Interesting note: it was considered the height of bad manners for a library patron to return a book without rewinding it to the first page, as a courtesy to the next borrower.)

In addition to all this, there was now a private collection craze for the publishers to satisfy, as well. Good home libraries tended to include as many as three or four hundred volumes. Book collecting by this time had also become a status symbol and a form of ostentation. (A book was a most welcome gift to bring along if one were invited to a dinner party.) Cicero would say: “A house without books is like a body without a soul.” He would then add: “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need to be happy.”

The beginning of Rome’s Imperial Age also saw the establishment of a sort of canon of literature to be taught in the schools, thereby further spiking the output of the publishing companies. Publishing houses soon dominated the Argiletum. Quintilian the rhetorician and Martial the satirist both mention the firms of Tryphon, Attrectus, and Secundus. Horace (first century B.C.) had told of another. After instructing his readers on what should go into a volume of poetry, he writes:

“Brothers, Hic meret aera liber Sosiis (Such a book would be a real money-maker for the Sosii).”

We also see references by other writers to the publishing houses of Dorus, and Q. Pollius Valerianus. All these were the MacMillans, Random Houses, and Simon and Schusters of that day and age.

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While the idea of royalties was still unknown, the publisher and author surely must have reached some kind of share-the-profit agreement. Of course, first time and unknown authors, desperate to have their work produced, show-cased, and disseminated, would settle for a pittance. But then, even well-known writers could, from time to time, be exploited.

Publishers grew rich by shipping their neatly packaged products to Gaul, Spain, Illyria, Sicily, North Africa and other distant provinces. Martial liked to boast that his works were being read and quoted by soldiers deployed in far off Britain, but then complained: “I don’t make a dime off it.”

A publisher would try to estimate the demand and market for any new manuscript and then put as many copiers as called for to work on its production. No copy left his establishment until the whole edition – anywhere from a hundred to two hundred – was ready.

Since copyright laws did not exist, a new publication could be easily pirated and mass-produced by a smaller firm in a cheap and unattractive issue.

By the mid-second century A.D. in addition to raking in huge profits from their provincial trade, the Argiletum dealers continued doing a thriving business right on the premises. The voracious reading, book-buying public would daily jam the street, seeking the latest best-sellers. Stores and stalls would hang advertisements in conspicuous places, giving the prices of new releases. Sometimes tantalizing excerpts would be posted for the convenience of browsers, who would swarm like flies around the entrance to each retail outlet.

In our time, an author of a newly released work is expected to help with the promotion and sales of it by book-signings, by doing interviews with journalists, and mostly, by making the rounds of popular radio and television talk shows. In Roman times, authors would hold readings from their newest efforts in private homes, on street corners, in theaters, in porticoes, and even in the Forum. Some of the more renowned writers might even be invited to the emperor’s palace to provide the entertainment portion of an elegant state dinner and on other special occasions. Hadrian, with his own funds, erected in the heart of Rome a spacious auditorium just for this purpose. The place drew an eager audience for every event.

Many poor illiterates often joined in, this being their only means to enjoy outstanding writing.

Often, an aspiring but as yet unpublished author would invite family and friends, neighbors and co-workers to a private reading of his latest manuscript. So as not to offend the nervous neophyte, most of the invitees would show up, though some with great reluctance. Lame excuses, for not being able to comply, abounded.

Literary clubs and discussion groups eventually also became commonplace – as did the expression: “What’s new on the Argiletum?” It was the golden age of Roman publishing.

In the late fourth century, a kind of industrial revolution hit the publishing trade. A new book format was introduced. This involved the use of parchment (dried and specially treated animal skins) cut into “pages” which could be written on, on both sides. These were numbered and stacked in numerical order, then stitched together in the back to form what was called a codex, or in other words, the prototype for books ever since. The companies lining the Argiletum had to adapt or perish, for the reading public quickly preferred the ease of turning pages to the cumbersome old way.

Today there is hardly a trace of the ancient book bazaar street. It courses somewhere beneath eighteenth century buildings and Mussolini’s Via dei Fori Imperiali. The short stretch of the Argiletum that penetrated the Forum Romanum is now overrun with weeds and shattered paving stones, and is busy playing host to a colony of vagrant cats.

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Cleopatra Through the Ages

Editor’s Note: The drama and human interest that surrounds the story of Cleopatra in history continues to fascinate story-tellers as well as scholars to this day. Whatever one’s perspective and opinion, her legacy in her corner of the world endures as a testament to her power and influence during the early years of the rise of the Roman Empire……….

