Abri Castanet and its sister site Abri Blanchard have long been recognized as being among the oldest sites in Eurasia that provide evidence for artefacts of human symbolism. Hundreds of personal ornaments have been discovered, including pierced animal teeth, pierced shells, ivory and soapstone beads, engravings and paintings on limestone slabs.

The east side of the Vallon de Castel-Merle with Abri Castanet to the immediate right. Image Credit: (Raphaëlle Bourrillon)

Older than Grotte Chauvet

Since their discovery in 1994, the spectacular paintings of lions, rhinos, and other prehistoric animals in Grotte Chauvet, France, have become renowned as the oldest known cave art in the world, dating to around 37,000 years ago.  However a team working at a site in the south of France claims to have discovered what appear to be engravings of female genitalia and many other images that are as old as, or older than, Grotte Chauvet, possibly making them the world’s earliest symbolic cave art.

Partial painted depiction of a horse outlined in black. Image Credit: (Raphaëlle Bourrillon)

The research team, comprised of more than a dozen scientists from American and European universities and research institutions, has been excavating at the site of the discovery—Abri Castanet—for the past 15 years.
In 2007, the team began excavating a large block of limestone that had fallen from the roof and directly on to a layer of human occupation deposits on the cave floor.  They broke the 1.5 tonne slab into sections for removal and as they lifted them, discovered the underside had been deeply engraved with vulva images.

Vulva carved in bas-relief, Abri Castanet. Image Credit: (Raphaëlle Bourrillon)

Vulva carved in bas-relief, Abri Castanet. Image Credit: (Raphaëlle Bourrillon)

The deposits beneath contained the remains of reindeer and other animals the Aurignacian cave dwellers had hunted. When the results of Carbon 14 dating returned from the University of Oxford, the dates were all within a band between 36-37,000 years ago.

Excavation of the firepit at Abri Castanet. The images were carved on the ceiling of a rock shelter shortly before it collapsed. Image Credit: (Raphaëlle Bourrillon)

Vulva carved in bas-relief, Abri Castanet. Image Credit: (Raphaëlle Bourrillon)

Art in everyday view

Now, they have multiple images of these carved vulvas as well as other mysterious images and depictions of animals. This research, reported in the May 2012 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans 37,000 years ago.

“Early Aurignacian humans functioned, more or less, like humans today,” explained New York University anthropology professor Randall White, one of the study’s co-authors. “They had relatively complex social identities communicated through personal ornamentation, and they practised sculpture and graphic arts.”

Unlike the Grotte Chauvet paintings and engravings – which are deep underground and away from living areas – the engravings and paintings at Abri Castanet are associated with everyday life, given their proximity to tools, fireplaces, bone and antler tool production, and ornament workshops. Subsequent geological analysis revealed the ceiling had been about two metres above the floor on which the Aurignacians lived—within arms reach.

Reassessment of the importance of art

Harold Dibble, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, is quoted as saying that the team’s dating of the vulva engraving, “appears sound because it cannot be any younger than the surface on to which it fell and might even be older.”

…raises new questions about the evolutionary and adaptive significance of art and other forms of graphic representation in the lives of modern human populations

White concludes that this discovery, combined with others of approximately the same time period in southern Germany, northern Italy, and southeastern France, raises new questions about the evolutionary and adaptive significance of art and other forms of graphic representation in the lives of modern human populations.

Perhaps a horse, the prehistoric artist depicts an unknown animal head. Image Credit: (Raphaëlle Bourrillon)

Short documentary of the cave site

Source: New York University

More Information:

Aurignacians and the origins of European Art

Randall White, Romain Mensan, Raphaëlle Bourrillon, Catherine Cretin, Thomas F. G. Higham, Amy E. Clark, Matthew L. Sisk, Elise Tartar, Philippe Gardère, Paul Goldberg, Jacques Pelegrin, Hélène Valladas, Nadine Tisnérat-Laborde, Jacques de Sanoit, Dominique Chambellan, and Laurent Chiotti. Context and dating of Aurignacian vulvar representations from Abri Castanet, France. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012

Armand D. (2006) – Abri Castanet (Dordogne, France) : an aurignacian site with Bear exploitation procurement. Bear exploitation in paleolithic time. Scientific Annals, School of geologye, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, special vol. 98, p. 263-268. (complete article)

Randall White, Professor of Anthropology at New York University

15th May 2012

In collaboration with British Archaeological Jobs Resource

6,000-year-old settlement found in Ireland
Ancient language discovered on tablets found in Turkey
Analysis suggests France cave art is ‘oldest’
Neolithic burial discovered in Qatar
How was Europe repopulated after Ice Age?
Modern technology helps identify ancient Peruvian mounds
Prehistoric animal remains discovered in Irish cave
Ancient cairns found in Scotland on wind farm area
Extinction of Australian megafauna explained
Is this the first evidence of fire?
Ancient buildings and fields found on Welsh island
Palaeolithic rock art at risk in Egypt

Click the play button to listen

Listen to the weekly Archaeo News [Total time 26.31]

Speaker: David Connolly (BAJR)
Audio file mastering: Dave Horrocks (Infinite Wave)

Please note that now your favourite podcast – along with a great deal of additional features – is available also as an app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch on iTunes Store.

