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New Neolithic society discovered in Morocco
Investigations at Oued Beht, northern Morocco, have uncovered evidence of the oldest and largest Neolithic society yet found in Africa outside the Nile Valley. Large quantities of stone tools have been recovered from the area since the 1930s, and since 2021 Cyprian Broodbank (University of Cambridge), Giulio Lucarini (CNR-ISPC and ISMEO), and Youssef Bokbot (INSAP) have been leading new investigations as part of the Oued Beht Archaeological Project. Mapping the distribution of artefacts revealed a 9 10ha focus of activity within the Final Neolithic period (c.3400-2900 BC), and the team also uncovered pits containing crop remains, and thousands of pottery fragments. Recent research has been published in Antiquity: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.101 (free, open access).
Armenia’s oldest church
Archaeologists working in the ancient city of Artaxata have revealed the remains of a church dating to the early days of Christianity in Armenia. Artaxata was the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia from the early 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD, and a team from the Armenian Academy of Sciences and the University of Münster have been working there since 2018. This year they uncovered an octagonal building, which measures c.30m in diameter and features cruciform extensions. It appears to have been systematically destroyed and burnt down, but it once boasted ornate marble decorations. Two wooden beams have been radiocarbon dated, combining with other finds to suggest a date of the 4th century, around the time of Armenia’s adoption of Christianity.
Japanese sword in Berlin
A heavily corroded sword, initially interpreted as a German military parade weapon, has been revealed to be a Japanese artefact. The sword was found by archaeologists working to uncover a set of 20th-century basements located in the Molkenmarkt area of Berlin, which were backfilled some time after the Second World War. X-ray imaging and restoration work undertaken at the Museum of Prehistory and Early History at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin revealed that the blade was in fact a wakizashi, a type of Japanese short sword, with a handle decorated with an image of the Japanese deity Daikoku. This and other stylistic elements, such as chrysanthemums and water motifs, helped to place the handle in the Edo period (17th to 19th century), though the blade, which has been reworked, may be older still.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Image: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte/Anica Kelp