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RM (Richard Marranca): Queen Cleopatra with Adele James on Netflix is a big event. And Cleopatra (1963) with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is one of the most expensive films ever made. Both (and much else in the Cleopatra industry) keep Cleopatra’s story going, don’t they?    

PC (Paul Cartledge): Streaming movies is now the mass-est of mass media receptions, far bigger ‘box office’ than actual box office at movie theaters. In its day, Joseph Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra was the hottest ticket in town: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056937/. But not only and not most for the quality of the filmmaking (overblown, overdone, overhyped) but rather for the sexual shenanigans going on between its two main stars both on and more especially off set. But there are other media whereby Cleopatra’s name and supposed career are continually – almost continuously – brought before the eyes of the public to gawp and wonder at: books (some quite serious contributions to scholarship, such as M. Miles Cleopatra: A Sphinx Revisited, 2011, others not), exhibitions (a good one at London’s British Museum, 2001), and of course the perennially popular Shakespeare history/tragedy. Whether it’s right to speak of a ‘Cleopatra industry’ is not so certain, at least not in the sense of a centrally organized production line created by an official fan club. There are – and always have been – more than one Cleopatra – see the next answer.

RM: Harold Bloom (the late literary scholar) has called Cleopatra “the world’s first celebrity.” Wherever she lands in the lineup, he wasn’t kidding. Is she a celebrity? 

PC: I would strongly disagree that she was the world’s ‘first’ celebrity – that questionably honorific title surely should go to Helen of Sparta and Troy, thanks to Homer and Euripides – and the initially European Renaissance!  A good friend and ancient historian colleague of mine, Robert Garland, wrote a brilliant book on Celebrity in Antiquity (2006) – spoiler alert: I commissioned it for a series I then co-edited with Susanna Morton Braund. There is no question but that Cleo was and is a celebrity, that is, she fulfills both the ancient and the modern criteria for this dubiously honorific label.

The Berlin Cleopatra, a Roman sculpture of Cleopatra VII wearing a royal diadem, mid-1st century BC (around the time of her visits to Rome in 46–44 BC), discovered in an Italian villa along the Via Appia. Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

As to ancient Graeco-Roman criteria, what mattered is that she was in intimate relations with two of the most powerful men in the then known Mediterranean world. As Clytemnestra was to Agamemnon or Aspasia to Pericles, so was Cleopatra to Julius Caesar and Mark Antony – besides being a queen regnant in her own independent right. As far as modernity is concerned, I prefer to see Cleo as a ‘tabloid queen’, as she was treated in the final chapter of Garland’s book, fulfilling the book’s subtitle ‘From Media Tarts to Tabloid Queens’. ‘Tabloid’ has implications of cheapness, of mere celebrity, of being famous for being famous, which is the trend unhappily set for her by the flop movie of 1963 (that discouraged filmmakers and movie moneymen from treating the ancient world for a generation – until Gladiator in 2000). In the historical actuality of the later first century BCE, she was much much more important than that.  

RM: In our recent interview, you mentioned that Ptolemy I hijacked Alexander’s corpse and brought it to Egypt. Can you tell us about the genius, power, and peculiarities of the Ptolemies? 

PC: *These are two different types of question, although they do overlap. Different because the Ptolemies had to present quite different faces to the native Egyptians and especially the powerful priesthood, on the one hand, and to the Graeco-Macedonians and other peoples, such as the Jews, of Alexandria, on the other. To illustrate the former, there is no better example than what has come to be known as the ‘Rosetta Stone’, now housed in London’s British Museum: a trophy of war (Napoleonic, 1801), it was then ‘greenwashed’ to become the basis of the decipherment (by French scholar Champollion following British scholar Young) of Egyptian hieroglyphs: see e.g. John Ray The Rosetta Stone and the rebirth of Ancient Egypt (Profile Books, London, 2007). The Stone bears three texts, which are supposed to be close copies of each other: one in hieroglyphics, another in Egyptian demotic (cursive script, the language a precursor of Coptic), and the third in (Hellenistic koinê) Greek. It records an agreement struck in 196 BCE between Ptolemy V and the Egyptian priesthood. Several copies were made and exhibited in various Egyptian temples, but only the Rosetta version survives in something approaching completeness. 