Mas d’Azil is an immense cave and is one of the major prehistoric sites in France. Classed as an historic monument since 1942, it is also a very popular tourist site. The construction of a visitor centre and site path by the commune of Mas d’Azil requires archaeological intervention and two phases have already been completed. The first; a trench to house the buried pipes that traverse the road and the second; the visitor centre located inside the cave.

Mas d'Azil as it sits in the landscape: Image: © Marc Jarry / Inrap

The cave of Mas d’Azil and French prehistory

The first research at this site was carried out in 1860 with Félix Garrigou presenting the general stratigraphy in 1867. Twenty years later, Édouard Piette conducted extensive excavations. Throughout these years, thousands of flint tools and hundreds of portable art objects were recovered.

In 1901-1902, Henri Breuil defined the chronology of the Magdalenian culture based on his excavations at Mas d’Azil and discovered the first parietal art works in the cave (bison, horse, feline, fish, etc.). Between 1936 and 1958, Joseph Mandement discovered numerous previously unknown cavities. But it was Marthe and Saint-Just Péquart who excavated the deep gallery, from 1935 to 1942, and revealed one of the rare “occupations in an obscure cave”, in which a few masterpieces of Magdalenian art were found: spear throwers, pierced batons, contour cut-outs, etc. Since this time, little research has been conducted in the cave. The right bank, where the decorated spaces are located, was believed to be sterile except for a small amount of back dirt from the early excavations.

Exploration along the right bank of the Arize in the cave of Mas d’Azil. Image: © Marc Jarry / Inrap

The cave of Mas d’Azil is the eponymous site of a culture that succeeded the Upper Palaeolithic: the Azilian, defined by Edouard Piette in 1887-1889. Between 10,000 and 7,500 years ago, this Epipalaeolithic culture, situated between the Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic, was characterized by red deer antler harpoons with an elongated perforation at the base, very short end-scrapers and more or less geometric projectile elements (Azilian Points). Art is represented by painted or engraved pebbles.

Azilian point. Image: {link url="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Archaeodontosaurus" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"}Didier Descouens{/link} (Wikimedia commons, used under a {link url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"}CC BY-SA 3.0{/link})

An exceptional stratigraphy covering all of the Upper Palaeolithic

Sand and pebble layers were deposited by the Arize River during ancient floods contemporary with the last Quaternary glaciation. Below and above (before and after the floods), other layers very rich in stone and bone artefacts were created by the Upper Palaeolithic occupants of the cave.

Extensively explored since 1860, the right bank of Mas D’Azil has suffered greatly due to its early discovery. Today, all that remains are a few bits of back dirt from the early excavations. Under the road, the diagnostic operation by Inrap has confirmed this situation. The few flint artefacts and reindeer and bovid bone remains discovered in this context were mixed during its construction.

Fortunately, the archaeology carried out in the location of the future visitor centre has revealed a long stratigraphical sequence, several metres deep. Sand and pebble layers were deposited by the Arize River during ancient floods contemporary with the last Quaternary glaciation. Below and above (before and after the floods), other layers very rich in stone and bone artefacts were created by the Upper Palaeolithic occupants of the cave.

…it was thought that Aurignacian peoples did not live deep in caves, but at Mas d’Azil such occupation has now been revealed.

The study of the recovered artefacts is still in progress, but the first dates obtained by the Carbon 14 method reveal a tentative chronology of the occupations. Most of the earliest occupation, found under the flood layers, are attributed to the Aurignacian culture (35,000-33,000 years ago). Later (14,700 years ago), the Magdalenian culture arrived after the flooding. Until now, evidence of this flooding had never been seen at Mas d’Azil. In addition, it was thought that Aurignacian peoples did not live deep in caves, but at Mas d’Azil such occupation has now been revealed.

View of the sector where the welcome centre will be built. The diagnostic archaeological operation mostly concerned the left wall. Image: © Olivier Dayrens / Inrap

This discovery is important because it enriches the heritage of this site, particularly in the zone visited by the public. Modern archaeological methods permit archaeologists to place some of the artefacts conserved and isolated in museums within the original context of the site. The discovery of a complex stratigraphic sequence, at the base of which Aurignacian peoples left numerous remains of their occupations of the site, is an important contribution to our knowledge of Prehistory. The study of this previously unknown stratigraphy and its formation processes, and the extension of this archaeological and geomorphological evaluation to the entire cave, will contribute significant new information.

This research by Inrap is conducted in close collaboration with a team from the University of Toulouse (TRACES, UMR 5608) and participates in a broad research project concerning ancient collections and archives, in the framework of a valorization of the cave of Mas d’Azil. The immense network of galleries in Mas d’Azil has not revealed all of its secrets.

