AMERICAN FRIENDS OF TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY—The sprawling 11,500-year-old stone Göbekli Tepe complex in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, is the earliest known temple in human history and one of the most important discoveries of Neolithic research.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority have now used architectural analysis to discover that geometry informed the layout of Göbekli Tepe’s impressive round stone structures and enormous assembly of limestone pillars, which they say were initially planned as a single structure.
Three of the Göbekli Tepe’s monumental round structures, the largest of which are 20 meters in diameter, were initially planned as a single project, according to researchers Gil Haklay of the Israel Antiquities Authority, a PhD candidate at Tel Aviv University, and Prof. Avi Gopher of TAU’s Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations. They used a computer algorithm to trace aspects of the architectural design processes involved in the construction of these enclosures in this early Neolithic site.
Their findings were published in Cambridge Archaeological Journal in May.
“Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological wonder,” Prof. Gopher explains. “Built by Neolithic communities 11,500 to 11,000 years ago, it features enormous, round stone structures and monumental stone pillars up to 5.5 meters high. Since there is no evidence of farming or animal domestication at the time, the site is believed to have been built by hunter-gatherers. However, its architectural complexity is highly unusual for them.”
Discovered by German archaeologist Dr. Klaus Schmidt in 1994, Göbekli Tepe has since been the subject of hot archaeological debate. But while these, and other early Neolithic remains, have been intensively studied, the issue of architectural planning during these periods and its cultural ramifications have not.
Most researchers have made the case that the Göbekli Tepe enclosures at the main excavation area were constructed over time. However, Haklay and Prof. Gopher say that three of the structures were designed as a single project and according to a coherent geometric pattern.
“The layout of the complex is characterized by spatial and symbolic hierarchies that reflect changes in the spiritual world and in the social structure,” Haklay explains. “In our research, we used an analytic tool — an algorithm based on standard deviation mapping — to identify an underlying geometric pattern that regulated the design.”
“This research introduces important information regarding the early development of architectural planning in the Levant and in the world,” Prof. Gopher adds. “It opens the door to new interpretations of this site in general, and of the nature of its megalithic anthropomorphic pillars specifically.”
Certain planning capabilities and practices, such as the use of geometry and the formulation of floor plans, were traditionally assumed to have emerged much later than the period during which the Göbekli Tepe was constructed — after hunter-gatherers transformed into food-producing farmers some 10,500 years ago. Notably, one of the characteristics of early farmers is their use of rectangular architecture.
“This case of early architectural planning may serve as an example of the dynamics of cultural changes during the early parts of the Neolithic period,” Haklay says. “Our findings suggest that major architectural transformations during this period, such as the transition to rectangular architecture, were knowledge-based, top-down processes carried out by specialists.
“The most important and basic methods of architectural planning were devised in the Levant in the Late Epipaleolithic period as part of the Natufian culture and through the early Neolithic period. Our new research indicates that the methods of architectural planning, abstract design rules and organizational patterns were already being used during this formative period in human history.”
Next, the researchers intend to investigate the architectural remains of other Neolithic sites throughout the Levant.
_____________________________
Göbekli Tepe, Enclosure C. Gil Haklay/AFTAU.
_____________________________
Geometric pattern underlying the architectural planning of a complex at Göbekli Tepe. A diagram superimposed over the schematic plan. Gil Haklay/AFTAU.
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY—Two studies report new Homo sapiens fossils from the site of Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria. “The Bacho Kiro Cave site provides evidence for the first dispersal of H. sapiens across the mid-latitudes of Eurasia. Pioneer groups brought new behaviors into Europe and interacted with local Neanderthals. This early wave largely predates that which led to their final extinction in western Europe 8,000 years later”, says Jean-Jacques Hublin, director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
An international research team, led by Jean-Jacques Hublin, Tsenka Tsanova and Shannon McPherron of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and Nikolay Sirakov and Svoboda Sirakova of the National Institute of Archaeology with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia, Bulgaria, renewed excavations at Bacho Kiro Cave in 2015. The most spectacular finds come from a rich, dark layer near the base of the deposits. Here the team uncovered thousands of animal bones, stone and bone tools, beads and pendants and the remains of five human fossils.
Protein analysis
Except for one human tooth, the human fossils were too fragmented to be recognized by their appearance. Instead, they were identified by analyzing their protein sequences. “Most Pleistocene bones are so fragmented that by eye, one cannot tell which species of animal they represent. However, the proteins differ slightly in their amino acid sequence from species to species. By using protein mass spectrometry, we can therefore quickly identify those bone specimens that represent otherwise unrecognizable human bones”, says Frido Welker, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Copenhagen and research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
To know the age of these fossils and the deposits at Bacho Kiro Cave, the team worked closely with Lukas Wacker at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, using an accelerator mass spectrometer to produce ages with higher precision than normal and to directly date the human bones.
“The majority of animal bones we dated from this distinctive, dark layer have signs of human impacts on the bone surfaces, such as butchery marks, which, along with the direct dates of human bones, provides us with a really clear chronological picture of when Homo sapiens first occupied this cave, in the interval from 45,820 to 43,650 years ago, and potentially as early as 46,940 years ago”, says Helen Fewlass of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “The radiocarbon dates at Bacho Kiro Cave are not only the largest dataset of a single Palaeolithic site ever made by a research team, but also are the most precise in terms of error ranges”, say researchers Sahra Talamo from the University of Bologna and Bernd Kromer from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig.
DNA sequencing
Though some researchers have suggested that Homo sapiens may have already occasionally entered Europe by this time, finds of this age are typically attributed to Neanderthals. To know which group of humans were present at Bacho Kiro Cave, Mateja Hajdinjak and Matthias Meyer of the genetics team led by Svante Pääbo at the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology sequenced the DNA from the fragmented fossils bones.
“Given the exceptionally good DNA preservation in the molar and the hominin fragments identified by protein mass spectrometry, we were able to reconstruct full mitochondrial genomes from six out of seven specimens and attribute the recovered mitochondrial DNA sequences from all seven specimens to modern humans. Interestingly, when relating these mtDNAs to those of other ancient and modern humans, the mtDNA sequences from Layer I fall close to the base of three main macrohaplogroups of present-day people living outside of Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, their genetic dates align almost perfectly with those obtained by radiocarbon”, says Mateja Hajdinjak, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Francis Crick Institute in London and research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
The results demonstrate that Homo sapiens entered Europe and began impacting Neanderthals by around 45,000 years ago and likely even earlier. They brought into Bacho Kiro Cave high quality flint from sources up to 180 km from the site which they worked into tools like pointed blades perhaps to hunt and very likely to butcher the remains of the animals found at the site.
“The animal remains from the site illustrate a mix of cold and warm adapted species, with bison and red deer most frequent”, says palaeontologist Rosen Spasov from the New Bulgarian University. These were butchered extensively but were also used as a raw material source. “The most remarkable aspect of the faunal assemblage is the extensive collection of bone tools and personal ornaments”, says zooarchaeologist Geoff Smith from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Cave bear teeth were made into pendants, some of which are strikingly similar to ornaments later made by Neanderthals in western Europe.
Homo sapiens replaced Neanderthals
Taken together, the Bacho Kiro Cave sediments document the period of time in Europe when Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals were replaced by Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens (the so-called transition period), and the first Homo sapiens assemblages are what archaeologists call the Initial Upper Paleolithic. “Up to now, the Aurignacian was thought of as the start of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe, but the Initial Upper Paleolithic of Bacho Kiro Cave adds to other sites in western Eurasia where there is an even older presence of Homo sapiens“, notes Nikolay Sirakov of the National Institute of Archaeology with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
“The Initial Upper Paleolithic in Bacho Kiro Cave is the earliest known Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. It represents a new way of making stone tools and new sets of behavior including manufacturing personal ornaments that are a departure from what we know of Neanderthals up to this time”, says Tsenka Tsanova of the Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “The Initial Upper Paleolithic probably has its origin in southwest Asia and soon after can be found from Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria to sites in Mongolia as Homo sapiens rapidly dispersed across Eurasia and encountered, influenced, and eventually replaced existing archaic populations of Neanderthals and Denisovans.”
___________________________
Excavations in Initial Upper Paleolithic Layer I at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria). Four Homo sapiens bones were recovered from this layer along with a rich stone tool assemblage, animal bones, bone tools, and pendants. Tsenka Tsanova, License: CC-BY-SA 2.0
___________________________
Stone artifacts from the Initial Upper Paleolithic at Bacho Kiro Cave: 1-3, 5-7 Pointed blades and fragments from Layer I; 4 Sandstone bead with morphology similar to bone beads; 8 The longest complete blade. Tsenka Tsanova, License: CC-BY-SA 2.0
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – DAVIS—Evidence continues to mount that the Neanderthals, who lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago, were more sophisticated people than once thought. A new study from UC Davis shows that Neanderthals chose to use bones from specific animals to make a tool for specific purpose: working hides into leather.
Naomi Martisius, research associate in the Department of Anthropology, studied Neanderthal tools from sites in southern France for her doctoral research. The Neanderthals left behind a tool called a lissoir, a piece of animal rib with a smoothed tip used to rub animal hides to make them into leather. These lissoirs are often worn so smooth that it’s impossible to tell which animal they came from just by looking at them.
Martisius and colleagues used highly sensitive mass spectrometry to look at residues of collagen protein from the bones. The method is called ZooMS, or Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry. The technique breaks up samples into fragments that can be identified by their mass to charge ratio and used to reconstruct the original molecule.
Normally, this method would involve drilling a sample from the bone. To avoid damaging the precious specimens, Martisius and colleagues were able to lift samples from the plastic containers in which the bones had been stored and recover enough material to perform an analysis.
Favoring bovine ribs over deer
The results show that the bones used to make lissoirs mostly came from animals in the cattle family, such as bison or aurochs (a wild relative of modern cattle that is now extinct). But other animal bones from the same deposit show that reindeer were much more common and frequently hunted for food. So the Neanderthals were choosing to use only ribs from certain types of animals to make these tools.
“I think this shows that Neanderthals really knew what they were doing,” Martisius said. “They were deliberately picking up these larger ribs when they happened to come across these animals while hunting and they may have even kept these rib tools for a long time, like we would with a favorite wrench or screwdriver.”
Bovine ribs are bigger and more rigid than deer ribs, making them better suited for the hard work of rubbing skins without wearing out or breaking.
“Neanderthals knew that for a specific task, they needed a very particular tool. They found what worked best and sought it out when it was available,” Martisius said.
____________________________
Evidence continues to mount that the Neanderthals, who lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago, were more sophisticated people than once thought. A new study from UC Davis shows that Neanderthals chose to use bones from specific animals to make a tool for specific purpose: working hides into leather. Naomi Martisius, UC Davis
The results were published May 8 in Scientific Reports. Coauthors on the study are Teresa Steele, professor of anthropology and Mark Grote at UC Davis; Frido Welker, University of Copenhagen; Tamara Dogandi?, Virginie Sinet-Mathiot and Shannon McPherron, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Liepzig; William Rendu, Université de Bordeaux, France; Arndt Wilcke, Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Liepzig; and Marie Soressi, Leiden University, The Netherlands. The work was partly supported by the NSF.
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL—An international research team has conducted the first in-depth, wide-scale study of the genomic history of ancient civilizations in the central Andes mountains and coast before European contact.
The findings, published online May 7 in Cell, reveal early genetic distinctions between groups in nearby regions, population mixing within and beyond the Andes, surprising genetic continuity amid cultural upheaval, and ancestral cosmopolitanism among some of the region’s most well-known ancient civilizations.
Led by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, Santa Cruz, the team analyzed genome-wide data from 89 individuals who lived between 500 and 9,000 years ago. Of these, 64 genomes, ranging from 500 to 4,500 years old, were newly sequenced–more than doubling the number of ancient individuals with genome-wide data from South America.
The analysis included representatives of iconic civilizations in the Andes from whom no genome-wide data had been reported before, including the Moche, Nasca, Wari, Tiwanaku and Inca.
“This was a fascinating and unique project,” said Nathan Nakatsuka, first author of the paper and an MD/PhD student in the lab of David Reich in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS.
“It represents the first detailed study of Andean population history informed by pre-Colonial genomes with wide-ranging temporal and geographic coverage,” said Lars Fehren-Schmitz, associate professor at UC Santa Cruz and co-senior author of the paper with Reich.
“This study also takes a major step toward redressing the global imbalance in ancient DNA data,” said Reich, professor of genetics at HMS and associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
“The great majority of published ancient DNA studies to date have focused on western Eurasia,” he said. “This study in South America allows us to begin to discern at high resolution the detailed history of human movements in this extraordinarily important part of the world.”
Attention on the Andes
The central Andes, surrounding present-day Peru, is one of the few places in the world where farming was invented rather than being adopted from elsewhere and where the earliest presence of complex civilizations in South America has been documented so far. While the region has been a major focus of archaeological research, there had been no systematic characterization with genome-wide ancient DNA until now, the authors said.
Geneticists, including several of the current team members, previously studied the deep genetic history of South America as a whole, including analysis of several individuals from the Andean highlands from many thousands of years ago. There have also been analyses of present-day residents of the Andes and a limited number of mitochondrial or Y-chromosome DNA analyses from individual ancient Andean sites.
