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New Nation
News - European Pre-History News
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July 25, 2006
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| "For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again," |  |
Editor note: I have not updated this page in some time so some of the news links may have expired. |
| European
Pre-history News |
Archaeologists Find Massive Tomb in Greece |
| Ireland: Iron Age 'bog bodies' unveiled Archaeologists have unveiled two Iron Age "bog bodies" which were found in the Republic of Ireland. The bodies, which are both male and have been dated to more than 2,000 years ago, allegedly belong to the victims of a ritual sacrifice. In common with other bog bodies, they show signs of having been tortured before their deaths. |
| Archeologists Find Ancient Aryan Burial Mounds YEREVAN, Armenia -- Archeologists said Wednesday they have unearthed burial mounds dating back to the third millennium B.C. which they believe contain remains and trinkets from ancient Aryan nomads. Historian Hakob Simonian said Wednesday that the four mounds were among 30 discovered about 35 miles west of the Armenian capital Yerevan, containing beads made of agate, carnelian and as well as the remains of what appears to be a man, aged 50-55. Also found were remains of domesticated horses and glazed pottery appearing to show chariots, Simonian said. The Aryans, who later became known as Persians, were largely grassland nomads who settled in what is today Iran and eventually in parts of India. |
| 4,100-year-old treasure found in Bulgaria - Hoard of gold rivals the riches of Troy, archaeologists say SOFIA, Bulgaria - Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed about 15,000 tiny golden pieces that date back to the end of the third millennium B.C. — a find they said Wednesday matches the famous treasure of Troy. The golden ornaments, estimated to be between 4,100 and 4,200 years old, have been unearthed gradually during the past year from an ancient tomb near the central village of Dabene, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of the capital, Sofia, said Vasil Nikolov, an academic consultant on the excavations. “This treasure is a bit older than Schliemann’s finds in Troy, and contains much more golden ornaments,” Nikolov said. |
| Ancient Key Found in Austria GRAZ, Austria -- Archeologists believe they have found a key dating back to the late Bronze Age in southern Austria, an Austrian news agency reported. The 16 inch long bronze key was only the third of its kind to be found in Austria. Experts were fascinated by the position of the 3,200-year-old key, which was surrounded by Bronze Age axes and other items. |
| Swedish Iron Age burial ground discovered Archaeologists digging near Strömnäsbruk in Småland have uncovered a burial ground with some twenty graves thought to date back to the Iron Age. "The grave field shows that there was a permanent settlement with cultivation here in the Iron Age, from 500 BC to 500 AD. This is from the end of the Iron Age," she said. - (Madkins) |
| UK: Researchers Uncover Ancient Cave Cross Engravings The series of inscribed crosses -- found on the wall of the Aveline's Hole cave in Somerset, southwest England -- are believed to date from the early Mesolithic period just after the Ice Age. The pattern is comparable with others known from Northern France, Germany and Denmark |
Iceman's
discoverer dead in Alps |
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The
Passion of Saint Edmund, King and Martyr "In the same year [870], Edmund, King of the East Angles, fought fiercely against that army [of Vikings]. But alas, he was killed there with a large number of his men, and the Vikings rejoiced triumphantly; the enemies were masters of the battlefield, and they subjected that entire province to their authority" - (Sniffy) |
Viking
Artifacts Found for Sale on Web STOCKHOLM,
Sweden -- Viking swords, knives and horse harnesses dating to the year 800 were
discovered for sale on a Web site run by a Michigan auction house, and an archaeologist
said Thursday he has asked the Swedish government to help return them. |
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Anthropologists
Hail Romania Fossil Find this is the most complete collection of modern humans in Europe older than 28,000 years |
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Remains
of Viking Harbor Complex Found OSLO, Norway -- Archaeologists in western Norway found the remains of a harbor complex built by the Vikings 1,000 years ago -- the first of its kind discovered in the country. Experts quickly reasoned that the Vikings would need a major harbor at just that location because it is a short distance from Frostating, a site where Vikings gathered for huge decision-making assemblies and festivals. |
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| Viking
Boat May Be Buried in England Discovery in Yorkshire May Be England's First Known Viking Boat Burial - The discovery of a handful of ancient iron nails, a belt buckle and some silver coins in northeast England has sent a thrill through the world of Viking scholarship, hinting strongly that a Norse boat burial site may lie beneath the Yorkshire soil. |
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Archaeologists
Display Saxon Artifacts LONDON -- Archaeologists showed off a hoard of glass and copper jugs, ceremonial crosses and other Saxon artifacts Thursday, giving the public a first look at a rare find of a royal tomb from the seventh century. |
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Viking
Queen May Be Exhumed for Clues to Killing OSLO (Reuters) - The grave of a mysterious Viking queen may hold the key to a 1,200 year-old case of suspected ritual killing, and scientists are planning to unearth her bones to find out. She is one of two women whose fate has been a riddle ever since their bones were found in 1904 in a 72 feet longboat buried at Oseberg in south Norway, its oaken form preserved miraculously, with even its menacing, curling prow intact. |
| Britain, Phoenicia's Secret Treasure, and its Conversion to Christianity - The Legendary Tin Mines of Cornwall |
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U.K.