Source: INRAP

Ziyaret Tepe is located some 60 km east of Diyarbakir in the upper Tigris region of southeastern Turkey. Now understood to be the site of ancient Tushan, the provincial capital and garrison town at the northern limit of the Assyrian Empire.

Buried at this site for nearly 3000 years, a cuneiform tablet has opened the possibility for the discovery of a long forgotten ancient language after a Cambridge scholar noticed some unusual names in the text.

Researchers working at Ziyaret Tepe, believe that the language may once have been spoken by deportees originally from the Zagros Mountains, on the border of modern-day Iran and Iraq.  They suggest the unknown language could be Shubrian – the indigenous language spoken in the Tushan area before the Assyrians arrived, but never written down.

Dr John MacGinnis deciphered the tablet. Image: University of Cambridge

A simple list

The evidence for the language they spoke comes from a single clay tablet, which was preserved after it was baked in a fire that destroyed the palace in Tušhan at some point around the end of the 8th century BCE. Inscribed with cuneiform characters, the tablet is essentially a list of the names of women who were attached to the palace and the local Assyrian administration.

Writing in the new issue of the Journal Of Near Eastern Studies, Dr John MacGinnis, from the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, explains how the nature of these names has piqued the interest of researchers.

“Altogether around 60 names are preserved,” MacGinnis said. “One or two are actually Assyrian and a few more may belong to other known languages of the period, such as Luwian or Hurrian, but the great majority belong to a previously unidentified language.”

“If the theory that the speakers of this language came from western Iran is correct, then there is the potential here to complete the picture of the world’s first multi-ethnic empire. We know from existing texts that the Assyrians did conquer people from that region. Now we know that there is another language, perhaps from the same area, and maybe more evidence of its existence waiting to be discovered.”

If the theory that the speakers of this language came from western Iran is correct,… this completes the picture of the world’s first multi-ethnic empire.

A frontier city

Ziyaret Tepe is on the River Tigris in south east Turkey, and has been the subject of extensive archaeological excavations since 1997. Recent work has revealed evidence that it was probably once the site of the Assyrian frontier city of Tušhan. In particular, it is thought that the remains of a monumental building excavated on the site are those of the governor’s palace, built by the Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II (883 – 859 BCE).

The site of Ziyaret Tepe, Turkey, once the Assyrian city of Tushan. Image: Cambridge University

The tablet was found in what may have been the palace’s throne room by Dr Dirk Wicke of the University of Mainz, working as part of a team led by Professor Timothy Matney of the University Akron, Ohio. When a conflagration destroyed the palace, perhaps around the year 700 BCE, the tablet was baked and much of its contents on the obverse side preserved.

A forensic task

MacGinnis was handed the task of deciphering the tablet and has identified a total of 144 names, of which 59 can still be made out. His analysis systematically ruled out not only common languages from within the Assyrian Empire, but also other languages of the time – including Egyptian, Elamite, Urartian or West Semitic. Even at its most generous, his assessment suggests that only 15 of the legible names belong to a language previously known to historians.

Detail from the tablet found at Ziyaret Tepe. Inscribed with Cuneiform characters, the tablet consists of a list of women's names, many of which appear to be from a previously unknown language. Credit: John MacGinnis

The report also posits several theories about where this mysterious language may have come from. One notion is that it may be Shubrian – the indigenous language spoken in the Tušhan area before the Assyrians arrived. As far as historians know, Shubrian was never written down. In addition, it is believed to have been a dialect of Hurrian, which is known and does not appear to bear any resemblance to most of the names on the tablet.

Another theory is that it was the language spoken by the Mushki – a people who were migrating to Eastern Anatolia at around the time the tablet was made. This idea seems less plausible, however, as to appear on the list of the Assyrian administration, these people would either have infiltrated the Empire or been captured, and historians have evidence for neither.

More convincing is the theory that the language in question may have been spoken by a people from somewhere else in the Assyrian Empire who were forcibly moved by the administration.

This was standard practice for successive Assyrian Kings, particularly after the Empire began to expand during the 9th century. “It was an approach which helped them to consolidate power by breaking the control of the ruling elite in newly-conquered areas,” MacGinnis said. “If people were deported to a new location, they were entirely dependent on the Assyrian administration for their well-being.”

Although historians already know that the Zagros Mountains were in a region invaded and annexed by the Assyrians, it remains, to date, the one area under Assyrian occupation for which no known language exists. That makes it tempting to link the text on the tablet to the same region. An Assyrian King, Esarhaddon, even referred to an unidentified language, Mekhranian, which supposedly hailed from the Zagros, but in practice the area was probably a patchwork of chiefdoms and more than one dialect may have been in use.

“If correct this suggests that Iran was home to previously unknown languages,” MacGinnis said. “The immediate impression is that the names on this tablet were those of women who belonged to an isolated community. It may be, however, that there were others whom we still have to find out about.”