The new study, however, expands on these findings to provide a far more comprehensive portrait. Now, Nakatsuka said, researchers are “finally able to see how the genetic structure of the Andes evolved over time.”
By focusing on what is often called pre-Columbian history, the study demonstrates how large ancient DNA studies can reveal more about ancient cultures than studying present-day groups alone, said Reich.
“In the Andes, reconstruction of population history based on DNA analysis of present-day people has been challenging because there has so been much demographic change since contact with Europeans,” Reich explained. “With ancient DNA data, we can carry out a detailed reconstruction of movements of people and how those relate to changes known from the archaeological record.”
‘Extraordinary’ ancient population structure
The analyses revealed that by 9,000 years ago, groups living in the Andean highlands became genetically distinct from those that eventually came to live along the Pacific coast. The effects of this early differentiation are still seen today.
The genetic fingerprints distinguishing people living in the highlands from those in nearby regions are “remarkably ancient,” said Nakatsuka, who will receive his PhD in systems, synthetic and quantitative biology in May.
“It is extraordinary, given the small geographic distance,” added Reich.
By 5,800 years ago, the population of the north also developed distinct genetic signatures from populations that became prevalent in the south, the team found. Again, these differences can be observed today.
After that time, gene flow occurred among all regions in the Andes, although it dramatically slowed after 2,000 years ago, the team found.
“It is exciting that we were actually able to determine relatively fine-grained population structure in the Andes, allowing us to differentiate between coastal, northern, southern and highland groups as well as individuals living in the Titicaca Basin,” said Fehren-Schmitz.
“This is significant for the archaeology of the Andes and will now allow us to ask more specific questions with regards to local demographies and cultural networks,” said study co-author Jose Capriles of Pennsylvania State University.
Genetic intermingling
The team discovered genetic exchanges both within the Andes and between Andean and non-Andean populations.
Ancient people moved between south Peru and the Argentine plains and between the north Peru coast and the Amazon, largely bypassing the highlands, the researchers found.
Fehren-Schmitz was especially interested to uncover signs of long-range mobility in the Inca period. Specifically, he was surprised to detect ancient North Coast ancestry not only around Cusco, Peru, but also in a child sacrifice from the Argentinian southern Andes.
“This could be seen as genetic evidence for relocations of individuals under Inca rule, a practice we know of from ethnohistorical, historical and archaeological sources,” he said.
Although the findings of genetic intermingling throughout the Andes correlate with known archaeological connections, they will likely prompt additional archaeological research to understand the cultural contexts underlying the migrations, said Nakatsuka.
“Now we have more evidence demonstrating important migrations and some constraints on when they happened, but further work needs to be done to know why exactly these migrations occurred,” he said.
Long-term continuity
The analyses revealed that multiple regions maintained genetic continuity over the past 2,000 years despite clear cultural transformations.
The finding contrasts with many other world regions, where ancient DNA studies often document substantial genetic turnover during this period, said Reich.
The population structures that arose early on persisted through major social changes and on into modern societies, the authors said. The discoveries offer new evidence that can be incorporated alongside archaeological and other records to inform theories on the ancient history of different groups in the region.
“To our surprise, we observed strong genetic continuity during the rise and fall of many of the large-scale Andean cultures, such as the Moche, Wari and Nasca,” said Nakatsuka. “Our results suggest that the fall of these cultures was not due to massive migration into the region, e.g., from an invading military force, a scenario which had been documented in some other regions of the world.”
Two exceptions to the continuity trend were the vast urban centers that the Tiwanaku and Inca cultures called home. Rather than being fairly genetically homogeneous, the capital regions of these civilizations were cosmopolitan, hosting people from many genetic backgrounds, the team found.
“It was interesting to start to see these glimpses of ancestral heterogeneity,” said Nakatsuka. “These regions have some similarity to what we see now in places like New York City and other major cities where people of very different ancestries are living side by side.”
Cooperative authorship
The study included authors from many disciplines and many countries, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Chile, Germany, Peru, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“This is an impressive interdisciplinary but, just as importantly, international collaboration,” said study co-author Bastien Llamas of the University of Adelaide. “All worked very closely to draft this manuscript under the leadership of Fehren-Schmitz and Reich.”
It was important to team up with local scientists who belong to communities that descend from the individuals analyzed in the study, Fehren-Schmitz said, and to obtain permission from and continually engage with indigenous and other local groups as well as local governments.
The analysis of DNA from ancient individuals can have significant implications for present-day communities. One concerns the physical handling of the skeletal materials, which might be sensitive to the groups involved.
The work provided opportunities to heal past wounds. In one case, a sample from Cusco, previously housed in the U.S., was repatriated to Peru. Other remains that had long ago been taken improperly from burial sites were able to be carbon-dated and reburied.
In the absence of pre-Columbian written histories, archaeology has been the main source of information available to reconstruct the complex history of the continent, said study co-author Chiara Barbieri of the University of Zurich.
“With the study of ancient DNA, we can read the demographic history of ancient groups and understand how ancient and present-day groups are related,” she said. “The link with the genetic study of living populations opens a direct dialogue with the past and an occasion to involve local communities.”
The researchers sought to deeply involve communities with the help of archaeologists from each area, said Nakatsuka. Their efforts included giving public talks about the study and translating materials into Spanish.
“We were really happy to have the summary and key findings of our paper translated and included as part of the Cell paper itself, to increase accessibility of our work,” said Nakatsuka. “We hope future studies will do similar translations, including versions suitable for lay audiences for schools, museum exhibits and cultural organizations, which we are in the process of doing as well.”
______________________________
An international research team has conducted the first in-depth, wide-scale study of the genomic history of ancient civilizations in the central Andes mountains and coast before European contact. The analysis included representatives of iconic civilizations in the Andes from whom no genome-wide data had been reported before, including the Moche, Nasca, Wari, Tiwanaku and Inca. Shown here is a detail from the Tiwanaku Gate of the Sun. Miguel Angel López
UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA – BARCELONA—Expansions by groups of humans were common during prehistoric times, after the adoption of agriculture. Among other factors, this is due to population growth of farmers which was greater than of that hunter-gatherers. We can find one example of this during the Neolithic period, when farming was introduced to Europe by migrations from the Middle East.
However, in South America, it was not clear whether the same would have occurred as it was argued that no cultural group had expanded across such long distances as in Europe or Asia. In addition, it was believed that the type of agriculture practiced by pre-Columbian peoples in the Amazon would not allow them to expand at the same rate.
Research conducted by three members of the Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group (CaSEs) at the UPF Department of Humanities shows that expansions by some archaeological cultures in South America can be simulated by computer through population growth and migration in the same way as the Neolithic in Europe. This is the case of so-called Saladoid-Barrancoid culture, which spread from the Orinoco to various parts of Amazonia, even reaching the Caribbean.
The article, published on 27 April in the journal PLOS ONE, involved Jonas Gregorio de Souza, a Marie Curie researcher, as first author, together with Jonas Alcaina Mateos, a predoctoral researcher, and Marco Madella, UPF-ICREA research professor and director of the CaSEs Research Group.
“The use of computer simulations to test human migrations in prehistoric times is an approach that has proved productive in other continents, but had not been applied to the area of the tropics of South America. We have shown that some cultural expansions that have taken place from Amazonia may be the result of similar demographic processes to the Neolithic in Eurasia”, says Jonas Gregorio de Souza.
A computational model to simulate the expansions of four archaeological cultures
The article uses a computational approach to simulate human expansions in prehistory. “We use parameters derived from the ethnography of farmers in the Amazon to simulate the rate of population growth, the fission of villages, how far and how often they moved”, the authors state. Based on these parameters, they created a computer model to simulate expansions from different points and dates and compare the results with archaeological data.
The researchers used radiocarbon dates from different archaeological cultures over a large area of territory in the last 5,000 years, which were compared with the prediction of the model, to assess whether their rate of territorial expansion could be explained as being a demographic phenomenon (rather than another type, such as cultural diffusion).
The four archaeological cultures or traditions analyzed were the Saladoid-Barrancoid, the Arauquinoid, the Tupiguarani, and the (closely related) Una, Itararé and Aratu traditions. In most regions where they settled, these cultures introduced the cultivation of domesticated plants, marked the transition towards more permanent settlements, and spread an economic model called “polycultureagroforestry”.
However, the authors warn that some expansions could not be predicted by the simulations, suggesting that they were caused by other factors: “Although some archaeological expansions can be predicted, by the simulations, as demographic processes, others are not easily explained in the same way. This is possibly due to different processes that drive their dispersal, such as cultural diffusion, or because the archaeological data are inconclusive or sparse”, they conclude.
_____________________________
Computer simulation of the expansions of several archaeological cultures in South America. UPF
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY—Five centuries after Charles I of Spain authorized the transport of the first African slaves to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the ancestry of the hundreds of thousands of abducted and enslaved people forms an integral part of the genetic and cultural heritage of the Americas. The origins and experiences of those enslaved individuals, however, remains largely unknown.
This study*, published in Current Biology, applies an interdisciplinary approach to explore the backgrounds and living conditions of three African individuals recovered from a mass grave on the grounds of Hospital Real de San José de los Naturales, an early colonial period hospital in Mexico City officially devoted to the indigenous population. Dated to the 16th century, these individuals tell the stories of some of the earliest people forcefully relocated to the Americas in the early years of European colonialism.
Multidisciplinary study reconstructs the lives of early enslaved Africans
The three individuals in the study first caught the attention of the team with their distinct dental modifications, a filing of the upper front teeth consistent with cultural practices recorded for African slaves which can still be observed in some groups living in western Africa today.
“Combining molecular biology, isotopic data and bioinformatic tools with classical historical, anthropological and archaeological evidence allowed us to gain insights into the life history of some of the earliest African slaves in the Americas,” says Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI SHH).
Genetic analysis showed that all three individuals shared a Y-chromosome lineage that is highly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, and which is now the most common lineage among African Americans. Combined with isotopic data showing that all three individuals were born outside of Mexico and osteobiographies showing years of physical abuse before premature death, the findings suggest that these individuals may be among the first Africans to reach the Americas after being abducted in their homelands in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Modern lab techniques allow us to gather incredible amounts of data from very little biological material. The amount of information we can give back to archaeologists, anthropologists and society today using only one tooth from each individual is something we could only dream about just ten years ago,” says Rodrigo Barquera, the study’s lead author.
The spread of pathogens across the Atlantic
Researchers from all three departments and one independent group of the MPI SHH and two laboratories from the ENAH combined their expertise to tell the story of these individuals, examining not only their ancestry and origins, but also their health status and life experiences. The team was able to reconstruct two full pathogen genomes from tooth samples. One individual was infected with a strain of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) typically found in western Africa today.
“Although we have no indication that the HBV lineage we found established itself in Mexico, this is the first direct evidence of HBV introduction as the result of the transatlantic slave trade,” says Denise Kühnert, leader of the tide research group at MPI SHH. “This provides novel insight into the phylogeographic history of the pathogen.”
Another individual was infected with Treponema pallidum pertenue which causes yaws, a painful infection of the bones similar to syphilis that affects joints and skin. The same strain of yaws has been previously identified in a 17th century colonist of European descent, suggesting the establishment of this disease lineage of African origin in the early colonial population of Mexico.
“This study sheds light into early cases of yaws after the European colonization of the Americas,” says Aditya Kumar Lankapalli of MPI SHH. “Future studies should focus on understanding the transmission and introduction of this pathogen to the Americas. More high-coverage ancient Treponema genomes will allow us to get a better understanding of the coevolution and adaptation of this pathogen to humans.”
“Interdisciplinary studies like this will make the study of the past a much more personal matter in the future,” adds Thiseas C. Lamnidis. The authors hope that future interdisciplinary endeavors will continue to provide insights into the lives, deaths and legacies of historically oppressed groups whose stories have been buried, often in mass graves.
______________________________
The skull of one of the individuals studied, in which the dental modifications are apparent, and the tubes used for isotope and genetic tests, both of which were carried out as part of our study. One of the strong points of our paper is the junction of several disciplines in telling a whole story, which we exemplify in this picture combining two different lab approaches together with ethnohistory and anthropology to get a complete picture. Collection of San José de los Naturales, Osteology Laboratory, (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: R. Barquera
______________________________
Skulls and dental decoration patterns for the three African individuals from the San José de los Naturales Royal Hospital. A. Skull from individual 150 (SJN001). B. Skull from individual 214 (SJN002). C. Skull from individual 296 (SJN003). D. Close-up of dental modification patterns for individual 150 (SJN001). E. Close-up of dental modification patterns for individual 214 (SJN002). F. Close-up of dental modification patterns for individual 296 (SJN003). Collection of San José de los Naturales, Osteology Laboratory, (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: R. Barquera & N. Bernal.
______________________________
Some osteological findings for individual 150 (SJN001). A. Exostosis at the insertion of the coracoclavicular ligament and origin site of the deltoid muscle. B. Thoracic vertebra displaying early signs of a developing of Schmörl’s hernia on the inferior aspect of the vertebral body. C. Green coloration acquired by contact with copper on the cervical vertebrae. D. Green coloration acquired by contact with copper on the costal end of a rib diaphysis. Collection of San José de los Naturales, Osteology Laboratory, (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: R. Barquera & N. Bernal.
