2,000-year old seal bearing portrait of Apollo found in Jerusalem

A gem was found in the The Archaeological Sifting Project in the Tzurim Valley National Park, carried out under the auspices of the City of David and the Nature and Parks Authority. The gem features an engraved portrait of the god Apollo. According to researchers, this rare find is the third secured gem sealing (also called an intaglio which is a gem with a design carved into the upper side of the stone) from the Second Temple period to have ever been discovered in Jerusalem. 

This 2,000-year-old gem seal bearing the image of Apollo was found in earth excavated
from the foundations of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem
[Credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David]

The gem is cut from dark brown jasper, and has remnants of yellow-light, brown, and white layers. In antiquity, jasper was considered a precious stone. The gem seal was embedded in a ring, dated to the 1st century CE (Second Temple period).

The gem is tiny, oval-shaped, 13 mm long, 11 mm wide, and 3 mm thick. Because the gem is an intaglio, its main function was as a stamp to be used on soft material, usually beeswax, for personal signatures on contracts, letters, wills, goods or bundles of money. The gem features an engraving of Apollo’s head in profile to the left, with long hair flowing over a wide, pillar-like neck, a large nose, thick lips, and a small prominent chin. The hair is styled in a series of parallel lines directed to the apex, and surrounded by a braid above the forehead. One line of hair marks a strand that covers the ear; long curls flow over part of the neck, reaching the left shoulder. Thin diagonal lines at the base of the head mark the upper end of the garment and the body.

Credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David

According to researchers - archaeologist Eli Shukron, Prof. Shua Amorai-Stark, and senior archaeologist Malka Hershkovitz - although Apollo is an Olympian deity of the Greek and Roman cultures, it is highly probable that the person wearing the ring was a Jew.

In the opinion of archaeologist Eli Shukron, who conducted the excavation in which the gem was found: “It is rare to find seal remains bearing the image of the god Apollo at sites identified with the Jewish population. To this day, two such gems (seals) have been found in Masada, another in Jerusalem inside an ossuary (burial box) in a Jewish tomb on Mount Scopus, and the current gem that was discovered in close proximity to the Temple Mount.” Mr. Shukron added: “When we found the gem, we asked ourselves ‘what is Apollo doing in Jerusalem? And why would a Jew wear a ring with the portrait of a foreign god?’ The answer to this, in our opinion, lies in the fact that the owner of the ring wore it not as a ritual act that expresses religious belief, but as a means of making use of the impact that Apollo’s figure represents: light, purity, health, and success.”

Prof. Shua Amorai-Stark, a researcher of engraved gems, stated that: “At the end of the Second Temple period, the sun god Apollo was one of the most popular and revered deities in Eastern Mediterranean regions. Apollo was a god of manifold functions, meanings, and epithets. Among Apollo’s spheres of responsibility, it is likely that association with sun and light (as well as with logic, reason, prophecy, and healing) fascinated some Jews, given that the element of light versus darkness was prominently present in Jewish worldview in those days. The fact that the craftsman of this gem left the yellow-golden and light brown layers on the god’s hair probably indicates a desire to emphasize the aspect of light in the god’s persona, as well as in the aura that surrounded his head. The choice of a dark stone with yellow coloring of hair suggests that the creator or owner of this intaglio sought to emphasize the dichotomous aspect of light and darkness and/or their connectedness.”

Source: City of David [October 29, 2020]

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Spanish farmer finds 3,000 years old lion sculpture while ploughing his olive grove

On a farm in Cañablanquilla, near San Sebastián de los Ballesteros (Córdoba, Spain), farmer Gonzalo Crespo was working in the family olive grove when his tractor hit what he thought was a large stone. When he stopped to inspect what it was he had hit, he was amazed to see a large statue of a lioness capturing her prey.

Credit: Seprona

Immediately after the discovery, Crespo called the Civil Guard and members of the Seprona presented themselves together with other technicians  from the Delegation of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía. 

Credit: AJ Gonzalez

The large sculpture is in perfect condition and according to archaeologists could be 3,000 years old. It was subsequently moved to the Archaeological Museum of Cordoba to be cleaned and examined. 

Credit: AJ Gonzalez

According to Francisco Javier Maestro, mayor of San Sebastián de los Ballesteros, although there are documented vestiges of the Roman era in the municipality, this is the first time that an archaeological find of such importance has been made.

