Un feto de 2.000 años en la Vila Joiosa

Arqueología. Descubren junto a la torre Sant Josep de La Vila el esqueleto de un nonato del siglo II d. C. casi en perfecto estado. Junto a él, una pequeña barra de hierro recuerda la costumbre romana de poner clavos junto a los cadáveres de estos seres y de los de ajusticiados para impedir que sus almas escaparan al mundo de los vivos.

RAQUEL LÓPEZ ALICANTE En época romana a los nonatos o muertos al nacer les solían enterrar junto a un clavo de bronce u otro metal a fin de impedir que salieran de la fosa. "Clavándolos" simbólicamente bajo tierra pensaban que estas almas, frustradas por no haber gozado del mundo de los vivos, no escaparían de la tumba. Su morada eterna solía estar fuera de la necrópolis, debido a que no se les consideraba personas en el mundo romano, según explicó ayer el arqueólogo de La Vila Antonio Espinosa, cuyo equipo ha encontrado uno de esos nonatos enterrado junto a la torre romana de Sant Josep.
El feto, cuyas costillas apenas tienen 2 milímetros de grosor, estaba junto a un objeto alargado de hierro de unos 3 centímetros aún sin identificar. El cadáver podría tener una antiguedad de hasta 2.000 años y es el mejor conservado hallado en la Vila Joiosa en 25 años de excavaciones y prospecciones arqueológicas. "En tierra o arena los huesos se calcifican más, pero en este caso el feto estaba enterrado en gravilla, que conserva mejor los restos al tener una baja acción química", explicó el arqueólogo, quien añadió que aparte de la barra metálica no se ha encontrado ajuar alguno en la tumba, pues al no haber llegado a vivir, carecía de objetos personales.
El feto estaba situado bajo los pavimento de la casa del siglo XVIII que se adosó a la torre funeraria (retirada con su rehabilitación), y aunque todo apunta que podría ser de época romana, no se terminará de confirmar hasta que no terminen las excavaciones en el lugar. "Hemos detectado indicios de otra posible tumba, que de confirmarse nos hablaría de una zona de necrópolis imperial", informó el técnico del museo.
Restauración de la torre
El concejal de Patrimonio del municipio, Pepe Lloret, recordó que las excavaciones forman parte de los trabajos previos a la restauración de la Torre de Sant Josep, del siglo II d. C., ubicada en la partida de Torres, declarada Bien de Interés Cultural. Su restauración, con financiación autonómica, se realizará en breve, si bien tal y como está ahora ya forma parte de las rutas guiadas que se ofertan a las excavaciones arqueológicas de la localidad.
Solo bebés o recién nacidos hasta ahora
El feto es el primero encontrado de época romana en la comarca de la Marina Baixa. Hasta ahora solo se habían hallado bebés o recién nacidos que si habían llegado a vivir. Entre estos últimos, destaca el encontrado dentro de un ánfora en la necrópolis de la Creuteta. Fue datado en el siglo I a. C. y su excavación se llevó hasta las dependencias del museo a fin de que los ciudadanos pudieran ver casi en directo cómo se trataban estos restos para su estudio. También hace tres años aparecía otra sepultura de un bebé dentro de un ánfora romana en el yacimiento del Albir, en l'Alfàs del Pi, donde también continúan las excavaciones cada verano

 http://www.levante-emv.com/comarcas/2013/01/27/feto-2000-anos-vila-joiosa/969825.html

Exposición arqueológica sobre Samarra critica la práctica museística occidental

Jose-Pablo Jofré / corresponsal en berlín

Dos muestras en el Museo Pergamo de Berlín conmemoran el centenario de las excavaciones en la antigua ciudad iraquí, realizadas por Ernst Herzfeld

Se acaban de inaugurar en el Pergamon Museum de Berlín dos exposiciones del Museo de Arte Islámico para conmemorar el centenario de las excavaciones en Samarra: la muestra arqueológica presenta 113 piezas originales que cubren un espacio de más de cien metros cuadrados; la segunda exposición –fotográfica– documenta las excavaciones realizadas por Ernst Herzfeld allá por 1900. Una unidad multimedia con vídeos de entrevistas, termina por completar la muestra con una crítica directa a la praxis museística.

La antigua ciudad de Irak sobre la orilla oriental del río Tigris a unos 120 km. al norte de Bagdad, fue fundada en el año 835 cuando Al-Mutasim decide hacerla capital del Califato Abasí (750-1258). Samarra fue capital califal hasta 892, cuando al-Mutamid decide volver a Bagdad, dejando tras de sí, intacta, una de las más suntuosas metrópolis de la región: en más de cincuenta kilómetros albergó la mayor mezquita del mundo islámico, pero también gigantescos palacios, así como hipódromos, campos de polo y recintos de caza.

Hallazgos arqueológicos

La exposición titulada «Samarra, centro del mundo» y comisariada por Julia Gonnella presenta una amplia gama de hallazgos arqueológicos que incluyen restos de pinturas, paneles de madera tallados, decoraciones de las paredes de los palacios, vasijas, artículos de vidrio y una larga colección de joyas, como collares y aros. Las fotografías recrean las primeras excavaciones dedicadas exclusivamente a una ciudad islámica que dirigió el alemán Herzfeld (1879-1948) entre 1911 y 1913.

El elemento novedoso de las exposiciones resulta la inclusión de la crítica a la museística actual. En la presentación de la exposición, el director del Museo de Arte Islámico Stefan Weber da la palabra a la coordinadora del área de «Museología Experimental» Susan Kamel quien comienza su intervención diciendo que «nuestra participación es una crítica a la práctica de los museos. Y –dirigiendo la mirada a Weber– es una crítica también a este museo».

Es así como los vídeos de la estación multimedia de la exposición muestran a representantes de la diversidad berlinesa como el novelista bagdadí en lengua alemana Abbas Khider (1973); Khider lee partes de su «Die Orangen des Präsidenten» («Las naranjas del presidente») que sucede justamente en Irak.

Museo inclusivo

«Queremos un museo inclusivo –dice Kamel–, un lugar de encuentro de las diferencias; que estén representadas en el museo y sirva como un lugar de debate». Al teléfono y sobre su participación en el proyecto, Khider se pregunta sobre la posesión de estas piezas: «Quién lo ha permitido, quién tiene los derechos», comenta el novelista y prosigue: «El problema es que en esto no hay un real intercambio cultural». Kamel entra aquí para –intentar– subsanar el para nada pequeño problema de los museos arqueológicos.

 http://www.abc.es/cultura/arte/20130127/abci-exposicion-samarra-201301261722.html

 

Muralla, sí, medieval... se verá (Logroño)

M. J. LUMBRERAS | LOGROÑO.

Se trata de una obra de sillería de arenisca en ambas caras, de 220 centímetros de anchura, y selladas las piezas con argamasa de cal

Encargado un estudio arqueológico de un muro hallado junto a San Bartolomé

Podría ser la muralla medieval, aunque aún sólo se menciona así, con el verbo en condicional. Para tener certeza, el Ayuntamiento de Logroño ha contratado un pequeño estudio arqueológico que sirva para dotar de más detalles al hallazgo que se produjo durante las obras de restauración de la torre de San Bartolomé.

Las actuaciones en el entorno de la iglesia contaban con supervisión arqueológica y estos profesionales fueron los que detectaron, en la fase final de la intervención, «una potente estructura muraria». Así es cómo es denominada de momento. El concejal de Desarrollo Urbano, Pedro Sáez Rojo, explicó ayer que «las dimensiones y la calidad de la fábrica del muro hallado son notables, lo cual puede inducir a pensar que se trata de la muralla medieval que protegía la ciudad».

Según las primeras apreciaciones, el muro tiene una orientación norte-sur, «imbricándose en ángulo de 90 grados con la cabecera de la iglesia por su capilla Sur».

El estudio contratado a través de una resolución de Alcaldía firmada ayer mismo tiene como objeto determinar el origen de los restos, su funcionalidad y dimensiones, por el interés histórico y urbanístico que pueden tener, dado que, de confirmarse que forman parte de la muralla medieval, otras actuaciones previstas para este entorno se verían afectadas.

3,5 metros de longitud

La intervención la realizarán los mismos arquitectos que llevaron a cabo la supervisión para la Diócesis, que son Sergio Larrauri y Silvia Losantos, y que describieron el hallazgo como «una obra de sillería de arenisca en ambas caras, selladas las piezas con argamasa de cal compacta, mientras que el alma se rellenaba con cantos de variado tamaño y sillarejos trabados con mortero bastardo. La anchura del muro era considerable, un máximo de 220 centímetros, mientras que la altura presentaba una notable diferencia entre sus caras: si la Este descendía hasta los 300 centímetros, la Oeste sólo 75 centímetros. En la pequeña área de trabajo supervisada se midieron 350 centímetros de longitud, recordó Sáez Rojo.

Las prospecciones se realizarán en una zona de unos 25 metros cuadrados para identificar las caras exteriores, conocer la longitud del muro y hacia dónde sigue, identificar las alineaciones de los inmuebles que miraban a la plaza de San Bartolomé y, por fin, cubrir la zona. Vendrán después unas tareas topográficas y de redacción de un informe con los datos recopilados, la valoración de los restos y la propuesta de medidas para su futura conservación. El presupuesto es de 5.980 euros más IVA y el plazo de ejecución, de dos meses, por lo que se esperan conclusiones para finales de marzo.

