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Stunning painted banquet hall uncovered in Pompeii
A banquet hall boasting some of the finest frescoes found in Pompeii has recently been uncovered by archaeologists working in Regio IX. The Third Style wall paintings depict particular imagery from the Trojan War, which relates to themes of fate and destiny, such as the prophetess Cassandra, and Helen and Paris. A black backdrop to these images may have been intended to hide the stains from lamp smoke in the large space. This luxurious setting, around 15m in length, is one of several exciting new discoveries from the current excavations at Pompeii, including a small atrium house and a bakery.
Early monumental architecture uncovered in the Andes
A circular plaza identified in northern Peru may be one of the earliest examples of monumental megalithic architecture to have been found in the Americas, with a construction date of c.4750 years ago. The date was determined through radiocarbon dating, which pinpointed the structure to the Late Preceramic period. The 18m diameter plaza is located in the Callacpuma archaeological site, and, while its existence was long known to local people, it was only fully excavated between 2018 and 2022. The results of the research and post-excavation analysis have been published in Science Advances: https://doi.org/ 10.1126/sciadv.adl0572.
Discovering ancient Australian pottery
New excavations on Jiigurru, off the north-east coast of Australia, have uncovered pottery dating to between 2,000 and 3,000 years old. This exciting discovery has rewritten the notion that the ancient Aboriginal peoples of Australia did not have pottery, which has long been believed due to a dearth of examples from the country. A few dozen sherds were found on the islands between 2008 and 2016, and this led to a full survey of the Lizard Island Group, during which 82 pieces were found on a headland on South Island. This and other recent discoveries were published in Quaternary Science Reviews: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108624.
Text: Rebecca Preedy
