Latest discovery coming as a result of metro construction in Thessaloniki is a Roman road on top of the original Greek one … here’s the salient bits from AP via NPR:
Archaeologists in Greece’s second-largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city’s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago.[…]
The excavation site was shown to the public on Monday, when details of the permanent display project were also announced. Several of the large marble paving stones were etched with children’s board games, while others were marked by horse-drawn cart wheels.
Also discovered at the site were remains of tools and lamps, as well as the bases of marble columns.
Viki Tzanakouli, an archaeologist working on the project, told The Associated Press the Roman road was about 1,800 years old, while remains of an older road built by the ancient Greeks 500 years earlier were found underneath it.
“We have found roads on top of each other, revealing the city’s history over the centuries,” Tzanakouli said. “The ancient road, and side roads perpendicular to it appear to closely follow modern roads in the city today.”[…]
I’m kind of confused why this didn’t get picked up in more sources and am dismayed at the lack of
Lupa Capitolina: she-wolf with Romulus and Remus. Bronze, 12th century ADhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7499469.stm, 5th century BC (the twins are a 15th-century addition). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
detail … the original comes from Corriere della Sera:
Più giovane di 17 secoli. La Lupa capitolina, statua simbolo di Roma, raffigurata mentre allatta i gemelli Romolo e Remo, è stata scolpita nel Medioevo. Cioè 1.700 anni più tardi di quanto di era ritenuto finora: la scultura dunque non è etrusca, non è stata realizzata nel V secolo avanti Cristo. ma tra l’XI e il XII dopo Cristo. DUE SECOLI DI DIBATTITO – Sono gli studi più recenti condotti sulla Lupa a chiudere la querelle sulla sua datazione, che anche di recente ha diviso restauratori e storici dell’arte. Ne hanno dato conto in una conferenza stampa il direttore dei Musei capitolini Claudio Parisi Presicce, dove la statua è conservata, il sovrintendente ai Beni culturali Umberto Broccoli e l’assessore alla Cultura del Campidoglio Dino Gasperini. «La tesi – ha spiegato quest’ultimo – è che sia la copia medievale di un originale etrusco». «Il dibattito scientifico dura da secoli, almeno da Winckelmann in poi – ha commentato Broccoli – e a mio parere una risposta definitiva non verrà mai, perché ci sarà sempre una forchetta di oscillazione temporale. Però certamente è stata fatta molta chiarezza in più». Il sovrintendente Umberto BroccoliIl sovrintendente Umberto Broccoli IL RUOLO DELLA SCIENZA – Per cambiare la data di nascita della Lupa, gli esami sono iniziati 1996, con l’avvio del restauro, e sono proseguiti tra il 2009 ed il 2011. La tecnica della spettrometria di massa con acceleratore ha permesso di estrarre e analizzare campioni organici adatti alla datazione con il radiocarbonio. In particolare sono stati esaminati numerosi campioni di resti vegetali dalle terre di fusione utilizzate per realizzare la statua. Da questi test sono emersi una serie di dati che hanno consentito, tramite una combinazione statistica, di spostare l’origine della Lupa al medioevo. L’università del Salento, che ha eseguito le analisi, ritiene che ] Più giovane di 17 secoli. La Lupa capitolina, statua simbolo di Roma, raffigurata mentre allatta i gemelli Romolo e Remo, è stata scolpita nel Medioevo. Cioè 1.700 anni più tardi di quanto di era ritenuto finora: la scultura dunque non è etrusca, non è stata realizzata nel V secolo avanti Cristo. ma tra l’XI e il XII dopo Cristo.
DUE SECOLI DI DIBATTITO – Sono gli studi più recenti condotti sulla Lupa a chiudere la querelle sulla sua datazione, che anche di recente ha diviso restauratori e storici dell’arte. Ne hanno dato conto in una conferenza stampa il direttore dei Musei capitolini Claudio Parisi Presicce, dove la statua è conservata, il sovrintendente ai Beni culturali Umberto Broccoli e l’assessore alla Cultura del Campidoglio Dino Gasperini. «La tesi – ha spiegato quest’ultimo – è che sia la copia medievale di un originale etrusco». «Il dibattito scientifico dura da secoli, almeno da Winckelmann in poi – ha commentato Broccoli – e a mio parere una risposta definitiva non verrà mai, perché ci sarà sempre una forchetta di oscillazione temporale. Però certamente è stata fatta molta chiarezza in più».