El concejal recordó que el Ayuntamiento tenía previsto acondicionar provisionalmente el entorno para poder disfrutarlo antes de que se lleven a cabo las medidas definitivas que se prevean en el Plan de la Villanueva, que podrían tardar más. Este hallazgo, sin embargo, ha parado este arreglo provisional a la espera de resultados y de, quizá, nuevos elementos que tener en cuenta en esa próxima actuación.

 

 http://www.larioja.com/v/20130130/rioja-logrono/muralla-medieval-vera-20130130.html

Mataró recupera una lauda sepulcral paleocristiana única

Se expondrá restaurada en el antiguo baptisterio de la Basílica de Santa María | La lápida del siglo V es un elemento singular por su relieve 

 

Mataró. (Redacción).- El alcalde , Joan Mora, presidirá el sábado el acto de inauguración de la nueva ubicación de una lauda paleocristiana del s.V, una pieza que ha sido presentada por el concejal de Cultura, Joaquim Fernàndez, y el director del Museo Archivo de Santa María, Nicolau Guanyabens, una vez restaurada y ubicada en su nuevo emplazamiento: el baptisterio antiguo de la Basílica de Santa María.

La lauda sepulcral paleocristiana de Santa María, fechada en el siglo V, es una pieza emblemática de la ciudad de Mataró porque es una de las primeras muestras de la incorporación del cristianismo en el contexto local del último periodo romano y confirma la pervivencia de poblamiento durante la etapa de decadencia de la ciudad de Iluro, en la desconocida antigüedad tardía.

La lápida es, además, una pieza singular, única y de primer orden en el panorama arqueológico catalán y peninsular, porque contiene, en la cabecera, un crismón en relieve como destacado elemento decorativo.

Descubierta en 1958

Se trata de una lauda rectangular que había sido la tapadera de una tumba, la caja de la cual estaba hecha con paredes de piedra y mortero. Es de una sola pieza de grandes dimensiones (2,10 m x 0,85 m) y fue modelada in situ con una capa muy fina de 'opus signinum' (mortero de cal y picado de obra cocida).

La superficie presenta una forma cóncava y aparece adornada con un gran crismón en relieve (de 49 cm. de ancho, 68 cm. de longitud y 35 mm. de espesor). La cruz está decorada con las letras del alfabeto griego T "tau" y P "rho" sobrepuestas, una variante del monograma de Cristo que fue símbolo paleocristiano, especialmente extendido a partir del Edicto de Milán del emperador Constantino .

La lápida y la tumba fueron descubiertas durante las excavaciones arqueológicas que en el año 1958 se llevaron a cabo en los alrededores de la iglesia actual de Santa María. Los trabajos, dirigidos por Marià Ribas, excavaron las necrópolis paleocristianas surgidas en torno al viejo templo pagano y el primer cristiano. Las piezas fueron encontradas frente a la fachada de la iglesia junto con otros conjuntos funerarios de menor relieve.

Durante unos años la lauda estuvo expuesta al público en el vestíbulo del Museo de Mataró. En el año 1975 la lápida pasó a manos del Museu Arxiu de Santa Maria y se colocó en la cripta de la Capella dels Dolors. Pero con el tiempo surgieron problemas para la integridad de la pieza debido a las condiciones ambientales adversas.

Por iniciativa del equipo del museo, la lauda ha sido cuidadosamente restaurada en el Centre de Restauració de Bens Mobles de Catalunya, con la ayuda del Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat, el Ajuntament de Mataró, el Bisbat de Barcelona y la Parroquia de Santa Maria.

El nuevo emplazamiento hará la pieza más visible y más accesible a los visitantes que la podrán ver siempre que la iglesia esté abierta a través de una reja y con iluminación directa si se pulsa un dispositivo o se podrá entrar en la estancia cuando haya visitas guiadas.

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http://www.lavanguardia.com/local/maresme/20130129/54362517937/mataro-lauda-sepulcral-paleocristiana.html

Petroglyphs on the Ledge of Souls

Mexican archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) recently located and recorded a rock panel covered in petroglyphs that may have been carved between 850 and 1350 CE.

The site named “Cantil de las animas” [Ledge of Souls] is near the town of Jesus Maria Cortes in Tepic, Nayarit, Western Mexico.
The carved symbolic representations, which are attributed to the ancient Aztlan culture, were located in a new archaeological zone within the region’s mountainous zone, and they cover a south facing surface of vertical rock about 4 metres long and 2 metres high.

Symbolic images

The symbolic content of the engravings –recorded by archaeologist Mauricio Garduño Ambriz from INAH in Nayarit – seems to divide the petroglyph panel composition into two distinct parts.
Mauricio explained that, “In the eastern half we found designs related to fertility such as rain clouds, snail shell spirals, and vulvae – While in the western half, we found skull profiles who look to the east, towards sunrise.”
The petroglyph iconography is linked to a tradition of pictorial representation regarded as typically used by the Aztlan Culture, which flourished between 850 to 1350 CE along the lower coastal regions of the north of Nayarit and south of Sinaloa.
Archaeologist Mauricio Garduño also pointed out that within the “Cantil de las animas” petroglyphs it is also possible to recognize two distinct pictorial styles of Aztlan’s iconography, one with realistic or figurative representations of curved design, and another that is more schematic distinguished by rigid angular lines.

One of the human skulls in profile (highlighted). Image: Mauricio Garduño / INAH

Potential astronomical indicators

A further important aspect of the site that must be investigated, is to determine if it was also used as an astronomical indicator since the vertical level in which these designs are oriented is on an east-west axis.
“Eventually, it will be necessary to make archaeological and astronomical observations to determine the precise date at which the sun passes through the petroglyphs, and to determine the function of this site in the annual ritual cycle.” commented Mauricio Garduño.
He also believes that the archaeological investigations and discoveries in the Nayarit region should be examined to determine if the the symbolic regionalisation of space has a link to patterns of settlement.

Looking to indigenous communities for clues

We must also recognize the contributions of ethnologists, who, since the 19th century, have been studying the indigenous communities in the region called Gran Nayar.to examine how it fits in with other known representations and ritual traditions.
The petroglyph panel discovered in “Cantil de las animas” is also important because it is located in a relatively unknown area in terms of archaeological investigation. Since initial archaeological rescue works that took place in the 90’s, in the basin of the Santiago and Huaynamota rivers, there has been no systematic exploration of the valleys and hills nearby.
The INAH in Nayarit has now announced that it will implement a program of survey to locate, record, investigate and register the unknown sites of the high plateau valleys, where a rich archaeological heritage remains to be discovered.
Source: INAH

 http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2013/petroglyphs-on-the-ledge-of-souls

Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts

Fleeing Islamist insurgents burnt two buildings containing priceless books as French-led troops approached, says mayor