Source: Diario Cordoba [trsl. TANN, October 29, 2020]

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Archaeologists reveal human resilience in face of climate change in Northern Levant during Bronze Age

An examination of two documented periods of climate change in the greater Middle East, between approximately 4,500 and 3,000 years ago, reveals local evidence of resilience and even of a flourishing ancient society despite the changes in climate seen in the larger region.

View of Early Bronze Age excavation (Field 1) at Tell Tayinat in Hatay, Turkey
[Credit: Tayinat Archaeological Project]

A new study led by University of Toronto and Cornell University archaeologists working at Tell Tayinat in southeastern Turkey, demonstrates that human responses to climate change are variable and must be examined using extensive and precise data gathered at the local level. The study highlights how challenge and collapse in some areas were matched by resilience and opportunities elsewhere.

The findings published in PLOS ONE are welcome contributions to discussions about human responses to climate change that broaden an otherwise sparse chronological framework for the northern part of the region known historically as the Levant, which stretches the length of the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

"The study shows the end of the Early Bronze Age occupation at Tayinat was a long and drawn out affair that, while it appears to coincide with the onset of a megadrought 4,200 years ago, was actually the culmination of processes that began much earlier," says Tim Harrison, professor and chair of the Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations in the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto (U of T), and director of the Tayinat Archaeological Project. "The archaeological evidence does not point towards significant local effects of the climate episode, as there is no evidence of drought stress in crops. Instead, these changes were more likely the result of local political and spatial reconfiguration."

Microscope image of Iron Age oak twig from Tell Tayinat in Hatay, Turkey
[Credit: Brita Lorentzen]

The mid-to late Early Bronze Age (3000-2000 BCE) and the Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BCE) in the ancient Middle East are pivotal periods of early inter-connectedness among settlements across the region, with the development of some of the earliest cities and state-level societies. But these systems were not always sustainable, and both periods ended in collapse of civilisations/settlements, the reasons for which are highly debated.

The absence of detailed timelines for societal activity throughout the region leaves a significant gap in understanding the associations between climate change and social responses. While the disintegration of political or economic systems are indeed components of a societal response, collapse is rarely total.

Using radiocarbon dating and analysis of archaeological samples recovered from Tell Tayinat, a location occupied following two particularly notable climate change episodes 4,200 and again 3,200 years ago, the Toronto-Cornell team established a robust chronological timeframe for Tayinat for these two pivotal periods in the history of the ancient Middle East.

Microscope image of Early Bronze Age ash wood sample from Tell Tayinat in Hatay, Turkey
[Credit: Brita Lorentzen]

"The absolute dating of these periods has been a subject of considerable debate for many years, and this study contributes a significant new dataset that helps address many of the questions," says Sturt Manning, Goldwin Smith Professor of Classical Archaeology in the Department of Classics at Cornell University's College of Arts & Sciences, and lead author of the study.

"The detailed chronological resolution achieved in this study allows for a more substantive interpretation of the archaeological evidence in terms of local and regional responses to proposed climate change, shedding light on how humans respond to environmental stress and variability."

The researchers say the chronological framework for the Early Iron Age demonstrates the thriving re-settlement of Tayinat following the 3,200 years ago event during a reconstructed period of heightened aridity.

"The settlement of Tayinat may have been undertaken to maximize access to arable land, and crop evidence reveals the continued cultivation of numerous water-demanding crops, revealing a response that counters the picture of a drought-stricken region," says Harrison. "The Iron Age at Tayinat represents a significant degree of societal resilience during a period of climatic stress."

Source: University of Toronto [October 29, 2020]

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The Mycenaean necropolis of Trapeza, Aegion, comes to light

A large number of grave offerings and high-quality burial items were discovered during the five-year excavation programme at the Mycenaean necropolis of Trapeza, seven kilometers southwest of Aegion. The findings testify to the region’s amazing cultural and social vitality. The plateau is identified with the city of Rhypes, the metropolis of Croton in Magna Graecia during the colonization of the 8th century BC.

View of chamber of Tomb 1 [Credit: MOCAS]

The Mycenaean necropolis is located on the southwestern slope of the plateau and on the ancient road leading to the citadel of historical times. The excavated tombs are arranged on at least three levels of terraces along the south side of Trapeza, a few meters from each other, in a parallel arrangement and with a north-south orientation. These are chamber tombs carved into the soft rock of the subsoil.

