Thursday, January 11, 2024
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
New research identifies renowned rock art sites ‘chosen’ for vantage
IMAGE:
MAP OF THE STUDY AREA WITHIN THE LARGER REGION, SHOWING THE ALLIGATOR RIVERS, FLOODPLAINS, KAKADU NATIONAL PARK AND ARNHEM LAND ALONG WITH THE ARNHEM PLATEAU.
view moreCREDIT: DR JARRAD KOWLESSAR, FLINDERS UNIVERSITY.
New research has uncovered internationally significant rock art sites in Arnhem Land were far from random and instead “chosen” for the critical vantage points they provided.
The Flinders University research team, working in collaboration with the Njanjma Rangers and Erre Traditional Owners, used aerial and drone surveys, subsurface imaging and elevation data to create the first high-resolution palaeolandscape modelling to help understand 103 separate rock art sites in the region’s rich Red Lily Lagoon area.
What this innovative research has done is statistically model what the environmental conditions were like 15,000-28,000 years ago – when even the floodplain floor was 7-15 metres lower than where it sits today.
Flinders Associate Professor Ian Moffat says the research findings better informs how the sites would have been used, their accessibility and visibility – what the Traditional Owner artists would have been looking at, watching out for and why.
“When archaeologists interpret rock art, they often assume the landscape hasn’t changed since the art was first inscribed which certainly isn’t the case at Red Lily Lagoon,” he explains.
“This landscape has changed dramatically from being on the coast, a swamp, woodlands and freshwater – and sometimes in just one lifetime.
“Our innovative research approach adds new information to understand the rock art in a fundamentally different way.
“Modelling the changes in environmental conditions over time sheds new light on the locations, where they were in in these landscapes, how they were selected and used, and the roles they held in community and clan life.”
This area of western Arnhem Land contains internationally renowned archaeological records, including Australia's oldest known archaeological site, and at the same time it has experienced colossal environmental landscape changes generated mostly by changing sea levels.
Associate Professor Moffat says the research identifies these changes include the coastline moving from 100s of kilometres away to coming right up against the cliffs in the Red Lily region, before retreating northwards, about 50kms to its current position.
He says the Flinders research traces the transformational impact rising sea levels had on the sandstone cliffs and flat floodplains terrain – changing its open savanna to mudflats, to mangrove swamp, before evolving into the seasonally inundated freshwater wetlands of today. These changes would have had profound implications for people, how they moved, interacted and what they recorded at these locations.
“Our research has enabled a clearer understanding of the placement of rock art sites that goes beyond relying on today’s landscape as a reference point which is significant.
Flinders College of Humanities Research Associate Dr Jarrad Kowlessar says this research identifies rock art production was most active, diverse in style, and covered most of the plateau area during a period when mangroves completely covered the floodplains – approximately 6,000 years ago.
“This may be because the mangroves provided abundant resources to sustain a large and stable human population at the time, or because the land had simply contracted so much due to the rising sea level that more people were in closer proximity,” says Dr Kowlessar.
“Interestingly most sites during this time were selected with views specifically overlooking mangrove areas.
“We also identify that during the period when the sea level was rising, rock art was preferentially made in areas with long distance views over areas that had open woodlands at the time. So we can suggest these views may helped facilitate hunting, or even to more closely watch areas at a time when many people were being displaced by the rising water.
“Without doubt the research demonstrates rock art site locations were intentionally selected, with nuanced relationships to the local landscape, and there is potential to use our modelling into the future to tell us much more about the rich and significant archaeology of Arnhem Land.”
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Were pigs ferried across the channel during the Medieval era?
The island of Madagascar separated from the African mainland around 160 million years ago, resulting in a largely unique flora and fauna. Remarkably, the bushpig is the only large, wild terrestrial mammal species that has somehow historically crossed the 400-kilometer-wide Mozambique Channel and made it from mainland Africa to the island of Madagascar.
- “Our study establishes that the bushpig was introduced to Madagascar ≈1,000-5,000 years ago from South/South-East Africa”, Rasmus states. Their arrival therefore coincides with the arrival of humans to Madagascar from a region around southern Africa. Rasmus continues: “The likely explanation for this is that people transported these bushpigs across the channel. These results contradict previously published studies which dated the arrival of bushpigs ≈480,000 years ago, well before humans were present on the island”. It has been suggested that some endemic Madagascar species might have arrived by rafting as passengers on floats of vegetation.
