#ancient burials

[shelandsorcery]

[the-forest-library]

Move over, Rover. Foxes were once humans’ best friends | CNN

Evidence from a Patagonian burial dating back about 1,500 years hints at a close connection between a hunter-gatherer and the extinct fox sp

Experts often explain dog domestication as something that happened because humans realized that they could put dogs to work as hunters or herders, Grandal-d’Anglade said. But the D. avus skeleton at Cañada Seca and other fox burials hint that an animal didn’t need to be a useful worker to be nurtured by humans — it could simply be a friend.

“The proliferation of canids of different species in close relationship with humans seems to indicate that in principle it was a relationship of affection, of companionship,” Grandal-d’Anglade said. “The fact that we find them in so many different societies and on different continents indicates that keeping animals for companionship, and not only as working or meat animals, is an ancestral trait in humans.”

[blueiscoool]

Archaeologists Discover 1,000-Year-Old Mummy With Long Brown Hair in Peru

The Huaca Pucllana site is viewed as a Pandora’s Box for archaeologists.

Archaeologists have discovered a 1,000-year-old mummy -- believed to be of an adult individual -- in Peru's capital, Lima.

The mummy, which was discovered at the Huaca Pucllana archaeological site in the upscale Miraflores neighborhood, was found alongside two ceramic vessels and textiles.

The discovery becomes the latest in a string of ancient discoveries made in Peru this year.

"I find it quite interesting that right in the heart of Miraflores, in the middle of the city, surrounded by modern buildings and constructions, an important site is still preserved," said lead archaeologist Mirella Ganoza.

Ganoza noted the mummy had long hair and was found seated with bent legs. The remains of the ancient figure were also found with its jaw and long hair still preserved.

The mummy is thought to date back to 1,000 A.D, belonging to the Yschsma culture, inhabitants of whom lived south of Lima.

"This discovery helps to complement the information we know about the Ychsma culture so far," said Ganoza.

The discovery is the latest in string of century-old discoveries of mummies and pre-Hispanic remains made in Lima, including the discovery in June on a hilltop of a mummy found surrounded by cocoa leaves.

In March, a Peruvian man was arrested and charged for illegal possession of historical patrimony after he was found in a possession of a mummy believed to be 600 to 800 years old in his cooler delivery bag.

The Huaca Pucllana site is viewed as a Pandora's Box and archaeologists anticipate that many more artifacts could be found.

[ancientstuff]

2,500-year-old burials of 3 people discovered in a cave in Mexico

Archaeologists found the remains of two adolescents and one baby in the chamber of a cave, but it's not yet clear how they died.

This kind of old in Mexico was something I hadn't ever thought about, but that's because sometimes I'm an idiot. I'm interested that even though these are about 2500 years old, the time period is (sometimes) called Pre-classic, meaning, I think, that the time period lasted a long time. Is this right? I'm so ignorant of Central American archaeology and the particulars of the area's history.

[greek-museums]

Archaeological Museum of Patra:

Four crowned skulls of two little girls, and two women, from the North Cemetery in Patras, from the Hellenistic Period. 

The first skull bears a wreath of gilded myrtle fruits. The deceased wore golden earrings. (300-275 B.C)

The second skull bears a wreath of fruits and myrtle flowers. The flowers are earthen, some gilded and others in a variety of colors. (late 4th-3rd cent. B.C)

The third skull bears a gilded myrtle wreath, where apart from the leaves, some of the small fruits have survived as well.

The fourth skull is also decorated with a gilded myrtle wreath. The shaft is made of lead and has been also perforated. Gilded bronze leaves and earthen fruits were attached to the small holes.

A detail from the heads of the two little girls. Damages to the skulls might have occured posthumously- it was not specified in the tags.

I have seen many luxurious funerary wreaths, made of gold, with extraordinary craftmanship, they are a particular trait of the burials of the Hellenistic period, and these burials were of particularly wealthy, aristocrats of the (Greek) Macedonian elite, usually families of soldiers associated with the campaigns of Alexander the Great. They were discovered either in ornately painted built tombs, under raised mounds, or well built cist graves, who often would also be decorated with painting.

But these burials of commoners, those wreaths of painted, clay flowers are the most touching of them all. It just shows you the exceptional love and care that existed in those ancient families.  

[dollypegs-blog]

How to Recreate 1,300-Year-Old Cookies

Found in an empty tomb, these sweets have staying power.

I tried this! The cookies were good! Here is my take:

Add a little oil, a tablespoon or two, as well as using the butter. These get rock-like quickly, though they still taste fresh. The next week, I mean. I don’t know how they’ll taste in 1,300 years.

These have to cook longer than the recipe says. The first batch took 25 MINUTES to get that toasty color on the bottom.

Use more than two tablespoons of apricot jam. Be brave. You can put any leftovers on toast.

Eat along with a glass of milk, or milk substitute of your choice. They actually taste even better that way!

[disastrid]

Tomb Containing Three Generations of Warrior Women Unearthed in Russia

The four Scythians were buried together some 2,500 years ago

Earlier this month, a team led by archaeologist Valerii Guliaev announced the discovery of a 2,500-year-old tomb in which four such women were buried together. The findings were published in the journal of the Akson Russian Science Communication Association this week.

The women belonged to a nomadic group called the Scythians and were found in one of 19 burial mounds studied during a decade-long survey of the western Russian village of Devitsa, reports Ruth Shuster for Haaretz. The youngest individual in the grave was 12 or 13 years old. Two were in their twenties, and the last was between 45 to 50 years old.

Interestingly, says Guliaev in a statement, women warriors were the norm, not the exception, in Scythian culture.

[swforester]

Bridge Street Cemetery. If you are interested in old graves decorated with soul effigies and death’s heads than this is a great place to visit. Here you can find much beautiful folk funerary art along with some very ancient stones and a lot of fascinating history which will give you a glimpse of what it was like to live in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Above: a death’s head circa 1713. Another member of the Hunt family.

Northampton MA