IL RUOLO DELLA SCIENZA – Per cambiare la data di nascita della Lupa, gli esami sono iniziati 1996, con l’avvio del restauro, e sono proseguiti tra il 2009 ed il 2011. La tecnica della spettrometria di massa con acceleratore ha permesso di estrarre e analizzare campioni organici adatti alla datazione con il radiocarbonio. In particolare sono stati esaminati numerosi campioni di resti vegetali dalle terre di fusione utilizzate per realizzare la statua. Da questi test sono emersi una serie di dati che hanno consentito, tramite una combinazione statistica, di spostare l’origine della Lupa al medioevo. L’università del Salento, che ha eseguito le analisi, ritiene che l’attribuzione all’XI-XII secolo sia attendibile al 95,4%.
The only English coverage so far, oddly enough, is in Gulf Times:
A study has shown that the Capitoline Wolf, a bronze statue representing Ancient Rome’s most famous symbol, was probably sculpted during the Middle Ages, some 17 centuries later than what has long been thought, media reports said yesterday. Researchers at the University of Salento, who carried out radiocarbon and thermoluminescence tests, believe the statue dates from around the 12th century AD and not the 5th BC, daily Corriere della Sera said. The statue, which is kept at Rome’s Capitoline Musuems, depicts a she-wolf suckling human twins. The pair represent Romulus and Remus, brothers who, according to legend, founded Rome in 753 BC. Most experts believe the twins were added in the late 15th century AD, probably by the sculptor Antonio Pollaiolo. However, the she-wolf was thought to have been a much older work, possibly pillaged by conquering Roman soldiers and then used as a symbol of the founding myth of their city. “(Now) the thesis is that it is medieval copy of an original Etruscan work,” Rome’s municipality supervisor for culture, Umberto Broccoli, said at a news conference. Broccoli noted that 18th-century German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann had first attributed – based on how the wolf’s fur was depicted – the statue to an Etruscan maker in the 5th century BC. “The scientific debate has lasted for centuries, at least from Winckelmann onwards and it is my opinion that we will never have a definitive answer,” Broccoli said. However, the latest study had brought “much more clarity”, Broccoli added.
This seems to be a followup to a little brouhaha that rearose back in November (see, e.g., in the Telegraph: Romulus and Remus symbol of Rome could be medieval replica) which I don’t think we got around to blogging about. Folks should read Dorothy King’s post from the time: The Capitoline Lupercalia … I think the objections remain. The Corriere della Sera piece mentions radiocarbon dating again, but they’ve done some statistical shifting (i.e. it doesn’t appear they’ve done new tests, but they’ve fudged the numbers … I can’t really find anything on this at the USalento site). The Gulf piece mentions thermoluminescence as well, but I’m not sure how that would apply in this situation. Whatever the case, we seem to be on the cusp of turning the Capitoline She Wolf into the Shroud of Turin of the Classics set …
Folks might also be interested in a couple of posts from 2006:
A new study puts some finishing touches on the 2,300-year history of the beak-like weapon that an ancient warship used to ram enemy ships in the First Punic War, the conflict between ancient Rome and Carthage. The report, in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry, also identifies a major threat that conservators must address in preserving this archaeological treasure for future generations.
Patrick Frank and colleagues explain that the ram, called a rostrum, was found in 2008 under 22 feet of water, 150 feet offshore from Acqualadrone (which means “Bay of the Pirates”) in northeastern Sicily. The Acqualadrone rostrum is bronze, with a wooden core that was preserved because of burial beneath the seafloor. Carbon-14 dating suggests that the warship sank around 260 B.C. after being damaged in the battle of Mylae during the opening stages of the First Punic War, which may have been among the largest wars of its time. Earlier research localized the metals in the bronze to mines in Spain or Cyprus. The authors, from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University and the University of Palermo, set out in the new research to learn more about the origin and condition of the rostrum wood.
Their analysis of the acids and other substances in the wood showed that the strutwork of the Acqualadrone rostrum was pine, waterproofed with pine tar. Other woods, like juniper and oak, and other ancient marine sealants, like beeswax, were ruled out. Importantly, the research found copious sulfur in the wood that could turn into sulfuric acid, an extremely corrosive substance. Sulfuric acid is known to appear in recovered wooden marine archaeological treasures and can threaten their existence. The authors argue that iron and copper permeating the wood may catalyze that transformation, but they suggest that removing ozone from museum air could slow the conversion.
The gist: Roman mosaics and a piece of wall dating from the Republican period (2nd/1st century A.D.) beneath some former police barracks … From Oggi Notizie:
Un mosaico romano, una parte di muro ed un pavimento musivo di epoca romana: questa l’importante scoperta archeologica annunciata ieri dal presidente della Provincia di Rieti, Fabio Melilli, durante un sopralluogo nel cantiere della ex caserma del comando provinciale dei carabinieri di Rieti.