Luke Harding in Sévaré 
Islamist insurgents retreating from Timbuktu set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts, according to the Saharan town's mayor, in an incident he described as a "devastating blow" to world heritage.
Hallé Ousmani Cissé told the Guardian that al-Qaida-allied fighters on Saturday torched two buildings that held the manuscripts, some of which dated back to the 13th century. They also burned down the town hall, the governor's office and an MP's residence, and shot dead a man who was celebrating the arrival of the French military.
French troops and the Malian army reached the gates of Timbuktu on Saturday and secured the town's airport. But they appear to have got there too late to rescue the leather-bound manuscripts that were a unique record of sub-Saharan Africa's rich medieval history. The rebels attacked the airport on Sunday, the mayor said.
"It's true. They have burned the manuscripts," Cissé said in a phone interview from Mali's capital, Bamako. "They also burned down several buildings. There was one guy who was celebrating in the street and they killed him."
He added: "This is terrible news. The manuscripts were a part not only of Mali's heritage but the world's heritage. By destroying them they threaten the world. We have to kill all of the rebels in the north."
On Monday French army officers said French-led forces had entered Timbuktu and secured the town without a shot being fired. A team of French paratroopers crept into the town by moonlight, advancing from the airport, they said. Residents took to the streets to celebrate.
The manuscripts were held in two separate locations: an ageing library and a new South African-funded research centre, the Ahmad Babu Institute, less than a mile away. Completed in 2009 and named after a 17th-century Timbuktu scholar, the centre used state-of-the-art techniques to study and conserve the crumbling scrolls.
Both buildings were burned down, according to the mayor, who said the information came from an informer who had just left the town. Asked whether any of the manuscripts might have survived, Cissé replied: "I don't know."
The manuscripts had survived for centuries in Timbuktu, on the remote south-west fringe of the Sahara desert. They were hidden in wooden trunks, buried in boxes under the sand and in caves. When French colonial rule ended in 1960, Timbuktu residents held preserved manuscripts in 60-80 private libraries.
The vast majority of the texts were written in Arabic. A few were in African languages, such as Songhai, Tamashek and Bambara. There was even one in Hebrew. They covered a diverse range of topics including astronomy, poetry, music, medicine and women's rights. The oldest dated from 1204.
Seydou Traoré, who has worked at the Ahmed Baba Institute since 2003, and fled shortly before the rebels arrived, said only a fraction of the manuscripts had been digitised. "They cover geography, history and religion. We had one in Turkish. We don't know what it said."
He said the manuscripts were important because they exploded the myth that "black Africa" had only an oral history. "You just need to look at the manuscripts to realise how wrong this is."
Some of the most fascinating scrolls included an ancient history of west Africa, the Tarikh al-Soudan, letters of recommendation for the intrepid 19th-century German explorer Heinrich Barth, and a text dealing with erectile dysfunction.
A large number dated from Timbuktu's intellectual heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries, Traoré said. By the late 1500s the town, north of the Niger river, was a wealthy and successful trading centre, attracting scholars and curious travellers from across the Middle East. Some brought books to sell.
Typically, manuscripts were not numbered, Traoré said, but repeated the last word of a previous page on each new one. Scholars had painstakingly numbered several of the manuscripts, but not all, under the direction of an international team of experts.
Mali government forces that had been guarding Timbuktu left the town in late March, as Islamist fighters advanced rapidly across the north. Fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) – the group responsible for the attack on the Algerian gas facility – then swept in and seized the town, pushing out rival militia groups including secular Tuareg nationalists.
Traoré told the Guardian that he decided to leave Timbuktu in January 2012 amid ominous reports of shootings in the area, and after the kidnapping of three European tourists from a Timbuktu hotel. A fourth tourist, a German, resisted and was shot dead. Months later AQIM arrived, he said.
Four or five rebels had been sleeping in the institute, which had comparatively luxurious facilities for staff, he said. As well as the manuscripts, the fighters destroyed almost all of the 333 Sufi shrines dotted around Timbuktu, believing them to be idolatrous. They smashed a civic statue of a man sitting on a winged horse. "They were the masters of the place," Traoré said.
Other residents who fled Timbuktu said the fighters adorned the town with their black flag. Written on it in Arabic were the words "God is great". The rebels enforced their own brutal and arbitrary version of Islam, residents said, with offenders flogged for talking to women and other supposed crimes. The floggings took place in the square outside the 15th-century Sankoré mosque, a Unesco world heritage site.
"They weren't religious men. They were criminals," said Maha Madu, a Timbuktu boatman, now in the Niger river town of Mopti. Madu said the fighters grew enraged if residents wore trousers down to their ankles, which they believed to be western and decadent. He alleged that some fighters kidnapped and raped local women, keeping them as virtual sex slaves. "They were hypocrites. They told us they couldn't smoke. But they smoked themselves," he said.
The rebels took several other towns south of Timbuktu, he said, including nearby Diré. If the rebels spotted a boat flying the Malian national flag, they ripped the flag off and replaced it with their own black one, he said.
The precise fate of the manuscripts was difficult to verify. All phone communication with Timbuktu was cut off. The town was said to be without electricity, water or fuel. According to Traoré, who was in contact with friends there until two weeks ago, many of the rebels left town following France's military intervention.
He added: "My friend [in Timbuktu] told me they were diminishing in number. He doesn't know where they went. But he said they were trying to hide their cars by painting and disguising them with mud."
The recapture of Timbuktu is another success for the French military, which has now secured two out of three of Mali's key rebel-held sites, including the city of Gao on Saturday. The French have yet to reach the third, Kidal. Local Tuareg militia leaders said on Monday they had taken control of Kidal after the abrupt departure of the Islamist fighters who ran the town.

Reaction
'It's an absolute tragedy'

Essop Pahad, who was chairman of the Timbuktu manuscripts projectfor the South African government, said: "I'm absolutely devastated, as everybody else should be. I can't imagine how anybody, whatever their political or ideological leanings, could destroy some of the most precious heritage of our continent. They could not be in their right minds.
"The manuscripts gave you such a fantastic feeling of the history of this continent. They made you proud to be African. Especially in a context where you're told that Africa has no history because of colonialism and all that. Some are in private hands but the fact is these have been destroyed and it's an absolute tragedy."
He added: "It's one of our greatest cultural treasure houses. It's also one of the great treasure houses of Islamic history. The writings are so forward-looking on marriage, on trade, on all sorts of things. If the libraries are destroyed then a very important part of African and world history are gone. I'm so terribly upset at hearing what's happened. I can't think of anything more terrible."
Riason Naidoo, who directed the Timbuktu manuscripts project, said he is still awaiting confirmation of the extent of the damage. "It would be a catastrophe if the reports are true," he said. "I just hope certain parts of the building are unharmed and the manuscripts are safe."
The then South African president, Thabo Mbeki, was inspired by the "intellectual treasure" while visiting Timbuktu in 2001, and initiated a joint project between the two countries. He attended the opening of the Ahmad Babu Institute in 2009. A spokeswoman for the Thabo Mbeki Foundation said on Monday: "We haven't yet heard anything concrete as to what the real story is, so at the moment we can't really comment. We're getting mixed stories."
David Smith


 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/28/mali-timbuktu-library-ancient-manuscripts

Mysteries of ancient Egypt revealed at Lancaster City Museum

Treasures from the very beginnings of Egyptian history will be on show at Lancaster City Museum from Saturday 2nd February.

'From Egypt's Sands to Northern Hills' features a wide range of stunning artefacts spanning a period of more than 3,000 years, brought together from collections across the north west.

The exhibition focuses on objects relating to everyday life and the afterlife, which was central to the religion of ancient Egypt. All ancient Egyptians, from Pharaohs to farmers, believed in the afterlife and spent their lives preparing for it.

"All of the relics on show were discovered by Professor John Garstang while excavating in Egypt on behalf of Liverpool University between 1900 and 1914," explains Heather Dowler, Lancashire County Council's museum manager at the city museum.

Blackburn-born Garsatng was Professor of Archaeology at Liverpool University from 1907 until 1941 and, in addition to his work in Egypt, also carried out excavations at Roman sites in Britain, Nubia and Northern Syria.

Professor Garstang at work, date unknown. Photograph courtesy Lancashire County Council

"Professor Garstang mainly excavated in cemeteries, which means the objects he retrieved were often of high quality and very well-preserved.

"Among the objects were beautifully decorated vessels, stone statuettes of ordinary soldiers and a very impressive array of wooden masks. Many of these objects are included in this fantastic exhibition."

The exhibition also features a series of free, family-friendly events, including activities for half-term:

Saturday 2 February, 1.30pm to 3.30pm: mark the opening of the exhibition by having a go at making your own Egyptian Mask like those worn by mummified Pharaohs.

*'Pyramid Builder' - Monday 18 February 10.30am to 12pm and 1pm-2.30pm
Build your very own Egyptian Pyramid and discover how these impressive structures were built.

*'Mummy Mayhem' - Tuesday 19 Feb! ruary 10.30am to 12pm and 1pm to 2.30pm: discover how mummies are made and make your own Egyptian Mummy puppet.

'Cartouche Crazy' - Thursday 21 February 10.30am to 12pm and 1pm to 2.30pm: discover how to write like an Egyptian. Use hieroglyphics and make your own Egyptian cartouche out of clay.

Meet an Archaeologist' - Friday 22 February 10.30am to 12pm and 1pm to 2.30pm: find out about our Victorian archaeologist's awesome discoveries in Egypt and have a go at becoming an archaeologist yourself!

(This type of session needs to be booked, as it is often oversubscribed. If you are unable to attend once you have booked, please let the museum know so that someone else can fill your place.)

The exhibition was developed with financial support from Renaissance North West, and is the result of a project to develop a better understanding of Professor Garstang's legacy.

Alongside the exhibits, a display of photographs offers a fascinating insight into what life was like on Garstang's expeditions to Egypt before the First World War.


Lancaster City Museum is run by Lancashire County Council on behalf of Lancaster City Council.

• For more information and to book activities, please phone 01524 64637 or email lancastercitymuseum@lancashire.gov.uk. Alternatively, please visit www.lancashire.gov.uk/acs/sites/museums

 http://virtual-lancaster.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/mysteries-of-ancient-egypt-revealed-at.html

Archaeologists find ancient Chinese arrowhead in western Japan

Adam Westlake
A team of archaeologists and researchers have discovered an ancient Chinese arrowhead in western Japan’s Okayama Prefecture, the first of its kind, they say, to be unearthed in the country. Made of bronze, the ancient weapon has been dated as far back as 475 BC to 221 BC, a time in ancient Chinese history known as the warring states period.

The scientists formally describe the artifact as a “double-winged bronze arrowhead,” and say it was dug up in the Minamigata ruins located in Okayama City. The arrowhead measures half an inch (1.3 centimeters) wide and 1.4 inches long (3.5 cm) long. Interestingly it was found alongside the remains of several artifacts from Japan’s Iron Age, including fragments of pottery and stone tools dating to 300 BC to 100 BC, or the Yayoi period.
Archaeologists say the double-winged shape is a distinctive style of manufacturing from that period in ancient China. When it comes to understanding how to came to Japan, they believe it would have been imported with care by someone with influence. An Okayama City official adds that there would be a significant gap between when it was made in China and when it was actually used in Japan. This adds to the theory that the arrowhead was more likely used as a ritual or burial item rather than a weapon

 http://japandailypress.com/archaeologists-find-ancient-chinese-arrowhead-in-western-japan-2522168

British cannon from Battle of Cape Passaro found off Sicily

Marine archaeologists working on a wreck off the coast of Sicily have discovered five large cannon from a British ship, believed to have sunk in a major battle with Spanish galleons.