The tablet is currently being stored in Diyarbakir, Turkey, where it is hoped that it will eventually go on public display. Dr MacGinnis’ report on its decipherment is published in the April issue of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies.

Excavation of the governor's palace at Ziyaret Tepe, once the Assyrian city of Tushan. Image: Cambridge University

A race against time

The eventual aim of the teams’ fieldwork is to reconstruct the layout and organisation of the city and to place it within the context of the nature and development of the impact of Assyrian rule on Anatolia. They will try to recover as much as possible of this unique heritage before it disappears forever beneath the flood waters of the Ilisu Dam. Ziyaret Tepe sits approximately 10m above the flood plain of the modern Tigris River.

Interview exploring the evidence for a previously unknown language on a tablet excavated by Dr. Dirk Wicke

Source: Cambridge University

More Information:

• Ziyaret Tepe website (Cambridge)
• Ziyaret Tepe website (Akron)
• Journal Of Near Eastern Studies
• S. Parpola, Cuneiform Texts From Ziyaret Tepe (Ancient Tushan) 2002-2003, State Archives of Assyria Bulletin, vol. 16, 2006
• Timothy Matney and Ann Donkin, Mapping the Past: An Archaeogeophysical Case Study from Southeastern Turkey, Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 69, pp. 12-26, 2006

Scientists have used DNA analysis to gain important new insights into how human beings repopulated Europe as the Ice Age relaxed its grip.

Dr Maria Pala, who is based at the University of Huddersfield – now a key centre for archaeogenetics research – is the lead author of an article in the latest issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics which shows how the Near East was a major source of replenishment when huge areas of European territory became habitable again, up to 19,000 years ago.

Until the new findings, it was thought that there were two principal safe havens for humans as the Ice Age, or Last Glacial Maximum, descended, approximately 26,000 years ago. They were a “Franco-Cantabrian” area roughly coinciding with northern Spain/southern France, and a “Periglacial province” on the Ukrainian plains.

Humans belonging to the J and T haplogroups actually migrated to Europe much earlier than previously believed, as the Ice Age drew to a close

Common genetic ancestor J and T

Now Dr Pala and her colleagues have greatly added to this picture by analysing large quantities of mitochondrial DNA from Europeans who belong to two major lineages – who share a common genetic ancestor – named J and T. It is known that these haplogroups originated in the Middle East and until the latest research it was thought that they migrated to Europe in the Neolithic age, approximately 9,000 years ago.

Dr Maria Pala who is based at the University of Huddersfield.

The research project outlined in the American Journal of Human Genetics presents evidence that humans belonging to the J and T haplogroups actually migrated to Europe much earlier than previously believed, as the Ice Age drew to a close.

“The end of the Last Glacial Maximum allowed people to recolonise the parts of Europe that had been deserted and this expansion allowed increase of human populations,” says Dr Pala, who begun research into the topic while at the University of Pavia in Italy.

She later relocated to the UK and is now a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield, where archaeogenetics research – in newly equipped laboratories – is headed by

Professor Martin Richards, a leader in a field of science which combines archaeology with genetics to learn about the early history of humans and how they colonised the planet.

Important lessons to teach humanity

In addition to purely scientific challenges and discoveries, Dr Pala believes that archaeogenetics has important lessons to teach humanity.

“It helps us to re-evaluate the perception of our identity. We are highly focussed on identifying ourselves as Italians, British or whatever, but by analysing DNA we discover that originally, not such a long time ago, we came from a common source.”

Source: University of Huddersfield

More information:

The article, Mitochondrial DNA Signals of Late Glacial Recolonization of Europe from Near Eastern Refugia by Maria Pala and others, appears in the May 2012 edition of The American Journal of Human Genetics.

By Maggie Struckmeier

During the late Iron-Age, Lofoten chiefdoms were actively increasing their wealth through tribute and trade. These chieftains owned large farms, built fine boats and longhouses, and surrounded themselves with exotic items brought back from trading expeditions.

A glimpse into this dynamic Norwegian world was helped by a chance discovery in 1981 on the Island of Vestvågøy which contained the largest longhouse ever found in Scandinavia. The results from the excavation led to such a wealth of information that a replica of the hall was built nearby allowing visitors to experience the life of a Lofoten chieftain.

Three Lofoten chiefdoms

It is estimated that there may have been three Lofoten chiefdoms; two of them on Vestvågøy and the third on the neighbouring Island of Gimsøy. This way of life was already established by the early centuries AD, with fishing and small-scale farming the main subsistence activities. However, towards the late Iron Age larger farms with a more centralised function began to appear, indicating a shift in fortunes and a concentration of power.

Map showing location of the Lofoten Islands with trade and colonisation routes

At that point the Lofoten islands were densely populated putting pressure on the scarce arable land found mainly along the coastal areas.  Borg, located in the northeast of  Vestvågøy, still forms one of these habitable spots. This tiny community had been identified by archaeologists as exhibiting most of the hallmarks of a possible chieftain’s farm with its boathouse remains, barrows and vestiges of long-houses. However, with no evidence of a great hall there was no conclusive proof.

