Category: Archaeology

Infant Burial from Austria

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Here’s one from a month or so ago that I was hoping would get a bit more coverage, only to have it get lost in my email box … from the Austrian Independent:

Builders digging up land for a bypass at Schützen am Gebirge in Burgenland have unearthed a child’s grave dating back to Roman times.

Archeologists say that the tiny grave surrounded by heavy stones had been undisturbed until it was found by the road workers, and that it dated back to the first century after Christ.

They said the grave still had pottery and glass items inside which in many other cases had been stolen by grave robbers.

Archeologist Kurt Fiebig from the organisation PannArch that is doing the dig said: “It was a child’s grave, which unusually for the time was a whole body burial and not a cremation. We have found milk teeth in the skull that will help us identify the age of the body.”

The team said they had also found another grave nearby and what was the foundations of a house. The second grave however had already been plundered.

There are some photos of the finds here:

Another Nice Mosaic Find

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From Hurriyet:

A mosaic from the second or third century with a human figure has been found during the construction of a district bazaar area in the southern province of Mersin’s Tarsus district.

Tarsus Gov. Orhan Şefik Güldibi said the mosaic was unearthed by chance in the construction area.
“Maybe we have reached one of the most important archaeological remains in Tarsus. We know that the history of Tarsus dates back to ancient ages. We have found Orpheus mosaics on the ancient Roman road next to the courthouse. It shows us the richness of the district’s archaeological treasures,” he said.

After unearthing the mosaic, construction work was halted and scientific work was initiated. The district governor said that there was a structure 25 meters by five meters in the area they thought could be a water cistern from the early Roman period.

“This structure may also be the remains of a bath, palace or villa. We will see after the examinations. The human mosaic has Greek writing on it, which will be translated by experts. We think there are other mosaics around this one. We will restore and display it,” Güldibi said.

… as often, Hurriyet includes an annoyingly small photo of the mosaic (we want to read the Greek!!!!), ecce:

… I can’t figure it out, other than perhaps to suggest this is the origin of North American style football as we clearly have a quarterback sporting a playoff beard … more coffee needed.

Caesar’s Assassination Site Redux ~ “Excessive Interpretation”

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

Last week or so we mentioned the media flurry about the discovery of the purported site of Caesar’s assassination (Site of Caesar’s Assassination Found?) … those reports were generated by one of the archaeologists working at the Largo Argentina site (Antonio Monterroso) … now fellow archaeologist Marina Mattei is saying ‘not so fast …

Breaking: Intact Rooms from Rione Terra

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

The Italian press is just beginning to percolate with the news of the discovery of five intact rooms of a structure, with frescoes on the walls, which had been hidden behind a walled up door in Rione Terra. It seems to date from the first century B.C. … so far the photos aren’t that enlightening and the news has been brief, but if you want to check it out (in order of detail and/or relevant photography):

Cat Finds ‘Catacomb’

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

… but given that it was associated with a cliff, it seems more likely (and appropriate?) that it might be a columbarium of some sort … from the Guardian:

Rome may not exactly be short of catacombs, but one discovered this week is more deserving of the name than the city’s countless other subterranean burial chambers. For Mirko Curti stumbled into a 2,000-year-old tomb piled with bones while chasing a wayward moggy yards from his apartment building.

Curti and a friend were following the cat at 10pm on Tuesday when it scampered towards a low tufa rock cliff close to his home near Via di Pietralata in a residential area of the city. “The cat managed to get into a grotto and we followed the sound of its miaowing,” he said.

Inside the small opening in the cliff the two men found themselves surrounded by niches dug into the rock similar to those used by the Romans to hold funeral urns, while what appeared to be human bones littered the floor.

Archaeologists called to the scene said the tomb probably dated from between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Given that niches were used to store ashes in urns, the bones had probably tumbled into the tomb from a separate burial space higher up inside the cliff.

Heavy rains at the start of the week had probably caused rocks concealing the entrance to the tomb to crumble, they added.

Soft tufa rock has often been used for digging tombs over the centuries in Italy, but its softness means that ancient sites are today threatened by the elements. The cliffs near Via di Pietralata have also been extensively quarried.

Romans are often underwhelmed and sometimes irritated to find they are living on top of priceless remains. Shoppers arriving at the Ikea store on the outskirts of Rome leave their cars alongside a stretch of Roman road unearthed in the car park, while fans queueing to enter the city’s rugby stadium need to skirt around archaeologists excavating the Roman necropolis that stretches under the pitch. At the concert hall complex next door, halls had to be squeezed around an unearthed Roman villa.

But Curti said he was nonetheless amazed to wander into a tomb so close to his house, calling it “the most incredible experience” of his life.

… can’t seem to find any decent photos (this one doesn’t count)