The team searching waters near the city of Syracuse said the "exceptional" find dates back to the Battle of Cape Passaro in the early 1700s.
Pictures taken by divers show the cannon were barely covered by sand.
The discovery has helped pinpoint the exact location of the famous battle.
The cannon have now been brought to the surface - after 300 years in the deep sea - and cleaned.
According to the archaeologists, they are in such fine condition that - in some places - the barrels still gleam in the light.
The team said they were able to identify the guns using part of an inscription on the handle of a piece of cutlery also discovered nearby.
The letters LONDO were found under what appeared to be a picture of an English rose, clearly indicating the word London - they said.
This and other evidence has convinced the researchers that the cannon came from a British vessel sunk at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718.
The battle involved more than 60 ships and ended in defeat for the Spanish.
At the time, the British were attempting to drive them out of Sicily.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21208809

Hallado eb Cádiz un importante yacimiento arqueológico del siglo IV antes de C

Junto a las 12 tumbas púnicas se han encotrado más de 300 joyas que demuestran la comunicación con la cultura egipcia

Las obras que se llevan a cabo en Cádiz han destapado doce tumbas púnicas de los siglos V y IV antes de Cristo y dos inhumaciones fenicias que se remontan al siglo VI antes de la era cristiana.

Hace poco más de un mes los arqueólogos han destapado estas tumbas tras 2.500 años. «Son dos conjuntos funerarios de la época púnica», explica uno de ellos. Otro, pone de relevancia la importancia del hallazgo: «Desde los años 20 del siglo pasado no se encontraba un conjunto como este en tan buen estado».

También es importante el hecho de que no estén saquedas. Una de las arqueólogas destaca que es «extraño» que no hayan sido alteradas. Un tesoro de más de 300 piezas con collares, pendientes, anillos de oro, amuletos egipcios, etc. Él hallazgo de estos amuletos demuestra la comunicación entre ambas culturas. 

http://www.abc.es/cultura/20130127/abci-yacimiento-arqueologico-cadiz-201301271727.html

Un búnker de la Guerra Civil se suma al Plan de Yacimientos Visitables

La Comunidad de Madrid acaba de sumar a la red de yacimientos visitables dos nuevos enclaves, con lo que ya son 18 los lugares habilitados, que recorren desde la Prehistoria hasta el siglo XX. Precisamente, los últimos en sumarse son un búnker de la Guerra Civil situado en Colmenar del Arroyo (es la primera vez que se incluye un vestigio de arquitectura militar) y los restos visigodos de Navalvillar y Navalahija en Colmenar Viejo.

Son seis los yacimientos en los que trabaja la Comunidad de Madrid para acondicionarlos para su visita. Se trata de la Ciudad fortificada de Alcalá la Vieja (Alcalá de Henares), los yacimientos de los Calveros (Pinilla del Valle), el Castro carpetano de El Llano de la Horca (Satorcaz), la Villa romana de Valdetorres (Valdetorres del Jarama), el yacimiento romano de El Beneficio (Collado Mediano) y el conjunto de estaciones de arte rupestre del Cerro de San Esteban (Pelayos de la Presa). Además, se estudia la incorporación a la red de otros once.

A lo largo de este año, la Comunidad va a seguir trabajando con los ayuntamientos involucrados en el mantenimiento de las instalaciones, va a completar la protección legal de los enclaves y organizará visitas guiadas especiales a lo largo del año abiertas a todos los ciudadanos, además de visitas concretas para escolares. Además se van a mantener las excavaciones arqueológicas que se suelen desarrollar en los yacimientos durante los meses de verano, haciendo compatible la investigación científica con la actividad divulgativa.

La principal vía de acceso a Madrid fue el aeropuerto de Barajas, con un 80% del total. El 75% de los turistas extranjeros se alojaron en hoteles y similares, mientras que el resto optó por el alojamiento no hotelero. Respecto a los datos del mes de diciembre, la Comunidad recibió 261.933 visitantes extranjeros, un 22% menos que en el mismo periodo del año anterior.

Fuente: Comunidad de Madrid

 http://www.madridaldia.net/2013/01/un-bunker-de-la-guerra-civil-se-suma-al-plan-de-yacimientos-visitables/

Jesús Carrobles: «Deberíamos referirnos a Toledo como un único gran yacimiento»

No tiene ningún sentido, desde un punto de vista arqueológico, establecer distinciones: los restos arqueológicos de la Peraleda y los de la Vega Baja forman parte de una misma realidad, al igual que ésta no puede entenderse sin el Circo Romano. En definitiva, deberíamos acostumbrarnos a hablar de un gran yacimiento llamado Toledo, no de varios restos diferentes».
Estas palabras del arqueólogo Jesús Carrobles fueron pronunciadas ayer durante la tertulia organizada por el Ateneo sobre el presente y futuro del Toledo visigodo, un encuentro que fue celebrado en la Venta de Aires y que contó con la asistencia de prestigiosos historiadores de la ciudad, desde el medievalista Ramón Gonzálvez hasta los arqueólogos Ramón Villa y Juan Manuel Rojas.

Jesús Carrobles abrió la sesión con una disertación sobre las nuevas reinterpretaciones del pasado visigodo, insistiendo en la importancia que la Toletum romana tenía ya mucho antes del impulso que le brindó el rey godo Atanagildo, con el que tradicionalmente se han identificado los orígenes de la ciudad visigoda. «Hablar de ruralización de la sociedad durante el Bajo Imperio no debe desviar nuestra atención de los enclaves urbanos -continuó Carrobles-, que continuaron existiendo y desarrollándose años antes de la llegada de los visigodos». De hecho, según el arqueólogo, los descubrimientos realizados durante las últimas décadas permiten considerar esta ciudad como el principal enclave de referencia en el Occidente mediterráneo entre finales del siglo V y comienzos del VIII, un marco fundamental no solamente para la configuración de la monarquía asturiana y elReino de León, sino para el desarrollo del mismísimo Aquisgrán, en pleno corazón del continente y origen de las realidades que siglos después llamaremos Francia y Alemania.

El arqueólogo destacó el peso político, simbólico y cultural de la ciudad durante esta etapa y se refirió al gran número de vestigios visigodos repartidos por la provincia de Toledo en comparación con otras zonas de España. «Aquí podemos hablar de sesenta o setenta manifestaciones visigodas bien desarrolladas, mientras que en otras provincias solamente hay dos o tres, y en determinados casos ninguna». Carrobles añadió no obstante que es paradójica la falta de manifestaciones palpables del poder visigodo en la capital toledana «cuando, sin embargo, tenemos una enorme cantidad de fuentes sobre asuntos como los concilios, las leyes o los ritos palatinos». Incluso consideraciones tan básicas como el significado concreto de ‘suburbio’ o ‘pretoriense’ (palabras cuya concisión puede modificar sustancialmente muchas líneas de investigación) siguen enfrentando a los especialistas. Para concluir y para destacar de nuevo la importancia de la Vega Baja (y, por extensión, de la Peraleda, el Circo Romano y una vastísima superficie que llega a penetrar en los barrios de Buenavista y San Antón), el ponente manifestó que «los toledanos deberíamos ser conscientes de que no es un yacimiento más, sino ‘el yacimiento’. En otras palabras, la Camelot del Mediterráneo occidental».

Otro arqueólogo, Juan Manuel Rojas, recordó que el catálogo de restos visigodos -desde sillares labrados y diversos elementos arquitectónicos hasta manifestaciones de cerámica- es cada vez más amplio y complejo. Por este motivo, añadió, causa perplejidad entre historiadores y arqueólogos que hasta la fecha no se haya desarrollado ningún proyecto de investigación a gran escala, y que el conocimiento sobre el pasado visigodo se haya producido sustancialmente a resultas de hallazgos casuales o de supervisiones técnicas forzadas por el cumplimiento de la Ley de Patrimonio en las últimas décadas.

Por otra parte, al igual que carece de rigor científico la distinción entre la Peraleda y la Vega Baja en términos arqueológicos, Rojas recordó que el mismo error se produjo a comienzos de la década de los noventa, cuando tuvieron lugar las obras de la Consejería de Obras Públicas. «Corremos el riesgo de no aprender de los errores cometidos entonces y repetidos diez años después en la Vega Baja, y que volverán a darse en la Peraleda una vez más si no hacemos nada para remediarlo».

Gonzálvez y la Peraleda. En la tertulia intervino asimismo el historiador y archivero Ramón Gonzálvez, quien compartió con los asistentes sus investigaciones a propósito del monasterio Agaliense, las cuales próximamente serán publicadas en una revista especializada italiana. El medievalista concluyó que este complejo religioso al que permaneció vinculado San Ildefonso estuvo situado aguas abajo del Tajo, más allá del puente de madera que existía en época medieval antes de la construcción del paso de San Martín. Concretamente, en las inmediaciones de una torrentera que nacía en la Bastida y que hasta hace no muchos años desaguaba a la altura de la Peraleda. Documentos mozárabes permiten asegurar que el monasterio Agaliense -incluida la iglesia de este cenobio, que en ocasiones aparece recogida en las fuentes bajo la advocación de los Santos Cosme y Damián- perduró hasta el siglo XIII. «Las fuentes históricas ya nos han permitido comprobarlo. Solamente falta la corroboración arqueológica, aunque me consta que en la zona se han hallado con facilidad sillares de piedra y otros restos».