For Alexandrians, however, mainly of course Greek Alexandrians, the Ptolemy dynasty had to put on a show that would justify their appropriation of the titles ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ and the claim that those titles implied to be the legitimate successors ultimately to the Egyptian pharaohs and more proximately to the kings of Macedon and of (Achaemenid dynasty) Persia. Hence the royal palace – now forever lost, submerged in the Mediterranean; hence the royal tombs (likewise lost, like that of the City Founder, Alexander); and hence the Pharos lighthouse, a bigger and better iteration than anything remotely comparable anywhere else in the known world – functional for trade but also a grandiloquent propaganda statement. It was by no means predictable, however, that one of the ways of promoting themselves both in Greek Egypt and to the wider Hellenic world would be through the promotion of high intellectual culture. It was probably Ptolemy II rather than his father Ptolemy I (died 284 BCE) who actually oversaw the building of the famous Museum (in Greek Mouseion, meaning a religious shrine devoted to the worship of the Nine Muses) with its attached Library. The complex became a beacon of scholarship, even if the scholars attracted to work there including the likes of Callimachus (an early Librarian) and Archimedes did not always do so harmoniously. My own pick of a very distinguished bunch is Eratosthenes, who hailed from the Greek city of Cyrene in eastern Libya along the coast from Egypt. He was nicknamed Beta (‘Second’) because, although he was of alpha quality across many intellectual fields, he was never accounted top dog in any one – being outshone in math, for example, by Archimedes (from Syracuse in Sicily). Perhaps his greatest intellectual achievement was to calculate the circumference of planet Earth with a very acceptably small margin of error.

RM: And what a city, Alexandria – lighthouse, library, vast multicultural population!

PC: You mentioned Alexandria’s vast, multicultural population. It’s been estimated that by the time of Cleopatra – and Augustus – Alexandria may have become the world’s first million-inhabitant city. Of the many cultures represented within the huge population, that of the (diaspora) Jews is one of the most interesting and significant, for two reasons, one good, one very bad indeed. The bad one is that Alexandria witnessed the first very serious outbreaks of antisemitism, or, as some prefer, Judeophobia. Jews were monotheists, not polytheists, and their peculiar customs included circumcision, which Greeks found aesthetically abhorrent. Prejudice and murderous violence ensued. The good reason, at any rate if one is any kind of Christian today, is that it was in Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE, for Jews who had lost familiarity with their ancestral Hebrew language, that the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, becoming known thereby as the Septuagint. Thus when (St) Paul and his fellow-Jewish (by birth and upbringing) proto-Christians needed an authorizing textual precedent for their utterly untraditional and newfangled scriptures written in koinê Greek (eventually the New Testament), they could call upon the Septuagint, an oven-ready holy textbook.

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The remains of the ancient site of the Temple complex of Sarapis at Alexandria. It once included the temple, a library, lecture rooms, and smaller shrines but after many reconstructions and conflict over the site it is mostly ground level ruins. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, Wikimedia Commons

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RM: Cleopatra is the last of the Ptolemies. Can you tell us about them? And why were they so murderous with each other? Maybe intermarriage was a bad idea… 

PC: They were indeed often murderous: Cleopatra herself is a good – or rather a very bad – example. But they weren’t always. The second Ptolemy married and reigned conjointly with Arsinoe I for over 35 years, apparently harmoniously. This was a classic dynastic marriage, uniting the Ptolemaic house with that of Lysimachus, Arsinoe’s father, who had established himself as an independent post-Alexander Hellenistic ruler in the region of Thrace (modern Bulgaria and part of north Aegean Greece). But when Ptolemy IV married Arsinoe III, he was marrying his full sister, in a brother-sister marriage of the type Cleopatra was herself to practice (if hardly with enthusiasm or kindness). Why did the Ptolemies feel they could cheerfully break the normal Greek incest taboo, or, put it another way, why did they feel that such a marriage would be an asset to their rule rather than a liability? Those questions have plagued modern scholarship, and are well discussed here by Sheila Ager: https://uwlabyrinth.uwaterloo.ca/labyrinth_archives/all_in_the_family.pdf. I have no new suggestions to offer. The obvious points to note are that such marriages avoided possible complications (disputed inheritance, interfamilial and possibly interstate hostility) of exogamy, or out-marriage, and that they overtly reinforced the strongly dynastic, blood-based character of the royal regime.