View of chamber of Tomb 7 [Credit: MOCAS]

The necropolis comprises tombs with chambers no wider than 3.5-4 meters and streets not exceeding a length of 6-7 meters and a width of 1.5 meters. The burial chambers have various shapes; circular, rectangular and even almost quadrangular with rounded corners and walls with irregular contours. Elongated pits were unearthed below the chambers, carved niches in the streets’ retaining walls for the secondary deposition of older burials, as well as elliptical or square pits dug in the street surfaces which were found to be empty and could have been originally been carved for concealing ritual ware. The side chambers in the streets of the tombs where children were buried are of particular importance.

View of Tomb 2 with the chamber’s entrance door [Credit: MOCAS]

The tombs were used repeatedly and over a long period of time. The tomb chambers collapsed in historical times, between the Geometric and Archaic period, as indicated by the artefacts found in “craters” formed in the ground owing to the collapse of the chambers’ roofs.

View of the archaeological site from the southwest [Credit: MOCAS]

The necropolis, founded in the LH IIIA 1 period, experienced its heyday during the Early Palatial period of the Mycenaean world, i.e. in parallel with the heights reached by the great centers of Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos. A significant reuse of the tombs dates back to the 12th century BC, during the Post-Palatial period, probably after the early LH IIIC, when the tombs were repeatedly reopened, being at the same time a place of burial customs and complex ritual practices until the end of the Bronze Age, probably in the advanced Sub-Mycenaean period.

Assemblage of vessels from the Mycenean necropolis of Trapeza [Credit: MOCAS]

The quality of the finds of the Mycenaean necropolis of Trapeza is proved by the valuable sets of vessels that show a dependence on palace standards but also autonomous links with other regions, from the western Peloponnese to Crete. The grave goods are enriched with numerous seal stones and all kinds of beads and tesserae from various materials – glass, faience, gold, carnelian, rock crystal – that make up necklaces and ornate jewelry, ox head shaped gold-amulets indicating trading relations with the eastern Aegean and Cyprus.  A few tombs show elements of elitism, declaring social prestige and a possible connection with the palaces especially by a valuable combination of weapons and tools.

Assemblage of vessels from the chamber of Tomb 6 [Credit: MOCAS]

The Post-Palatial period from the 12th century BC.and after includes various phases of use, which impress mainly for their ritual practices. These relate to the treatment of the bones and remains of the former deceased, who are regarded as glorious ancestors and become the recipients of offerings. The purpose of these ceremonies is to create a genealogical bond by activating the memory of a past perceived as an integral part of the community.

Collected intact vessels from Tomb 2 [Credit: MOCAS]

Moreover, the findings from the backfills of the streets of tombs provide exclusive evidence of social practices that are a milestone in the conducting of a funeral, but also of rituals such as offerings and libations in front of the sealed chamber doors during posthumous visits to the tombs. Thus, the necropolis also becomes a place for transmitting traditions and a collective memory.

Bronze weapons from the chamber of Tomb 6 [Credit: MOCAS]

The location of the Mycenaean settlement of Trapeza is not yet clear. During the early cycle of use of the necropolis, the settlement was possibly situated on a hill, about 100 meters south of Trapeza. Today, research of a Middle Helladic settlement is in progress at this site, yielding sporadic evidence of Mycenaean pottery.

Bird shaped askos vessel [Credit: MOCAS]

The systematic excavation of Trapeza in Aigion, is headed by Dr. Andreas G. Bordos of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia. Participating in the interdisciplinary research programme of the Mycenaean necropolis are Elisabetta Borgna, Professor of Aegean Archaeology at the University of Udine, with a group of students from the Universities of Udine, Trieste and Venice, as well as postgraduate students from Greek universities.

Source: Greek Ministry of Culture [trsl. Archaeology & Arts, October 29, 2020]

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Denisovan DNA in the genome of early East Asians

In 2006, miners discovered a hominin skullcap with peculiar morphological features in the Salkhit Valley of the Norovlin county in eastern Mongolia. It was initially referred to as Mongolanthropus and thought to be a Neandertal or even a Homo erectus. The remains of the "Salkhit" individual represent the only Pleistocene hominin fossil found in the country.