La tertulia contó también con la presencia de historiadores como Ventura Leblic y Daniel Gómez Aragonés, quien habló sobre los invariantes simbólicos del Toledo visigodo hasta la actualidad.

http://www.latribunadetoledo.es/noticia/Z5130D9C8-DBE2-069D-071089D5886AC82A/20130125/deberiamos/referirnos/toledo/unico/gran/yacimiento

A fragile Buddhist treasure

Experts at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) are in the process of analysing Indian Buddhist texts that are over 2000-year-old which have recently come to light. The precious manuscripts have already yielded some surprising results.

Birch-bark manuscript. Image LMU

The texts of Ghandara

The oldest surviving Buddhist texts, preserved on long rolls of birch-tree bark, are written in Gandhari, an early regional Indic language that is long extinct. The scrolls originate from the region known in ancient times as Gandhara, which lies in what is now Northwestern Pakistan.
For researchers interested in the early history of Buddhism, these manuscripts represent a sensational find, for a number of reasons.
The first is their age. Some of the documents date from the first century BC, making them by far the oldest examples of Indian Buddhist literature. But for the experts, their contents are equally fascinating. The texts provide insights into a literary tradition which was thought to have been irretrievably lost, and they help researchers to reconstruct crucial phases in the development of Buddhism in India. Furthermore, the scrolls confirm the vital role played by the Gandhara region in the spread of Buddhism into Central Asia and China.

Restore, conserve, digitise, edit

At LMU a team of researchers led by Indological scholar Professor Jens-Uwe Hartmann and Professor Harry Falk of the Free University of Berlin has just begun the arduous job of editing the manuscripts.
Most of the texts survive only as fragments, which must first be collated and reassembled. The magnitude of the task is reflected in the planned duration of the project – 21 years.
The project of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities is being funded by a total grant of 8.6 million euros from the Academies Program, that is coordinated by the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It is one of the largest research programs in the field of the Humanities in the Federal Republic.

Fragile resource online

The research is not with the manuscripts themselves, but with digital scans. The originals are not only extremely fragile, but are held in various collections scattered around the world.
A large proportion of the surviving material is stored in the British Library in London.
The ultimate goal of the project is to prepare a modern edition of all the Gandhari manuscripts, making them available for further investigation and research. In addition, the researchers plan to produce a dictionary of the Gandhari language and it’s grammar based on the contents of these documents.
However, the project will be primarily concerned with illuminating the development of Gandhari literature and the history of Buddhism in Gandhara. It is already clear that the results will lead to a new understanding of the earliest phases of Buddhism in India.

Birch-bark manuscript in the Kharosthi script. Image British Library

Opening up new knowledge

Discoveries of these documents continue to be made and the understanding of the script and people is revolutionized by the recovery of 77 long birch-bark scrolls and around 300 palm-leaf manuscript fragments from Buddhist monasteries in the Gandhāran heartland.
Birch bark (bhoja-patra), like palm leaf, was a primary material used in India for writing before the introduction of paper and most of these early manuscripts have been destroyed, but accounts in ancient Greek literature even reveal birch bark’s usage in India at the time of Alexander’s invasion.
The oldest extant examples date to the 2nd or 3rd century CE, written with black ink in variants of the Sanskrit script. A recent publication on these manuscripts from the British Library states: “As the Dead Sea Scrolls have changed our understanding of Judaism and early Christianity, so early sets of scroll fragments promise to improve knowledge of the history of Buddhism.”
At the core of the project is the construction of a comprehensive database in which all relevant information and results are collected, stored and linked together. The database will serve as the major source of electronic and printed publications on the topic, and regular updates will give the international research community access to the latest results
Source: LMU Munich

More Information

The Ghandari Language The Buddhist Manuscript project (University of Washington) Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhara: The British Library Kharosthi Fragments Archaeology of the Southern Taklamakan: Hedin and Stein’s Legacy and New Explorations IDP, The British Library and SOAS 8th-10th November, 2012 Presentation on the The Kharoṣṭhī Documents from Niya and Their Contribution to Gāndhārī Studies by Stefan Baums Download Audio & Presentation zip 62.1MB

ME: Skeletal Remains Found At Lake Eufaula Are Ancient

Two skeletons discovered at Lake Eufaula are "ancient" human remains, according to investigators.
The Oklahoma State Medical Examiners office says the remains could be anywhere from 200 to 2,000 years old, or even beyond.
The ME's office was able to make that determination based on marks on the teeth that are consistent with the type of food ancient humans ate.
The two skeletons, which included skulls and back bones, were discovered as a result of the lingering drought that's caused the lake level to recede.
Pittsburg County Sheriff Joel Kerns said investigators found a cable with a cinder block near the remains, but that appears to have been just a coincidence.
Kerns says several visitors to the lake called to report the remains.
In cases like this, it's customary for investigators to compare the remains to any missing persons reports in the area.
The highest profile missing persons case in that area involves the Jamison family, who disappeared in 2009.

http://m.news9.com/story.aspx?story=20643062&catId=112032

Mass Human Sacrifice? Pile of Ancient Skulls Found

By Tia Ghose

Archaeologists have unearthed a trove of skulls in Mexico that may have once belonged to human sacrifice victims. The skulls, which date between A.D. 600 and 850, may also shatter existing notions about the ancient culture of the area.

The find, described in the January issue of the journal Latin American Antiquity, was located in an otherwise empty field that once held a vast lake, but was miles from the nearest major city of the day, said study co-author Christopher Morehart, an archaeologist at Georgia State University.

"It's absolutely remarkable to think about this little nothing on the landscape having potentially evidence of the largest mass human sacrifice in ancient Meso-America," Morehart said.

Middle of nowhere

Morehart and his colleagues were using satellite imagery to map ancient canals, irrigation channels and lakes that used to surround the kingdom of Teotihuacan (home to the Pyramid of the Sun), about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Mexico City. The vast ancient kingdom flourished from around A.D 200 to 650, though who built it remains a mystery. [In Photos: Amazing Ruins of the Ancient World]

In a now drained lake called Lake Xaltocan, around which was essentially rural farmland at the time, Morehart stumbled upon a site with evidence of looting.

When the team investigated, they discovered lines of human skulls with just one or two vertebra attached. To date, more than 150 skulls have been discovered there. The site also contained a shrine with incense burners, water-deity figurines and agricultural pottery, such as corncob depictions, suggesting a ritual purpose tied to local farming.

Carbon dating suggested that the skulls were at least 1,100 years old, and the few dozen analyzed so far are mostly from men, Morehart told LiveScience. The researchers did not release photos of the skulls because the sacrifice victims may have historic ties to modern-day indigenous cultures.

The findings shake up existing notions of the culture of the day, because the site is not associated with Teotihuacan or other regional powers, said Destiny Crider, an archaeologist at Luther College in Iowa, who was not involved in the study.

Human sacrifice was practiced throughout the region, both at Teotihuacan and in the later Aztec Empire, but most of those rituals happened at great pyramids within cities and were tied to state powers.
By contrast, "this one is a big event in a little place," Crider said.
The shrines and the fact that sacrifice victims were mostly male suggest they were carefully chosen, not simply the result of indiscriminate slaughter of a whole village, Crider told LiveScience.
Many researchers believe that massive drought caused the fall of Teotihuacan and ushered in a period of warfare and political infighting as smaller regional powers sprang up, Morehart said.
Those tumultuous times could have spurred innovative — and bloody — practices, Crider said.

"Maybe they needed to intensify their activities because everything was changing," she said. "When things are uncertain you try new strategies."

 http://news.yahoo.com/mass-human-sacrifice-pile-ancient-skulls-found-152724186.html

Fiumicino, torna alla luce il volto di Giulia la figlia dell'imperatore Augusto

Fiumicino, torna alla luce il volto di Giulia
la figlia dell'imperatore Augusto


E' stata rinvenuta in località Aranova, in una monumentale villa romana riaffiorata a dicembre durante i lavori di scavo preventivi per un progetto edilizio
di LAURA LARCAN


Il volto è leggermente inclinato verso sinistra ad evocare una posa aristocratica, il profilo è delicato con la linea perfetta del naso. Gli occhi hanno le palpebre a rilievo e le orecchie mostrano ancora piccoli fori per gli orecchini in metallo, forse oro o argento. Ma è la raffinata acconciatura a confermare l'origine imperiale della testa (nella foto) ritratto in marmo, databile all'età augustea, rinvenuta pochi giorni fa a Fiumicino, in località Aranova, in una monumentale villa romana riaffiorata a dicembre durante i lavori di scavo preventivi per un progetto edilizio.




















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Fiumicino, torna alla luce il volto di Giulia
la figlia dell'imperatore Augusto

E' stata rinvenuta in località Aranova, in una monumentale villa romana riaffiorata a dicembre durante i lavori di scavo preventivi per un progetto edilizio
di LAURA LARCAN
Lo leggo dopo



Il volto è leggermente inclinato verso sinistra ad evocare una posa aristocratica, il profilo è delicato con la linea perfetta del naso. Gli occhi hanno le palpebre a rilievo e le orecchie mostrano ancora piccoli fori per gli orecchini in metallo, forse oro o argento. Ma è la raffinata acconciatura a confermare l'origine imperiale della testa (nella foto) ritratto in marmo, databile all'età augustea, rinvenuta pochi giorni fa a Fiumicino, in località Aranova, in una monumentale villa romana riaffiorata a dicembre durante i lavori di scavo preventivi per un progetto edilizio.

