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East Africa’s earliest farming
Excavations in Kenya have uncovered equatorial east Africa’s earliest evidence for plant farming. Working in Kakapel Rockshelter in the Lake Victoria Basin, archaeologists have discovered remnants of the legume crop cowpea (black-eyed pea) in a hearth, which have been dated to 2,300 years ago. This is therefore the earliest documented domesticated crop from eastern Africa, where it is believed to have been brought by Bantu-speaking peoples from central Africa after originating in west Africa. Other remains found on the site indicate that these domesticated plants arrived in ultiple phases with the movement of different groups. The research has been published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2747 (open access).
Children’s burials in Norway
A unique prehistoric burial field containing almost exclusively child burials has been uncovered in south- eastern Norway. Archaeologists from Norway’s Museum of Cultural History, working in the municipality of Fredrikstad, discovered the site in November 2023, when they excavated 41 circular formations of stones arranged on the ground. These circles were soon revealed to be cremation graves, and analysis of the remains showed that all except two of the individuals were children, as many as 16 of whom were possible newborns. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the burials span 1300 BC to AD 200, with most dating to between 800 and 400 BC, but post-excavation analysis is ongoing.
Bronze Age fossil hunting in Mycenae
Recent analysis of an object found in an ancient basement storeroom at Mycenae during the 1970s has revealed it to be the fossilised ankle bone (astragalus) of an extinct genus of rhinoceros. The fossil would have been used in the Late Bronze Age; however, its purpose is as yet unclear. But one suggestion is that it was perhaps an apotropaic or ritual item. Large fossils are known to have been collected later in Greek history, due to an association with gods and mythical creatures. This example has been dated to 1230 1200 BC, making it the earliest fossil from a secure context in mainland Greece. The research has been published in Scientific Reports: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68778-w (open access).
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Photo: Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
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