Tag: Archaeology

Roman Family Tomb from Syria

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Not quite enough details in this one for my liking:

Idleb Antiquities Department has unearthed a Roman-era cemetery dating back to the 3rd century AD in al-Massasia Valley, north of Darkoush town, in the northern Province of Idleb (Northern Syria).

Head of the Syrian Archaeological Excavations Department Musstafa Kaddour said that the cemetery consists of three sarcophaguses, two of them are two-meter long by half a meter wide and another smaller.

All were covered with stone slabs inside the cemetery.

Excavations indicate that the cemetery belongs to one family as many clay and glass jars and some precious stones were discovered.

A flat seal which belongs to the cemetery’s owner was also found.

Darkoush is a very important tourist site in Idleb Province. It contains a number of archaeological monuments in addition to a Roman bridge over River Orontes.

via Roman Tomb Unearthed in Northern Syria | Global Arab Network .

Protecting a Greek Shipwreck

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

Very interesting item buried in my email from last week:

The second century Greek trading vessel lies on the sea bed off the coast of Cavtat.

Little remains of the wooden ship but its cargo of earthenware amphora – ceramic vases – still remain stacked row upon row.

The vases, which originally contained olive oil and wine, are still tightly packed into the cargo hold as they were centuries ago.

Its cargo – one of the best preserved from an ancient wreck – has great historical significance and has an estimated value of £5m on the black market.

Croatian authorities are so concerned about looters plundering the valuable artefacts they have now protected the site – with a metal cage.

The heavy-duty cage features a large hinged door, which is kept locked with occasional access granted for divers under strict supervision.

Underwater photographer Neil Hope, of Torpoint in Cornwall, was among those given permission to dive the wreck.

He said: ”I’m an experienced diver and I’ve dived wrecks all over the world, but this was the most unique experience.

”I was taken down there by the man who discovered it. As soon as we were finished they closed the door and locked it up again.

”Obviously when you are inside you can’t touch any of the cargo as it is very valuable, so they don’t just let anyone inside the cage.

”You need excellent buoyancy skills so you’re not damaging these valuable things.”

He was working on an assignment for the British Sub-Aqua Club’s (BS-AC) DIVE magazine.

via Underwater ‘safe’ protects £5m shipwreck treasures | Telegraph.

Hmmm … very interesting. I can’t find that we’ve mentioned this shipwreck find before and it’s very interesting that we don’t seem to hear of any archaeologists in this report. FWIW, another shipwreck find in this general area seems to be under a cloak of secrecy: that Boka Kotorska wreck off Montenegro.

UPDATE: (a couple of weeks later) … an item from ABC suggests this really isn’t a ‘protection’ project, but the focus is actually dive-tourism (not a bad thing, but a different sort of impression than the original provides):

Roman Temple in Southwell (Iterum)

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

This one seems to be making the rounds again:

Remains unearthed in Nottinghamshire could be an unknown Roman temple, archaeologists have claimed.

Excavations on the Minster C of E School site in Southwell between September 2008 and May 2009 revealed walls, ditches and ornate stones.

The team analysing the finds said the shape and quality of the remains suggest it could have been an important place of worship.

This could mean Southwell enjoyed a high status Roman Britain, they added.

A wall of large block masonry that was probably plastered and possibly painted, with a ditch that may have contained water, was possibly the boundary of a large temple.

Roman pilgrims

The remains of timber scaffolding for the wall were also uncovered. Radiocarbon dating of this dated it to the first century.

Ursilla Spence from Nottinghamshire County Council, the archaeologist who supervised the work, said a lack of domestic remains, like pots and tools, also indicated a ceremonial use.

“This is a fascinating site,” she said. “But, so far, it has raised more questions than it has answered.

“I hope that future excavation work, when the site is developed, will throw more light on exactly what was going on here 2,000 years ago.

“But, whatever we might find in future, I believe we have already shown that Roman Southwell was a much more significant place than anyone previously thought.”

She added that if the site was a temple, a nearby ‘villa’ with mosaics, excavated in 1959, could actually have been a hotel for pilgrims.

The site is expected to be developed for housing and further excavation would take place during the building work.

via BBC News – Remains in Southwell ‘could be Roman temple’.

We first mentioned this back in December of 2008 (Roman Complex from Notts) and Adrian Murdoch (who mentioned on Twitter this was an “old story” was blogging about that one even before that (Roman temple at Southwell, Notts). It really doesn’t seem like there’s anything new here and it doesn’t appear that the relevant excavators’ website has been updated in a long time either.