A turning point for Borg history

This was set to change when, in the Autumn of 1981, Frikk Harald Bjerkli, a local farmer out ploughing his land, noticed some unusual pottery and glass coming up in the soil. Fortunately, he retrieved the items which proved to be a turning point for Borg history. The fragments represented high status European wares, rarely seen in Scandinavia let alone in Northern Norway.

In response to this discovery test trenching began in the farmer’s field in 1983 and recovered more of the distinctive Rhineland pottery known as Tating ware, along with a wide variety of European glass fragments. In the same location the remains of at least five buildings were identified with radiocarbon dating indicating a span of 650 years, leaning towards late Iron Age. However, the range of artefacts found, including the imported wares, were mainly dated to between the 6th and 8th centuries.

Major excavations

The exciting results obtained from the test trenching clearly warranted more action. Major excavations got underway in 1986 in the form of a combined research project involving participation from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the United Kingdom.

Excavating the site at Borg

After three years the archaeological team had succeeded in excavating the remains of the largest longhouse ever found in Scandinavia, and was interpreted as a chieftain’s hall. The excavations revealed that a 67-metre-long building had first been erected as early as the sixth century and was subsequently rebuilt and enlarged at the beginning of the 8th century to a length of 83 metres.

The remains of the hall itself were preserved to the extent that traces of the turf outer walls, entrances, partitioning walls, floors, hearths and internal roof supports could be understood. The structure had been divided into five main areas consisting of the living quarters, banqueting hall and storage room, vestibule, and animal shed.

The function of each room was determined mainly by the distribution of finds. Although modern farming methods had destroyed the stratigraphical sequence the objects did not appear to have migrated very far from their original locations within the confines of the building itself.

Enough evidence to re-construct the long-house

After three years, archaeologists had amassed enough evidence to re-construct the long-house as it would have looked in its final phase. Several alternative roof constructions were discussed based around the two options of shingle or turf. Shingle, such as is found, for instance, on Norwegian stave churches, was eventually decided upon. Shingle makes the building visible from a great distance, whereas a turf roof would have made the hall quite inconspicuous within the landscape. Poles mounted in pairs bear the weight of the roof which sits 9 metres from ground level and relieves the turf outer walls of any strain. The long-house was completed in 1995 and is now known as the Lofotr Museum.

The remains of three boathouses at Borg have never been examined archaeologically. The largest is estimated to be around 26 metres long.  Based on information from excavations at Rennesøy in Rogaland, a 30-metre-long boathouse has been reconstructed at Borg to house ‘Lofotr’, a copy of the Gokstad ship from the 9th century found during excavations near the Oslo fjord.

At this time, boat building had become much more accomplished and navigation was extremely precise. A warming climate also meant that travelling became easier and the Atlantic Ocean was crossed on trips to Iceland, Greenland and Vinland (part of North America). Norwegian merchants  travelled to the east, by way of the Russian rivers, to the Caspian Sea and through the Black Sea to Constantinople (Byzantium).

Ottar from Hålogaland

An Iron-age chieftain

One Norwegian chieftain from the 9th century who went on such expeditions was Ottar from Hålogaland, to the north of Lofoten. In his travelogue from the 9th century he describes travelling to the frozen wastelands along the White Sea, dealing with groups such as the Sami, then onto the trading towns of southern Scandinavia and across to England where he visited King Alfred of Wessex.

Ottar brought back to his homeland luxury articles such as fine textiles, glass vessels, precious metals, wheat, honey and wine. In return he could offer black fox and white marten fur, soapstone vessels, whetstones made of shale, and a variety of iron goods. Walrus tusk ivory was very much in demand and so valuable that when Ottar visited the Court in Wessex he brought two as a gift to King Alfred.

Ottar may have seemed particularly adventurous to the likes of the English, but due to the limitations of the land in supplying their needs it was expected of men from these Norwegian communities to travel in search of wealth and opportunity. This, of course, meant leaving behind a family and slaves to continue the year-round farming activities.

Strict demarcation of roles

Life on an Iron Age farm involved a strict demarcation of roles. The women were responsible for milking the cows, baking the bread, brewing  beer, preparing meals, spinning, weaving and raising the children. When young, boys and girls had a similar upbringing. They played together and were expected to take part in day-to-day chores where they acquired the skills needed to run a successful farm and maintain the community; to keep the society going.

The women went straight from childhood to marriage and were equipped with a personal dowry. This was their first contribution to the wealth of the farm to which they moved, and in many ways a woman was as valued and respected as a man. She might own her own land, and with very few exceptions would inherit on an equal footing with a man. To symbolise her authority and power, she would wear the keys to chests, cupboards and storerooms on her belt. In certain situations she would take over the functions of her husband and was often effectively in charge of the farm.