Durante i lavori di ristrutturazione e miglioramento sismico dell’edificio di via Cintia, sotto la supervisione della Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Lazio, sono state rinvenute numerose strutture murarie relative a differenti epoche storiche. Si tratta di un mosaico romano, inquadrabile in eta’ repubblicana (II-I sec. a.C.), tornato alla luce dalle fondamenta di un’ala di Palazzo Aluffi. Scavando e’ stata individuata anche una muratura, risalente al periodo sei-settecentesco, e un pavimento musivo di eta’ romana.
“Si tratta di due mosaici di due diverse fasi – ha spiegato il soprintendente Giovanna Alvino, presente al sopralluogo – ma entrambi di eta’ repubblicana. Particolarmente interessante quello con il disegno geometrico, perch‚ non molto diffuso. Ora bisognerà vedere come conciliare le esigenze espositive con quelle dell’utilizzo della struttura – ha concluso l’esperta della Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Lazio – ma quello che conta e’ che ci sia la volonta’ della Provincia di proseguire quest’opera di recupero importantissima”.
From a Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena press release:
Archaeologists of the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena found one of the oldest archaeological evidence so far of Jewish Culture on the Iberian Peninsula at an excavation site in the south of Portugal, close to the city of Silves (Algarve). On a marble plate, measuring 40 by 60 centimetres, the name “Yehiel” can be read, followed by further letters which have not yet been deciphered. The Jena Archaeologists believe that the new discovery might be a tomb slab. Antlers, which were found very close to the tomb slab in the rubble gave a clue to the age determination. “The organic material of the antlers could be dated by radiocarbon analysis with certainty to about 390 AD,” excavation leader Dr. Dennis Graen of the Jena University explains. “Therefore we have a so-called ‘terminus ante quem’ for the inscription, as it must have been created before it got mixed in with the rubble with the antlers.”
The earliest archaeological evidence of Jewish inhabitants in the region of modern-day Portugal has so far also been a tomb slab with a Latin inscription and an image of a menorah – a seven-armed chandelier – from 482 AD. The earliest Hebrew inscriptions known until now date from the 6th or 7th Century AD.
From Jena to Jerusalem
For three years the team of the University Jena has been excavating a Roman villa in Portugal, discovered some years ago by Jorge Correia, archaeologist of the Silves council, during an archaeological survey near the village of São Bartolomeu de Messines (Silves). The project was aiming at finding out how and what the inhabitants of the hinterland of the Roman province of Lusitania lived off. While the Portuguese coast region has been explored very well, there is very little knowledge about those regions. The new discovery poses further conundrums.
“We were actually hoping for a Latin inscription when we turned round the excavated tomb slab,” Henning Wabersich, a member of the excavation reports. After all, no inscriptions have been found so far and nothing was known about the identity of the inhabitants of the enclosure. Only after long research the Jena Archaeologists found out which language they were exactly dealing with, as the inscription was not cut with particular care. “While we were looking for experts who could help with deciphering the inscription between Jena and Jerusalem, the crucial clue came from Spain”, Dennis Graen says. “Jordi Casanovas Miró from the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona – a well-known expert for Hebrew inscriptions on the Iberian Peninsula – is sure that the Jewish name “Yehiel” can be read, – a name that is already mentioned in the Bible.”
Hebrew unusual in Roman villa
Not only is the early date exceptional in this case, but also the place of the discovery: Never before have Jewish discoveries been made in a Roman villa, the Jena Archaelogist explains. In the Roman Empire at that time Jews usually wrote in Latin, as they feared oppressive measures. Hebrew, as on the re-discovered marble plate, only came back into use after the decline of the Roman supremacy, respectively in the following time of migration of peoples from the 6th or 7th century AD. “We were also most surprised that we found traces of Romans – romanised Lusitanians in this case – and Jews living together in a rural area of all things,” Dennis Graen says. “We assumed that something like this would have been much more likely in a city.”
Information about the Jewish population in the region in general was mostly passed down by scriptures. “During the ecclesiastical council in the Spanish town Elvira about 300 AD rules of conduct between Jews and Christians were issued. This indicates that at this time there must have been a relatively large number of Jews on the Iberian Peninsula already”, Dennis Graen explains – but archaeological evidence had been missing so far. “We knew that there was a Jewish community in the Middle Ages not far from our excavation site in the town of Silves. It existed until the expulsion of the Jews in the year 1497.”
In the summer the Jena Archaeologists will take up their work again. Until now they have excavated 160 square metres of the villa, but after checking out the ground it already became clear that the greater part of the enclosure is still covered in soil. “We eventually want to find out more about the people who lived here,” Graen explains the venture. “And of course we want to solve the questions the Hebrew inscription has posed us.”
rogueclassicism 