Archaeology Update 24 June 2024 Maybe there is something wrong with my sense of humor, but I had to laugh at what archaeologists found. Let me give you a little background first. There is a Roman object which they have been trying to figure out for quite some time, it was named a dodecahedron. There are no moving parts and it is an object which has holes and what seem like leg buds all around it. There have been many theories of its use or that maybe it was some sort of religious object. It has been said the most recent one found is bigger than the rest. That is when I laughed. It was as if fate was playing a joke on the archaeologists. They now have a new dodecahedron mystery and that is not only what it is used for, but why this one is bigger. Archaeologists have found something which could be one of the greatest tomb finds in Roman history. There is a story which goes this way, Romulus and Remus founded Rome, but it could really never be verified. This may have changed. Archaeologists think they may have found the tomb of one of the two. The problem is the tomb is empty. The temple the tomb is in contains an altar dedicated to Romulus, one of the founders of the city. The tomb is located near the spot where Romulus was said to be murdered. Historians mostly believe Romulus is only a myth. There are those however who believe he lived about 800 B.C. Another Roman tomb find was said to have been made by Japanese archaeologists. They think they may have found the place where Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus was buried after he died. They found possible traces of a villa known as Villa of Augustus. It is said he was the adopted nephew of Julus Caesar and the first emperor of the Roman Empire. An interesting bit of info is the villa was built on the side of Mount Vesuvius and was destroyed the same time as Pompeii. Archaeologists think they might have found out why the Maya civilization collapsed. They have been trying to figure this mystery out for years and have blamed it on everything from lack of water to too many people being sacrificed. They found a religious icon which seemed to have been destroyed on purpose. Archaeologists think the fall was due to political instability. They believe the desecration of the bodies of royals, points to the people having had enough of royal rule. It was also found that by the 900s A.D. they were being invaded by people on the edge of their territory. Eventually a strongman named Papmalil who was not Maya took over several kingdoms. Some northern Maya kingdoms lasted until about 1400 A.D. Why is it the idea of finding a message in a bottle excites so many people, especially when the bottle and message are very old? While archaeologists were working at the mansion of George Washington two sealed glass bottles were found from the 18th century. There is a Mansion Revitalization Project going on there. There are no notes in these bottles, but there is liquid. It is believed the bottles were manufactured in Europe between the 1740s and 1750s. It is not known what the liquid in the bottles is. Jellies have also been found. Archaeologists have discovered a Roman villa complex. It is said to have been found at the Barratt and David Wilson Homes housing development located in Grove, South Oxfordshire in England. One of the things they found I was surprised to find out. I never thought of the Romans as being very superstitious, but I guess I should have since they were an ancient people. This idea was brought home by a recent find. The find was of curse tablets. Another strange object which was found were tiny axes which were believed to have been used as religious offerings. There were hundreds of coins found along with a horsehead belt buckle. There is no doubt, when starting projects on the land, you will need archaeologists to inspect the property first before starting work. Roman ruins seem to be all over Europe and other countries. Speaking about England again, large hand axes were found in England which are dated back to 300,000 years. Some are considered too large for a normal sized person to use. There are different ideas of who used them. One idea is they were used in some sort of demonstration of strength and skill, but another idea is giants might have used them. There are many people who think giants existed on earth, and the truth is being covered up. Archaeologists are not sure what race made them. It is amazing what can still be found which has very ancient roots. We usually do not think of New Mexico as a place where we can find proof of ancient races, but this is not entirely true. Recently geomorphologists found the remains of a campsite. So what you might say? This was not an ordinary campsite, but a very ancient one. As a matter of fact, it is like a miracle it was still there, because it was over 8000 years old. The site was about 6 feet down and near a road. It has been named Gomolak Overlook. A large crater was spotted from space. It is located in France and is only a little over 100 years old. Someday, it might become an archaeological feature but certainly not in our time. It was created in 1916 when the British filled an underground tunnel which they dug with explosives and blew up the German lines. The crater certainly has historical worth. Its name is Lochnagar Crater in France. One thing archaeologists do not know much about is use of wooden tools hundreds of thousands of years ago. Some were found and dated to 300000 years ago. In 1981 wooden tools this old were found in what is now Germany, and amazingly, they were well preserved. 187 wooden tools were found, and named the Spear Horizon. The tools were made from spruce, larch and pine. They were sharpened to a point at the edge. It is believed they were split and scraped to obtain the edge. Not all tools were believed to be hunting tools. Archaeologists broke down the number this way, 20 to 25 were hunting weapons, about 35 seemed to be domestic use tools. This left some unknowns. It is interesting to note some were repaired and also some repurposed. It is important to know how our ancestors lived and if they made mistakes we can avoid today. What we have found is our ancient relatives were a lot smarter than we first thought.
|
