Unearthed! in Autumn 2023, Part 2
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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Archaeological Discoveries and Interpretations
Various archaeological discoveries are discussed, including an iron arrowhead made from a meteorite, an intricate floor mosaic in Spain, and an open-air dance floor in Peru. The chapter also explores interpretations of these discoveries, such as the clay and guano platform possibly used for ritual dancing and the debate around deliberately shaped limestone spheres. Additionally, the trend of returns, repatriations, and rematriations of stolen cultural objects is discussed, highlighting recent cases of returned artifacts.
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Part two of our autumn 2023 edition of Unearthed! includes potpourri, repatriations, shipwrecks, art, and a few perfect October entries.
Research:
- “Early humans deliberately made mysterious stone 'spheroids'.” PhysOrg. 9/10/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-early-humans-deliberately-mysterious-stone.html
- Alutiiq Museum. “Archaeologists Recover 3,000-year-old Weavings from Ancestral Alutiiq Settlement.” Alaska Native News. 8/26/2023. https://alaska-native-news.com/archaeologists-recover-3000-year-old-weavings-from-ancestral-alutiiq-settlement/69558/
- Australian National Maritime Museum. “Exploring South Australia's oldest shipwreck.” Phys.org. 8/15/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-exploring-south-australia-oldest-shipwreck.html
- Barker, Christopher. “Stolen van Gogh Painting Worth Millions Returned in an Ikea Bag.” Smithsonian. 9/14/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dutch-art-detective-recovers-a-van-gogh-stolen-in-2020-180982896/
- BBC News. “Man finds 8,000-year-old dolphin bones in back garden.” 7/31/2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-66361506
- BBC News. “Tiny Roman dog remains found during Oxford archaeological dig.” 7/25/2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66294261
- Beazley, Jordan. “ANU museum to hand back stolen 2,500-year-old vase to Italy.” The Guardian. 9/13/2023. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/sep/14/anu-to-return-2500-year-old-vase-to-italy-after-link-to-art-trade-exposed
- Bebber, Michelle R. et al. “Atlatl use equalizes female and male projectile weapon velocity.” Scientific Reports. 8/16/2023. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-40451-8
- Beimfohr, Chelsea. “109-year-old survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre pens new book, speaks at King Center.” Atlanta News First. 9/26/2023. https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/09/27/109-year-old-survivor-tulsa-race-massacre-pens-new-book-speaks-king-center/
- Ben Crump. “Ben Crump and Family of Henrietta Lacks Announce Settlement.” https://bencrump.com/press/family-of-henrietta-lacks-announce-settlement/
- Binswanger, Julia. “Forgotten Winnie-the-Pooh Sketch Found Wrapped in an Old Tea Towel.” Smithsonian. 8/28/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/winnie-the-pooh-sketch-wrapped-tea-towel-180982800/
- Briseida MEMA. “Archaeologists uncover Europe's oldest stilt village.” Phys.org. 8/11/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-archaeologists-uncover-europe-oldest-stilt.html
- British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog. “Showing Elizabeth I in a new light.” 7/15/2023. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2023/07/showing-elizabeth-i-in-a-new-light.html
- British Library Press Office. “British Library researcher throws new light on Elizabeth I.” July 2023. https://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2023/july/British-Library-researcher-throws-new-light-on-Elizabeth-I?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=press&utm_content=camdens_annals#:~:text=Helena%20Rutkowska%2C%20DPhil%20student%20at,to%20explore%20hundreds%20of%20previously
- Cell Press. “Ancient metal cauldrons give us clues about what people ate in the Bronze Age.” 8/18/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-ancient-metal-cauldrons-clues-people.html
