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King Arthur, Romans and Etruscans – The History News of 2016 (Part 1)

atmosfera-de-sarbatoare-1

Where History Met Legend The Arthurian legend has long captured imaginations, and one of the biggest stories of 2016 involved the discovery of the remains of a royal palace at the fabled birthplace of King Arthur. Tintagel, a thirteenth century castle in Cornwall, has long been associated with the legend of King Arthur, the site purpotedly the place of his birth. Ongoing digs at the site by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit uncovered a series of one metre thick walls dating to the sixth century. The team behind the discovery believes these walls were part of a palace that was once part of Dumnonia, an ancient kingdom in the south-west of England. In excess of 150 glass and pottery fragments were also discovered at the site, suggesting its inhabitants were rather wealthy. If the findings are indeed evidence of a sixth century royal palace, it could fundamentally change our understanding of Tintagel – one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe. New Roman Revelations 2016 unearthed a host of new information about the history of the Romans, a wealth of archeological finds and new studies challenging existing ideas about life in the Roman Empire. In July, the discovery of a Roman settlement in the village of Ipplepen in the UK expanded the western boundaries of the Roman Empire by 20 miles. Archaeologists working on the Ipplepen Archaeological Project unearthed large amounts of pottery at the site, that had been made across the Roman Empire and imported to Britain, highlighting the extensive trade networks that connected the far corners of the empire. http://www.newhistorian.com/discovery-devon-expands-boundary-roman-rule-britain/6732/ In September, the callous image of the Roman family was challenged. For years, the discovery of the bones of tiny children at Roman cemeteries around Britain has been considered evidence of the widespread practice of infanticide among the ancient Romans. Using innovative new methods however, researchers from the Natural History Museum, Museum of London and Durham University were able to show that in fact many of these remains were those of stillborn children. Although not completely ruling out the practice of infanticide, the findings suggest it may not have been as widespread as previously believed. At the start of the year, a study published in the open access journal PLOS ONE provided the first hard proof that migrants from across the empire had made their way to settle in Rome itself. Janet Montgomery from the UK’s Durham University and Kristina Kilgrove from the US-based University of West Florida carried out isotope analysis on over a hundred sets of remains dating to the first through third centuries and excavated from Roman cemeteries. They found that many of the individuals studied had migrated to the Imperial capital from the Alps and North Africa. Fresh Insights Into a Mysterious Culture The Etruscans are one of the most fascinating yet mysterious ancient civilisations. The pre-Roman Italian culture had its origins around 700 BCE, and lasted until its eventual absorption into the Roman Empire in the fourth century BCE. Clearly a powerful, sophisticated people, little is known about the Etruscans, but in 2016 some tantalising clues into their lives were revealed. In March, archaeologists announced the discovery of a new religious text inscribed on an ancient piece of sandstone. Dated to the sixth century BCE, it is an incredible rarity due to the fact that most Etruscan texts found to date tend to focus on funerary practices. As the 500 pound slab is analysed, archaeologists hope to glean new information about Etruscan religion and expand their knowledge of the language of the ancient civilisation. Preliminary translations of the stone slab have already revealed the name of a pivotal Etruscan fertility deity – Uni. The discovery of an Etruscan gravesite in November pointed to a darker side to the early civilisation. It was found that the man interred in the 2,500 year old grave site had been shackled around the neck and ankles. It is believed that the man, aged between twenty and thirty, had died while wearing the chains. Often viewed as something of a benign, peaceful civilisation, the unusual burial adds to a growing body of evidence bringing that view into question. ]]>

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April History News Round-Up

Neanderthal Excavation site

Neanderthals The fate of our closest, extinct relatives: the Neanderthals, as well as the relationship modern humans had with them, have been a constant source of fascination. This month, intriguing new ideas and considerations have been added to the ongoing discussion of what happened to the Neanderthals. A study by Anna Goldfield, an archaeologist from Boston University, and Ross Booton, a mathematical biologist from Sheffield University, used mathematical modelling to determine the impact of the mastery of fire on both human and Neanderthal populations. Although there is evidence that Neanderthals used fire, it is clear that they did not use it as consistently as humans. Mastery of fire has a number of major benefits. Firstly, of course, cooking food kills bacteria, making it safer to eat. It also increases the amount of processable protein that can be taken from the food. Therefore, the populations that mastered fire had a much better chance of survival. Based on the model, Booton and Goldfield concluded that modern humans using fire consistently would have allowed their populations to grow, while the Neanderthals would have declined. Fire mastery allowed modern human populations to flourish, which in turn led to them depriving Neanderthals of crucial resources. Other studies released this month have added further theories to the discourse about why the Neanderthals became extinct. A study by authors from Cambridge and Oxford Brookes Universities has used genetic analysis to conclude that disease spread could have led to the Neanderthal’s extinction. The authors argue that humans migrating out of Africa brought new diseases with them which the Neanderthals would have lacked immunity to. Elsewhere, a study by researchers at the University of Bologna, in Ravenna, analysed various hominin and Neanderthal teeth fossils and concluded that the Neanderthal decline started shortly after modern humans had first arrived in Europe. This adds significant weight to theories which argue humans played a part in the Neanderthal’s decline. Connections Between the Past and Present Other studies have focused on issues from the past that remain poignant in the present. Data collection by governments or private institutions, whether on their own citizens or those of other countries, is a civil liberties concern that has remained at the forefront of public discourse for the last few years. A study by Margo Anderson, Professor of History and Urban Studies at the University of Wisconsin, has shown that government collection and use of ‘Big Data’ is far from just a recent development. Anderson argues that following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the US government used 1940 census data to round up the Japanese ancestry population living on the West Coast of the USA. In total, some 100,000 people were held in US concentration camps for the duration of the war. In 1790, Congress had forbid the use of census data to ‘harm’ US citizens. The treatment of Americans of Japanese ancestry shows how perceived ‘national security threats’ could lead to reinterpretations of exactly what government collected information could legitimately be used for. Recent riots in Baltimore, as well as last year’s in Ferguson, have highlighted the continued controversies over policing in the United States. Undoubtedly, there are a host of complicated social, political and economic issues behind the riots in these two cities, that cannot be fairly analysed here. What is clear however, is that a sense of racial discrimination by various police forces has been an important factor. An article by Themis Chronopoulos, from the University of East Anglia, has argued that a reaction against police misconduct was a major theme in the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Histories of the Civil Rights Movement tend to focus on discrimination in schools, voting rights, public housing and employment law as the major causes for protest. Chronopolouos claims, “Survey after survey during the period revealed that one of the overriding concerns of urban blacks was police misconduct and that this issue functioned as one of the primary causes of riots.” This conclusion can perhaps help us frame the riots in Baltimore into a wider historical context. Both the study on the Civil Rights Movement, and the one on state use of data, provide a valuable reminder of the constant connetion between history and the present. ]]>