- “Intriguingly, our results raise a host of new questions: was the bushpig actually brought to Madagascar as a somewhat domesticated species? There is no archaeological or other evidence of bushpig domestication ever occurring, despite them being an important source of protein for many rural communities. And who was it that transported these animals to Madagascar? Was it Bantu-speakers, Austronesian-speakers or both? These questions and others still remain to be explored,” explains Renzo F. Balboa, postdoc at the Department of Biology and one of the leading authors of the study.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Ancestors of primates lived in pairs
A study carried out by CNRS1 scientists working with an international team has revealed that around 70 million years ago, when dinosaurs existed, the ancestors of primates most commonly lived in pairs. Only 15% of them opted for a solitary lifestyle. This discovery — that our ancestors adopted variable forms of social organization — challenges the hitherto commonly accepted hypothesis that at the time of dinosaurs, the ancestors of primates lived alone, and that pair living evolved much later. Most likely, pair living offered significant benefits, such as easier reproduction and reduced costs of thermoregulation by huddling in pairs.
While several studies have already been conducted on the social organisation of primate ancestors, this is the first one to use only currently available field observations. By studying 498 populations from 223 species, the research team has built the most accurate database of primates to date. The information obtained was then coupled with innovative statistical analysis. This research, published in the Vol. 121, no.1 issue of PNAS, paves the way for a better understanding of the social evolution of the human species.
Ancient Roman temple adds significant insights into the social change from pagan gods to Christianity
IMAGE:
AN AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE NEWLY-DISCOVERED IMPERIAL CULT RUINS BY DOUGLAS BOIN, PH.D., AND HIS TEAM.
view moreCREDIT: DOUGLAS BOIN, PH.D.
Douglas Boin, Ph.D., a professor of history at Saint Louis University, made a major announcement at the annual meeting of the Archeological Institute of America, revealing he and his team discovered an ancient Roman temple that adds significant insights into the social change from pagan gods to Christianity within the Roman Empire.
“We found three walls of a monumental structure that evidence suggests belonged to a Roman temple that dates to Constantine's period,” Boin said. “It dates to the fourth century AD and it would be a remarkable addition to the landscape of this corner of Italy. It will significantly aid in the understanding of the ancient town, the ancient townscape and city society in the later Roman Empire because it shows the continuities between the classical pagan world and early Christian Roman world that often get blurred out or written out of the sweeping historical narratives.”
Boin and his excavation team made the monumental discovery over the summer. Boin, an expert in ancient Roman and its religious transitions, had been digging in the town of Spello, the famous medieval hilltop city about 20 minutes from Assisi and 2.5 hours north of Rome. Boin selected the town based on a rescript of a 4th century letter from Emperor Constantine to the townspeople regarding a religious holiday.
This rescript, which was discovered in the 18th century, allowed the people of Spello to celebrate a religious festival in their hometown rather than travel a great distance to another festival. However, in order to do so, the town was told it must erect a temple to Constantine’s divine ancestors, the Flavian family, and worship them, showcasing how multicultural Roman society was at the time.
“There was a remarkable religious continuity between the Roman world and the early Christian world,” Boin said. “Things didn't change overnight. Before our find, we never had a sense that there were actual physical, religious sites associated with this late ‘imperial cult practice.’ But because of the inscription and its reference to a temple, Spello offered a very tantalizing potential for a major discovery of an Imperial cult underneath a Christian ruler.”
Boin traveled to Spello and oversaw underground imaging to determine if there were any potential ruins below the surface that needed to be uncovered. After many weeks, and almost by chance, Boin finally received promising images underneath a parking lot where the temple was suspected to be.
Very carefully, the team dug into the ground until they found two adjoining walls. More digging unearthed what Boin believes to be the inside walls of the temple. This temple immediately became what Boin calls the largest evidence ever of the Imperial Cult in both fourth-century Italy and the late Roman Empire..