*”Origin and Health Status of first generation Africans from early Colonial Mexico”, Rodrigo Barquera et al., Current Biology DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.002
PLOS—The ancient cemetery of Mözs-Icsei d?l? in present-day Hungary holds clues to a unique community formation during the beginnings of Europe’s Migration Period, according to a study* published April 29, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Corina Knipper from the Curt-Engelhorn-Center for Archaeometry, Germany, István Koncz, Tivadar Vida from the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary and colleagues.
As the Huns invaded Central Europe during the 5th century, the Romans abandoned their Pannonian provinces in the area of modern-day Western Hungary. Pannonia’s population entered a period of continuous cultural transformation as new foreign groups arrived seeking refuge from the Huns, joining settlements already populated by remaining local Romanized population groups and other original inhabitants. (Later, the Huns themselves would fall to an alliance of Germanic groups.) To better understand this population changing rapidly under chaotic circumstances, Knipper and colleagues turned to the cemetery of Mözs-Icsei d?l? in the Pannonian settlement of Mözs, established around 430 AD.
The authors conducted an archaeological survey of the cemetery and used a combination of isotope analysis and biological anthropology to investigate the site’s previously-excavated burials.
They found that Mözs-Icsei d?l? was a remarkably diverse community and were able to identify three distinct groups across two or three generations (96 burials total) until the abandonment of Mözs cemetery around 470 AD: a small local founder group, with graves built in a brick-lined Roman style; a foreign group of twelve individuals of similar isotopic and cultural background, who appear to have arrived around a decade after the founders and may have helped establish the traditions of grave goods and skull deformation seen in later burials; and a group of later burials featuring mingled Roman and various foreign traditions.
51 individuals total, including adult males, females, and children, had artificially deformed skulls with depressions shaped by bandage wrappings, making Mözs-Icsei d?l? one of the largest concentrations of this cultural phenomenon in the region. The strontium isotope ratios at Mözs-Icsei d?l? were also significantly more variable than those of animal remains and prehistoric burials uncovered in the same geographic region of the Carpathian Basin, and indicate that most of Mözs’ adult population lived elsewhere during their childhood. Moreover, carbon and nitrogen isotope data attest to remarkable contributions of millet to the human diet.
Though further investigation is still needed, Mözs-Icsei d?l? appears to suggest that in at least one community in Pannonia during and after the decline of the Roman Empire, a culture briefly emerged where local Roman and foreign migrant groups shared traditions as well as geographical space.
____________________________
Upper part of the body of grave 43 during excavation. The girl had an artificially deformed skull, was place in a grave with a side niche and richly equipped with a necklace, earrings, a comb and glass beads. The girl belonged to a group of people with a non-local origin and similar dietary habits, which appeared to have arrived at the site about 10 years after its establishment. Wosinsky Mór Museum, Szekszárd, Hungary.
____________________________
Artificially deformed skull of an adult woman. Permanent binding during childhood caused the elongation of the braincase and the depressions in the bone. Balázs G. Mende. Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
*Knipper C, Koncz I, Ódor JG, Mende BG, Rácz Z, Kraus S, et al. (2020) Coalescing traditions–Coalescing people: Community formation in Pannonia after the decline of the Roman Empire. PLoS ONE 15(4): e0231760. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231760
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY—A new article published in Nature Communications applies stable isotope analysis to a collection of fossil human teeth from the islands of Timor and Alor in Wallacea to study the ecological adaptations of the earliest members of our species to reach this isolated part of the world. Because the Wallacean islands are considered extreme, resource poor settings, archaeologists believed that early seafaring populations would have moved rapidly through this region without establishing permanent communities. Nevertheless, this has so far been difficult to test.
This study, led by scientists from the Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI SHH), alongside colleagues from the Australian National University and Universitas Gadjah Mada, used an isotopic methodology that reveals the resources consumed by humans during the period of tooth formation. They demonstrate that the earliest human fossil so far found in the region, dating to around 42,000-39,000 years ago, relied upon coastal resources. Yet, from 20,000 years ago, humans show an increasing reliance on tropical forest environments, away from the island coasts. The results support the idea that one distinguishing characteristic of Homo sapiens is high ecological flexibility, especially when compared to other hominins known from the same region.
Pleistocene hominin adaptations in Southeast Asia
Over the last two decades, archaeological evidence from deserts, high-altitude settings, tropical rainforests, and maritime habitats seem to increasingly suggest that Late Pleistocene humans rapidly adapted to a number of extreme environments. By contrast, our closest hominin relatives, such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals, apparently used various mixtures of forests and grasslands, albeit from as far apart as the Levant, Siberia, and Java. However, this apparent distinction needs testing, especially as finds of another closely related hominin, the Denisovans, have been found on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau.
As one of the corresponding authors on the new paper, Sue O’Connor of Australian National University says, “The islands beyond Wallace’s Line are ideal places to test the adaptive differences between our species and other hominins. These islands were never connected to mainland Southeast Asia during the Pleistocene, and would have ensured that hominins had to make water crossings to reach it.” Tropical forest settings like those in Wallacea are often considered barriers to human expansion and are a far cry from the sweeping ‘savannahs’ with an abundance of medium to large mammals that hominins are believed to have relied on.
Fossils and stone tools show that hominins made it to Wallacean islands at least one million years ago, including the famous ‘Hobbit,’ or Homo floresiensis, on the island of Flores. When our own species arrived 45,000 years ago (or perhaps earlier), it is thought to have quickly developed the specialized use of marine habitats, as evidenced by one of the world’s earliest fish hooks found in the region. Nevertheless, as co-author Ceri Shipton puts it “the extent of this maritime adaptation has remained hotly debated and difficult to test using snapshots based on, often poorly preserved, animal remains.”
Stable isotope analysis and Late Pleistocene humans
This new paper uses stable carbon isotopes measured from fossil human teeth to directly reconstruct the long-term diets of past populations. Although this method has been used to study the diets and environments of African hominins for nearly half a century, it has thus far been scarcely applied to the earliest members of our own species expanding within and beyond Africa. Using the principle ‘you are what you eat,’ researchers analyzed powdered hominin tooth enamel from 26 individuals dated between 42,000 and 1,000 years ago to explore the types of resources they consumed during tooth formation.
The new paper shows that the earliest human fossil available from the region, excavated from the site of Asitau Kuru on Timor, was indeed reliant on maritime resources, suggesting a well-tuned adaptation to the colonization of coastal areas. “This fits with our existing models of rapid human movement through Wallacea on the way to Australia,” says co-author Shimona Kealy of the Australian National University.
From around 20,000 years ago, however, human diets seem to have switched inland, towards the supposedly impoverished resources of the island forests. Although some individuals maintained the use of coastal habitats, the majority seemingly began to adapt to the populations of small mammals and tropical forest plants in the region. As co-author Mahirta at Universitas Gadjah Mada puts it, “Coastal resources such as shellfish and reef fish are easy to exploit and available year-round, however growing populations likely forced early island occupants to look inland to other resources.”
A species defined by flexibility
This study provides the first direct insights into the adaptations of our own species as it settled in a series of challenging island environments in Wallacea. “Early human populations here, and elsewhere, could not only successfully use the enormous variety of often-extreme Pleistocene environments,” suggests Patrick Roberts, lead author of the study and Group Leader at MPI SHH, “they could also specialize in them over substantial periods of time. As a result, even if some local populations did fail, the species as a whole would go on to become tremendously prolific.”
As dense tropical rainforests replaced mixed grass and woodlands, other hominins in Southeast Asia went extinct. Ecological flexibility, supported by unique technologies and the capacity for social relationships and symbolism, seem to have carried Homo sapiens through the climactic fluctuations of the Late Pleistocene, however. The authors concede that more work is needed to conclusively test the ecological distinction between hominin species. The discovery of Denisovan populations in the tropical environments of Asia or application of this isotopic approach to other hominins in the tropics could yet show Homo sapiens to be less exceptional. Nonetheless, for the time being it seems that it was our species that could best adapt to the variety of environments across the face of the planet, leaving it, by the end of the Pleistocene, the last hominin standing.
____________________________
The site of Makpan, Alor. Sue O’Connor
____________________________
Shell fish hook recovered from the site of Lene Hara dating to 11,000 years ago. An earlier, less complete example was recovered from Asitau Kuru, indicating an early marine specialization for humans arriving on these islands. Sue O’Connor.
____________________________
Maps showing the location of the sites studied within Wallacea. Asitau Kuru, Lene Hara, Matja Kuru 1 and 2 (Timor), Makpan, and Tron Bon Lei (Alor). Roberts, et al., (2020), Australian National University CartoGIS 19-282 KD
A group of scientists from the Institute of Archaeology RAS, NRC “Kurchatov Institute” and other scientific organizations for the first time have conducted a genetic analysis of the remains from cemeteries of the Koban culture, dated between the 9th and 5th centuries AD. The analysis of paleo- DNA of mitochondrial and Y-chromosome haplogroups has confirmed genetic succession of cultures of the ancient Caucasus and its relation both with ancient and with modern ethnic groups that inhabited this region. The results of the research were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
The skeletal remains of fourteen representatives of the Koban archaeological culture were selected for the research. Five were excavated from burials of barrow ‘Klin-Yar 3’ in the vicinity of modern Kislovodsk between 1994-1996, and nine others from a complex of archaeological sites near the village Zayukovo in Kabardino-Balkaria, which has been studied systematically since 2014 by the co-operative expedition of the State Historical Museum and Kabardino-Balkaria State University with participation of the IA RAS.
The samples of paleo DNA were extracted from teeth and bones in the laboratory of NRC “Kurchatov Institute” to identify maternal and paternal haplogroups, the groups that unite men who have common ascendants with similar mutation in the core or mitochondrial genome.
The analysis of the ancient DNA of the individuals from the burials of the Koban archaeological culture revealed the predominance of some mitochondrial and Y-chromosome haplogroups that spread in ancient Europe and Caucasus.
The main haplogroups of Y-chromosomes studied by the researchers are common for Caucasus and Europe in the period of the Iron Age: E1a2a, G2a1a, R1b and R1a.
The haplogroup G2a1a, which now is widely spread among the Ossetians, Balkars and Svans, is usually associated with Middle Eastern and European Neolithic cultures. Of special interest is the haplogroup discovered earlier during the examination of the buried in T-shape catacombs, which are traditionally related to the Alans inhabited Ciscaucasia and the Northern Caucasus in the period from the 1st to the beginning of the 2nd millennium.
The haplogroups R1a and R1b are usually associated with Indo-European migrations, described as the Scythes and Sarmatians. Today, these haplogroups together with the haplogroup E1a2a are identified as modern Northern Caucasian ethnic groups: the Balkars, the Karachi, the Darghins, the Lezghians and the Abkhazians. Therefore, the genetic researches have confirmed the theory about the Scythian influence on the Koban culture, which until the present has been based solely on archaeological material.
The haplogroups of the mitochondrial DNA of the humans who were buried in the cemeteries of Klin-Yar-3 and Zayukovo-3 are related to groups that were discovered earlier both as ancient and modern ethnic groups of the Northern Caucasus.
Among the burials, the male individual from the burial Zayukovo-3 stands out with a rare HV mitochondrial haplogroup that penetrated Europe through the territory of Caucasus after the last Ice Age Maximum (26.5 – 19 thousand years ago) and in the Neolithic period (10 – 3 thousand years ago). Moreover, this man was different with an unusual genetic origin and the paternal line, the haplogroup of the Y-chromosome of this sample D1a2a1, has been widely described in Eastern Asia.
_____________________________
The places of the burials of the Koban archaeological culture (1 – Klin-Yar 3; 2 – Zayukovo-3). Institute of Archaeology RAS
_____________________________
Bronze items from the barrow Zayukovo-3. Photo by A. Kadieva (SHM) and S. Demidenko (IA RAS)
UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK—21st century X-ray technology has allowed University of Warwick scientists to peer back through time at the production of the armor worn by the crew of Henry VIII’s favored warship, the Mary Rose.
Three artifacts believed to be remains of chainmail recovered from the recovered hull have been analyzed by an international team of scientists led by the Universities of Warwick and Ghent using a state-of-the-art X-ray facility called XMaS (X-ray Materials Science) beamline.
They analyzed three brass links as part of continuing scientific investigations into the artifacts recovered during the excavation of the wreck in the Solent. These links have often been found joined to make a sheet or a chain and are most likely to be from a suit of chainmail armor. By using several X-ray techniques available via the XMaS beamline to examine the surface chemistry of the links, the team were able to peer back through time to the armor’s production and reveal that these links were manufactured from an alloy of 73% copper and 27% zinc.
Emeritus Professor Mark Dowsett from the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics said: “The results indicate that in Tudor times, brass production was fairly well controlled and techniques such as wire drawing were well developed. Brass was imported from Ardennes and also manufactured at Isleworth. I was surprised at the consistent zinc content between the wire links and the flat ones. It’s quite a modern alloy composition.”
The exceptionally high sensitivity analysis revealed traces of heavy metals, such as lead and gold, on the surface of the links, hinting at further history to the armor yet to be uncovered.
Professor Dowsett explains: “The heavy metal traces are interesting because they don’t seem to be part of the alloy but embedded in the surface. One possibility is that they were simply picked up during the production process from tools used to work lead and gold as well. Lead, mercury and cadmium, however, arrived in the Solent during WW2 from the heavy bombing of Portsmouth Dockyard. Lead and arsenic also came into the Solent from rivers like the Itchen over extended historical periods.