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February History News Round-Up

Guanajuato Mummy

Research by the University of California at Berkley (UCB) has provided an explanation for the abandonment of the Mesoamerican city of Cantona in 900 CE. The pre-Aztec city had a population of 90,000 people at its peak, but was left completely deserted. Analysis of sediments in the nearby Lake Aljojuca allowed researchers from UCB to determine that the region had undergone a period of frequent drought, lasting over 500 years from 600 CE. They were also able to glean insights into population movements in the period of drought, noting that initially Cantona’s population had increased, possibly as a result of mass immigration to the city by those searching for water, before its sudden decline. Elsewhere, researchers from the University of Arizona applied social network analytical methods to archaeological data, and gained insights into the ancient importance of community. During the 250 year period starting from 1200 CE, huge swathes of the North-American South-west became uninhabited. Through their study, the researchers determined that the communities that survived in this period tended to be those with extensive connections to other communities. Essentially, the study provided an analysis of the significance of social networks, on a regional scale. Finally, a combined study, produced by academics from the University of Colorado in Boulder and the Santa Fe Institute, compared the urban growth patterns of ancient and modern civilisations. The study, which focused on pre-contact sites along the basin of Mexico, concluded that ancient cities in the region developed in much the same way as modern ones. The research throws into question the commonly held belief that modernity and industrialisation have made modern day cities distinct from ancient. Two meditating monks Tukdam is an advanced state of meditation achieved by Buddhist monks. It is thought that remaining in this state for more than three weeks leads the body to shrink, and appear mummified. Buddhist doctors, such as Dr. Barry Kerzin, have long argued that many Buddhist mummies are not in fact dead, but in this advanced state of meditation. Two discoveries in February have brought Tukdam and Buddhist mummification into the limelight. In Mongolia, a startlingly well preserved, two hundred year old monk was discovered in the Lotus position, suggesting he had been meditating when he died. The monk’s body demonstrated very few sings of decomposition, aside from a slight grey tint to his skin and his body being slumped to one side. In Holland, researchers from the Drents Museum carried out tests on a mummified Buddhist monk encased in a statue. Although it had been known previously that the monk was in the statue, the researchers were stunned to find that organs of the monk had been removed, and pieces of paper containing ancient Chinese writing inserted into his body. The pieces of paper are currently being translated, in the hope of gaining more insight into the monk and his burial. Migration Two unrelated studies have both provided fascinating insights into the spread and migration of species. The first, by academics from Tel Aviv University in Israel, made a startling conclusion about when humans first colonised Eurasia. An almost complete, 55,000 year old skull found in the Manot cave near Galilee, has provided direct anatomical evidence of when humans first colonised the Levant corridor, the piece of land connecting Africa to Europe. The discovery has raised some fascinating questions, firstly suggesting that Homo Sapiens inhabited the Levant Corridor at the same time as other Hominins, and secondly that the first H.Sapiens in Europe were not in fact direct migrants from Africa, but descended from those that had settled in the Corridor. Another study looked at the migration of Solenopsis geminata, or Red Fire ants. University of Illinois academics analysed the genetic code of ants from 192 locations to determine a time frame for their “Global invasion”. The biologists concluded that the spread of the ants to Africa, the Americas, Australia, India, and Southeast Asia, took place because Spanish Galleons unwittingly transported them in the sixteenth century. Essentially, the biological invasion by the fire ants was directly linked to the Spanish Empire establishing the first globalised trading network. Both study’s are fascinating, as they reveal the new detail with which ancient migration and population dispersal of different species can be monitored. Ancient Egyptian Healthcare System Perhaps one of the most startling stories from February concerns Ancient Egypt. Excavations at Deir el-Medina, a village built for workers tasked with constructing tombs during the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE) period, has revealed that the workers received extra amenities from the state in exchange for their services. Recently discovered papyri texts from the site have suggested that grain distribution in the village had remained consistent, even at times when workers were unable to work due to sickness. This suggests that the state provided some level of sick pay to the workers it valued so highly. The discovery reveals the seemingly never ending stream of new information that can be gleaned about the incredibly complex societies of Ancient Egypt. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons user: Tomascastelazo]]>