GUARDA LE IMMAGINI

Potrebbe essere Giulia maggiore, figlia di Augusto, l'unica naturale avuta dalla prima moglie Scribonia. Ne è quasi sicura la Soprintendente per l'Etruria meridionale, Alfonsina Russo Tagliente, che ora sta studiando nei laboratori di restauro del Museo Etrusco di Villa Giulia il reperto scoperto dalla sua equipe di archeologi diretta da Daniela Rizzo. "Lo stile dell'acconciatura richiama modelli di personaggi illustri della famiglia GiulioClaudia - racconta la Russo Tagliente - Sulla fronte due ciocche scendono in grandi onde morbide lungo le tempie, mentre sulla nuca i capelli appaiono in bande lisce divise da una riga in mezzo e raccolte in fitte trecce racchiuse in una crocchia bassa. Inoltre, una tenia, ossia un nastro a doppio giro

intrecciato ai capelli, si annoda sul capo con un effetto diadema".

La testa, a grandezza naturale, era nascosta in una zolla di terra, ritrovata in un grande ambiente della villa che fungeva da magazzino di conservazione per il cibo. Della villa, infatti, databile tra I sec. a. C. e II d. C., è stata individuata tutta la "pars rustica", ossia gli ambienti domestici e di servizio. "La villa, che si doveva articolare a terrazze sulla collina, era monumentale - racconta l'archeologa Daniela Rizzo - i muri d'età repubblica hanno, infatti, poderosi blocchi di opera quadrata. E' la prima testimonianza di una residenza imperiale sul litorale". La scoperta sarà presentata in anteprima domani, a Villa Giulia, nel corso della tavola rotonda "I traffici illeciti e il patrimonio ritrovato: risultati e prospettive" promossa dalla Soprintendenza a conclusione della mostra "I predatori dell'Arte". [img]http://roma.repubblica.it/images/2013/01/22/213610765-49d85227-079a-4d61-a5aa-23c48149f4ab.jpg[/img]

León abrirá este año el puente de la Lastra al mover la glorieta que afectaba a los restos

Proyecto. Enlazará con la calle La Flecha, pero aún no hay plazo para prolongarlo a la avenida de San Froilán

NOTICIAS RELACIONADAS

Alfonso Martínez / León
Han pasado ya más de cinco años desde la construcción del puente que cruza el Torío en el barrio de La Lastra y que estaba llamado a enlazar con Puente Castro. Sin embargo, este viaducto moría justo al superar el cauce por la aparición de los restos arqueológicos del yacimiento romano ‘Ad Legionem’.
La tramitación del proyecto que el Ayuntamiento de León preparó para dar continuidad al puente chocó con las decisiones de Patrimonio sobre la conservación de los restos romanos y ello ha derivado en este retraso, que ha desatado en numerosas ocasiones las quejas de los vecinos del barrio de Puente Castro.
Fue el pasado mes de octubre el momento en que se vislumbró el acuerdo que ha servido para desbloquear este asunto y ayer se concretó la solución que se adoptará. La primera fase, que será de ejecución inmediata, se centra en proteger los restos (se van a cubrir con una manta de 4.600 metros cuadrados de superficie que envolverá el yacimiento desde la cota superior de los muros hasta el lecho de las excavaciones, se colocará una capa de arena lavada de diez centímetros de grosor y se rellenará hasta la cara superior de la excavación con restos de hormigón reciclado y lavado) con una inversión de 50.000 euros.
La segunda fase supondrá que el puente abrirá al tráfico antes de que finalice el presente año y enlazará en un primer momento con la calle La Flecha de Puente Castro (justo hasta el límite del yacimiento romano), según anunció ayer la concejala de Urbanismo y Medio Ambiente, Belén Martín-Granizo. Para ello, en primavera se licitarán las obras de un proyecto que desplaza la glorieta prevista para enlazar con La Flecha (el PGOU la situaba encima de los restos y ahora se acercará al puente para evitar su impacto sobre los mismos). La inversión prevista para esta glorieta y para los viales de acceso a la misma será de 330.000 euros que se financiarán con el dinero ingresado por las expropiaciones ejecutadas en el Acceso Sur.
Una vez protegidos los restos a fin de que no se sigan deteriorando por la erosión que provocan las inclemencias meteorológicas y una vez abierto el puente, sería el momento de abordar la tercera fase, que se centraría en unir esta glorieta con la avenida de San Froilán (la que va al cementerio). Martín-Granizo aseguró que la disponibilidad presupuestaria marcará los plazos de la prolongación del vial por encima de los restos (está previsto que haya 80 centímetros de tierra por encima del punto más alto del yacimiento para garantizar su protección y para salvar el desnivel de tres metros que hay entre el lecho del río y la zona de la excavación, por lo que la glorieta y la remodelación de la calle La Flecha también serán sobreelevadas).

Un puente semipeatonalLa concejala calcula aproximadamente en otros 330.000 euros las necesidades económicas para cerrar la conexión entre La Lastra y Puente Castro. Destacó además el trabajo coordinado en el seno del Ayuntamiento y con la Junta para resolver un importante problema que estaba “enquistado”.
Valoró la ventaja que supondrá la intervención prevista para este año, ya que “se dará un paso más para la descongestión y futura semipeatonalización del viaducto de piedra del siglo XVIII en el barrio de Puente Castro”. Recordó en este sentido que esta infraestructura quedará notablemente liberada de la actual intensidad de tráfico y se evitará que sufra mayores daños. El Ayuntamiento de León ha acometido recientemente un plan de restauración y de refuerzo de los cimientos de este histórico puente de la capital.
Es preciso recordar que la resolución emitida por la Comisión de Patrimonio Cultural de Castilla y León el pasado 10 de octubre, que emanada del acuerdo alcanzado ya por el Ayuntamiento y la Junta, ordenaba la conservación del yacimiento, pero no que se mantengan a la vista, lo que hace viable la ejecución del vial siempre y cuando los restos permanezcan protegidos. Es por esto que se ha optado por elevar la cota del vial y de la rotonda de la calle La Flecha. Martín-Granizo detalló finalmente que durante los últimos meses se ha modificado un importante colector de aguas que afectaba al yacimiento y ya se ha redistribuido por el resto de la red.


 http://www.lacronicadeleon.es/2013/01/23/leon/leon-abrira-este-ano-el-puente-de-la-lastra-al-mover-la-glorieta-que-afectaba-a-los-restos-172858.htm

Momia Inca del Cerro El Plomo se conserva en el Museo de Historia Natural de Santiago

Nuevos informes sobre el niño ofrecido en sacrificio por la autoridad Inca

Por Anastasia Gubin- La Gran Época

Mie, 23 Ene 2013 10:55 +0000

 

El Museo de Historia Natural de Chile reveló nuevos informes de la momia del niño Inca encontrado en el Cerro El Plomo, en el entorno de Santiago de Chile, un caso único en su género al representar un sacrificio humano impuesto por la autoridad Inca, y que se expone en excelente estado de conservación, mantenido en un cubículo a bajas temperaturas.
El cerro El Plomo, visible desde el centro de Santiago, del Tawantisuyu Sur o Imperio Inca que llegaba hasta la capital chilena, era uno de los lugares considerados sacros para esta población que vivió en las riberas del río Mapocho antes de la llegada de los europeos.
El niño fue encontrado congelado en la cumbre a 5400 metros de altura en 1954 y desde entonces se mantiene en una vitrina; los antropólogos se encargan de su conservación y manutención.
Fue usado en una de las poco frecuentes ceremonias incas, pero sí de gran importancia, donde se daba una ofrenda humana, destaca la curadora del Museo, Nieves Acevedo. Una práctica en la que el pueblo se sometía a las órdenes de la gran autoridad Inca.
“Es difícil conceptualizar el tema de las creencias y el respeto a sus deidades por parte de los Incas, así como el sentido de pertenencia, lealtad e identificación con sus máximas autoridades. Esto es patente en el plano de los sacrificios humanos, llevando a ofrendar niños y jóvenes adolescentes”, destaca Nieves Acevedo.
“Aunque todo parece indicar que para las familias escogidas entregar a un hijo(a) les habría otorgado prestigio, también se vislumbran acciones coercitivas y una subyugación a las decisiones de la máxima autoridad, representada en este caso por el 'Inka', puesto que ante su voluntad, los hacía incapaces de oponer alguna clase de resistencia”, agrega.
La especialista señala que si bien para la sociedad incaica los sacrificios humanos eran normales dentro de sus prácticas religiosas, “no deja de resultar ante nuestros actuales ojos y criterios, sobrecogedor”.
Exámenes médicos practicados anteriormente al Niño de El Plomo sugieren que habría estado en contacto con grupos europeos, lo que situaría esta costumbre encontrada en el El Plomo, en fechas posteriores de la conquista del Cusco, en 1522, según describe el estudio del arqueólogo del Museo, Rubén Stehberg, en su reciente recopilación de datos.
La momia lleva elegantes atuendos textiles de la época. Al costado de la víctima se encontraron una figura de plata con un gran tocado de plumas y una ofrenda femenina.
El manto del niño o Ilijlla se colocó en un soporte de crepelina para fijarlo, y unos llamativos mocasines del tipo hishu se restauraron recientemente.
Según Nieves Acevedo, las altas cumbres andinas, llamadas en ese entonces montañas del Kollosuyu, en la parte sur del Tawantisuyu, eran los sitios de prácticas de culto en honor a sus dioses. Para ello construían estructuras en piedra, correspondiendo en su mayoría a adoratorios.
Se cree que el niño fue sacrificado en una de las ceremonias llamada Qhapaq Qocha (fuente real en quechua), o Capacocha, ya que estaba vestido con sus mejores atuendos. En estas ceremonias incas ellos también realizaban un culto “Inti Rayme”, con ofrendas al Dios del Sol o Inti.
La momia encontrada en el Cerro El Plomo representa el primer ejemplo encontrado de estas prácticas en Chile.
Otros cuerpos humanos que se estima corresponden a los mismos sacrificios se encontraron en el Cerro El Toro a 6300 metros de altura, en el Cerro Aconcagua a 5300 metros, en el volcán Ampato a 6300 metros, en el Arequipa, Perú y en la cumbre del volcán Llullaillaco a 6739 en Salta.
La Gran Época se publica en 35 países y en 21 idiomas.