At the age of 15, young men were entitled to decide how to use their inherited property and to bear responsibility for their actions. They were given public tasks that included participation in defence and acts of vengeance, and were expected to win honour and wealth for themselves and their families.

Although these people seemed to enjoy status and wealth, events or circumstance appeared to have driven them from their settlements. Iceland was fast becoming a popular destination for Norwegians, being first settled around the late 9th century by a chieftain called Ingólfur Arnarson. Many chieftains quickly followed suit, accompanied by their families and slaves, most probably driven by political upheaval and land pressures.

Towards the end of the 10th century the farm and long-house at Borg were abandoned. The precise reasons for his departure from the shores of Lofoten may never be known, but it is likely that this chieftain, in search of more security and better opportunities, had boarded his ship and in the traditional Norwegian way sought greater fortunes overseas.

The chieftain’s long-house completed in 1995 and opened as a museum. Photo: Odd-Arild Bugge

Get Involved

Work at Lofotr:

The summer season starts on May 1st and closes September 15th. During the season employees are needed for full and part-time work as guides and handcrafters. A background in archaeology, history and travel or good language skills is an advantage.

For all these jobs you must speak English and applicants who also speak German, French, Spanish or Italian will be shown a preference.  When applying enclose  testimonials showing education and experience. Remember to specify which occupation and time period you can work, and if you want full or part-time employment. Applicants who want to work continuously for more than four weeks will also be shown a preference.

Applications must be sent in no later than 7 February each year.

Volunteer:

As a volunteer at Borg, you live and work at the museum and participate in the activities. You can bring your own Viking clothes and appropriate equipment for the job you want to do. However, this must be approved by the museum for authenticity.

Send an email with the type of work you want to do. Include information on other skills you may have. For instance, knowledge of old handicrafts, making food or, collecting herbs. The museum wants to know more about what you can do and what you have done before.

Post your application to: Lofotr Vikingmuseet, Prestegårdsveien 59, 8360 Bøstad, Norway

Email: vikingmuseet@lofotr.no

See website:
http://www.lofotr.no/

New research led by the University of Reading has revealed that finds at Glastonbury Abbey provide the earliest archaeological evidence of glass-making in Saxon Britain.

Professor Roberta Gilchrist, from the Department of Archaeology, has re-examined the records of excavations that took place at Glastonbury in the 1950s and 1960s.

Glass furnaces associated with major rebuilding of abbey in 7th century

Glass furnaces recorded in 1955-7 were previously thought to date from before the Norman Conquest. However, radiocarbon dating has now revealed that they date approximately to the 680s, and are likely to be associated with a major rebuilding of the abbey undertaken by King Ine of Wessex. Glass-making at York and Wearmouth is recorded in historical documents in the 670s but Glastonbury provides the earliest and most substantial archaeological evidence for glass-making in Saxon Britain.

Glass-making at York and Wearmouth is recorded in historical documents in the 670s but Glastonbury provides the earliest and most substantial archaeological evidence for glass-making in Saxon Britain

The extensive remains of five furnaces have been identified, together with fragments of clay crucibles and glass for window glazing and drinking vessels, mainly of vivid blue-green colour. Image: University of Reading

The extensive remains of five furnaces have been identified, together with fragments of clay crucibles and glass for window glazing and drinking vessels, mainly of vivid blue-green colour. It is likely that specialist glassworkers came from Gaul (France) to work at Glastonbury. The glass will be analysed chemically to provide further information on the sourcing and processing of materials.

Excavations remained unpublished

Professor Gilchrist said: “Glastonbury Abbey is a site of international historical importance but until now the excavations have remained unpublished. The research project reveals new evidence for the early date of the monastery at Glastonbury and charts its development over one thousand years, from the 6th century to its dissolution in the 16th century.”

An exhibition at Glastonbury Abbey Museum, ‘From Fire & Earth’, tells the story of the Abbey’s pioneering role in medieval crafts and technology, and runs until 16 September 2012.

The full archive of excavations will be brought to publication by Professor Gilchrist, in partnership with the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Radiocarbon dating was funded by the Somerset Archaeology & Natural History Society and the Society for Medieval Archaeology. Specialist analyses of the glass are being undertaken by Dr Hugh Willmott (University of Sheffield) and Dr Kate Welham (University of Bournemouth).

Source: University of Reading

More information:

Glastonbury Abbey website: http://www.glastonburyabbey.com/

Two skulls with perforations have been exhumed in the area of Gormaz in Soria, Spain by researchers from the universities of Oviedo and Leon. They have been dated to the 13th and 14th centuries – a period in which trepanation was not commonly practised.

Trepanation, an ancient practice

Drawing of the two skulls and their trepanation (above is the female and below is the male). Image: Esther Gómez López

Trepanation has been around for a very long time. The earliest examples found go back to the beginning of the Neolithic Period some 10,000 years ago. There are even authors who suggest that such iatrogenic practices (induced by physicians) began at the end of both the Palaeolithic Period and the Mesolithic Period some 12,000 years ago.