RM: I think that for many or most people who learned this stuff, the focus was on Julius Caesar getting stabbed to death because he was getting too big – a dictator, maybe a god. Scary for some of the elite. But Julius was killed while Cleopatra was in Rome. The plot thickens… 

PC: Certainly a couple of years later, in 46 BCE, by which time Pompey was dead (killed in Egypt) and Caesar was firmly in position as dictatorial sole ruler of the Roman world, Cleopatra came to consort adulterously with Caesar in Rome in full if controversial public view.

Cleopatra Before Caesar by Jean-Léon Gérôme, oil on canvas, 1866. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

A 17-year-old C. Octavius duly noted Cleopatra’s unpopularity with the Roman public – and took full propaganda advantage as he too engaged in civil war, in the 30s, against a Mark Antony by then bigamously married to Cleopatra, father of three children with her, and acting out the full-on role of an oriental Hellenistic potentate. Octavius noted also the unpopularity of Caesar’s all too blatant moves, aided by Antony, to get himself equated in Rome to a Hellenistic regal monarch, a king, the most un-Republican thing in the world. Hellenistic kings and queens, such as Cleopatra, were routinely given divine worship as living gods, but for Caesar to be accorded divine status, as he may well have desired, would have breached another Roman Republican taboo. Brutus and Cassius, leaders of the Republican resistance, therefore had plenty of ideological as well as physical ammunition to do what they did in the Senate House on the Ides of March 44 BCE.

RM: Cleopatra outsmarted Antony in a few ways. She had to. But was she interested in becoming the next Alexander the Great or leader of the Roman empire? Was her son Caesarion intended for that role? It is epic soap opera with extremely high stakes. 

PC: Among her many and varied accomplishments, Cleopatra was said to be the first of the Ptolemies to learn the native Egyptian language, presumably so as to be able to speak it as well as read it. That tells me that her first and overriding aim was to preserve the Ptolemaic kingdom and dynasty, and to preserve herself as the incumbent Ptolemy. Rome, unfortunately, could not be ignored and had to be bought or bedded off. 

Antony, when the final showdown with Octavian came in the late 30s, had the support of almost all (Sparta was a notable exception) the eastern, Greek-speaking half of the Roman world, whereas Octavian could count on the forces and resources of Italy and the Roman ‘West’. Antony – with Cleopatra – should have fared better than he did in the final naval battle of his civil war, at Actium in 30 BCE. But he was up against a remarkably determined, ambitious and cunning, if unmilitary, opponent in Octavian, who could count on the support of one of the most brilliant figures of his age, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippa commanded the victorious fleet at Actium off northwest Greece, for which he was rewarded successively with elevation to near-parity of status and power with Augustus (as the first Roman emperor became in 27 BCE) and marriage to Augustus’s eldest daughter Julia (as all women of the Julian patriline were named).

RM: What do archaeology and science tell us about Cleopatra—is her tomb gone forever?  

PC: As noted in passing above, yes, her tomb is, like my darling Clementine of the song, lost and gone forever. Archaeology, the study of material culture and mute material remains, tells us relatively little about her that we would not have gleaned from the extant written sources, including a papyrus dubiously claimed to be autograph, or that we would not have surmised from comparative archaeological evidence for works commissioned by earlier Ptolemies or for her rival Hellenistic royal contemporaries and predecessors – in the Near or Middle East.

RM: What did we miss? Any last words? 

PC: Rest In Peace?!

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In February 33 B.C., Cleopatra approved an order granting certain tax exemptions to Publius Canidius Crassus, who had been with Antonius for a decade and would be senior commander of the land forces at Actium. The relevant document is a papyrus (shown above) recovered from mummy wrappings and first published in the year 2000. Canidius was allowed to import 10,000 artabas of wheat and 5,000 amphoras of wine tax free, and the lands that he owned in Egypt were also exempt. What has excited interest is the subscript in a different hand: γινέσθωι (“make it happen” — last short line, faint, lower right). There is little doubt that this is the writing of the queen herself, as there was a tradition in Ptolemaic Egypt of countersigning by the monarch, in part to avoid forgery of official documents. This autograph of Cleopatra VII certainly is one of the more exciting discoveries of recent years: the only other known royal autographs from antiquity are of Ptolemy X and Theodosios II, both somewhat less interesting than the queen. The document also indicates the dichotomy that still existed at the very end of the Ptolemaic era between the rulers (and their Roman allies) and the ruled, where the former continued to obtain special privileges. Roller, Duane W. (2010) Cleopatra: a biography[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

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Cover Image, Top Left: Pixabay image.