Dear friends,
This week we selected 15 news for you to read. They range from the
ancient items found by non-archaeologists in Ireland and England to
the striking ancient necropolis unearthed in Rome. Very interesting
are also the articles about the ancient lakes of the Sahara, the
Early Neolithic site found in China and the work made by forensic
anthropologist to reconstruct the face of the 2,500-year-old
Clonycavan man, found fully preserved in a peat bog in Ireland.
This week we would like to thank Moira Allen and Paul Oliver-Smith
who sent donations through the button you can find on the right side
of the web page at
http://news.stonepages.com . Their contributions,
along with the other 33 donors who supported us since last Christmas,
helped covering our hosting expenses for the website and the podcast.
Thank you so much for your support!
As usual, enjoy the reading.
Paola Arosio & Diego Meozzi
Stone Pages
http://www.stonepages.com****** Archaeo News no.160 (21 January 2006) ******
Contents:
* Neolithic axe head uncovered in Lancashire
* Campaign group makes henges call
* Schoolgirl finds Bronze Age tool in playground
* 3,000-year-old necropolis unearthed in Rome
* Archaeology team to solve Bosniac pyramid riddle
* Traces of ancient settlement found in Sicily
* Early Spanish sculpture to return to town
* Ancient lakes of the Sahara
* Hair-gelled Celt may have been sacrificed
* Man's suicide near prehistoric site
* Lecture on early history of Chippenham
* Ancient 'Cyclops' wall collapses in Italy
* Early Neolithic site found in western Beijing
* 4,000-year-old 'kitchen' unearthed in Indiana
* Experts try to explain the Cycladic mystery
Neolithic axe head uncovered in Lancashire
History has been rewritten in Barnoldswick (East Lancashire, England)
after a Neolithic axe head - dating back 6,000 years - was uncovered.
Father and son Chris and Jordan Green were walking along Brogden Lane
looking for Roman coins when they made their find, which has since
been verified by the British Museum. The fact that people were living
in the area back in 4000 BCE stunned the pair, as like most people
they had always been led to believe that the first settlers in the
area arrived in Anglo Saxon times in the days of Bernulfsuuick.
Mr Green is very keen on historical artefacts, but admits he had
no idea when he picked up the 'stone' that it would turn out to have
such a historical significance for the area. "It was just another
stone to me, but Jordan recognised the axe from the cutting edge," he
said. The 11-year-old has never studied the Neolithic age at school,
but he was so determined he was right in his identification that his
dad took the axe head home and sent photographs of it to the British
Museum. A curator there not only confirmed its authenticity, but was
also able to tell the pair that the axe was around 6,000 years old
and that the grey-green rock it was made from probably came from
Great Langdale in the Lake District where rock was quarried
extensively by Neolithic people.
Axes made from "Langdale Tuff" were traded and exchanged widely
in Britain in the Neolithic, but how it ended up in Barnoldswick is a
mystery. "I still don't know whether things like this have to be
handed in as treasure trove," said Mr Green. "If not, then I will
probably donate it to a local museum as it proves that people were
living here more than 4,000 years earlier than thought previously."
Although broken, the axe head still has an excellent cutting
edge on one side as well as wear through use on the other side.
Source: Barnoldswick & Earby Times (20 January 2006)
http://www.pendletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=10&ArticleID=1321879Campaign group makes henges call
Heritage campaign group, TimeWatch has called for international
support in the battle to save the Thornborough Henges from the threat
of quarrying nearby.
Quarry company Tarmac Northern Ltd was granted a delay to the
planning process while it carried out further archaeological
investigations at its proposed quarry site at Ladybridge Farm (North
Yorkshire, England), half a mile from the triple henge complex. These
have now been completed and there is a new consultation process ahead
of the the North Yorkshire County Council planning meeting on
February 21 which will determine the firm's application.
