All posts tagged: Archeologists

Archeologists discover the largest dinosaur ever to roam Southeast Asia

Archeologists discover the largest dinosaur ever to roam Southeast Asia

Published by Jenni Sidey

A front leg bone nearly as tall as a human emerged from the mud beside a pond in northeastern Thailand. It belonged to a giant dinosaur stretching about 27 meters long and weighing an estimated 27 tonnes. Scientists have now named the massive animal Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, a newly identified long-necked herbivore from the Early Cretaceous. Discovered in Thailand’s Chaiyaphum Province, it is the largest dinosaur ever identified in Southeast Asia. The fossils came from the Khok Kruat Formation, Thailand’s youngest dinosaur-bearing rock layer. Nagatitan belonged to the sauropods, the colossal plant-eaters that include giants like Diplodocus and Brontosaurus. Researchers say it was part of the Asian group Euhelopodidae, a lineage whose evolutionary history remains contested. The discovery marks Thailand’s 14th officially named dinosaur species and adds to a fossil record that has expanded steadily over the past 40 years. Schematic representation of the skeleton of Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis gen. et sp. nov. Preserved bones are highlighted. (CREDIT: Scientific Reports) A giant from the dinosaurs’ final days A local villager first spotted the bones in 2016 after …

Archeologists Find Ancient Roman Estate Near Shopping Mall in Croatia

Archeologists Find Ancient Roman Estate Near Shopping Mall in Croatia

Published by José Betancourt

An ancient Roman residential and agricultural complex has been unearthed across from a shopping mall near Split, Coatia, according to Croatia Week. The news was first reported by Slobodna Dalmacija. Led by archaeologist Eduard Visković, a team from the consulting company Kantharos discovered the complex during excavations at the Mostine archeological site near Split. The team had been checking for ruins around the Bauhaus retail center before further commercial development proceeded in the area, continuing work started in 2011 with the discovery of an early Christian church there. Related Articles Covering approximately 6,500 square feet, the complex appears to have been a country estate that processed olives for oil. The archaeologists date the compound’s origins to the 1st century CE, though they also found artifacts indicating that it was in use in subsequent centuries. The find included six large rooms, including one almost 1,000 square feet in area, and the remains of olive oil production equipment, channels for funneling the oil into collection basins, a cistern for storing the oil, and pieces of ceramic vessels. …

Bronze Age Chinese Foundry Was State Controlled, Archeologists Say

Bronze Age Chinese Foundry Was State Controlled, Archeologists Say

Published by José Betancourt

During China’s Bronze Age (c. 2070 – 771 B.C.), the durable alloy was an indispensable resource, central to the development of early Chinese civilization. Under the Zia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, China developed advanced metallurgy techniques and, along with them, systems for managing them at scale. The Bronze age in China was thus not only characterized by its bronze tools and weaponry, but by its advanced social and political structures. As reported in the China Daily, excavations over the last two years at the Shenduntou archeological site near the Yangtze River have unearthed around 1,000 artifacts linked to the bronze industry under the Zhou dynasty. While more modest than the ritual bronze vessels prized by museums, these artifacts—simple knives, arrowheads, and broken clay molds—suggest a major metal-working site. Related Articles “The discovery of numerous bronze-casting remains proves this was a high-level workshop,” says Wang Zhigao, an archaeology professor at Nanjing Normal University, who is leading the excavation project. Perhaps even more interesting to Wang and his team was evidence of a “state controlled” system of …

Egyptian Archeologists Find 3,000-Year-Old Coffins of Temple Chanters

Egyptian Archeologists Find 3,000-Year-Old Coffins of Temple Chanters

Published by José Betancourt

Archeologists working near Luxor have uncovered 22 painted wooden coffins containing mummies, according to the Daily News Egypt, which reported the news in February. The well-preserved sarcophagi date to Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period (1077–664 BCE). The archeological mission, which was affiliated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Heritage and Antiquities, also found a group of eight papyrus scrolls, some with their seals intact, in a pottery jar. Related Articles The discovery was made during excavation work at a previously known tomb in the Theban Necropolis, a site on the Nile’s west bank where rulers, officials, and nobles were interred during Egypt’s Pharaonic period. The presence of mummies in the coffins makes the find particularly significant, with Zahi Hawass, head of the mission, saying it provides new insights into the Third Intermediate Period. Crowded into a rock-cut chamber, the sarcophagi were separated from their lids and stacked to save space, indicating that they were moved at some point from their original location. They largely bear professional titles rather than personal …

Archeologists Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Basilica Designed by Vitruvius

Archeologists Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Basilica Designed by Vitruvius

Published by Jenni Sidey

Italian officials unveiled the discovery of a 2,000-year-old basilica that archeologists have attributed to Vitruvius, the ancient Roman architect, at a press conference on Monday, according to a report in Reuters. The ancient basilica, which would have been used as a public building in ancient Rome, was built at Fanum Fortunae and completed in 19 BCE. It is the only known building by Vitruvius and is referenced in De architectura, the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity. Vitruvius would later be immortalized in Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man drawing, which mapped the architect’s ideals of portion onto the human body. Related Articles Despite the basilica’s fame, the structure’s exact location was eventually lost to time. Andrea Pessina, who is the superintendent of archaeology and fine arts for the Pesaro and Urbino province, described the discovery as an “absolute match” to Vitruvius’s descriptions of the building. When the team unearthed the four columns of the rectangular building’s shorter side, they used those descriptions to calculate where the top-right column of the longer side should …

Archeologists Uncover New Frescoes at Villa di Poppea Outside Naples

Archeologists Uncover New Frescoes at Villa di Poppea Outside Naples

Published by Jenni Sidey

Archeologists have begun to uncover frescoes in the Hall of the Mask and the Peacock at the Villa di Poppaea at Oplontis, near Torre Annunziata, just outside Naples. Their discovery is part of an ongoing excavation and renovation project that began nearly a year ago, according to a release by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. These recently recovered frescoes, done in the Second Style, reveal the Hall’s “true dimensions and decorative richness” and give the “first glimpses of exquisite frescoes, including vibrant peacocks and masks,” per the release. Related Articles Built during the middle of the first century BCE, the villa is believed to have been the residence Poppaea Sabina, Nero’s second wife. It was known for its high level of decoration, as confirmed by these recovered frescoes, and for its views of the Bay of Naples. The villa was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. The newly discovered imagery includes “a complete figure of a peahen, mirroring the male specimen found on the southern portion of the same wall, and several fragments depicting a stage …