http://www.lagranepoca.com/26904-momia-inca-del-cerro-plomo-se-conserva-museo-historia-natural-santiago

Hallado un tumor ovárico con dientes en un esqueleto de mujer de época romana

El descubrimiento confirma la presencia de teratomas en la antigüedad

Jacinto Antón


Los antiguos romanos padecían tumores como nosotros. De hecho la palabra misma “tumor” es latina (tumor tumoris, hinchazón) y, aunque con el sentido de tumefacción de la herida, ya la usaba Catón el Censor 150 años antes de Cristo. La arqueología ha probado la existencia de tumores en los restos de los romanos pero pocos tan excepcionales como el que acaba de anunciar un equipo de investigadores liderados por Núria Armentano, miembro de la Unidad de Antropología Biológica de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) y que publica la revista International Journal of Paleopathology. Se trata de un tumor ovárico calcificado que ha aparecido en la pelvis de un esqueleto de una mujer de la necrópolis romana de La Fogonussa (Lleida) excavado en 2010. Los restos datan del siglo V de nuestra era. El tumor es un teratoma, un tumor encapsulado con componentes de tejidos u órganos, en este caso con cuatro dientes y un trozo de hueso.

Según los investigadores, en la literatura científica no hay ningún caso referenciado de teratoma ovárico en restos antiguos como el hallado. “Estos tumores no se suelen calcificar, los tejidos blandos desaparecen, no nos llegan, y los pequeños dientes del contenido podrían fácilmente haber pasado desapercibidos en la excavación”, ha explicado a este diario Núria Armentano.

El teratoma ovario tardorromano que nos ocupa es redondeado, de superficie rugosa y del color y textura del hueso. Mide unos 43 mm de longitud y 44 mm de diámetro. Se encontraba en la parte derecha de la pelvis de la mujer que contaba entre 30 y 40 años de edad. En el interior de la cápsula se han identificado cuatro dientes de morfología anómala, dos de ellos adheridos a la pared interna del tumor, y un pequeño fragmento de hueso.

La investigadora señala que los teratomas son generalmente congénitos y benignos, especialmente en mujeres. La materia que contienen es del propio individuo y no de un gemelo o un bebé. “Actualmente no representan un gran problema y no llegan a complicarse, se sacan y ya está”, indica Armentano.

¿Cómo afectaría el tumor a la mujer romana de La Fogonussa? “No lo sabemos, puede que ni se diera cuenta de que lo tenía, que no hubiera síntomas. Aunque probablemente se lo podría palpar. No podemos descartar que le produjera alguna complicación, compresión sobre el ovario, por ejemplo. De hecho incluso podría haber muerto a causa de ese tumor. La medicina romana no estaba suficientemente adelantada para extraérselo”.


La antropóloga recalca que se desconocen las causas de la muerte de la mujer. “El esqueleto, completo y bien conservado, no muestra ninguna otra anomalía”. La dama del teratoma no era una aristócrata sino más bien de clase baja, como atestigua el enterramiento, propio de la gente modesta: el esqueleto está cubierto con tejas que forman un rudimentario sarcófago triangular. En la necrópolis se hallaron un total de 46 tumbas con 87 esqueletos.

Armentano explica que aunque claramente padecían diferentes tipos de tumores y cánceres —los osteosarcomas están atestiguados en restos óseos—, los romanos, aunque contaban con médicos tan afamados como Dioscorides y Galeno, empleaban escalpelos, catéteres y fórceps, y obviamente practicaban la cesárea (aunque la madre no sobrevivía), no tenían forma de detectarlos y tratarlos. Este tipo de casos, saber que alguien de hace 16 siglos padecía un tumor ovárico, o el de la momia egipcia de 2.200 años a la que el año pasado se le diagnosticó (con cierto retraso) un cáncer de próstata, provocan una gran empatía a través de la bruma de la historia. “Es cierto, te das cuenta de que no están tan lejanos, de que eran como nosotros. Incluso tengo una amiga que ha tenido un teratoma similar”. Armentano no cree que podamos llegar a averiguar algo más de la mujer tardorromana de La Fogonussa y su suerte. “Ya hemos realizado todos los análisis que se podían hacer. Lo más probable es que nunca sepamos con seguridad cómo fue su vida con ese tumor, ni qué fue lo que la mató”.
http://sociedad.elpais.com/sociedad/2013/01/22/actualidad/1358867251_640866.html

Archeologists revise image of ancient Celts

The Celts were long considered a barbaric and violent society. But new findings from a 2,600-year-old grave in Germany suggest the ancient people were much more sophisticated than previously thought.

The little Bettelbühl stream on the Danube River was completely unknown, except to local residents. But that changed in the summer of 2010 when a spectacular discovery was made just next to the creek.
Not far from the Heuneburg, the site of an early Celtic settlement, researchers stumbled upon the elaborate grave of a Celtic princess. In addition to gold and amber, they found a subterranean burial chamber fitted with massive oak beams. It was an archeological sensation that, after 2,600 years, the chamber was completely intact.

Nicole Ebinger-Rist hopes to find out who the princess was

The wooden construction was preserved by the constant flow of water from the Bettelbühl stream. "In dry ground, the wood wouldn't have had a chance to survive over so many centuries," said Nicole Ebinger-Rist, the director of the research project handling the find.

A life of luxury?
Since the rings in the wood allow them to date the other items in the burial chamber, researchers are now hoping to gain a new understanding of Celtic culture and history
The result could change our view of the Celts. Roman writers in particular described the heterogeneous people as barbaric, only excelling in violence and war. But that's a distorted view, according to Dirk L. Krausse from Baden-Wurttemberg's state office for historic preservation.
"There's also a bit of propaganda involved, since the Celts conquered Rome in the year 387 B.C., so they couldn't have been so primitive," Krausse explained. The findings at the Heuneburg near Hundersingen also indicate that the Celts living in the upper Danube region were more advanced than previously thought.

The Heuneburg was an important hub for the Celts

The Heuneburg is a center of Celtic culture in south-western Germany. In its heyday, giant security walls in the area protected a city of as many as 10,000 people. Wealthy members of society led lives of luxury: Etruscan gold jewelry, Greek wine, and Spanish tableware were all traded here. The Celtic princess's grave supports the hypothesis that her people were interested in culture and comfort.
Elaborate pearl earrings, solid gold clasps, an amber necklace and a bronze belt are just some of the findings from the grave that baffle the archeologists.
"We find objects here everyday that we cannot categorize at this time," Krausse said.
Archeologist's playground
The burial chamber is not only well preserved - but also full. In most cases, archeologists find themselves digging up graves that were plundered by thieves years ago. But here, stacks of burial objects made of gold, amber, jet and bronze were discovered alongside the skeletons of the princess and an unidentified child.
It quickly became clear, however, that it would be a huge challenge to retrieve the treasures. So specialists were called upon to place a steel frame around the burial chamber and lift it out of the gravel and onto a heavy truck. The findings were then transported to a laboratory near Stuttgart, where they are now being examined in painstaking detail.

Transporting the burial chamber was a tricky undertaking

Archeologists, restorers, excavation experts, anthropologists and botanists are all investigating the 3.6-by-4.6-meter (roughly 12-by-15-foot) burial chamber, Nicole Ebinger-Rist said. "The colleagues here lie on their bellies and look down into the depths, suspended over the findings," she explained.
Who was she?
Every single centimeter of the find is examined with brushes, tweezers, and scrapers. "This space, which had been furnished with a lot of different objects, has shrunk to just a few millimeters due to the pressure of the earth," Ebinger-Rist said. Lasers and scanners allow the researchers to create a 3D computer image of what the burial chamber originally looked like.
In addition to the gold and amber jewelry, the researchers are also particularly interested in the plant and animal remains found in the chamber. "The organic material is actually just as important as the artifacts because it gives us information about their burial rituals," Ebinger-Rist added.
When the excavation of the grave is completed this spring, the six-person team will begin two years of detailed research. For Ebinger-Rist, the priority is to uncover the identity of the buried princess. "We call her a princess, but we actually know very little about the social organization of the time because we don't have any written sources."