- Chappell, Bill. “Iconic female artist's lost painting is found, hundreds of years after it was created.” NPR. 9/25/2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/09/25/1201501653/artemisia-gentileschi-susanna-and-the-elders
- Cin, Muharrem. “Makeup materials from Roman era unearthed in ancient city of Aizanoi in Türkiye.” Andalou Agency. 9/24/2023. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/makeup-materials-from-roman-era-unearthed-in-ancient-city-of-aizanoi-in-turkiye/2999909
- Delgado, Maria Jesus. “Oldest hunter-gatherer basketry in southern Europe, 9,500 years old, discovered in Cueva de los Murciélagos, Albuñol (Granada, Spain).” EurekAlert. 9/28/2023. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1003066
- Dowell, Stuart. “Ghoulish remains of ‘vampire child’ found in ‘grave of the damned’.” The First News. 8/7/2023. https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/ghoulish-remains-of-vampire-child-found-in-grave-of-the-damned-40397
- Efford M, Taft S, Morin J, George M, George M, Cavers H, et al. (2023) Archaeology demonstrates sustainable ancestral Coast Salish salmon stewardship over thousands of years. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0289797. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289797
- Flavell, Julie. “The Dog Who Served on Both Sides of the American Revolution.” Smithsonian Magazine. 8/25/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dog-who-served-on-both-sides-of-the-american-revolution-180982781/
- Gillett, Francesca. “Ancient 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck found off coast of Italy.” BBC News. 7/28/2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66337902
- Gorski, “119-year overdue book returned by WVU Library.” 12WBOY. 7/27/2023. https://www.wboy.com/news/monongalia/west-virginia-university/library-book-returned-and-it-was-only-119-years-overdue/
- Handwerk, Brian. “Famed 5,300-Year-Old Alps Iceman Was a Balding Middle-Aged Man With Dark Skin and Eyes.” Smithsonian. 8/16/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/famed-5300-year-old-alps-iceman-was-a-balding-middle-aged-man-with-dark-skin-and-eyes-180982744/
- Hanson’s. “Panko game made to aid suffragettes a century ago found during house clearance.” 7/18/2023. https://hansonsauctioneers.co.uk/panko-game-made-to-aid-suffragettes-a-century-ago-found-during-house-clearance/
- Jarus, Owen. “2,200-year-old remains of sacrificed giant panda and tapir discovered near Chinese emperor's tomb.” LiveScience. 8/18/2023. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/2200-year-old-remains-of-sacrificed-giant-panda-and-tapir-discovered-near-chinese-emperors-tomb
- Kent State University. “Atlatl weapon use by prehistoric females equalized the division of labor while hunting, experimental study shows.” 8/18/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-atlatl-weapon-prehistoric-females-equalized.html
- Kindy, Dave. “Piece of wood found at garage sale was part of the sunken USS Maine.” Washington Post. 9/17/2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/09/17/uss-maine-mast-arlington-cemetery/
- Kuta, Sarah. “‘Perfectly Preserved’ Glassware Recovered From 2,000-Year-Old Shipwreck.” Smithsonian. 7/27/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/glassware-2000-year-old-roman-shipwreck-180982615/
- Kuta, Sarah. “See Underwater Wreckage From the Battle of Midway in Stunning Detail.” Smithsonian. 9/22/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/battle-of-midway-shipwreck-photos-180982938/
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “A Virginia Museum Repatriated a Nigerian Sculpture and Received a High-Tech Replica in Return. Could the Exchange Shape Future Restitutions?” ArtNet. 7/7/2023. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/chrysler-museum-factum-foundation-high-tech-facsimile-restitution-2332938
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “A Woman Bought a $4 Painting at a Thrift Store for Its Frame. Now, It’s Been Revealed as an N.C. Wyeth, Worth as Much as $250,000.” ArtNet. 9/6/2023. https://news.artnet.com/market/thrift-store-buy-nc-wyeth-2355493
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Two 10th-Century Stone Idols, Which Were Stolen From a Temple in India and Found in a Garden Shed in the U.K., Will Be Repatriated.” ArtNet. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/10th-century-idols-found-in-garden-shed-returned-to-india-2335670