“In a Tudor battle, there might be quite a lot of lead dust produced by the firing of munitions. Lead balls were used in scatter guns and pistols, although stone was used in canon at that time.”
The Tudor warship the Mary Rose was one of the first warships that Henry VIII ordered not long after he ascended to the throne in 1509. Often considered to be his favorite, on 19 July 1545 it sank in the Solent during a battle with a French invasion fleet. The ship sank to the seabed and over time the silts covered and preserved its remains as a remarkable record of Tudor naval engineering and ship board life.
In 1982 the remaining part of the hull was raised and is now housed in the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth alongside many thousands of the 19,000 artifacts that were also recovered, many of which were remarkably well preserved by the Eocene clays.
After recovery, the three artifacts were subjected to different cleaning and conservation treatments to prevent corrosion (distilled water, benzotriazole (BTA) solution, and cleaning followed by coating with BTA and silicone oil). This research also analyzed the surface chemistry of the brass links to assess and compare the levels of corrosion between the different techniques, finding that all had been effective at preventing corrosion since being recovered.
Professor Dowsett added: “The analysis shows that basic measures to remove chlorine followed by storage at reduced temperature and humidity form an effective strategy even over 30 years.”
XMaS is owned by the Universities of Liverpool and Warwick and is located in Grenoble, France, at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). It works with over 90 active research groups, representing several hundred researchers, in diverse fields ranging across materials science, physics, chemistry, engineering and biomaterials and contributes to societal challenges including energy storage and recovery, tackling climate change, the digital economy and advances in healthcare.
It is a National Research Facility and is currently undergoing a major upgrade thanks to £7.2million funding from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Professor Mieke Adriaens, Head of the Electrochemistry and Surface Analysis Group at Ghent University said: “XMaS is extremely versatile and flexible in the analytical strategies which can be devised and implemented. What’s more, the beamline scientists are amongst the best we’ve encountered anywhere. It is fascinating to examine ancient technology using specially developed analytical methods which can then be applied to modern materials too. It was also a real privilege to be allowed access to these unique artifacts and to play a part in unravelling their story.”
Professor Eleanor Schofield, Head of Conservation at the Mary Rose: “This study clearly shows the power of combining sophisticated techniques such as those available at a synchrotron source. We can glean information not only on the original production, but also on how it has reacted to being the marine environment and crucially, how effective the conservation strategies have been.
Co-author Professor Pam Thomas, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Warwick, said: “We are very pleased that researchers at Warwick are continuing to put our expertise in Analytical Sciences at the forefront of research on important historical artifacts. The long tradition of X-ray scattering and diffraction science within the Department of Physics at Warwick continues to give high-quality data and leads to penetrating insight across a wide range of scientific problems. It is testament both to the expertise at the XMaS beamline of ESRF and in the X-Ray Diffraction Research Technology Platform (RTP) at Warwick.”
__________________________
A cleaned and conserved link. Mark Dowsett with permission from the Mary Rose Trust
AARHUS UNIVERSITY—An international team of researchers has put together a new image of Neanderthals based on the genes Neanderthals left in the DNA of modern humans when they had children with them about 50,000 years ago. The researchers found the new pieces of the puzzle by trawling the genomes of more than 27,000 Icelanders. Among other things, they discovered that Neanderthal women gave birth when they were older than the Homo sapiens women at that time, and Neanderthal men became fathers when they were younger.
It is well-known that a group of our ancestors left Africa and, about 50,000 years ago, met Neanderthals in Europe, and then had children with them.
Now, a new analysis shows that the Neanderthals may have had children with another extinct species of human (Denisovans), before they met Homo Sapiens, and that these children have been fertile and transferred genes from both species further on to modern people.
The analysis also shows that the Neanderthal women living 100,000 – 500,000 years ago on average became mothers at a later age than the contemporary Homo sapiens women living in Africa. On the other hand, Neanderthal men fathered at a younger age than their Homo sapiens cousins in Africa.
How can an analysis show all that?
Neanderthals may well be extinct, but small pieces of their DNA live on in us. All living people outside Africa have up to two per cent Neanderthal genes in their DNA.
However, this two per cent is scattered as small fragments in our genomes, and not all individuals have inherited the same fragments. The fragments are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and if they are put together correctly, they will show a picture of the genome in the Neanderthal population that the modern Homo sapiens had children with.
New method to find the pieces
First, of course, we have to find these pieces. And this is precisely what the group of researchers from Denmark, Iceland and Germany did to produce their results, published today in the scientific journal Nature.
One of them, Laurits Skov, postdoc from the Bioinformatics Research Centre (BiRC) at Aarhus University, has developed a method for tracing Neanderthal fragments in our DNA. Laurits and PhD student Moisès Coll Macià took the method to Iceland, where the genetics firm deCODE has amassed genetic data and health information for more than half of the Icelandic population.
“We spent several months at deCODE in Reykjavik on what can be called field studies for a computational biologist. By combining my method with deCODE’s data and expertise, we have analyzed 27,566 genomes, and this makes our study 10 times larger than previous studies of Neanderthal genes in human DNA,” says Laurits Skov.
Together, the many fragments account for approximately half of a complete Neanderthal genome.
Denisovan genes gone astray?
However, the researchers also found significant fragments of genetic material from another archaic species of human, Denisovans, in the DNA of the Icelanders, and this was something of a surprise. Up to now, Denisovan genes have primarily been found in Australian Aborigines, East Asians and people in Papua New Guinea. So how did these genes end up in Islanders’ DNA? And when?
Based on the distribution of genes and mutations, the researchers came up with two possible explanations.
Neanderthals may have had children with Denisovans before they met the Homo sapiens. This would mean that the Neanderthals with whom Homo sapiens had children were already hybrids, who transferred both Neanderthal and Denisovan genes to the children.
“Up to now, we believed that the Neanderthals modern people have had children with were “pure” Neanderthals. It’s true that researchers have found the remnants of a hybrid between Denisovans and Neanderthals in a cave in East Asia, but we have not known whether there were more of these hybrids and whether, thousands of years later, they had children with modern humans,” explains Professor Mikkel Heide Schierup from BiRC.
Or, Homo sapiens met Denisovans long before they met Neanderthals. So far, it has been thought that modern humans met Neanderthals and had children with them first, and not until tens of thousands of years later did they have children with Denisovans.
“Both explanations are equally likely, and both explanations will be scientific news,” says Mikkel Heide Schierup.
Neanderthal genes of little importance
The study also shows that the Neanderthal DNA has no great importance for modern humans.
“We have previously thought that many of the Neanderthal variants previously been found in modern human DNA were associated with an increased risk of diseases. However, our study shows that the human gene variants located directly beside the Neanderthal genes are better explanations for the risk. We have also found something that can only be explained by Neanderthal genes, but this doesn’t mean that much,” says Mikkel Heide Schierup.
The properties and risks of diseases that can be linked to Neanderthal DNA are: slightly lower risk of prostate cancer, lower levels of hemoglobin, lower body length (one millimeter) and slightly faster blood plasma clotting.
______________________________
DNA of Icelanders provides new knowledge about extinct human species. Astrid Reitzel, Aaarhus University
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS JOURNALS—Sacrificial rituals featuring human heart extraction were a prevalent religious practice throughout ancient Mesoamerican societies. Intended as a means of appeasing and honoring certain deities, sacrifices served as acts of power and intimidation as well as demonstrations of devotion and gratitude. Human sacrifices were highly structured, complex rituals performed by elite members of society, and the ceremonies included a myriad of procedures imbued with symbolic significance.
The specific techniques performed, the instrumentation utilized, and the underlying mythology motivating sacrifices varied across civilizations. Given the diversity of sacrificial rituals throughout Mesoamerica, Vera Tiesler and Guilhem Olivier assert an interdisciplinary approach incorporating scientific and humanistic evidence is needed in order to gain more nuanced insights into the procedural elements and the religious implications of human sacrifice during the Classic and Postclassic periods.
In the study, “Open Chests and Broken Hearts: Ritual Sequences and Meanings of Human Heart Sacrifice in Mesoamerica,” published in Current Anthropology, Tiesler and Olivier conduct an anatomical analysis of skeletal evidence and compare it with systematically checked historical sources and over 200 instances of ceremonial heart extraction in codices. Focusing on the location of openings created in the chest to allow for the removal of a victim’s heart and blood, the authors examine the resulting fractures and marks in articulated skeletons to infer about the nature of the entry wound and the potential instrumentation used.
The breadth of source material and the multitude of disciplinary approaches has led to debate among scholars. While the archaeological record provides evidence of these ceremonies, less tangible elements of the rituals–such as the symbolism of these processes–may be harder to discern. Descriptions of human sacrifice and heart extraction can likewise be found in written witness testimonies and in Mesoamerican iconography. However, witness accounts were often inconsistent, especially concerning the position of the extraction site.
Utilizing forensic data in conjunction with an analysis of ethnohistorical accounts, the authors detail three distinct heart extraction methods: cutting directly under the ribs (subdiaphragmatic thoracotomy); making an incision between two ribs (intercostal thoracotomy); or by horizontally severing the sternum in order to access the heart (transverse bilateral thoracotomy). While previous research indicates subdiaphragmatic thoracotomy was a common practice, Tiesler and Olivier expand upon the existing literature by providing reconstructions of intercostal thoracotomy and transverse bilateral thoracotomy.
In addition to providing a more comprehensive understanding of extraction techniques and devices, the study reveals new interpretations of the relationship between thoracotomy procedures and conceptualizations of the human body as a source of “vitalizing matter,” or food for the gods. Hearts and blood were offered as sustenance to deities representing the sun and the earth in recognition of their sacrifices during the creation of the universe. Data–including linguistic analysis of ancient Mesoamerican terminology–reinforce suggestions that these rites served as acts of obligation, reciprocation, and re-enactment.
The interdisciplinary nature of the study enables future research by offering a framework for analyzing sacrificial rituals in other ancient societies, including ancient civilizations in the Andes and India.
______________________________
Human heart sacrifices in Mesoamerica. CINVESTAV Unidad Mérida
______________________________
Ritual official holding a dripping heart, pierced with a large curved knife, Atetelco murals, Teotihuacan. Courtesy of the authors, Tiesler and Olivier
UNIVERSITY OF YORK—Hunter-gatherer groups living in the Baltic between seven and a half and six thousand years ago had culturally distinct cuisines, analysis of ancient pottery fragments has revealed.
An international team of researchers analyzed over 500 hunter-gatherer vessels from 61 archaeological sites throughout the Baltic region.
They found striking contrasts in food preferences and culinary practices between different groups – even in areas where there was a similar availability of resources. Pots were used for storing and preparing foods ranging from marine fish, seal and beaver to wild boar, bear, deer, freshwater fish hazelnuts and plants.
The findings suggest that the culinary tastes of ancient people were not solely dictated by the foods available in a particular area, but also influenced by the traditions and habits of cultural groups, the authors of the study say.
A lead author of the study, Dr Harry Robson from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, said: “People are often surprised to learn that hunter-gatherers used pottery to store, process and cook food, as carrying cumbersome ceramic vessels seems inconsistent with a nomadic life-style.
“Our study looked at how this pottery was used and found evidence of a rich variety of foods and culinary traditions in different hunter-gatherer groups.”
The researchers also identified unexpected evidence of dairy products in some of the pottery vessels, suggesting that some hunter-gatherer groups were interacting with early farmers to obtain this resource.
Dr Robson added: “The presence of dairy fats in several hunter-gatherer vessels was an unexpected example of culinary ‘cultural fusion’. The discovery has implications for our understanding of the transition from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to early farming and demonstrates that this commodity was either exchanged or perhaps even looted from nearby farmers.”
Lead author of the study, Dr Blandine Courel from the British Museum, added: “Despite a common biota that provided lots of marine and terrestrial resources for their livelihoods, hunter-gatherer communities around the Baltic Sea basin did not use pottery for the same purpose.
“Our study suggests that culinary practices were not influenced by environmental constraints but rather were likely embedded in some long-standing culinary traditions and cultural habits.”
The study, led by the Department of Scientific Research at the British Museum, the University of York and the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen, Germany), used molecular and isotopic techniques to analyze the fragments of pottery.
Senior author, Professor Oliver Craig from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, said: “Chemical analysis of the remains of foods and natural products prepared in pottery has already revolutionized our understanding of early agricultural societies, we are now seeing these methods being rolled out to study prehistoric hunter-gatherer pottery. The results suggest that they too had complex and culturally distinct cuisines.”
Organic residue analysis shows sub-regional patterns in the use of pottery by Northern European hunter-gatherers is published in Royal Society Open Science. The research was funded by the European Research Council through a grant awarded to the British Museum.
_______________________________
Pottery fragments found at the Havnø kitchen midden, Northern Denmark. Harry Robson, University of York
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY—Genetic research throughout Europe shows evidence of drastic population changes near the end of the Neolithic period, as shown by the arrival of ancestry related to pastoralists from the Pontic-Caspian steppe. But the timing of this change and the arrival and mixture process of these peoples, particularly in Central Europe, is little understood. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers analyze 96 ancient genomes, providing new insights into the ancestry of modern Europeans.
