Here are some posts I enjoyed this week:
They’re digging up Beowulf, or the kings from that period, in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden. Before Christianity came to this region, a dynasty of rulers, the Ynglinga, built palaces and temples. Three burial mounds have drawn archaeological attention. Traditionally these were supposed to belong to Thor, Odin and Freyr, but legends indicated the Ynglinga buried their dead there. And indeed princely finds and a warrior’s skeleton have come to light—although maybe those are indeed divine possessions and the archaeologists should watch out for jealous gods accusing them of theft. Click here for Archaeology Magazine “From the Trenches Gamla Uppsala Sweden”
Catch a museum of Roman antiquities on your subway trip. Near the Colosseum in Rome, a new metro stop will eventually include an underground museum of the 2nd C AD barracks that were found during construction, complete with mosaics and frescoes (fancy barracks, if you ask me). Interestingly they will lift the entire barracks out and then put it back in place after construction. It does kind of raise the question why the original location matters for this museum, but I think they address that at the end of this article. Click here for Archaeology Magazine “From the trenches While You are Waiting”
Never count Egypt out for totally new discoveries. An intact tomb of a family member from 19th C has been found by the Spanish Archaeological Mission. The names of the dead man, Shemai, and his father and older brother are present, and the family served as governors during Egypt’s 12th dynasty. Being able to study an undisturbed burial, everything in its original place, with modern standards of archaeology is a major boon. Among the contents, six wooden models: depictions of daily life and the boats used in the funerary trip. Click here for Archaeology Magazine From the Trenches Afterlife on the Nile”
The Trojan War told by horses? Apparently three years of preparation have gone into a show in China which is just that. There are also a few human actors this article says, in Greek costumes designed by an Italian, but mostly the myth is portrayed by horses. It will be performed in the stadium we saw during the Olympics, the Birds Nest. Hmmm. I am speechless… Click here for China “Epic horse how Troy to Premiere in Beijing”
Sometimes people have a romantic view of archaeology—treasures and beautiful objects coming to light from under the ground. We all know it’s a lot more than that, but this particular project in Egypt is an especially subtle and nuanced way of examining the daily realities of a time far in the past. Julia Budka is studying 3 sites in parallel, one distinctly in Egypt, one in Nubia where the Egyptians took over militarily, and one that was the center of trade between Egypt and Nubia. She wants to compare and evaluate the degree of cultural interaction. The one in Nubia that represents a hostile domination of conquered people is on the island of Sai in the Nile river, the part of the Nile that flows through ancient Nubia. The excavations at Sai reveal that the original fortified town, built entirely to hold Egypt’s military presence, gradually became a far more complicated and culturally shared place, with Egyptians giving way to Nubian born officials and Nubians adopting Egyptian practices, socially and religiously. How much else will be learned as the two other places are added into this picture isn’t clear to me from this short article, but I think this is a pretty complicated and interesting way to study how the conquered and the conquerers influence and live together. Click here for Archaeology News Network “Excavations on the island of Sai reveal how Egyptian occupiers became good neighbours”
A genetic study of Mycenaeans and Minoans found that three quarter of their genome is shared, deriving from “the first farmers of the Aegean” and of eastern origin. The Mycenaeans also have a separate infusion from the steppes north of the Black and Caspian seas. The Mycenaeans brought the Indo-European Greek from the north. We’re not sure what the Minoan language is. Interestingly, although this is being presented as new news, I recall in college (a million years ago) being taught this basic migration from the north into eastern/southern realms based on linguistic rather than genetic studies. Click here for Science Daily “First civilizations of Greece are revealing their stories to science”