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Ancient Amazonians intentionally created fertile 'dark earth.’” Science Daily. 9/20/2023. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230920152306.htm
- Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. “The scent of the afterlife unbottled in new study of ancient Egyptian mummification balms.” Science Daily. 8/31/2023. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230831121651.htm
- Mayorquin, Orlando. “Overdue Book Is Returned to a Library After Nearly 120 Years.” New York Times. 7/9/2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/09/us/massachusetts-overdue-book-119-years.html
- net. “Strange burial of 9th-century teenager reveals tragic story.” https://www.medievalists.net/2023/08/strange-burial-of-9th-century-teenager-reveals-tragic-story/
- Miller, Ken. “Researchers exhume seven sets of remains in search for Tulsa Race Massacre victims.” The Oklahoman. 10/2/2023. https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2023/10/02/tulsa-race-massacre-oklahoma-seven-graves-exhumed/71036617007/
- MOLA Headland. “An Unusual Burial and a Tragic Story from Early Medieval Cambridgeshire.” 8/14/2023. https://molaheadland.com/an-unusual-burial-and-a-tragic-story-from-early-medieval-cambridgeshire/
- Nowakowski, Teresa. “Historians Discover ‘Remarkably Intact’ Shipwreck, Undisturbed Beneath Lake Michigan for 142 Years.” Smithsonian. 9/6/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-an-almost-entirely-intact-142-year-old-shipwreck-in-lake-michigan-180982848/
- Nowakowski, Teresa. “The Netherlands Repatriates Nearly 500 Looted Artifacts to Sri Lanka and Indonesia.” Smithsonian. 7/11/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/netherlands-repatriation-sri-lanka-indonesia-180982514/
- Osborne, Margaret. “Archaeologists Uncover Oldest Evidence of ‘Curry’ Outside of India.” Smithsonian. 7/24/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-oldest-evidence-of-curry-outside-of-india-180982589/
- Parker, Christopher. “4,000-Year-Old Cemetery Discovered Beneath Future Rocket Launch Pad in U.K.” Smithsonian. 8/1/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bronze-age-cemetery-rocket-launch-uk-180982633/
- Parker, Christopher. “Divers Pull Wreckage of Tuskegee Airman’s Plane From the Depths of Lake Huron.” Smithsonian. 9/5/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/divers-haul-engine-of-tuskegee-airmans-plane-from-lake-huron-180982845/
- Parker, Christopher. “Manchester Museum Returns 174 Artifacts to Indigenous Australians.” Smithsonian. 9/7/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/manchester-museum-returns-174-artifacts-to-indigenous-austrailians-180982853/
- Pendergraff, Gavin. “State archaeologist provides another update on excavation work in Tulsa.” KTUL. 9/14/2023. https://ktul.com/news/local/state-archaeologist-provides-another-update-on-excavation-work-in-tulsa
- Pittalà, Maria Gaetana Giovanna et al. “Count Dracula Resurrected: Proteomic Analysis of Vlad III the Impaler’s Documents by EVA Technology and Mass Spectrometry.” Anal. Chem. 2023, 95, 34, 12732–12744. Publication Date: August 8, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01461
- Potter, Lisa. “Daughters breastfed longer, and women accumulated greater wealth in ancient California matriarchal society.” EurekAlert. 7/12/2023. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995404
- Public Library of Science. “Stone Age artists carved detailed human and animal tracks in rock art in Namibia.” 9/13/2023. PhysOrg. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-stone-age-artists-human-animal.html
- Ritter, Moira. “Detailed mosaic floor — with Medusa’s face — unearthed in ancient Roman villa.” Miami Herald. 7/27/2023. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article277706663.html#storylink=cpy
- Royal Collection Trust. “Lost Artemisia Gentileschi Painting Rediscovered in the Royal Collection.” 9/24/2023. https://www.rct.uk/about/press-office/press-releases/lost-artemisia-gentileschi-painting-rediscovered-in-the-royal#/
