"_The results indicate a dominant contribution of western European silver, pointing to the fate of loot seized by the Vikings during their raids on the Continent in the ninth century. Nonetheless, Islamic silver is also present in several large ingots: silver from the east—the product of long-distance trade networks connecting Scandinavia with the Islamic Caliphate—permeated Viking wealth sources even in the western part of the Viking overseas settlement and should be seen as a significant driver of the Viking phenomenon._"

Kershaw, J., S. Merkel, A. Woods, J. Evans, V. Pashley, and S. Chenery. 2025. “ The Provenance of Silver in the Viking-Age Hoard From Bedale, North Yorkshire.” Archaeometry 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70031.

#OpenAccess #OA #Article #Science #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #History #Vikings #Academia #Academics @science @archaeodons

**Spectacular Find in the Ancient City of Nineveh**

“_Archeologists from Heidelberg University discover major portions of a large-scale relief with depictions of Assyrian deities_”

🔗 https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroom/spectacular-find-in-the-ancient-city-of-nineveh.

#Ancient #History #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #News @archaeodons

🔴 **Hunter-gatherer sea voyages extended to remotest Mediterranean islands**

“_Here we describe chronological, archaeological, faunal and botanical data that support the presence of Holocene hunter-gatherers on the Maltese islands. At this time, Malta’s geographical configuration and sea levels approximated those of the present day, necessitating seafaring distances of around 100 km from Sicily, the closest landmass._”

Scerri, E.M.L., Blinkhorn, J., Groucutt, H.S. et al. Hunter-gatherer sea voyages extended to remotest Mediterranean islands. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08780-y.

#OpenAccess #OA #Article #DOI #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #Palaeoecology #Migration #Academia #Academics @archaeodons

🔴 **Masada Mysteries: What Do We Know About the Bones? (2016)**

James Tabor

“_Twice I have even rappelled down into the caves on the southern tip of the fortress, seeking to learn more about Masada’s ultimate mystery–what happened to the skeletal remains of the defenders? The most likely hypothesis is that the Romans would have buried them in a pit, cremated them, or thrown them over the steep sides of the ravine, since they subsequently occupied the site themselves for several decades. No evidence of either a burial pit or funerary pyre has yet been found._”

🔗 https://jamestabor.com/masada-mysteries-what-do-we-know-about-the-bones/.

#History #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #Masada #Judaism #Romans #RomanEmpire @archaeodons

🔴 **Ancient DNA reveals reproductive barrier despite shared Avar-period culture**

_“We reconstructed six-generation pedigrees at both sites including up to 450 closely related individuals, allowing per-generation demographic profiling of the communities. Despite different ancestry, these pedigrees together with large networks of distant relatedness show absence of consanguinity, patrilineal pattern with female exogamy, multiple reproductive partnerships (for example, levirate) and direct correlation of biological connectivity with archaeological markers of social status.”_

Wang, K., Tobias, B., Pany-Kucera, D. et al. Ancient DNA reveals reproductive barrier despite shared Avar-period culture. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08418-5.

#OpenAccess #OA #Research #DOI #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #Biology #Anthropology #Genomics #Science #Ancient #DNA #History #Academia #Academics @science @biology @anthropology

🔴 **Pre-roman copper industry had no polluting impact on the global environment**

_“Our results, combined with a comprehensive survey of previously published data, support the minimalist interpretation of the polluting effects of metallurgical activities on ancient societies, at least for pre-Roman copper production industries.”_

Yagel, O., Greener, A., Ondricek, W. et al. Pre-roman copper industry had no polluting impact on the global environment. Sci Rep 14, 29675 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-80939-5.

#OpenAccess #OA #Research #Article #DOI #Ancient #NearEast #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #Metallurgy #Pollution #TimnaValley #Environment #Academia #Academics @archaeodons

🔴 A Bronze Age town in the Khaybar walled oasis: Debating early urbanization in Northwestern Arabia

"Alongside this local economy, the site was part of a wider regional exchange network, at a time when trans-Arabian travel by donkey was on the increase ([29, 61]). The microfabrics of a few rare sherds of Red Burnished Ware found during surveys and excavations seems to come from outside the oasis (perhaps Qurayyah or Tayma). Sourcing analyses of arsenic copper at Tayma and Qurayyah have shown a regional provenance, either from Oman or the Arabian Shield ([60]: 141, [64])."

Charloux G, Shabo S, Depreux B, Colin S, Guadagnini K, et al. (2024) A Bronze Age town in the Khaybar walled oasis: Debating early urbanization in Northwestern Arabia. PLOS ONE 19(10): e0309963. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309963.

#OpenAccess #OA #Research #Article #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #Anthropology #Deserts #Arabia #BronzeAge #Urbanization #Academia #Academic #Academics @archaedons @anthropology

🔴 🗺️ Babylonian Map of the World: The oldest known map of the ancient world

“This tablet, which depicts how Babylonians perceived the world thousands of years ago, is peppered with details that offer insight into an earlier time. For example, the ancient world is shown as a singular disc, which is encircled by a ring of water called the Bitter River. At the world’s center sits the Euphrates River and the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon.”

🔗 https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/babylonian-map-of-the-world-the-oldest-known-map-of-the-ancient-world

#Ancient #Map #Maps #Cartography #Archaeology #Arcaheodons @archaeodons

🔴 🇹🇷 The Guardian view on the invention of prehistory: telling the story before records began

“The study of Göbekli Tepe, the entombed wonder of the ancient world, shows how things can be as important as words”

🔗 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/25/the-guardian-view-on-the-invention-of-prehistory-telling-the-story-before-records-began

#Ancient #Prehistory #Türkiye #Turkey #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #TheGuardian #Opinion #Editorial

Biblical Gilgal: A Common Place Name or a Cult Site near Jericho?

“Gilgal was a national cult centre of the Kingdom of Israel, and in several references its name appears alongside that of Bethel (1 Sam 7:16; 2 Kgs 2:1–2; Hos 4:15; 12:12; Amos 4:4; 5:4–5). Bethel, located in the highlands, was the seat of a national temple (see Amos 7:13) and the place where the golden calf, the animal sacred to the Storm God, represented the God of Israel in his temple.”

Naʾaman, N. (2024). Biblical Gilgal: A Common Place Name or a Cult Site near Jericho? Tel Aviv, 51(1), 59–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2024.2327800

#OpenAccess #OA #Research #Article #DOI #History #Histodon #Histodons #Archaeology #Arcaheodons #Israel #Israelites #MiddleEast #Levant #NearEast #Asia #Academia #Academic #Academics @archaeodons @histodon @histodons