Scientists sequence almost one hundred ancient genomes from Switzerland
With Neolithic settlements found everywhere from lake shore and bog environments to inner alpine valleys and high mountain passes, Switzerland’s rich archeological record makes it a prime location for studies of population history in Central Europe. Towards the end of the Neolithic period, the emergence of archaeological finds from Corded Ware Complex cultural groups (CWC) coincides with the arrival of new ancestry components from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, but exactly when these new peoples arrived and how they mixed with indigenous Europeans remains unclear.
To find out, an international team led by researchers from the University of Tübingen, the University of Bern and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH) sequenced the genomes of 96 individuals from 13 Neolithic and early Bronze Age sites in Switzerland, southern Germany and the Alsace region of France. They detect the arrival of this new ancestry as early as 2800 BCE, and suggest that genetic dispersal was a complex process, involving the gradual mixture of parallel, highly genetically structured societies. The researchers also identified one of the oldest known Europeans that was lactose tolerant, dating to roughly 2100 BCE.
“Remarkably, we identified several female individuals without any detectable steppe-related ancestry up to 1000 years after this ancestry arrives in the region,” says lead author Anja Furtwängler of the University of Tübingen’s Institute for Archeological Sciences. Evidence from genetic analysis and stable isotopes suggest a patrilocal society, in which males stayed local to where they were born and females came from distant families that did not carry steppe ancestry.
These results show that CWC was a relatively homogenous population that occupied large parts of Central Europe in the early Bronze Age, but they also show that populations without steppe-related ancestry existed parallel to the CWC cultural groups for hundreds of years.
“Since the parents of the mobile females in our study couldn’t have had steppe-related ancestry either, it remains to be shown where in Central Europe such populations were present, possibly in the Alpine mountain valleys that were less connected to the lower lands” says Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at MPI-SHH and senior author of the study. The researchers hope that further studies of this kind will help to illuminate the cultural interactions that precipitated the transition from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze age in Central Europe.
_______________________________
Top view of the Dolmen of Oberbipp, one of the largest burial sites in the study. In this study, researchers analyze 96 ancient genomes to trace the arrival and demographic structure of peoples with Steppe-related ancestry into late Neolithic, early Bronze Age Switzerland and povide new insights into the ancestry of modern Europeans. Urs Dardel, Archäologischer Dienst des Kanton Bern (Switzerland)
A study* examines Samoans’ evolutionary history.Prior research estimates that the initial settlement of Samoa occurred approximately 2,750–2,880 years ago. However, several studies have found that Samoa’s landscape underwent limited human modification until approximately 1,000–1,500 years ago. To better understand Samoa’s history, Timothy O’Connor and colleagues analyzed 1,197 Samoan genomes that were sequenced through the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine Project and compared the genomes with a global reference set of 2,324 samples. Samoans were most closely related with other Oceanic populations, followed by East Asians, primarily from the Mekong Peninsula and South China. The majority of European ancestry came from West Europe, consistent with Samoa’s European colonial history. On average, Samoans had almost 25% ancestry from Papuan-speaking groups, which is less than other Polynesian cultures. Samoans from Savai’i Island were genetically different from those on Upolu Island, though there was a large overlap between both populations. The authors detected a significantly reduced population size beginning approximately 300 years ago on both islands, corresponding with the introduction of European diseases. However, an increase in effective population size of more than 10,000 individuals occurred approximately 900–1,050 years ago, coinciding with archaeological evidence of widespread landscape modification. The results suggest that the population structure in Samoa developed approximately 1,500–3,000 years ago, according to the authors.
___________________________
The population structure in Samoa developed approximately 1,500–3,000 years ago. Image courtesy Simon Steinberger, Pixabay
In an unprecedented move, world-renowned palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger of the University of Witwatersrand will, for the first time ever, lead the general public through video access into the university’sbackroom “Vault”, where many of Africa’s fossils bearing on human origins are stored and studied. The Vault is normally reserved for exclusive access by scientists and scholars.
The lectures, which will be roughly 30 minutes long, will be featuring some of the University’s most iconic fossils, including the Taung Child, Homo naledi, Australopithecus sediba and various other fossils from the Sterkfontein, Makapansgat and Swartkrans sites.
“We at the university decided to do something special,” says Berger, who is also an Explorer at Large at National Geographic.
“We decided to give people a behind-the-scenes look at our fossil vault, which holds over 50% of the entire record of human origins known on the continent of Africa.”
Starting with the discovery, history and a demonstration of the original Taung Child fossil (see first video below), discovered in 1924 in South Africa, Berger will use these original fossils and associated artifacts to tell the stories of how these fossils were discovered, studied and how they add to our knowledge of our origins as a species.
“We are extremely fortunate at Wits to have such a valuable collection of strategic assets that we can use, to share our knowledge of what makes us human,” says Berger.
“My vision with these videos is that they can be viewed by the general public to give them a glimpse of the world of palaeoanthropology and human origins, as well as to be used as a teaching tool for teachers and lecturers in their classrooms during these difficult times.”
Hosted on a special section of the Wits University website, and released on Youtube, the lectures will start off with more general stories and descriptions of some of the fossils, and progress into the finer details of the study of palaeoanthropology.
“With today’s online media being so engaging, I hope that with these videos we can create a whole new way of studying and sharing some of our exciting discoveries, and, hopefully stimulate engaging discussions related to human origins.”
Interested individuals can follow Lee Berger for more updates and continuing videos on Facebook at Prof Lee R Berger, or on Twitter @LeeRBerger.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Article Source: Adapted and edited from the original news release from the University of Witwatersrand, issued by Schalk Mouton, Senior Communications Officer.
Editor’s Note: The following is an adapted excerpt from the article, In Search of the Historical Jesus, published previously in Popular Archaeology Magazine.(Cover image courtesy Jeff Jacobs, Pixabay)
Nestled deep within a quiet residential community of apartments in southern Jerusalem lies a nondescript 5 x 5 square slab of concrete. It rests horizontally atop a small elevated garden plot or terrace of surrounding grass and other plants. To any stranger strolling by this slab, nothing would stand out to catch the eye. There are no decorative adornments. Other than the date ‘2005’ inscribed along its southern edge, there are no inscriptions or markings.
But on one clear morning in early March, 2016, a group of tourists quietly approach and surround the slab with a reverence most might ascribe to a group of friends and family standing before the grave of a lost loved one. Clearly, it means something to them. Some of them place small stones on top of it, long a graveside Jewish tradition for honoring deceased family members and friends, (and a way of letting their deceased loved ones know that they are not forgotten). Some shed tears. Some bow their heads in silent prayer. Some touch it with their hands. Still others snap photographs of the place for memory and posterity, including a journalist traveling with the group. An elderly man with a thick white mane and beard leads the group. Quietly addressing the group, his energy and crisp voice belie his age. But he is not a rabbi or priest. He is Dr. James Tabor, a prominent scholar and historian, professor of Christian origins and ancient Judaism at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on ancient Late Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. And few others know more than he does about what lies beneath the surface in this place. The slab actually caps an ancient subterranean 1st century C.E. tomb, the excavated contents of which drew media headlines across the world more than 20 years after its initial discovery. For Tabor and others, the find represents the most direct archaeological evidence for the person and life of Jesus, the man who arguably has impacted more lives than any person in human history. For him, this tomb, popularly known as the Jesus Family Tomb, has represented a major milestone in a lifelong quest. But the discovery and his claims have generated scholarly debate like few other archaeological finds in history.
Final Hours, Death and Burial
More than any other part of the Jesus story, much has been written both anciently and in modern literature about the final days of Jesus’ life in Jerusalem. Summarized in a simple sentence, the gospel accounts describe Jesus being judged before the high priest Caiaphas, Herod Antipas, and then the responsible Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, followed by crucifixion at the hands of the Romans upon a cross at Golgotha (the “place of the skull”), and then laid in a nearby ‘new tomb’ under Joseph of Arimithea’s facilitation. Traditionally, the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, located today in the northwestern part of the Old City, is perhaps the most broadly accepted location of both the crucifixion and the nearby temporary new tomb in which the body of Jesus was, according to the gospel accounts, laid. Some Christian groups, particularly Protestant groups, maintain that the actual tomb should be identified with what has been called the ‘Garden Tomb’, located significantly north of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher site. Looking at the exterior of this tomb, it is easy to see what has been depicted by many illustrators as the imagined image of this iconic place in the gospel stories. But results of archaeological investigation, particularly the seminal investigation by famed Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay of the Hebrew University, have cast doubt on the Garden Tomb area location.
Tabor, based on his research, suggests yet a different location for the crucifixion and temporary burial.
“According to Josephus, the Romans conducted crucifixions outside the gate of the city,” says Tabor. “Anciently, the gate of the city was known as the eastern gate, or gate of the tabernacle.”
This would have placed the likely spot of the crucifixion to the east of the temple, as opposed to the traditionally accepted northwest location.
Tabor elaborates further in his book, The Jesus Dynasty: “A more likely site for Jesus’ crucifixion is on the Mount of Olives, east of the city, overlooking the Temple compound. One of our earliest sources remembers Jesus’ crucifixion as ‘outside the camp’ (Hebrews 13: 12-13). The technical expression “outside the camp” was interpreted as a distance of at least two thousand cubits (about half a mile) east of the Temple sanctuary.”
It would have placed the crucifixion clearly on the Mount of Olives, says Tabor, far enough away from the Temple sanctuary to avoid ritual defilement and in a place that would have been high and clearly visible to travelers journeying into the city on the heavily traveled main roads just to the east. The Romans were known to prefer crucifixions on hills near main roads where the population would be able to clearly see the examples of the crucified as a warning.
Where, then, was the temporary tomb, if not on the grounds where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is located?
Given the gospel accounts of the tomb’s location very near to the site of crucifixion, this tomb would also, according to Tabor, have been located on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives, as most scholars, historians and archaeologist know, does feature a relatively robust number of tombs, including tombs that have yielded commonly known gospel account names, based on archaeological investigation. But even under an assumption that the Mount of Olives was the true location of the crucifixion, which of these tombs could be identified as the temporary tomb? It remains a mystery. There is no evidence favoring any particular tomb.
____________________________________
Above: To the right of the doorway of this building in Jerusalem, original Herodian period stones remain in place. This is the structure that tradition holds was the place where Jesus had his ‘last supper’ with his disciples.The upper room, as indicated by the window, is shown above the wall that contains the original Herodian stones. This is what one views while standing in the courtyard of the structure.
____________________________________
Above: A detailed view of the original Herodian stone in the structure that contains the upper room. Excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed a 1st century floor below this level. Destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, the building that stood here housed the earliest followers of Jesus as the ‘headquarters’ of the movement after Jesus’ death, with James, the brother of Jesus, at the head and the other apostles and Jesus’ family all domiciled and/or meeting in this place, according to Tabor. James, as well as King David, are traditionally thought to have been interred there. It is thus considered to be a sacred structure and a destination for visitation by both Jews and Christians.
______________________________________
Dr. James Tabor stands before the the Herodian wall/stone section remnant of the building that features the upper room. It shows the scale of the stones. Photo by Victoria Brogdon
________________________________________________
Above and below: Located at a lower location on the Mount of Olives, the site traditionally designated as the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus spent his last hours with his disciples before being captured and arrested after betrayal by Judas. According to Tabor, it is not known archaeologically that this was indeed the famous garden spot, but it is representative of the olive tree vegetation and gardens that characterized this part of the Mount of Olives during the 1st century CE.
Above and below: About three meters beneath the surface in the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem lie the remains of ancient 1st century CE mansion homes of the wealthiest residents of Jerusalem living at the time of Jesus, known today as the Herodian Quarter. Above and below are examples of some of the exquisite remains of the foundations and basements of these mansion homes, which once stood at least two stories high, excavated by Nachman Avigad. This area included the residences of Jerusalem’s aristocratic and noble families and priestly upper class such as the ruling Sanhedrin, among whom were personalities known from the New Testament gospel accounts, such as Caiaphas.
___________________________________________
Remains of wall fresco within a wealthy resident’s mansion. Photo by Victoria Brogdon
Stone vessels excavated from the remains of the Herodian Quarter. Among the Jewish residents, stone vessels were used to ensure purity. Photo by Victoria Brogdon
_________________________________________________
Above and below, features excavated from the largest residential structure in the Herodian Quarter, dubbed the “Mansion House”. Tabor suggests that this structure may have been the palacial building where Jesus stood in judgment before Caiaphas.
_________________________________________
Above and below:Remnants of lavish ornamental detail can still be seen on the walls of the Mansion House. Photo below by Victoria Brogdon
Above: The preserved stone paving within the Mansion House. Tabor suggests that this may possibly have been the very floor upon which Jesus stood in judgment before Caiaphas.