“There's evidence from other places throughout the Roman world that Christian rulers supported imperial cult practices,” Boin said. “We've known that pagans worshiped at their temples in the fourth century, but those findings have all been small and inconsequential. And we've known that Christians supported the imperial cult, and we’ve known that without any sense of where it would have happened. This temple bridges those two landmarks, and in that respect, it is unlike any temple that I know about from the Mediterranean world of the fourth century Roman Empire. Any study of the imperial cult in the fourth century Roman Empire is now going to have to take account of this temple, which is an incredible discovery to make.”
With the discovery, Boin now can show how the societal changes of the time moved very slowly. Though Constantine was the first Roman emperor to famously convert to Christianity, it would take almost 70 years for Christianity to become the official religion of the Roman Empire, under the Emperor Theodosius. During that time it still took many convincing and gradual shifts for those who worshiped pagan gods to convert to Christianity.
“This changes everything about how we perceive the pace of social change and our impression of the impact of social and cultural change,” Boin said. “This building, in a very radical way on its own, shows us the staying power of the pagan traditions that had been on the ground for centuries prior to the rise of Christianity, and it shows us how the Roman emperors continued to negotiate their own values, their own hopes and dreams for the future of the emperor and the Empire without knocking down or burying the past.”
Boin and his team will return to Spello next summer to completely excavate the area to examine the full temple, where he hopes to make even more significant discoveries.
“We are on the cusp of giving people a very visible piece of evidence that really upends the neat and tidy ways people think about big moments of cultural change,” Boin said “Cultural changes are never as big as we think they are when living through them, and there’s a lot of gray area in between people’s customs and the broader society and culture. And a lot of those can be left out of the story. So to have this temple potentially be a temple dedicated to Constantice’s divine ancestors as a way to worship the emperor in an increasingly Christian world at the time, it’s so weird and I love that we can bring it to light.”
Researchers rely on the earth's magnetic field to verify an event mentioned in the Old Testament
IMAGE:
ONE OF THE STUDIED BURNT MUDBRICKS.
view moreCREDIT: DR. YOAV VAKNIN
- The new study scientifically corroborates an event described in the Second Book of Kings – the conquest of the Philistine city of Gath by Hazael King of Aram.
- The method is based on measuring the magnetic field recorded in burnt bricks. The researchers: "Our findings are important for determining the intensity of the fire and the scope of destruction in Gath – the largest and most powerful city in the land at the time, and also for understanding construction practices in the region."
A breakthrough achieved by researchers from four Israeli universities – Tel Aviv University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan University and Ariel University– will enable archaeologists to identify burnt materials discovered in excavations and estimate their firing temperatures. Applying their method to findings from ancient Gath (Tell es-Safi in central Israel), the researchers validated the Biblical account: "About this time Hazael King of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem" (2 Kings 12, 18). They explain that unlike previous methods, the new technique can determine whether a certain item (such as a mud brick) underwent a firing event even at relatively low temperatures, from 200°C and up. This information can be crucial for correctly interpreting the findings.
The multidisciplinary study was led by Dr. Yoav Vaknin from the Sonia & Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Entin Faculty of Humanities, at Tel Aviv University, and the Palaeomagnetic Laboratory at The Hebrew University. Other contributors included: Prof. Ron Shaar from the Institute of Earth Sciences at The Hebrew University, Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef and Prof. Oded Lipschits from the Sonia & Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, Prof. Aren Maeir from the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University and Dr. Adi Eliyahu Behar from the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology and the Department of Chemical Sciences at Ariel University. The paper has been published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
Prof. Lipschits: "Throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages the main building material in most parts of the Land of Israel was mud bricks. This cheap and readily available material was used to build walls in most buildings, sometimes on top of stone foundations. That's why it's so important to understand the technology used in making these bricks."
Dr. Vaknin adds: "During the same era dwellers of other lands, such as Mesopotamia where stone was hard to come by, would fire mud bricks in kilns to increase their strength and durability. This technique is mentioned in the story of the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis: "They said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly. So they used brick for stone"(Genesis 11, 3). Most researchers, however, believe that this technology did not reach the Land of Israel until much later, with the Roman conquest. Until that time the inhabitants used sun-dried mud bricks. Thus, when bricks are found in an archaeological excavation, several questions must be asked: First, have the bricks been fired, and if so, were they fired in a kiln prior to construction or in situ, in a destructive conflagration event? Our method can provide conclusive answers."