"As a result of Tarmac's latest work, English Heritage have
confirmed that the proposals will destroy archaeology of national
importance," said TimeWatch chairman George Chaplin this week. "This
has vindicated our position and proves the area needs to be regarded
as part of the setting of the Thornborough Henges complex". "NYCC
have already confirmed there is no need for the gravel, and that the
application fails several planning policies, but we are still
concerned that any perceived drop in public concern may have a
detrimental outcome on the decision. We are therefore asking the
international community to show support for our campaign".
Responses to this latest consultation should be sent to Mr Shaw,
at the Minerals and Waste Planning Unit, County Hall, Northallerton,
DL7 8AH by February 3 February.
Source: Nidderdale Today (20 January 2006)
http://www.nidderdaletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?Sect...18&ArticleID=1321648Schoolgirl finds Bronze Age tool in playground
Second class pupil at St Brigid's National School in Greystones (co.
Wicklow, Ireland), Laoise Mangan (9), in the summer months of last
year, she discovered an odd looking stone on the ground while walking
in the school yard. She brought the stone into her then teacher, Mr
Martin Dodd, who, luckily, just happened to have a degree in
Archaeology. Mr Dodd forwarded it to an acquaintance of his, Dr
Muiris O'Sullivan, at the Department of Archaeology in U.C.D. To
Laoise's surprise, the school received word shortly before Christmas
that the stone dated from the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age
(2000 BCE), and was most probably used as a tool for scraping meat
from animal hides.
Laoise is reportedly thrilled with her find, which has now been
dubbed, 'Laoise's special stone' by teachers at St Brigid's. "Can you
imagine it? It was so lucky. If she had brought it in to any other
teacher they probably would have just thrown it away," said Mary
Beausang, a teacher at St. Brigid's. "Now we have dozens of pupils
bringing stones in from the yard to Mr Dodd for examination...and we
will always check with him before we ask them to put them back in the
yard!" she said.
Source: Bray People (19 January 2006)
http://www.unison.ie/bray_people/stories.php3?ca=38&si=1545147&issue_id=135673,000-year-old necropolis unearthed in Rome
Archaeologists digging beneath the Roman Forum have discovered a
3,000-year-old necropolis that pre-dates the birth of ancient Rome by
several hundred years. State Television showed an excavation team
removing vases from a tomb, which resembled a deep well.
Archaeologists were excavating under the level of the ancient
forum, a popular tourist site, when they dug up the tomb, which they
suspect is part of an entire necropolis, Italian news agency ANSA
reported. Inside it was a perfectly preserved funeral urn dating from
a thousand years before Christ, the city's cultural superintendent
said. The first tomb is exceptionally big and well-preserved, with
its 1.2-metre-wide, hut-like roof. Its form resembles a well. A
funerary urn that contains human ashes was found in the tomb, as well
as bone fragments that appeared to be from a sheep. "We've found
people's possessions, like small miniatures of lances, vases and
shields that reproduce the aspects of the dead person's domestic
life," Archaeologist Alessandro Delfino said.
Delfino said he found the roof of a second tomb just meters
away from a tomb he discovered and dug up a few days before. Finding
another tomb could "indicate the existence of a series of tombs that
were built well before the city's foundation," he said. Delfino added
the necropolis was destined for high-ranking personalities - like
warriors and ancient priests - heading the tribes and clans that
lived in small villages scattered on hills near the area which later
spawned one of the world's greatest civilizations.
State Television quoted experts as saying the tombs appeared to
date to about 1000 BCE, meaning the people who constructed the
necropolis preceded the legendary founders of Rome by some three
centuries. It dates from the transition from Bronze to Iron ages,
Rome's archaeology commissioner, Eugenio La Rocca, said. The tomb and
its artefacts, which date from the 11th century BCE, will help
historians learn more about a time before the foundation of Rome
around 750 BCE. Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by
Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the god of war, Mars.
Sources: ANSA, Associateds Press, Iol.co.za, SBS, The Sydney Morning
Herald (20 January 2006)
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31...=qw1137780721460B234http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=126935®ion=3http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/3000-year-old-necropol...0/1137553742315.htmlArchaeology team to solve Bosniac pyramid riddle
Australian archaeologist Royce Richards is among a team preparing to
look for the truth behind a theory that Bosnia-Herzegovina has an
ancient pyramid. Archaeologists from Australia, Scotland, Ireland,
Austria, and Slovenia will begin excavation work in April on the
Visocica hill, 32 kilometres north-west of Sarajevo. The hill is
quite symmetrical, and the theory that it was once a pyramid is
supported by preliminary investigations.