Researchers Find Rare Burial Chariot After 2,500 years, the chariot's wheels remain intact, complete with their iron tires. Inside lie the remains of a man in his 30s, believed to be a tribal chief. Workers constructing a highway through northern England have unearthed a ``rare and nationally significant'' Iron Age burial chamber containing a two-wheeled chariot and its owner, archaeologists said. |
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study cracks origin of English language Auckland University researchers have stunned academics worldwide by tracing the origins of the English language to Turkish farmers. Using a novel approach to develop an Indo-European language tree, the researchers say they have evidence that the roots of the English language go back about 9000 years to Turkey. It was thought the language was spread either by rampaging Kurgan horsemen who swept down into Europe and the Near East from the steppes of Russia 6000 years ago, or by farmers from Anatolia (modern Turkey) who had tilled their way westwards several millenniums earlier. Professor Gray, an evolutionary biologist in the university's psychology department, said yesterday that his results showed only the latter theory could be correct. Professor Gray said Hittite (an extinct Anatolian language) was the first major language group to branch from the Indo-European trunk. Over subsequent millenniums the same trunk sprouted Tocharian, Armenian, Greek, Albanian, Iranian, Indic, Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, French/Iberian, Italic and Celtic language groups. |
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Veleda
- The Bruceterian seeress Ref: Veleda: A Germanic seeress from the tribe of the Bructeri who (according to Tacitus) was worshipped almost like a god by her own people in the first century A.D., and who also attracted a certain amount of fame among the Romans. Ref: The connexion between women and divination however seems to have been established early among the Germans.  Tacitus
in his Histories (IV, 61) refers to a young woman called Veleda among the
Bructeri, who was a seeress secluded in a tower, from which she gave answer to
inquiries by means of a relative, who interpreted her replies. He has an interesting
comment on this. It was the custom, he says, of the Germans to regard women as
endowed with the gift of prophecy, and ‘even as goddesses'. -
(extract from down the page)Ref: In the earlier days of our folk, the most honoured female leaders of the tribes were the spae-women who advised the war-chiefs concerning their battles with Rome. The most notable of these women was the Veleda, who fore-saw the victory of the Batavi and gave rede for the tribe to rise against the Romans in 69 C.E. Of her, Tacitus says, 'She was a maiden from the tribe of the Bructeri who possessed great powers, according to the old custom of the Germanic peoples to regard many women as seeresses, and in an extended superstition to consider them even to be goddesses' (Histories IV, 61). Just as Hermann the Cheruscan is often given worship today as the embodiment of early Teutonic manhood and warrior-might, the first of our great heroes, so the Veleda is given a like worship as the embodiment of early Teutonic womanhood and deep soul-wisdom, the first of our great heroines. - (extract from down the page) |
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| 7000-Year-Old
Clay Figure Found in Germany Workers digging on Monday for a new gas pipeline outside of Dresden came across the male figure, believed to date from 5,000 B.C. Previous finds have been representations of women. |
| Rune
Dimension and Notation - by Sniffy "A thirteenth century, female shaman is described in the saga of Eric the Red, "She wore a cloak set with stones along the hem. In one hand she carried a staff with a knob on the end, and at her belt, holding together her long dress, hung a charm pouch." The so called Rune cast, was a detailed analysis of the situation, people, and politics..." |
Archaeologists
find six more bodies at Stonehenge Archaeologists
who last year unearthed the remains of a Bronze Age archer at Stonehenge said
Wednesday they have found six more bodies near the mysterious ring of ancient
monoliths. The remains of four adults and two children were found about half a
mile from that of the archer, dubbed ''The King of Stonehenge'' by Britain's tabloid
press. Archaeologists said he came from Switzerland and may have been involved
in building the monument. |
| Dozens
of women want Bronze Age hunter's babies Dozens of women have asked to be made pregnant by a prehistoric iceman who died 5,000 years ago. The body of "Otzi the Iceman" was discovered by hikers in 1991 as ice melted in the Schnalstal glacier, high in the Italian Alps. Alex Susanna, director of the Bozen Museum where his body is exhibited, says requests have been received by many women wanting to have Otzi's babies. |