_____________________________________________
Pictured above and below: Just south and adjacent to the southern Old City wall, an archaeological team under the direction of Shimon Gibson and James Tabor is excavating another section of ancient homes that once belonged to Jerusalem’s aristocratic and noble families of the 1st century CE. Here, excavators have unearthed rooms, including an inscribed stone cup and a beautifully preserved bathtub. See more about this excavation here. Above photo by Victoria Brogdon
Above: Hugging the western Old City wall of Jerusalem, these structural remains in front of the Turkish-built wall are dated to the 1st century CE and, according to Tabor, are likely the vestiges of the famous ‘judgment seat’ area, just outside the Roman Praetorium, where Pontius Pilate sat in judgment of Jesus before the crucifixion. These structural features were exposed in archaeological excavations during the 1970’s. “They discovered these steps which appeared to be going up into the Turkish wall,” says Tabor. In the 1st century, there was a gate into the city at this place. “But it was completely destroyed,” continues Tabor. “Scholars do agree that beyond [behind] this wall stood Herod’s palace. But at the lower end of the palace [nearest to and just to the other side of the wall seen here] was the Praetorium, the military barracks where the soldiers were stationed. It was here, within the Praetorium and on the other side of the present wall, where Jesus was scourged.” Today, an Armenian parking lot occupies this space behind the wall. Tabor hopes to excavate it in the future with the prospect of possibly uncovering remains of the Praetorium. Photo by Victoria Brogdon
__________________________________________
A detailed view of an excavated Herodian period wall in the area that Tabor proposes was the judgment seat of Pilate.
Above: A thorny plant naturally grows near the ‘judgment seat’ stones depicted in the previous photograph. When the skin is exposed to the plant’s thorns, its toxic elements create an irritating rash or welts on the exposed skin. When the plant dies, however, this toxic element disappears, but the dead plant curls into a shape as shown in the example above. This particular example was picked in 2016 near the ‘judgment seat’ stones. It was found among a number of other thorny plants. Was this the type plant used by Roman soldiers to fashion the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’ head before the crucifixion? Any association at this point would be purely speculative.
The view of the Eastern Gate from the elevated perspective of the Mount of Olives. According to Tabor, the more likely spot of the crucifixion was on the Mount of Olives. That location would also have afforded greater visibility to people as they passed by on the main roads to the east of the Old City walls, more consistent with the Roman practice of locating crucifixions and executions in places presenting maximum public exposure, while also being consistent in this instance with ensuring a sufficient distance from the sacred Temple sanctuary to minimize unrest among the Jewish population.
Above: One of the tombs near the Church of Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives. Tombs like this are scattered about on the Mount of Olives, and it was in one of these tombs, (the ‘new tomb’ according to the gospel accounts) where Tabor suggests Jesus was temporarily laid after his body was removed from the site of the crucifixion. The tomb shown above has been populated with a number of ossuaries, (limestone bone boxes in which 1st century Jewish families interred the bones of deceased family members one year after decomposition of the body) for public display purposes.
Arguably no events have raised more attention and controversy for Tabor than the now famous discovery and investigation of the two tombs discovered in the East Talpiot, or Armon HaNetziv, community in Jerusalem, less than three kilometers south of the Old City. Popularly known respectively as the ‘Jesus Family Tomb’ or ‘Garden Tomb’ (because of an adjacent garden — not to be confused with the traditional Garden Tomb) and ‘Patio Tomb’, Tabor and some of his colleagues have argued that these tomb discoveries, along with the much-publicized ‘James ossuary’, may provide the most direct archaeological evidence and connection ever found bearing on Jesus, his family, and the earliest followers of Jesus, later known as Christians.
The Garden Tomb
In a city like Jerusalem, construction work often inadvertently reveals historical treasures that might not ever otherwise be uncovered by surveying archaeologists. In 1980, this is exactly what happened. Dynamite detonation to pave the way for construction of a new apartment complex in the East Talpiot area of Jerusalem had exposed what appeared to be the entrance to a tomb. What would have been the outer courtyard area of the tomb had unfortunately been destroyed in the explosion. But the inner entrance, featuring a facade with a rock-cut chevron, a circle symbol, and rectangular opening, had been exposed, an inviting feature for anyone adventurous. As required by law, archaeologists of the Israel Antiquities Authority were called in to investigate the tomb as a quick salvage operation, and excavations began on March 28, 1980 with a team under the supervision of District archaeologist Amos Kloner, including archaeologists Joseph Gath and Eliot Braun, along with three or four excavators. Initial excavation revealed six burial niches, or kokhim, five of them containing ossuaries, two six-foot-long shelves or arcosolia (used to lay out corpses for decomposition before the bones were collected and stored in the ossuaries a year later), and bone fragments on the shelves as well as other skeletal remains, including skulls, on the ancient floor below the shelves. Ten ossuaries were recorded within the tomb.
But it wasn’t until 1996 when a report was compiled about the discovery, spurred by media attention about reports that the the tomb ossuaries featured inscriptions of names associated with Jesus, including Jesus himself. But by this time much information had been lost or unrecorded, and the bones within the tomb had presumably been turned over to the Orthodox religious authorities for reburial in unmarked common graves.
The biggest media splash about the tomb and its contents didn’t emerge, however, until after a re-investigation initiated by a team put together by filmmaker and investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici in 2004, recruiting Tabor as an academic consultant. There were still some tantalizing outstanding questions about the tomb, not the least of which was the question of whether or not the tomb and its contents could reasonably be associated with the historical Jesus of Nazareth and his family. The names inscribed on each of five of the ossuaries raised a few eyebrows, to say the least — Yeshua bar Yehosef (Jesus son of Joseph); Maria (Mary); Mariamene Mara (interpreted from ancient sources to be another word for Mary Magdalene the Master or “the Lady”); Yosef (Joses – a brother of Jesus); and Yehuda bar Yeshua (Judah son of Jesus).
___________________________________________
A concrete slab (shown above as one looks down from above, center of photo, and below, close up) now covers the entrance to the Garden Tomb, so-called because of the surrounding garden area.
Entering the tomb after the slab was removed. The facade of the inner entrance to the tomb can be seen. Photo courtesy William Tarant
_____________________________________________
The distinctive chevron and circle facade could be clearly seen as the investigators stood in front at the bottom of the shaft to the tomb. The rectangular entrance shows how the tomb had been filled with books and manuscripts, used as a genizah, since it was first investigated years earlier. Photo courtesy William Tarant
_____________________________________________
Above and below:Discarded books and manuscripts had accumulated within the tomb over a number of years, obstructing the burial niches. Because of the sacred nature of the printed word for Yahweh (God), the documents are not burned so they are buried. Photos courtesy William Tarant
Above and below: Inside the tomb, the arcosolia, benches used to support shrouded bodies as they decomposed before being placed in ossuaries a year later, are still clearly defined. The niches below the arcosolia contained the ossuaries, which had been removed in the earlier investigation, at least some of which can now be viewed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Photos courtesy William Tarant
______________________________________________
_______________________________________
Was this in fact direct evidence for Jesus of Nazareth and members of his family? And did it provide proof that Jesus’ body was in fact placed in a second, permanent tomb after the first, temporary tomb? Moreover, and perhaps equally controversial, did it provide evidence that Jesus may have been married and fathered a child named Judah?
Needless to say, a broad array of scholars and ecclesiastical authorities have vociferously disputed these notions. They have presented a number of reasons why these finds could not be related to the Jesus of the gospels. The most prominent argument has advanced the suggestion that the names inscribed on the ossuaries were common names for people living in the 1st century CE Jerusalem area. Indeed, when the names were considered individually, some of the names clearly met that explanation. (Using known data about the 1st century CE population and applying statistical analysis studies, Maria, or Mary, for example, accounts for nearly 22 percent of known female names in the area for the period, according to studies — although Yeshua, the Greek equivalent being Jesus, only 3.9 percent).
But the more convincing test, according to Tabor and some other scholars, lies in the unique combination of names in one place. When analyzed statistically in this way, they say, the probability that the tomb and its contents are those of the gospel account’s Jesus, and his family members, goes up significantly — so high, in fact, that it becomes likely, as opposed to possible. Enter two other major discoveries, and the likelihood rises still more:
The James Ossuary
The story broke at an October 21, 2002 Washington press conference co-hosted by the Discovery Channel and the Biblical Archaeology Society, when the existence of a 2,000-year-old ossuary was announced, featuring on its side an inscription that purportedly provided the oldest known archaeological record of Jesus of Nazareth. The inscription on the ossuary presented, in Aramaic, the words Ya’akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua, which in English translates as “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”, originally translated by André Lemaire, a renowned Semitic epigrapher. Assuming that this was indeed the ossuary of James the Just of the gospel accounts — the brother of Jesus and the head of the early Christian movement in Jerusalem after the death of Jesus — the announcement created a media stir that reverberated worldwide and set in motion a chain of events which, like opening Pandora’s box, became a story that acquired far greater proportions than the initial players had initially intended.
But the ossuary had emerged from the antiquities market, not a controlled archaeological investigation, and a series of investigations by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2003 led to a determination that the ‘James ossuary’ was a forgery. Oded Golan, collector and owner of the box, was charged with 44 counts of forgery, fraud and deception. However, after a seven-year trial with 120 sessions where the judge heard 126 witnesses and dozens of experts, producing 12,000 pages of testimony with a final 475-page verdict, Golan was acquitted of the forgery charges.
Few argue today that the ‘James ossuary’ itself is not authentic, but the authenticity of the inscription, particularly the ‘brother of Jesus’ segment of the inscription, is still open to scholarly debate. A number of scholar/scientists have, however, supported the observation that an authentic ancient patina (the thin bio-chemical layer that forms on the surface of the material as the object ages) has been found within the inscription engravings, indicating that the entire line of the inscription is authentic, at least in terms of age.
What then, one may ask, does this have to do with the Garden Tomb?
“A lot,” says Tabor. He points, for example, to the recent and much publicized 2006 study that concluded that the James ossuary actually originated from this tomb. That study was conducted by a team of scientists led by Amnon Rosenfeld of the Israel Geologic Society. The results, after careful testing, indicated that the ancient patina found inside the inscribed letters on the ossuary was indeed authentic, supporting the authenticity of the inscription. But in that study, the team also conducted tests and an evaluative analysis of the comparative chemical composition of the patina accretions on ossuaries and interior surfaces of 14 other burial caves, including the Garden Tomb. “The premise of the tests was that ossuaries accumulate distinctive and measurable biochemical “signatures” based on the cave environments in which they have spent the past two millennia,” writes Tabor. Even two caves in close proximity to each other would bear different chemical signatures. But the results showed that the James ossuary had the very same chemical signature as the ossuaries that were tested from the Garden Tomb, including the chemical signature of the walls and ceiling of that tomb. “In contrast,” writes Tabor, “the James ossuary patina signature differed considerably from the chemical composition of ossuaries from the other thirteen burial caves.”
According Tabor and some other colleagues, the James ossuary, therefore, originally came from the Garden Tomb.
When and how the ossuary was separated from the tomb remains a mystery. But examination of the weathering on the surface of the ossuary, as compared to that of the other ossuaries of the Jesus tomb, suggested that the ossuary had been missing from the tomb, perhaps looted in antiquity, for at least two hundred years.
Thus, according to Tabor (who is not alone in this assertion), adding the James ossuary to the ring of objects and names of the Garden Tomb statistically raises the likelihood of identification of the tomb with Jesus of Nazareth and his family to a near certainty.
Does this prove that this tomb is in fact the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family?
Tabor qualifies his statements about the tomb. “We do not believe that statistics alone prove one way or the other that the Talpiot Jesus tomb is that of Jesus of Nazareth but the statistics do show that the oft-repeated assertion that lots of tombs in Jerusalem would likely have a similar set of names is false.”
But there is more to all of this…………
The Patio Tomb
Only one year after the initial discovery of the Garden Tomb, a dynamite blast, again associated with apartment complex construction work, exposed another ancient tomb only 60 meters north of the previously exposed Garden Tomb. Again, Amos Kloner was called in to investigate the tomb. He could enter the tomb only through a break in the ceiling. Its ancient square entrance was closed, sealed tight by a large “stopper” stone. What he first saw was a 3.5 by 3.5 meter rock-cut single square chamber. Cut into and along three of its sides were nine carved gabled burial niches, about 2 meters deep, three in each side. Each niche was sealed in front with a blocking stone. Kloner observed skeletal remains in the niches, with significant primary burial remains in four of them, meaning those skeletal remains had not yet been placed permanently into ossuaries. Also found were some cooking pots placed in three locations on the floor.
Kloner wasn’t afforded much time to examine the tomb. Soon, he was forced to leave the tomb by protesting ultra-Orthodox Jews, determined to protect the sanctity of the tomb. But this was not before he was able to acquire one smaller ossuary for examination—a decorated ossuary with no inscription, fit for the remains of a child. He entrusted it to the custody of IAA authorities at their Rockefeller headquarters (The ossuary is now part of the State of Israel collections).
Despite the protests, Kloner and the IAA were determined to investigate the find. Although he had to depart the country to fulfill another commitment, he entrusted two IAA archaeologists, the late Joseph Gath and Shlomo Gudovitch, to continue the investigation. Upon returning to the site, they were able to remove the blocking stones from the niches and examine ossuaries inside, a total of seven, taking photographs and recording their positions. All ossuaries but one were decorated and two were observed to have Greek inscriptions. They spent several days at the tomb location, removing the ossuaries from their niches and opening their lids for further examination. While preparing to raise the ossuaries up through the tomb ceiling to transport them to the IAA Rockefeller headquarters, they were again prevented from completing the task by a group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters. The seven remaining ossuaries were returned to their niches, albeit not all in their original positions. There they remain to this day.