Attention to detail is crucial during restoration work at the ancient Celtic burial chamber

History's big mystery
The researches are also hoping to learn more about the Celts' wars of domination - one of the greatest mysteries of central European history. Experts still don't know why the Celts were advancing quickly from the sixth century B.C. until the birth of Christ and then abruptly disappeared from the scene.
Should that mystery be solved, then the tiny Bettelbühl creek in south-western Germany will also go down in history. Without its steady flow, the princess's burial chamber likely wouldn't have survived its 2,600-year sleep.

DW.DEhttp://www.dw.de/archeologists-revise-image-of-ancient-celts/a-16528844

 

Sifting the Dust for Treasures While Trouble Swirls

By SUSANNE FOWLER

KARKEMISH, TURKEY — The Syrian civil war is not the first conflict to complicate Professor Nicolò Marchetti’s efforts to turn Karkemish, an ancient city site on the banks of the Euphrates, on Turkey’s southern border and inside a restricted military zone, into a public archaeology park. 

Before his team started digging, under the watchful eyes of armed Turkish soldiers, he had to make sure that land mines planted in the 1950s had all been cleared away.

Mr. Marchetti — a tanned and lanky version of Hollywood’s Indiana Jones, who teaches Near Eastern, or pre-classical, archaeology at the University of Bologna — has led excavations at Karkemish on and off for two years after being granted the first access allowed to anyone in decades. 

The aim is to open a first stage to tourism by October 2014. That goal remains realistic, he said during a tour of the site late last year. Still, conflict has had a way over the years of interrupting excavations here.

First identified by the British Museum archaeologist George Smith in 1876 as the kingdom of Karkemish mentioned in the Bible, the site was later explored with permission of the Ottoman sultan by a team that included David G. Hogarth, C. L. Woolley and T.E. Lawrence — later known as Lawrence of Arabia. They found Assyrian and Hittite temples, palaces and hieroglyphics. Some of their discoveries went to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, the Louvre in Paris, and the British Museum in London.

Their work was halted by World War I. The dig briefly reopened in 1920 but was then closed again by fighting between the Turks and occupying French troops.

When the dust settled, about a third of the 90-hectare, or 220-acre, ancient city of Karkemish was in Syria.

The entire settlement, on both sides of the border, is classified as an endangered cultural site by the Global Heritage Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, California. But war is no respecter of culture: This month, NATO is preparing to place U.S. Patriot missile batteries in Gaziantep Province, where Karkemish is located, to ward off attack from Syria — though military officials say the deployment will be at least 40 kilometers, or 25 miles, from the site and will not affect it.

Today’s Karkemish in some ways resembles other digs that dot the rural Eastern Anatolia landscape, like Gobekli Tepe and Catalhoyuk, with their own remarkable traces of early civilizations. But as members of Mr. Marchetti’s team crouched recently in a clearing to clean and consolidate the surface cracks of a limestone carving from 1000 B.C., a worker could be seen checking for mines along a distant ridge.

“There are many reasons why this place is important,” Mr. Marchetti said last autumn before sitting down to a grilled meat and eggplant banquet prepared by local villagers. “It’s a huge site, it’s enormous, it’s on the Euphrates: that would be enough. But there’s much more of course.”

The roughly $250,000 2012 budget for the joint Turkish-Italian expedition was paid for by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Italian Ministry for Education and The University of Bologna, along with a $30,000 grant for conservation from the G.H.F.

The team is due to return to the site in August. Experts say every hit of the pick could add to what is known about the Iron Age residents and rulers of Karkemish, who grew wealthy by trading commodities like wine and honey, horses and slaves. Most of the finds date from the Iron Age phase between 1000 and 700 B.C., Mr. Marchetti said.

Items like pottery shards are clues to food storage methods, and ornaments including a gold earring and lapis lazuli necklaces reveal the level of craftsmanship.

The settlement, he explained, included an acropolis, an inner town walled by ramparts that are pierced by two gates, and an outer town with a double wall and two more gates, both of which now lie in Syria. A so-called Water Gate allowed entry from the Euphrates along a road that led to a palace and two temples and to a grand staircase up to the acropolis. The mound where the upper royal citadel was situated is now home to the Turkish military barracks, watchtower and helicopter landing pad. 

Archaeologists have been able to reveal a group of town houses where wealthy merchants may have lived, and a Neo-Assyrian cremation burial ground outside the city. Also found were items that tell of city government and the commercial role of Karkemish, including cylinder or stamp seals used by officials and merchants, some even engraved onto semi-precious gems.

Enlarge This Image

Thus far, the most significant discovery by the Marchetti team, which includes experts from Gaziantep University and Istanbul University, is a palace built near 900 B.C. by the ruler Katuwa.

The palace remained in use, Mr. Marchetti said, through the Assyrian conquest in 717 B.C. It remained in Assyrian hands until the defeat in 605 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

“We dug for more than one month,” Mr. Marchetti said by e-mail this week. “Then slowly the structures of the palace began to appear. However, they were badly damaged to the west and only became better preserved while we proceeded to the east.”

But time ran out as the 2012 excavation season drew to a close, setting up what he called “the greatest expectations” for when the team returns this summer. “It takes sometimes years to uncover a monument and only in retrospect do you sense the full meaning of what has been achieved,” Mr. Marchetti said. “I think we may finish the palace in 2014 if our hypothesis on its layout is correct. And we already have another hypothesis on where a second palace may be located.”

One “eureka” moment came when Mr. Marchetti almost literally stumbled upon a two-meter-high stele inscribed by King Suhi I from around 975 B.C.

It was “my first day ever at the site,” he said. Permission from the Turkish military had just come through and he entered the area with a government inspector and a soldier. “I noted a large, regular black stone on surface, went close, and remained breathless staring at an almost intact monolith,” he said. “Stanley Kubrick would have liked it.”

He said he figured it was important because a winged disk, an exclusive symbol of a great king, was clearly visible on the top.

“I had entered with a pick in one hand and a camera in the other, and this is how we discovered the stele, lying on the ground,” he added.

To read the inscriptions, the team relies on people like David Hawkins, a professor emeritus at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, who is an authority on Anatolian hieroglyphic writing, and “a real living legend in our field,” Mr. Marchetti said, along with the dig’s deputy director, the philologist Hasan Peker of Istanbul University.

“Hasan is a hero,” Mr. Marchetti said, describing another day at the dig. “He jumped high when I passed over to him a seemingly unimportant inscribed bit in basalt, and he cried, ‘Hey, we have new king of Karkemish here! See his royal title? We know of no other king whose name begins with this syllable.”’

Other finds include additional pieces from the Iron Age, the early Bronze Age, and even modern times with the discovery of a shovel thought to have been used by Lawrence himself.

The team also recovered a small bronze statue of a dog; a sculpted limestone torso that used to be attached to a head found by the Woolley team; and a 20-centimeter, or 8-inch, bronze statue of a storm god, an important deity for people who relied on rain to grow crops. (While this god often is depicted holding a thunderbolt, the statue found at Karkemish carried a silver dagger.)

“We think our main scientific duty here is reconstructing material in order to produce more a detailed historical framework,” he said.

Karkemish “was very important,” he said. “At that time, it was one of the rivals of Babylon and was making history because of its power, because of its location, because of the trading route which it controlled.” 

The stele, for example, “in one shot filled up a new page of history,” Mr. Marchetti said, on a period about which very little was known. Its references to the great kings and more local rulers to whom the kings eventually ceded power, he said, give “a tantalizing glimpse into some detailed power structure of which we still do not grasp the essentials. We can actually follow two lines of the power structure in later inscriptions found at Karkemish in the old days. What we know and the mass of evidence changes a little every day with our excavations.”

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But Mr. Marchetti has plans beyond the scientific for developing Karkemish as a public park, despite the obstacles.

That the Turkish authorities respect Mr. Marchetti, who fluently speaks what he calls “village Turkish,” seems to have played an incalculable role in making the site available.

“He is very appreciated by the local authorities,” the Italian ambassador to Turkey, Gianpaolo Scarante, said during a visit to the dig, “because he is a serious man, has an excellent reputation with the local people. He is a friend of everyone here. For an archaeologist, it’s very important. ”

“Everything is more difficult now,” Mr. Scarante said, “not because of politics, but because the site is in a delicate geographical position. But the Turkish authorities are trying, are doing their best, to permit us to go on.”

Thus Mr. Marchetti’s second goal is a more social one: to help the locals who have welcomed him and his team by helping to create a sustainable source of income and inspiration that will last beyond the current excavations. The region around Gaziantep is primarily agricultural, and much of the economy, aside from smuggling, has been devastated by the loss of trade with Syrians who used to stream across the border to shop.

Two young Italian architects, Alessandra Giacardi and Massimo Ferrando, will help develop what Mr. Marchetti called a “master plan” that melds conservation and public presentation, letting visitors “walk on ancient streets in an original environment that protects the local heritage and, in a local community that has no industries other than farming, creates some badly needed alternatives so that the younger generation isn’t forced to leave the area.”

With the support of the fund in California, the project also calls for the opening of a school for restoration, the education of local guides, and development of a high-quality venue for selling local produce and rejuvenated local crafts.

“By bringing people to the site, by letting them stand on the site, creating an interest in the site, we can keep the area socially inhabited,” Mr. Marchetti said. “We do not think Karkemish as a laboratory. It’s a journey through time, it forces new dialogues. We are trying to make a mark.” 

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/arts/sifting-the-dust-for-treasures-while-trouble-swirls.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1