Blow
to Neanderthal breeding theory Early
modern humans and Neanderthals probably did not interbreed, according to evidence
collected by Italian scientists. Researchers have long considered Neanderthals
and the humans that lived in Europe 30,000 years ago as distinct species, even
though they lived side by side. However, there is controversy over theories that
Neanderthals made a contribution to the gene pool of people living today. This
has been fuelled by a skeleton uncovered in Portugal that appears to show both
Neanderthal and human features... |
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| Stonehenge
'King' Came from Central Europe The
construction of one of Britain's most famous ancient landmarks, the towering megaliths
at Stonehenge in southern England, might have been supervised by the Swiss, or
maybe even the Germans. Archaeologists studying the remains of a wealthy archer
found in a 4,000-year-old grave exhumed near Stonehenge last year said Monday
he was originally from the Alps region, probably modern-day Switzerland, Austria
or Germany. "He would have been a very important person in the Stonehenge area and it is fascinating to think that someone from abroad -- probably modern-day Switzerland -- could have played an important part in the construction of the site," said archaeologist Andrew Fitzpatrick in a statement. The so-called "Amesbury Archer" was found in a grave about three miles from the landmark, buried with 100 items, including gold earrings, copper knives and pottery. Researchers hailed the find -- dating from about 2,300 B.C. and the oldest known grave in Britain -- as one of the richest early Bronze Age sites in Europe. He was dubbed "The King of Stonehenge" because of the lavish items found in his grave, including some of the earliest gold objects ever found in Britain. |
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Prehistoric Britons' taste for milk The oldest direct evidence for the existence of dairy farming has been discovered in the UK. It is based on a chemical analysis of milk fat deposits left on pottery fragments found to be 6,500 years old. |
The Boudiccan rebellion and
Boudicca - High Queen of the Iceni "She
was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass
of bright red hair fell to her knees: she wore a twisted torc, and a tunic of
many colours, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped
a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her." - Dio Cassius |
| Scotland:
Borders bridge may span gap in history THE hunt is on to find traces of a bridge across the Tweed believed to have been commissioned by an Anglo-Saxon king 500 years before the first recorded Borders river crossings were built in the 12th century. A Viking sword was found on the site. |
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Ireland:
Huge temple found under Hill of Tara A HUGE temple, once surrounded by about 300 huge posts made from an entire oak forest, has been discovered directly beneath the Hill of Tara in Co Meath. Conor Newman, an archaeology lecturer at NUI Galway, said the discovery at the ancient site made sense of the positioning of other graves and monuments in the area. |
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Stonehenge tunnel approved Mr Darling said: "The World Heritage site at Stonehenge will be enhanced and protected by putting the existing road in a bored tunnel, which will improve safety and congestion." |
| Enthusiasts
uncover Bronze Age treasure in Wales Two enthusiasts with metal detectors have literally struck gold and their 3,000-year-old find has been formally named as treasure at an inquest in north Wales. Pete Williams and Mike Sheen, both from Wrexham, came across a hoard of bronze and gold dating back to between 1,000 and 800 BC - and are now entitled to a share of its value. |
| Does
skull prove that the first Americans came from Europe? Alternatively, and more controversially, a group of Stone Age people from Europe made the perilous sea journey across the Atlantic Ocean many thousands of years before Columbus or the Vikings. |
| UK:
Fisherman finds Anglo-Saxon canoe off Suffolk coast A dugout canoe that was nearly chopped into firewood has turned out to be the oldest boat found off the British coast. The 16ft vessel, carved from the trunk of an oak or elm tree, was used about 1,200 years ago by the Anglo-Saxons, possibly as a ferry close to the Suffolk coast where it was found. Archaeologists believe the boat, which was discovered when it was dredged from a depth of 40ft by a trawler close to Southwold, is the only example of its kind dating back to the Anglo-Saxon era. The vessel, which was probably fitted with stabilising outriggers, has spent the past four years submerged in a muddy lagoon at Covehithe, near Southwold, while conservationists worked on it. |
The
Kensington Runestone was snubbed again.