It was not until 2005, more than 25 years later, that a new archaeological team was assembled to take another look at the tomb (today known as the “Talpiot B” or “Patio” tomb) and its contents. This latest exploration and documentation was conducted by a team that included a mix of experts, including the well-known Canadian film producer and director Simcha Jacobovici, Tabor and noted archaeologist Rami Arav of the University of Nebraska, top Canadian film producer Felix Golubev, two key technical experts Walter Klassen and William Tarant, and Dr. James H. Charlesworth of Princeton Theological Seminary as an academic consultant. What prompted the new initiative was the proximity of the tomb to two other tombs, the first being the previously discovered Garden Tomb; and the second, a tomb mostly destroyed in 1980 by a dynamite blast during preparations for construction work.
“It was the proximity of these three tombs, and the possibility that they were clustered together on a wealthy estate in the 1st century CE that prompted us to request a permit to carry out further investigations,” reported Tabor in his Preliminary Report about the Patio Tomb exploration. The immediate vicinity of the three tombs also included the remains of a plastered ritual bath (or mikveh), water cisterns, and an ancient olive press. Joseph Gath, who surveyed the area, determined that they, including the tombs, belonged to a large, wealthy agricultural estate. They were likely the family tombs of the owner of the estate. “The object of our investigation was to determine whether the “patio” tomb, still intact, might contain names or other evidence that would provide for us further data that might conceivably shed light on the adjacent Garden Tomb with its intriguing cluster of names,” reported Tabor in the preliminary report.
But further exploration of the tomb now faced almost insurmountable hurdles, including the requirement by the Orthodox authorities that the tomb remains not be touched or disturbed, the challenge of obtaining permissions from several different sources, each of which had a different agenda and a different set of interests to consider and safeguard, and the extremely limited clearance space around the ossuaries within the burial niches of the tomb. What was necessary would be an unprecedented “hands-off” probe of the tomb contents. To accomplish this, the team came up with a unique robotic arm and camera/video assembly specially designed for the task.
The results, after painstaking efforts and mid-course adjustments, were nothing less than astonishing. In addition to the findings of Kloner’s initial investigation, the team was able to distinguish the details of four ossuaries with ornamental engravings, one plain ossuary, and two ossuaries with unique markings and inscriptions.
It was the latter two ossuaries, designated as ossuaries 5 and 6, that caused the stir. Ossuary 5 showed an ornamental front façade with twin rosettes and elaborate frieze border. Interestingly, between the rosettes was a four-line Greek inscription. The use of Greek would not necessarily be considered extraordinary. The translated text, however, reading as it were like an epitaph, was quite extraordinary under these circumstances. More unusual still was the use of the word for the name of God, Yahweh, written in Greek on a 1st century ossuary in what is clearly a tomb belonging to a Jewish family of the time, and words that expressed a raising up or resurrection (“rise up to God”, or “rise up to heaven”). Ossuary 6, originally (when explored by Kloner) in the first position closest to the tomb entrance, featured perhaps the most interesting markings. Its front showed what the team interpreted as the image of a fish, including tail, fins, and scales, with what appeared to be a stick-like human figure with a large head emerging from its mouth. Along the top border was a series of smaller, fish-shaped images. Incised on the left end was a bell-shaped circle that featured a cross inside. On the right end was an image that appeared to be a scaled body and tail of a fish, although only the lower portion of it is shown, upended. Within the head of the fish was inscribed what was interpreted to be the name “Jonah” — and it was this finding that Ossuary 6 became popularly known from this point forward as the “Jonah Ossuary”.
“Rise up to heaven”, a fish, an image emerging from the ‘mouth’ of the fish, and the name “Jonah”. So what did these findings mean?
The findings of Ossuary 5 and Ossuary 6 became perhaps the most sensational and most controversial discovery emerging from the tomb. This was, according to the investigative team interpretation, not only because they could be images of a fish, an animal, on a 1st century Jewish ossuary (something that would have been prohibited by 1st century Judaism), but because the imagery was similar to that seen within the 3rd and 4th century CE Christian tombs of the catacombs in Rome—the “sign of Jonah” (as in Jonah and the big fish, or whale, of the biblical account), images that are known to have symbolized the resurrection among early Christians. According to Tabor and colleagues, these could now be the earliest known archaeological finds related to the early followers of Jesus, or Christians.
Tabor’s interpretation has, needless to say, caused a firestorm of debate among scholars. Among them is Kloner himself, the initial IAA archaeologist who investigated the tomb upon its discovery, who now interprets the fish image on the Jonah ossuary not as a fish but as a funerary vase or amphora (joining a number of other scholars suggesting the same interpretation), and that the Greek inscription should not be interpreted to read as a ‘rising up’ or resurrection but actually as a warning expressing a prohibition against disturbing the bones of the tomb.
Slam-Dunk?
Notwithstanding its controversy, the peculiar Patio Tomb’s iconography and proximity to the Garden Tomb could be saying something else, says Tabor. It could be one more indicator that the Garden Tomb is, indeed, the tomb of the family of Jesus of Nazareth, and, not without great controversy, the final resting place of the body of Jesus himself, Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene — considered Jesus’ close companion by both the biblical canon and other ancient accounts — and a child who was the “son of Yeshua, or Jesus. And now James, son of Joseph and brother of Jesus.
When all the pieces are put together—the Garden (“Jesus Family”) Tomb, the Patio (“Resurrection”) Tomb, and the James ossuary, maintains Tabor and his colleagues, then the findings and interpretations make the identification of the Garden Tomb as the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth a “slam-dunk” case.
________________________________________
The apartment complex patio today, under which its namesake Patio Tomb (or ‘Resurrection Tomb’) is located. Like the Garden Tomb, it is now sealed off from entrance.
_________________________________________
View of niche with ossuary within the Patio Tomb, showing blocking stones. Photo credit: William Tarant, GE Inspection Technologies and Associated Producers, Ltd.
__________________________________________
Remote camera view of one of the tomb niches containing ossuaries. The team could see that maneuvering cameras within the spaces would be a challenge, to say the least. Photo credit: William Tarant, GE Inspection Technologies and Associated Producers, Ltd.
___________________________________________
The narrow gaps between the ossuaries and the walls of the niches presented a major problem for a camera probe. Photo credit: William Tarant, GE Inspection Technologies and Associated Producers, Ltd.
Above and below: Views of the inscribed images discovered on the “Jonah Ossuary”, made possible through the robotic arm camera system devised by the team engineers. Photo credit: William Tarant, GE Inspection Technologies and Associated Producers, Ltd.
Closeup view of ossuary 6 with YONAH inscription highlighted. Background photo credit: William Tarant, GE Inspection Technologies and Associated Producers, Ltd.
_________________________________________
Article Supplement
The Lost Primacy of James the Just
The discovery of the James Ossuary and its original provenance in the Garden Tomb has served to support and draw attention to an overlooked or, as Tabor would suggest, historically suppressed, point about the man James (otherwise known as ‘James the Just’), the brother of Jesus who was also an Apostle and a major player in the very earliest movement of the followers of Jesus.
James, considered a significant figure associated with Jesus in the Apostolic period, was recorded by Josephus to have died in 62 CE, having been first hurled from the top of Jerusalem’s southeastern Old City wall by his adversaries and then bludgeoned to death after having barely survived the fall into the Kidron Valley below. He has often been referred to as ‘James the Just’, or James, brother of Jesus. Not to be confused with James, son of Zebedee, another apostle, Roman Catholic tradition holds that he was James, son of Alphaeus, or ‘James the Less’. Tabor argues that James was likely Jesus’ “beloved disciple” referred to in the gospel accounts, facilitated in no small measure by his close familial relationship with Jesus (“nursed with the same milk,” as recorded in the Second Apocalypse of James).
“Although Peter is [traditionally] remembered as the titular leader of the apostles, our earliest New Testament sources tell a somewhat different story,” writes Tabor. He points to the Acts of the Apostles, for example, as making reference in several places to the primacy of James’ leadership. And he refers to other sources, such as Eusebius and the testimony of Hegesippus (a Jewish Christian of the early second century CE), as well as the Gospel of Thomas, the famous manuscript found among the Coptic texts in the Nag Hammadi library. “Although the Gospel of Thomas dates to the third century,” writes Tabor, “scholars have shown that it preserves, despite later theological embellishments, an original Aramaic document that comes to us from the early days of the Jerusalem church. It……provides us with our clearest evidence that James succeeded Jesus as leader of the movement.”
Tabor asserts that James was systematically, over time, written out or downplayed in the evolving Rome-centered Christian theology’s emphasis on Peter as the apostle through whom the ‘keys of the kingdom’ were to pass and to whom ecclesiastical authority was to be traced after Jesus.
________________________________________
Article Supplement
Mary Magdalene — The Companion of Jesus?
Dan Brown’s popular novel, The Da Vinci Code, tells the sensational story revolving around the notion that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus, giving birth to his child and thus leaving a legacy of physical ‘heirs’ to his lineage. A false and unthinkable circumstance, according to many scholars and certainly according to most theologians. There is little disputing, however, that she is considered one of Jesus’ inner circle of followers. It is clear from the canonized gospel accounts.
But a closer and broader examination of ancient writings could be depicting a significantly different portrait of the woman who, next to his mother Mary, figured so prominently in Jesus’ life — one that may not be too far removed from the fictional image so portrayed of Mary Magdalene in the Dan Brown book. Tabor writes about it in his blog and in his books, drawing from a variety of ancient texts, included among them the Coptic text of The Gospel of Mary and The Gospel of Philip. They describe a Mary who is closer to him than any of the other apostles, privy to his thoughts, and even his intimate companion, as would be typically ascribed to a wife:
“Peter saying to Mary: “Sister, we know the savior loved you more than any other woman. Tell us the words of the savior that you remember, which you know but we do not, because we have not heard them.” Mary answered and said, “What is hidden from you I shall reveal to you.” (Gospel of Mary)
“The companion of the [savior] is Mary Magdalene. The [savior loved] her more than [all] the disciples, [and he] kissed her often on her [mouth]. The other [disciples] said to him, Why do you love her more than all of us?” (Gospel of Philip)
“Taken together, these texts [to which he refers to a number of texts in addition to the gospels of Mary and Philip]…….provide us with a broader context in which the evidence from the Talpiot tombs can be read in a new light,” writes Tabor.
By ‘evidence from the Talpiot tombs’ Tabor refers mostly to the Talpiot Garden Tomb which contained, according to him, an ossuary with an inscription identifying Mary Magdalene — an ossuary that contained ancient bone residue which, based on scientific DNA analysis, revealed a person interred in the tomb who bore no blood relationship to the person whose bone residue was found in the Jesus, Son of Joseph ossuary.
It brings us to the question: Was Mary Magdalene the wife of Jesus?
Given that no blood connection likely meant a family member through the relationship of marriage, based on what is known about the remains of individuals in ancient 1st century CE Jewish tombs, one has to consider the possibility, according to Tabor. And it would have been natural for a rabbi of the time, which Jesus was, to be married and the head of a family, he adds. He maintains that the ascetic concept of celibacy was introduced by church fathers interpreting the writings of Paul in later centuries, becoming a part of the accepted doctrine governing the behavior and circumstances of ecclesiastical authorities.
_______________________________
A Continuing Quest
Tabor’s quest to uncover the historical truth about Jesus has not ended with the tombs. His research into the ancient writings, both canonized and otherwise, lie at the core of his endeavors. However, equally significant for him are the onging archaeological investigations into the places and artifacts that could bear on the historicity of Jesus’ life and times. His co-directorship of the Mount Zion excavations in Jerusalem, where he and co-director archaeologist Shimon Gibson have been excavating for several seasons, has, and he hopes will continue to, shed additional new light on the lifeways and circumstances of members of the Jerusalem power elite during the crucial last days of Jesus, filling in new details in the backdrop that framed the events of his trial, death and its aftermath. He plans to conduct archaeological excavations in the area beneath the Armenian parking lot that lies on the other side of the Turkish Old City wall, adjacent to his suggested judgment seat of Pilate, where he suspects remains of the Roman Praetorium still lie buried. And there is still the future potential for conducting further DNA testing on any osteological/organic traces that may still exist within the interior porous limestone walls of the Garden Tomb ossuaries—leading, for example, to clarification of the relationship of the subject who was interred in the Judah son of Jesus ossuary to those who were interred in the Jesus son of Joseph and Maramene Mara (‘Mary Magdalene’) ossuaries.
Given the sensitivity that surrounds any findings and scientific claims related to the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth, however, Tabor makes clear that his research does not discredit or destroy faith. Indeed, anyone who spends time with Tabor would clearly see that there is a man of deep faith behind the practicing scientist/historian. It can be seen particularly in how he personally views Jesus.
“I see the main focus of Jesus’ message summarized best in the prayer he taught,” he says: ‘Let your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Jesus focused on the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, which he declared was at hand! This means more than just a future apocalyptic “end of the age,” as he makes clear, but a present transformation of all areas of human society toward justice and righteousness.”
In addition to accompanying him throughout the ‘Holy Land’ and Jerusalem, Popular Archaeology interviewed Tabor. Below are his responses to some key questions related to his work. (Pictured left: Tabor looks on near the remains of the judgment seat of Pilate)
The Talpiot Tombs
Q: What in your mind is the most significant contribution or impact of the Jesus family (Talpiot A) tomb discovery on the scholarly quest to understand the historical Jesus and early Christianity? Why is this important?