- Schrader, Adam. “British Museum Director Hartwig Fischer Will Step Down, Leaving the Unresolved Parthenon Marbles Debate to His Successor.” ArtNews. 7/28/2023. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/british-museum-director-hartwig-fischer-step-down-next-year-2342951
- Schuster, Ruth. “Synagogue From Late Second Temple Period Found by Black Sea in Russia.” Haaretz. 8/16/2023. https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-08-16/ty-article-magazine/synagogue-from-late-second-temple-period-found-by-black-sea-in-russia/00000189-fae4-d0b9-a5a9-ffef91b90000
- Shaw, Garry. “‘Thunder floor’ found at ancient Andean site in Peru.” The Art Newspaper. 7/18/2023. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/07/18/ancient-dance-floor-sounding-platform-andes-peru-archaeological-discovery
- Solly, Meilan. “Hidden for 400 Years, Censored Pages Reveal New Insights Into Elizabeth I’s Reign.” Smithsonian. 7/18/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hidden-for-400-years-censored-pages-reveal-new-insights-on-elizabeth-is-reign-180982554/
- Sullivan, Will. “Archaeologists Uncover Notched Logs That May Be the Oldest Known Wooden Structure.” Smithsonian. 9/22/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-notched-logs-that-may-be-the-oldest-known-wooden-structure-180982942/
- Sullivan, Will. “Henrietta Lacks’ Family Settles Lawsuit Over the Use of Her Cells Without Consent.” Smithsonian. 8/2/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/henrietta-lacks-family-settles-lawsuit-over-the-use-of-her-cells-without-consent-180982644/
- The History Blog. “14th c. shipwreck cannon may be oldest in Europe.” 9/13/2023. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68252
- The History Blog. “2,000-year-old synagogue found in southern Russia.” 8/16/2023. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68050
- The History Blog. “8-year-old finds 1,800-year-old silver denarius in school sandbox.” http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68120
- The History Blog. “Giant panda found in Western Han imperial tomb.” 8/6/2023. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/67972
- University of Geneva. “New discoveries on the wreck of Antikythera.” 7/24/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-discoveries-antikythera.html
- University of Gothenburg. “Shipboard cannon found off the Swedish coast may be the oldest in Europe.” EurekAlert. 9/13/2023. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1001404
- University of Montreal. “New evidence of plant food processing in Italy during Neanderthal-to-Homo sapiens period.” Phys.org. 6/29/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-evidence-food-italy-neanderthal-to-homo-sapiens.html
- University of Southampton. “Archaeologists reveal largest palaeolithic cave art site in Eastern Iberia.” Science Daily. 9/11/2023. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230911141015.htm
- University of Valencia. “Pigment production adapted to cultural changes and availability of mineral resources 40,000 years ago in Ethiopia.” PhysOrg. 9/11/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-pigment-production-cultural-availability-mineral.html
- Walls, Alex. “Salmon bones confirm sustainable chum fishery for 2,500 years under Tsleil-Waututh Nation.” PhysOrg. 8/30/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-salmon-bones-sustainable-chum-fishery.html
- Watts, Rachel. “Divers find long-lost artifact from sunken Empress of Ireland in St. Lawrence River.” CBC. 9/9/2023. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/divers-find-long-lost-artifact-from-sunken-empress-of-ireland-quebec-compass-platform-1.6959176
- Weiwei Wang et al. ,Earliest curry in Southeast Asia and the global spice trade 2000 years ago.Sci. Adv.9,eadh5517(2023).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adh5517
- Yirka, Bob. “Arrowhead housed at Bern History Museum found to be made from meteoritic iron.” Phys.org. 7/31/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-arrowhead-housed-bern-history-museum.html
- Yirka, Bob. “Placement of ancient hidden lamps, skulls in cave in Israel suggests Roman-era practice of necromancy.” Phys.org. 7/14/2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-placement-ancient-hidden-lamps-skulls.html
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