The skullcap found in the Salkhit Valley in eastern Mongolia belonged to a woman who lived 34,000
 years ago. Analyses showed: She had inherited about 25 percent of her DNA from Western
Eurasian [Credit: Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences]

Ancient DNA extracted from the skullcap shows that it belonged to a female modern human who lived 34,000 ago and was more related to Asians than to Europeans. Comparisons to the only other early East Asian individual genetically studied to date, a 40,000-year-old male from Tianyuan Cave outside Beijing (China), show that the two individuals are related to each other. However, they differ insofar that a quarter of the ancestry of the Salkhit individual derived from western Eurasians, probably via admixture with ancient Siberians.

Migration and interaction

"This is direct evidence that modern human communities in East Asia were already quite cosmopolitan earlier than 34,000 years ago", says Diyendo Massilani, lead author of the study and researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "This rare specimen shows that migration and interactions among populations across Eurasia happened frequently already some 35,000 years ago".

Xiahe Mandible [Credit: Menghan Qiu, Dongju Zhang,
 Lanzhou University]

The researchers used a new method developed at the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to find segments of DNA from extinct hominins in the Salkhit and Tianyuan genomes. They found that the two genomes contain not only Neandertal DNA but also DNA from Denisovans, an elusive Asian relative of Neandertals. 

"It is fascinating to see that the ancestors of the oldest humans in East Asia from whom we have been able to obtain genetic data had already mixed with Denisovans, an extinct form of hominins that has contributed ancestry to present-day populations in Asia and Oceania", says Byambaa Gunchinsuren, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. "This is direct evidence that Denisovans and modern humans had met and mixed more than 40,000 years ago".

"Interestingly, the Denisovan DNA fragments in these very old East Asians overlap with Denisovan DNA fragments in the genomes of present-day populations in East Asia but not with Denisovan DNA fragments in Oceanians. This supports a model of multiple independent mixture events between Denisovans and modern humans", says Massilani.

The research is reported in two papers in the journal Science [paper1, paper2].

Source: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft [October 29, 2020]

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Pterosaurs undergo dental examination to reveal clues about diets and lifestyles

Microscopic analysis of the teeth of pterosaurs has revealed new insights into the diets and behaviours of Earth's earliest flying reptiles.

Credit: University of Birmingham

Researchers at the University of Leicester's Centre for Palaeobiology Research and the University of Birmingham used dental microwear analysis to look at the wear patterns still visible on the teeth of 17 different species of pterosaur. They compared these with similar patterns on the teeth of modern reptiles, including monitor lizards and crocodilians, where much more is known about their diet.

The team was able to show for the first time how the technique can be used to not only tell us what these animals ate, but also to challenge ideas about their lifestyles and evolution. Their results are published in Nature Communications.

"Most existing ideas about what pterosaurs ate come from comparisons of the shapes of their teeth with those of living animals," explains lead author Dr. Jordan Bestwick, of the University of Birmingham's School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. "For example, if the animal had conical teeth like a crocodile, we might assume it ate fish. But this approach has obvious shortcomings—the teeth of pandas and polar bears, for example, are similar, but comparing them wouldn't give us an accurate picture of their diets."

The analysis showed that modern reptiles with rougher wear on their tooth surfaces are more likely to have eaten crunchy things, such as shelled invertebrates—beetles or crabs—whereas reptiles which eat mainly soft items, such as fish, have smoother tooth surfaces. By applying the technique to pterosaurs the team was able to determine the diet of each species.

Dr. Bestwick says: "Our analysis has yielded some fascinating insights into individual species, but also into some of the bigger questions around how these pterosaurs evolved and whether their lifestyles were more similar to those of modern day birds or reptiles. Evidence from dental microwear analysis can shed new light on this debate."

Professor Mark Purnell, Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Leicester said: "This is the first time this technique has been applied in this way to ancient reptiles, and it's great to find it works so well. Often, palaeontologists have very little to go on when trying to understand what extinct animals ate. This approach gives us a new tool, allowing us to move from what are sometimes little more than educated guesses, into the realms of solid science."

 

In one example, the team examined the teeth of Rhamphorhynchus, a long-tailed pterosaur from the Jurassic period. Researchers found that juvenile Rhamphorhynchus had insect-based diets, whereas their adult counterparts—about the size of a large seagull—were more likely to have eaten fish. This suggests a species in which the adults took little care of their young—a behaviour that is common in reptiles and is not exhibited by birds.