The new method relies on measuring the magnetic field recorded and 'locked' in the brick as it burned and cooled down. Dr. Vaknin: "The clay from which the bricks were made contains millions of ferromagnetic particles – minerals with magnetic properties that behave like so many tiny 'compasses' or magnets. In a sun-dried mud brick the orientation of these magnets is almost random, so that they cancel out one another. Therefore, the overall magnetic signal of the brick is weak and not uniform. Heating to 200°C or more, as happens in a fire, releases the magnetic signals of these magnetic particles and, statistically, they tend to align with the earth's magnetic field at that specific time and place. When the brick cools down, these magnetic signals remain locked in their new position and the brick attains a strong and uniformly oriented magnetic field, which can be measured with a magnetometer. This is a clear indication that the brick has, in fact, been fired.
In the second stage of the procedure, the researchers gradually 'erase' the brick's magnetic field, using a process called thermal demagnetization. This involves heating the brick in a special oven in a palaeomagnetic laboratory that neutralizes the earth's magnetic field. The heat releases the magnetic signals, which once again arrange themselves randomly, canceling each other out, and the total magnetic signal becomes weak and loses its orientation.
Dr. Vaknin: "We conduct the process gradually. At first, we heat the sample to a temperature of 100°C, which releases the signals of only a small percentage of the magnetic minerals. We then cool it down and measure the remaining magnetic signal. We then repeat the procedure at temperatures of 150°C, 200°C, and so on, proceeding in small steps, up to 700°C. In this way the brick's magnetic field is gradually erased. The temperature at which the signal of each mineral is 'unlocked' is approximately the same as the temperature at which it was initially 'locked', and ultimately, the temperature at which the magnetic field is fully erased was reached during the original fire."
The researchers tested the technique in the laboratory: they fired mud bricks under controlled conditions of temperature and magnetic field, measured each brick's acquired magnetic field, then gradually erased it. They found that the bricks were completely demagnetized at the temperature at which they had been burned – proving that the method works.
Dr. Vaknin: "Our approach enables identifying burning which occurred at much lower temperatures than any other method. Most techniques used for identifying burnt bricks are based on actual changes in the minerals, which usually occur at temperatures higher than 500°C – when some minerals are converted into others."
Dr. Eliyahu Behar: "One of the common methods for identifying mineralogical changes in clay (the main component of mud bricks) due to exposure to high temperatures is based on changes in the absorption of infrared radiation by the various minerals. In this study we used this method as an additional tool to verify the results of the magnetic method." Dr. Vaknin: "Our method is much more sensitive than others because it targets changes in the intensity and orientation of the magnetic signal, which occur at much lower temperatures. We can begin to detect changes in the magnetic signal at temperatures as low as 100°C, and from 200°C and up the findings are conclusive."
In addition, the method can determine the orientation in which the bricks cooled down. Dr. Vaknin: "When a brick is fired in a kiln before construction, it records the direction of the earth's magnetic field at that specific time and place. In Israel this means north and downward. But when builders take bricks from a kiln and build a wall, they lay them in random orientations, thus randomizing the recorded signals. On the other hand, when a wall is burned in-situ, as might happen when it is destroyed by an enemy, the magnetic fields of all bricks are locked in the same orientation."
After proving the method's validity, the researchers applied it to a specific archaeological dispute: was a specific brick structure discovered at Tell es-Safi - identified as the Philistine city of Gath, home of Goliath - built of pre-fired bricks or burned on location? The prevalent hypothesis, based on the Old Testament, historical sources, and Carbon-14 dating attributes the destruction of the structure to the devastation of Gath by Hazael, King of Aram Damascus, around 830 BCE. However, a previous paper by researchers including Prof. Maeir, head of the Tell es-Safi excavations, proposed that the building had not burned down, but rather collapsed over decades, and that the fired bricks found in the structure had been fired in a kiln prior to construction. If this hypothesis were correct, this would be the earliest instance of brick-firing technology discovered in the Land of Israel.