Nonetheless, little evidence exists for later periods, such as the Middle Ages. The two skulls in Soria trepanned for medical purposes between the 13th and 14th centuries are therefore a surprising finding. They were discovered in the area surrounding the San Miguel hermitage in the area of Gormaz by researchers from the universities of Oviedo and Leon.

“As of the Bronze Age, cases of trepanation are common throughout Europe, mainly in the Mediterranean Basin. In the Iberian Peninsula there are many cases that have been dated back to the Copper Age some 4,000 years ago. However, our scientific literature lacks much more in the description of trepanation during the Middle Ages,” explains SINC Belén López Martínez, researcher and the University of Oviedo and co-author of the study.

One of the most salient cases actually comes from Spain. The King of Castile, Henry I (1204-1217) underwent trepanation whilst still alive possibly in an attempt to stop a haemorrhage caused by an accidental blow to the head. The accident subsequently brought him to his death.

The two skulls found in the cemetery in Soria belong to a male between 50 and 55 years and a woman between 45 and 50 years. The expert points out that “another interesting aspect of this finding is that trepanation in women is considered rare throughout all periods in history. In Spain, only 10% of those trepanned skulls found belonged to women.”

Different techniques, different results

In the woman, a scraping technique was used while she was still alive. According to the researchers, she survived for a “relatively long” amount of time afterwards given that the wound scarring is advanced

The trepanation technique differs in each of the skulls. The skull of the male has been grooved with a sharp object and it is unknown whether trepanation occurred before or after his death. López Martínez confirms that “if the procedure took place whilst still alive, there is no sign of regeneration and the subject did not survive.”

In the woman, a scraping technique was used while she was still alive. According to the researchers, she survived for a “relatively long” amount of time afterwards given that the wound scarring is advanced.

Regarding why trepanation was performed, researchers suspect differing reasons. As the researchers conclude, “this is the big question on trepanation. Its practice can be attributed to many reasons: magic/religious reasons such as to free people from daemons that could be torturing them; initiations as a way of giving right of passage to adulthood or to turn someone into a warrior; therapeutic reasons to treat tumours, convulsions, epilepsy, migraines, loss of consciousness and behavioural changes and; the treatment of traumatisms like skull fractures.”

Source: Plataforma SINC

Full bibliographic information:

Belén López, Luís Caro, Antonio F. Pardiñas. “Evidence of trepanations in a medieval population (13th-14th century) of northern Spain (Gormaz, Soria)”, Anthropological Science 119(3): 247-257, 2011.

Read “An Illustrated History of Trepanation”

The disappearance of Neanderthals still remains a mystery, but paleoanthropologists are increasingly understanding what allowed their evolutionary cousins, Homo sapiens, to conquer the planet.

Ariane Burke

According to Ariane Burke, Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Université de Montréal, the rapid dispersal of anatomically modern humans was not so much due to superior intelligence or improved hunting or gathering techniques, but rather to the creation of symbolic objects that allowed them to extend their social relations across vast territories.

A swift expansion

Homo sapiens arrived in Europe some 45,000 years ago, from Africa. In less than 15,000 years, they managed to occupy the whole of Europe and Eurasia—an extremely rapid expansion. Neanderthals, on the other hand, were born of Europe, appearing on the continent more than 250,000 years ago, after their ancestors, Homo ergaster, had become established there 600,000 years earlier.

Though physiologically well adapted to the cold climate of the glacial and post-glacial periods, why were Neanderthals not as successful as their human rivals in colonising the continent?

“Neanderthals were quite capable of hunting herd animals and big game,” said the researcher. “They also knew how to feed on shellfish, plants, and nuts.”

They occupied diverse territories, with a variety of climate zones, ranging from the Iberian Peninsula to the Middle East and the Altai Mountains. Yet current knowledge suggests they never occupied the northern plains of Europe, where they would have been able to survive quite well.

Based on these present known facts, and considering that the territories occupied by Neanderthals were small and distant from each other, Burke speculates that the greatest superiority of Homo sapiens was in their social organization, which developed during the Middle Palaeolithic period between 200,000 and 35,000 years ago.

Long distance relationships

Cro-Magnon Man from Les Eyzies, France adorned with shells and other items of trade. Image: {link url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"}Mary Harrsch{/link} (Flickr, used under a {link url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"}CC BY-NC-SA 3.0{/link})

This “modern” social organization can be characterized in he maintenance of personal relations despite the absence of the persons involved over distance.

These extended relationships were made possible by the invention of cultural and symbolic objects that facilitated intergroup exchanges.

these objects allowed those who possessed them to recall the social link they had established and in turn, to develop an obligation of reciprocity

“Objects of symbolic value, such as adornments, personal ornaments, animal tooth and shell necklaces, weapon decorations, and aesthetic stone incisions abound during the rapid dispersal of Homo sapiens in Eurasia,” suggests Burke.  Indeed the presence of these objects across vast territories indicates that exchanges did take place; “these objects allowed those who possessed them to recall the social link they had established and in turn, to develop an obligation of reciprocity.”