The team also investigated whether their analysis could shed light on how different species of pterosaurs evolved. Pterosaurs lived between 210 and 66 million years ago, eventually dying out at the same time as dinosaurs. In that time, according to the dental microwear analysis, there was a general shift in diet from invertebrates such as insects, towards a more meat or fish-based diet.

"We found that the earliest forms of pterosaurs ate mainly crunchy invertebrates," says Dr. Bestwick. "The shift towards eating fish or meat coincides with the evolution of birds. We think it's possible, therefore, that competition with birds could explain the decline of smaller-bodied pterosaurs and a rise in larger, carnivorous species."

Natalia Jagielska, a Ph.D. researcher in pterosaur palaeontology at the University of Edinburgh, (not involved in this study) says the research adds much-needed clarity to the behaviour and ecological role of pterosaurs in ancient food webs.

"Pterosaurs are a fascinating group of Mesozoic reptiles with astounding diversity in tooth morphology," she says. "This study is important for contributing to the idea that young Rhamphorhynchus were independent invertebrate hunters before becoming fish consumers, rather than being fed and nurtured by parents, like birds. Or that in pterosaur-rich environments, like the Late Jurassic Bavarian lagoons, pterosaur species have partitioned to occupy variations of dietary niches."

The research team anticipate their methods will set a new benchmark for robust interpretation of extinct reptile diets, paving the way for an enhanced understanding of ancient ecosystems.

Source: University of Birmingham [October 29, 2020]

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Study of ancient dog DNA traces canine diversity to the Ice Age

A global study of ancient dog DNA, led by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, University of Oxford, University of Vienna and archaeologists from more than 10 countries, presents evidence that there were different types of dogs more than 11,000 years ago in the period immediately following the Ice Age.

Veretye dog image [Credit: E.E. Antipina]

In their study, published in Science, the research team sequenced ancient DNA from 27 dogs, some of which lived up to nearly 11,000 years ago, across Europe, the Near East and Siberia. They found that by this point in history, just after the Ice Age and before any other animal had been domesticated, there were already at least five different types of dog with distinct genetic ancestries.

This finding reveals that the diversity observed between dogs in different parts of the world today originated when all humans were still hunters and gatherers.

Pontus Skoglund, author and group leader of the Crick's Ancient Genomics laboratory, says: "Some of the variation you see between dogs walking down the street today originated in the Ice Age. By the end of this period, dogs were already widespread across the northern hemisphere."

This study of ancient genomics involves extracting and analysing DNA from skeletal material. It provides a window into the past, allowing researchers to uncover evolutionary changes that occurred many thousands of years ago.

The team showed that over the last 10,000 years, these early dog lineages mixed and moved to give rise to the dogs we know today. For example, early European dogs were initially diverse, appearing to originate from two highly distinct populations, one related to Near Eastern dogs and another to Siberian dogs. However, at some point this diversity was lost, as it is not present in European dogs today.

Anders Bergström, lead author and post-doctoral researcher in the Ancient Genomics laboratory at the Crick, says: "If we look back more than four or five thousand years ago, we can see that Europe was a very diverse place when it came to dogs. Although the European dogs we see today come in such an extraordinary array of shapes and forms, genetically they derive from only a very narrow subset of the diversity that used to exist."

The researchers also compared the evolution in dog history to changes in human evolution, lifestyles and migrations. In many cases comparable changes took place, likely reflecting how humans would bring their dogs with them as they migrated across the world.

But there are also cases when human and dog histories do not mirror each other. For example, the loss of diversity that existed in dogs in early Europe was caused by the spread of a single dog ancestry that replaced other populations. This dramatic event is not mirrored in human populations, and it remains to be determined what caused this turnover in European dog ancestry. 

Greger Larson, author and Director of the Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network at the University of Oxford, says: "Dogs are our oldest and closest animal partner. Using DNA from ancient dogs is showing us just how far back our shared history goes and will ultimately help us understand when and where this deep relationship began."

Ron Pinhasi, author and group leader at the University of Vienna, says: "Just as ancient DNA has revolutionised the study of our own ancestors, it's now starting to do the same for dogs and other domesticated animals. Studying our animal companions adds another layer to our understanding of human history."

While this study provides major new insights into the early history of dog populations and their relationships with humans and each other, many questions still remain. In particular, research teams are still trying to uncover where and in which human cultural context, dogs were first domesticated.

Source: The Francis Crick Institute [October 29, 2020]

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