Tthe Science Museum of Minnesota will be hosting a traveling Vikings exhibit with
artifacts from the Smithsonian Institute. A replica of the Kensington
Runestone will be included in the exhibit — in the "myths and
distortions" display.LuAnn Patton, director of the Runestone Museum, was disheartened to hear about where the stone would be placed. The geological testing, although just beginning, has already shown Olof Ohman could not have been a forger, she stated. Ref: The Kensington Runestone homepage - Another website |
| "Ancient
iceman probably killed by his own people" A man frozen in Alpine ice more than 5,000 years ago could have been shot with an arrow by one of his own people. The body of "Otzi the Iceman" was discovered by hikers as ice melted in the Schnalstal glacier, high in the Italian Alps. ...the guilty party lived south of the Alps and was probably one of Otzi's own people." |
| Britain's
earliest leprosy victim may have been found A child who died 3,500 years ago may be Britain's earliest known victim of leprosy. "Most experts agree that the westward spread of the disease came from the Mediterranean where it is believed to have been introduced by the army of Alexander the Great on returning from India. |
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| Face
of original Londoner revealed The face of a pre-historic British woman can be seen for the first time in over 5,000 years. The skeleton dates from the Stone Age - between 3,640 and 3,100BC. Shepperton Woman, named after the place in the west London suburbs where her grave was found, had her face rebuilt by medical artists. |
| Norway:
Archaeologists comb Stiklestad One of Norway's most fabled historical spots - Stiklestad, where Olav the Holy fell in battle in 1030 - will be the site of an autumn dig by eager archaeologists. Mass warrior graves are one possible find. |
| A
UCLA team has apparently found the Iceland home of Snorri Thorfinnsson
the first person of European descent born in the New World. Icelandic sagas from the 13th century tell the story of how Snorri's parents led the first Scandinavian group that attempted to settle in Vinland--on the Canadian coast--about AD 1000. - (VNN link) |
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[Reader suggests] "Inform
yourself about mDNA research, read "The
Seven Daughters of Eve." On page 320 of it, there is this: "Today about 1 per cent of native Americans are the direct descendants of Xenia." If an mtDNA sample can be secured from Kennewick Man, Xenia just might have been his Clan Mother. "The book's most complex and controversial find that the ancient European hunter-gatherers predominated over the farmers and not vice versa leads Sykes to another stunning conclusion: by chance, nearly all modern Europeans are descendants of one of seven "clan mothers" who lived at different times during the Ice Age." |
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Iceman's
final meal The last two meals eaten by the 5,300-year-old iceman, dubbed Oetzi, have been revealed by scientists. Analysis of the contents of the Stone Age human's intestines shows he probably dined on venison just before his death, having previously consumed cereals, plants, and ibex meat. |
| Did
The Welsh Discover America? A team of historians and researchers announced today that Radio Carbon dating evidence, and the discovery of ancient British style artefacts and inscriptions in the American Midwest, provide the strongest indications yet" that British explorers, under the Prince Madoc ap Meurig, arrived in the country during the 6th Century and set up colonies there. |
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  The
Celt Site(click on Rooster Mascot at left for very slow load to Entrance of site or click on CeltSite Logo at right to go directly to the main menu) |
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| Anthropology
in the News - Breaking News The Ancient World - Breaking News Archaeology Magazine |
| email Editor | since 8/22/98 | web site map |
Helmut
Simon, the German who discovered "Oetzi", an intact Bronze
Age mummy in an Alps glacier, has been found dead in the Austrian Alps. A hunter
found his remains in a stream just as rescuers were planning to suspend their
search eight days after he went missing while on a hike. The body of the 67-year-old
was found on a peak called Gaiskarkogel, near a resort town south of Salzburg,
Austria. Simon and his wife Erika found the mummy of the prehistoric man in 1991.
Runic
Tattoos
