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New light on Danish sun stones
Hundreds of stone plaquettes from two Neolithic enclosure sites on the Danish island of Bornholm have been linked to the eruption of a volcano almost 5,000 years ago. The plaquettes, which are commonly engraved with a solar design – hence their name, ‘sun stones’ – are unique to the island, and date to around 2900 BC. A new study, published in Antiquity, has suggested that their sheer number and the narrow time-frame of their production could indicate that these stones were created in response to a dramatic event related to the sun’s visibility – probably a volcanic eruption that is believed to have taken place around this time and would have created a haze blocking the sun. To read the full study, see https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.217 (open access).
Deciphering a new scroll from Herculaneum
A Roman scroll recovered from the Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum, and currently held in the Bodleian Libraries, has become the fifth to be scanned at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron facility. The scans of this latest scroll have been the clearest so far, potentially due to higher-density ink, or a difference in the papyrus, or even in the carbonisation process itself. Researchers have been working to enhance the legibility of the writing within, and scholars have already deciphered some Greek words: Διατροπή, meaning ‘disgust’, ἀδιάληπτος (‘foolish’), φοβ (‘fear’), and βίου (‘life’). Based on the handwriting, scholars believe the scroll may be the work of the philosopher Philodemus, who also wrote most of the other texts so far identified from the Villa dei Papiri.
Interpreting the El Salvador ‘puppets’
Five figurines recently discovered at San Isidro in western El Salvador have been the subject of a new paper in Antiquity (https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.37). Discovered buried on top of the Middle Preclassic Mesoamerican site’s largest pyramidal structure, they date to 410-380 BC, and comprise three large and two small human figures. The larger figurines (two female and one male) have adjustable heads, leading to the suggestion they were used as puppets or marionettes. Other sites have yielded similar objects, and researchers believe they may have been used in shared ritual practices or exchange networks across Central America.
Text: Rebecca Preedy
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