A: There are several important contributions. If the Talpiot A tomb is truly the family tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, along with the “James ossuary” that we now believe was also removed from this tomb, this would give us the first direct material archaeological link to Jesus himself—not to mention his family. Further, that we would find the bones of Jesus preserved in an ossuary helps to advance our understanding of the nature of the earliest Christian faith in resurrection as expounded by Paul. The physical body, as Paul says, is shuffled off like old clothing, and the “naked” soul is then reclothed with a new spiritual body (2 Corinthians 5:1-10). This serves to reinforce for us that the earliest Christian faith in Jesus’ resurrection was not simply the resuscitation of his corpse, but a transformation into a new spiritual body, with the old “clothing” left behind. Finally, we learn from this tomb that Jesus was married and had at least one son—Judah, something our theologically oriented gospels, written decades after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, would not preserve or choose to mention in the interest of an emphasis on Jesus’ heavenly origins and divinity.
Q: Do you have any reason to suspect or suggest that there may be more tombs with features/finds of similar import to be found in the area of the Talpiot tombs?
A: There is a third tomb in the area but unfortunately it was destroyed completely in 1980 by the building blasts at the time. What we could eventually do is actually enter the “Patio” tomb, just 60 meters from the Jesus tomb, and examine in great detail all the evidence, especially settling some of the questions regarding the inscribed ossuaries and what they mean.
The Mount Zion Excavation
Q: Are there any significant finds, or potentially significant finds related to the Mount Zion excavations, that you think should be mentioned, but have not been mentioned or covered adequately thus far in the popular press?
A: I think the main thing is that this area of the city in the time of Jesus was a priestly “district” or Quarter—running up the slope to the top of Mt Zion, and we know that Caiaphus and other priestly families lived in this exclusive area. That Jesus has connections through the patron that owned the “Upper Room” house [the scene of the ‘Last Supper] at the top tells us that he did move in a wide variety of circles. It helps to explain how Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, would have been sympathetic followers of Jesus.
General
Q: Are there any other comments or observations you would like to make related to the historical Jesus and John the Baptizer?
A: I believe it is important to see the two of them as a powerful team, united in purpose and cause, with John given his proper role as “greater” than any of those born of women. He went before Jesus but was his Teacher and inspiration. Later Christian theology totally reverses this by marginalizing John and exalting Jesus as the preexistent God in the flesh. This is totally alien to things as they were and act as a barrier to appreciating these two towering figures in terms of what they truly stood for.
Q: Given the controversial and sensitive nature of some of the hypotheses and suggestions that you have advanced about the historical Jesus, what has given you the courage to continue to speak out in defense of your views and findings?
A: I don’t in fact find any of the things I have suggested as properly “controversial” or “sensitive.” I am simply trying to see Jesus in a realistic way—as he actually was—rather than through the veil of Christian theology. He was a Jew, not a Christian and he knew nothing of the theological propositions that came to be propagated in his name. In fact I think he would be quite horrified at the whole transformation.
Q: When your life and work is finished, what would be the personal legacy you hope to leave in our understanding of the historical Jesus?
A: That Jesus was the man in whom God was well pleased and who unleashed a movement that centered on seeing the “will of God done on earth as it is in heaven”—still inspiring millions with his program and his cause.
________________________________________
Not all of Tabor’s suggestions about the historical Jesus have been covered within the limitations of this article. However, more detailed information about the results of Dr. Tabor’s decades of research can be obtained from his books,The Jesus Dynasty, andThe Jesus Discovery, both published by Simon and Schuster. Also of interest would be Tabor’s blog, which is updated frequently with new posts.
—Ed.
Unless otherwise noted, all images courtesy of the author.
For more articles like this, subscribe to Popular Archaeology Premium. Available on all laptops and mobile devices, and still the industry’s best value at only $9.00 annually.
Arianna Zakrzewski is an intern and writer for Popular Archaeology. She is also a graduate from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. She has had an interest in archaeology since elementary school, specifically Egyptology and the Classics. In recent years, she has also gained an interest in historical archaeology, and has spent time in the field working in St. Mary’s City, Maryland, participating in excavation and archival research. Most recently, she completed her MA in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently focused on collections management and making archaeological discoveries accessible and exciting to the public.
It was a desperate time. Knowing that the massive army of Babylonia’s King Nebuchadnezzar was decisively making its way through the countryside, he could see that, one by one, the defensive strongholds of the Kingdom of Judah were falling.
“Let my lord know that we are watching over the beacon of Lachish, according to the signals which my lord gave, for Azekah is not seen,” wrote officer Hoshaiah to Yaush.
Yaush was the commanding officer of Lachish. At the time Hoshaiah was writing, Lachish was a major city within the Kingdom of Judah. Azekah, the other town mentioned by Hoshaiah, was another fortified settlement in the region. The statement was written about 2600 years ago with carbon ink in ancient Hebrew upon a clay fragment of pottery. This artifact is among those that testify to the days just before the fall of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar’s fateful military campaign. Like other ancient sites in what is today modern Israel, the ancient city paints for us through its archaeological remains a compelling and tumultuous historical narrative.
Located near the present-day Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, it is arguably one of the most famous sites in the ancient Near East. Not only has it been referenced in the Bible, but in the Amarna tablets and other Egyptian and Assyrian sources, as well. “We have the iconography, and the Biblical text, and of course the site describes itself as we excavate it,” says Professor Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology. Garfinkel has been leading an excavation project at Tel Lachish (the tel or mound that contains its ancient remains), along with Professor Michael Hasel at Southern Adventist University and a team of archaeologists, for five years. “It’s a meeting point between everything: history, iconography, and archaeology.”
Off and on for well over 80 years, since the first expedition under James Leslie Starkey in the 1930’s, Tel Lachish has yielded hundreds of thousands of artifacts, including structural features such as massive fortification walls, ramparts, palaces and temples — and Garfinkel’s recent expedition has uncovered some remarkable new findings, particularly as they relate to the ancient Canaanite occupation of the site.
Lachish Letter III, one of the Lachish letters written on a potsherd (ostrocon) discovered at Tel Lachish during earlier excavations. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
_________________________
The Canaanite Temple
According to the Biblical tradition, Joshua conquered and destroyed the Canaanite city of Lachish. Subsequently, the ancient Israelites rebuilt and transformed the ancient city into a major stronghold of their own.
“We know that Lachish was the second most important city in the kingdom of Judah,” Garfinkel explains. “Today you have Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. In ancient times you had Jerusalem and Lachish. One of the interests we have in the Canaanite culture is that the Biblical text is against the Canaanite cult. When the people of Israel come, they destroy the Canaanite high places, they break the standing stones, they break and destroy the altars, and the rest. We see that the [writers of] the Bible really hate this Canaanite religion because it was more pagan, and the Biblical text—the theology at least—is [documenting the creation of] a new religion: monotheism. They [the Canaanites] created an iconic kind of religion, so they [the ancient Israelites] were against the pictures and statues of the Canaanites, and everything the Canaanites did was forbidden.”
Garfinkel and his team hope to shed additional light on this ancient culture. During excavations beginning in 2013, Garfinkel and colleagues began to uncover the remains of what they identified as a Canaanite temple rich in artifacts, a relatively rare find in the archaeology of the Levant. Lachish was a city that was built, destroyed, and rebuilt several times in its history under varying occupations. Garfinkel explains: “The Canaanite temple [we uncovered] is from the last Canaanite city occupation. This city was destroyed first around 1200 BCE; this is Level 7. Then the local Canaanites rebuilt it again; this is Level 6. Our temple is from Level 6 and was destroyed about 50 years later at around 1150 BCE. After the destruction of Level 6, the whole area was deserted for about 200 years before being rebuilt again.A Canaanite temple in Nablus was excavated in the beginning of the 20th century, and then a second in a different location was excavated by the Oriental Institute in the 1920s and 1930s. Both temples were found empty, with almost no meaningful objects found within. In the 1950s, another type of Canaanite temple was discovered, but again yielded very little helpful information. Since then, we haven’t really had much information.”
Until Garfinkel’s recent excavation.
“The Canaanite city was destroyed, and the temple was completely destroyed, but it’s amazing because it was not heavily looted,” he explains. “We found gold artifacts, silver artifacts, bronze artifacts, pottery and stone vessels… We have a lot of wonderful discoveries. This temple was loaded with objects—cultic objects and other kinds of objects—so not only is the architecture important here, but what we find inside as well.”
Garfinkel explains that he and his team came to Lachish to investigate Level 5 (a later time period) and found a new city wall in their excavations. “We used carbon dating that placed it at the end of the 10th century BCE,” he goes on. “This fits very nicely with the Biblical tradition. Now, I’m not a religious person. For me, the Bible is not a holy script; I’m not trying to prove it. We have the historical tradition, though, and we need to see if the archaeology can support it or not. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. In this case, we know that Level 5 was fortified at the same time described in the Biblical text.”
“Excavating the Canaanite temple has nothing to do with the Biblical tradition in this case, but it is a very important discovery to understand the Canaanite culture,” continues Garfinkel. “Every culture is important. This is part of the big puzzle of understanding the human past. And this is what I’m trying to do.”
The overall design of this temple compares similarly to other Canaanite temples in northern Israel, such as Nablus, Megiddo and Hazor. The structural layout consists of two columns and two towers in front, leading into a large hall. The inner space featured four columns and several “standing stones” interpreted to be possible representations of gods. Its shape and side room features resemble the typical design of later temples, such as Solomon’s Temple.
__________________________
Above and below: Canaanite Temple at Tel Lachish. Archaeologists work to excavate the Biblical city of Lachish. (Yosef Garfinkel)Courtesy of the Fourth Expedition to Lachish
__________________________
__________________________
The Finds Within
Among the artifacts uncovered during excavations were two fully intact cauldrons made of bronze. This was a rare occurrence, making them the first complete cauldrons to be found in the region. Prior to this discovery, Garfinkel explains that it is common to find small fragments or the handles of cauldrons, but never a complete piece.In addition to the two cauldrons, a silver pendant with an Egyptian-style naked goddess holding flowers, Egyptian scarabs, and silver earrings were uncovered, as well as a small, boat-like object made from bronze and covered in gold with an inscription of Ramses II.Two bronze figurines depicting smiting gods were also found in the temple’s ‘Hall of Holies’, holding a mace in their hands in a fighting stance. “We’ve also discovered gold,” Garfinkel says. “Gold earrings, gold sheets, gold beads… I’ve never found so much gold in my life!”
Perhaps the most interesting discovery, however, was a pottery sherd, or ostracon, engraved with ancient Canaanite script. It includes the letter “samekh”, which is characterized by a vertical line crossed by three perpendicular shorter lines. As such, it is the oldest known example of this letter and important to research on ancient alphabets.
“What do we know about the alphabet, really?” asks Garfinkel. “It was invented by the Canaanites under Egyptian influence at around 1800 BCE. The number of Canaanite inscriptions is very small. In all these years [since we’ve been excavating Canaanite sites] there’s less than twenty inscriptions. Most of them are very short, with only a few words. Over the years, we’ve found most of the letters, like L, F, A, B, C, D, F, and so on, but one letter was never found until now.” Samekh is not found in the English language, but it is a major letter in Semitic script.
In early civilizations like Mesopotamia and Egypt, difficult systems of writing were developed, like cuneiform and hieroglyphics. These were complicated systems, inaccessible and requiring special training to understand. Typically, only scribes could read and write in these societies. The Canaanite alphabet, on the other hand, started at 32 letters but was eventually reduced to 22 letters in total. This writing system was much more accessible, and soon anyone could learn how to read and write, much like today. “This is the most important contribution of the Canaanites to world culture,” Garfinkel says.
__________________________
A Canaanite storage jar sherd with an inscription bearing the letter “samekh.” T. Rogovski
__________________________
Two smiting gods uncovered at the Canaanite temple at Lachish. T. Rogovski
__________________________
Going Forward
Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, at the Khirbet a-Ra‘i excavation, on July 8, 2019. Times of Israel
Next year, Garfinkel and his team will not be returning to Lachish. “We are moving to another important Canaanite site, Tel Hazor,” he explains. “Hazor was the largest Canaanite city in the region. Just to give an example, Lachish is 7.5 hectares. Hazor is 80 hectares. It is more than ten times bigger than Lachish; it was like New York, or Tokyo. It was the largest city in the Near East [for its time]—not just there, but in the Southern Levant, in this region of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and so on.” Hazor was a major cultural center, and Garfinkel and his team hope this new expedition will shed more light on the Canaanite culture.
Professor Garfinkel invites anyone who might be interested to join him in helping to excavate the past: “Every summer, there are twenty to thirty excavations [in Israel], and volunteers can join and work for anywhere from two to six weeks.”
Compelling stories dramatize and humanize major events and characters in the history of Ephesus, the ruins of which are a popular destination for tourists in present-day Turkey.Historium Press, 2023.Available from Amazon and other online booksellers.
WHO WERE THE AEGEANS? The exciting new podcast series exploring the mysteries of the ancient Aegeans, the Bronze Age people who inspired Homer's epic stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