To settle the dispute, the current research team applied the new method to samples from the wall at Tell es-Safi and the collapsed debris found beside it. The findings were conclusive: the magnetic fields of all bricks and collapsed debris displayed the same orientation – north and downwards. Dr. Vaknin: "Our findings signify that the bricks burned and cooled down in-situ, right where they were found, namely in a conflagration in the structure itself, which collapsed within a few hours. Had the bricks been fired in a kiln and then laid in the wall, their magnetic orientations would have been random. Moreover, had the structure collapsed over time, not in a single fire event, the collapsed debris would have displayed random magnetic orientations. We believe that the main reason for our colleagues' mistaken interpretation was their inability to identify burning at temperatures below 500°C. Since heat rises, materials at the bottom of the building burned at relatively low temperatures, below 400°C, and consequently the former study did not identify them as burnt – leading to the conclusion that the building had not been destroyed by fire. At the same time, bricks in upper parts of the wall, where temperatures were much higher, underwent mineralogical changes and were therefore identified as burnt - leading the researchers to conclude that they had been fired in a kiln prior to construction. Our method allowed us to determine that all bricks in both the wall and debris had burned during the conflagration: those at the bottom burned at relatively low temperatures, and those that were found in higher layers or had fallen from the top –at temperatures higher than 600°C."
Prof. Maeir: "Our findings are very important for deciphering the intensity of the fire and scope of destruction at Gath, the largest and most powerful city in the Land of Israel at the time, as well as understanding the building methods prevailing in that era. It's important to review conclusions from previous studies, and sometimes even refute former interpretations, even if they came from your own school." Prof. Ben-Yosef adds: "Beyond their historical and archaeological significance, ancient building methods also had substantial ecological implications. The brick firing technology requires vast quantities of combustive materials, and in ancient times this might have led to vast deforestation and even loss of tree species in the area. For example, certain species of trees and shrubs exploited by the ancient copper industry in the Timna Valley have not recovered to this day and the industry itself ultimately collapsed once it had used up its natural fuels. Our findings indicate that the brick firing technology was probably not practiced in the Land of Israel in the times of the Kings of Judah and Israel."
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0289424
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Mongolian Arc: exploring a monumental 405-kilometer wall system in Eastern Mongolia
IMAGE:
DRONE PHOTO OF KHALTARYN BALGAS
view moreCREDIT: AUTHORS
New study sheds light on the previously overlooked Mongolian Arc—a monumental wall system in eastern Mongolia spanning 405 kilometers. This discovery not only reveals the significance of this ancient architectural marvel but also prompts crucial questions about the motives, functionality, and broader implications of such colossal constructions. Their findings contribute to a larger multidisciplinary project exploring historical wall systems and their socio-political, economic, and environmental impacts, marking a pivotal milestone in understanding ancient civilizations and their enduring legacies.
[Jerusalem, Israel] Prof. Gideon Shelach-Lavi from Hebrew University and Prof. Amartuvshin Chunag from the National University of Mongolia, and their team unveil a new discovery in their latest research published in the Journal of Field Archaeology. Their paper, "Unraveling the Mongolian Arc: a Field Survey and Spatial Investigation of a Previously Unexplored Wall System in Eastern Mongolia," sheds light on a monumental wall system that has remained largely overlooked in existing academic discourse.
The "Mongolian Arc," spanning 405 kilometers in eastern Mongolia, comprises an earthen wall, a trench, and 34 accompanying structures. Constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries a.d., this intricate system has emerged as a pivotal yet understudied facet of historical architectural marvels.
The research, conducted through a collaborative effort, involved a comprehensive approach combining remote sensing data collection, archaeological field surveys, and analysis through geographic information systems (GIS). Professors Shelach-Lavi and Amartuvshin's team also delved into ancient written sources to offer a preliminary interpretation of the design and potential functions of the Mongolian Arc.
"Understanding the significance of the Mongolian Arc unlocks profound insights into medieval wall systems, raising pertinent questions about the motives, functionality, and enduring consequences of such colossal constructions," remarked Prof. Gideon Shelach-Lavi.
This study is part of a larger multidisciplinary project, funded by a generous research fund from the European Research Council (ERC) addressing the construction of extensive walls and structures in northern China and eastern Mongolia during the 11th–13th centuries a.d. The findings not only contribute to unraveling historical mysteries but also offer a framework for exploring the broader socio-political, economic, and environmental impacts of such endeavors.
The published paper marks a pivotal milestone in the ongoing investigation, sparking renewed interest and further inquiry into ancient architectural wonders and their societal implications.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)