These social contracts, consolidated by intergroup marriages, brought new territories, promoted exchange of information useful for survival, and allowed relying on allies in the face of adverse environmental conditions.

Neanderthals also made symbolic cultural objects, possibly intended for trade, but much later, in the Upper Palaeolithic period (30,000 years ago). “It was probably too little, too late,” says Burke.

Ability to navigate

During the millennia-long expansion of these social exchanges, this development exerted selective pressure on the cognitive abilities of Homo sapiens.

Occupying a vast territory requires special navigation abilities and according to Burke, it was during this period that humans developed their sense of orientation through an internal compass, or cognitive map, which allows spatial projection. This mode of locomotion is particularly suited to travelling long distances over plains, where there are few visual clues.  She suggests that navigating using topographical landmarks was well suited to the small spaces occupied by Neanderthals.

For Burke, however, it was brain plasticity that benefited the most from this selective effect. According to the anthropologist, the two navigation modes are based on separate abilities; the intersex differences observed today in this area, in which men are more successful in spatial projection and women in memorizing landmarks, are in her view, artefacts of separate and sexually differentiated social behaviours.

While these elements may explain the rapid dispersal of Homo sapiens, they are less able to explain the disappearance of Neanderthals. Burke blames this on the great amount of stress placed on Neanderthals: environmental stress, climate stress, and population stress caused by competition from rivals who could better cope because of their more extensive networks.

Source: Université de Montréal (translated from a text originally written in French by Daniel Baril).

More Information:

• Department of Anthropology at the Université de Montréal
• Quantification of Early Homo sapiens Symbolism
• Tattersall, Ian (2008). “An Evolutionary Frameworks for the Acquisition of Symbolic Cognition by Homo sapiens” (Full pdf)
• Tattersall, Ian (2009) Human Origins: Out of Africa PNAS 106:1601816021 ( Full article)
• Tom Higham, Tim Compton, Chris Stringer, Roger Jacobi, Beth Shapiro, Erik Trinkaus, Barry Chandler, Flora Gröning, Chris Collins, Simon Hillson, Paul O’Higgins, Charles FitzGerald, Michael Fagan. The earliest evidence for anatomically modern humans in northwestern Europe. Nature, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/nature10484

Archaeologists and other specialists working in remote Cambodian mountains are shedding new light on the lost history of an unidentified people by studying their enigmatic burial rituals.

Burial Jars at Phnom Pel. Image by Ouk Sokha

The researchers have now provided the first radiocarbon dates for unusual jar and log coffin interments on exposed ledges high in southern Cambodia’s rugged Cardamom Mountains. Since 2003, they have been working to geo-locate and survey 10 interment sites and to date these using samples of coffin wood, tooth enamel and bone.

With colleagues from Cambodia, Australia, USA and Scotland, Drs Nancy Beavan and Sian Halcrow of the Department of Anatomy, University of Otago  in New Zealand have just published the dating of four sites in the journal Radiocarbon. These reveal that the mysterious funerary rituals, which are unlike any other recorded in Cambodia, were practised from at least 1395AD to 1650AD.

Fall of a Kingdom

Through our work we hope to broaden the understanding of this history beyond the legacies of the great Khmer Kingdom alone to those who lived within its margins

Dr. Beavan explained that this period coincides with the decline and fall of the powerful Kingdom of Angkor, which was seated in the lowlands.

“Funeral practices in the Angkor Kingdom and its successors involved cremation rather than anything remotely like those found at sites we are studying. This stark difference suggests that, in cultural terms, these unidentified mountain dwellers were a ‘world apart’ from their lowland contemporaries.”

Cardamom Mountains. Image: {link url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/axelrd/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"}Axel Drainville{/link} (Flickr, used under a {link url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"}CC BY-SA 3.0{/link})

To date, the bulk of research that makes up what is known about cultural history of the Khmer regions has focused on the lowlands, she says.

“Through our work we hope to broaden the understanding of this history beyond the legacies of the great Khmer Kingdom alone to those who lived within its margins,” she says.

Dr. Sian Halcrow says that archaeological findings from another of the 10 sites, which she and Dr. Beavan are currently preparing for publication, will offer important new clues about who these mysterious people were, their culture, trade connections and biological adaptation to the environment.

Given the rugged and remote locations of the sites, the fieldwork has not been without its challenges, Dr. Beavan says.

“In 2010 one of our campsites was invaded by a wild elephant in the dead of night and it had to be driven off by our camp crew banging on cooking pots. It turns out we had pitched camp between two tempting stands of wild banana. We packed up and headed off soon after that.”

Source: University of Otago

More Information:

• Read an article written by Dr Beavan about her experiences in the field.
• Read the early online publication of their article in the journal Radiocarbon
• Southeast Asia and the Kingdom of Angkor: The New Oxford World History Series