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Ritual evidence from ancient Arabia
Recent research into two different mustatils – prehistoric open-air structures seen across northern Arabia – has found that they may have been used for communal ritual activities during the late 6th millennium BC.
Each of the two mustatils – both which were excavated in recent years – were found to contain chambers at one end in which large assemblages of animal horns, upper teeth, and skull fragments were deposited. In one example, the assemblage appears to have been deposited during a single ceremony, sometime between c.5300-5000 BC, while in the other the bones appear to have been left over the course of a couple of generations, between c.5200-5000 BC. It is believed that their deposition may have been part of a community event where groups of pastoral nomads gathered with offerings. While most of the animals represented were domesticated goats, cows, and sheep, a few wild species such as gazelle, Nubian ibex, and aurochs were also represented.
If the shoe fits
Image: © RUB/DBM, Hans-Joerg Lauffer (photographer)
An exquisitely preserved Iron Age leather shoe – roughly the size of UK child’s size 12.5 – was recently found during excavations in a prehistoric salt mine in Dürrnberg, Austria. While several other shoes from this period have previously been discovered in the area, this example, dating to the 2nd century BC, is the first complete example of a child’s shoe to be found, and provides important evidence for the presence of children in the underground mine. Analysis by researchers from the German Mining Museum, Bochum, has found that the remains of laces were made of flax or linen. Other organic remains were found nearby, including part of a wooden shovel, as well as the remains of a fur garment, possibly a hood.
Deciphering the Herculaneum scrolls
New technology is being developed to reveal the text of papyrus scrolls from Herculaneum without ever opening the fragile documents. Carbonised during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, the scrolls were first discovered in 1752. Subsequent attempts to read them have determined that many were Greek philosophical texts, but those efforts also destroyed some of them.
A new, less-destructive technique may hold the key to deciphering the rest. First, the scrolls undergo several highly detailed X-ray computed tomographic (CT) scans to produce a flat image of their surface. Then, although the carbon ink used in the scrolls is too similar in density to the papyrus to be visible through X-ray alone, several AI programmes are being used to extract symbols from the scans. So far, a few columns of text have been able to be deciphered using this method.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka
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