Bosnian Semir Osmanagic put forward his theory last year that a
100 metre geometrically-shaped hill with evenly shaped sides and
corners that point north, south, east and west is an ancient man-made
edifice. Osmanagic, who has spent 15 years studying the pyramids of
the Americas is convinced the hill is a genuine man-made pyramid from
an ancient civilization. His preliminary excavations shows what he
believes is evidence that the earth has been shaped to form a pyramid
and covered in prehistoric concrete and stone blocks.
Excavation work to test Osmanagic's theory will begin on April
14 in the Visoko region and is expected to continue until October and
the rugged mountainous area has become an archaeological park.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald (20 January 2006)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Australian-in-Bosnia-p...0/1137553735882.htmlTraces of ancient settlement found in Sicily
Archaeologists working in Sicily's Valley of the Temples (Italy) have
found traces of a settlement thought to pre-date the famous Greek
temples built there in around 600 BCE. The discovery of a structure
possibly built before the Greeks arrived came during preparatory work
ahead of a project to shore up the ground near the Temple of Hera.
Archaeologists uncovered a mysterious walled structure on top of
which ancient Greeks had apparently built a shrine and a burial
ground.
Until now it has been thought that Agrigento was settled by the
Greeks soon after they began starting colonies in much of the
Mediterranean in the 7th century BCE. "It has not yet been possible
to establish precisely when these remains date back to," cautioned
Pietro Meli, head of the agency which administrates the Valley of the
Temples archaeological park. Meli said fixing a date would be
possible if and when archaeologists found pieces of clay vessels or
ceramics, which would provide clear evidence. He noted that the
settlement appeared to have been built along the line of the ancient
road to Gela, a town about 70 km southeast of Agrigento.
There are eight temples, most of them well-preserved, in the
Valley of the Temples. In the 5th century BCE, at the height of
Agrigento's power and wealth, there are said to have been 21 temples
there. The present site, which draws thousands of tourists a year,
was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997.
Source: ANSA (20 January 2006)
http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-01-17_2386177.htmlEarly Spanish sculpture to return to town
An early Spanish sculpture, symbol of the advanced nature of
prehistoric culture on the Mediterranean coast, is to return on loan
to the town where it was discovered. The Dame of Elche - a striking
stone bust dating from between the fourth and fifth centuries BCE -
was uncovered in 1897 by farm laborers who informed a local doctor
and art connoisseur.
The find was made near the town of Elche on the eastern coast of
Spain at a spot that had been called Illici Augusta Colonia Julia
during the Roman Empire, and Helike by Iberian tribes that dominated
the area before that. The sculpture's artistic and historical
importance were immediately obvious and the bust was sold the same
year to the Louvre Museum in Paris. Under Nazi German occupation in
1941, Paris returned the sculpture to Spain, where it became a
popular exhibit in the Prado Museum until 1971, when it was given a
permanent home at Madrid's National Archaeological Museum.
Following exhaustive tests that found the sculpture to be in
very good structural condition, the museum decided to lend the famous
bust to a museum in Elche, near where experts believe it would have
been sculpted some 2,500 years ago.
Sources: Associated Press, Nola.com (19 January 2006), Pravda (20 January 2006)
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/entertainment/index.ssf?/...80950.xml&storylist=http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2006/01/20/71418.htmlAncient lakes of the Sahara
The Sahara has not always been the arid, inhospitable place that it
is today - it was once a savannah teeming with life, according to
researchers at the Universities of Reading and Leicester. Eight years
of studies in the Libyan desert area of Fazzan have revealed swings
in its climate that have caused considerably wetter periods, lasting
for thousands of years, when the desert turned to savannah and lakes
provided water for people and animals. This, in turn, has given us
vital clues about the history of humans in the area and how these
ancient inhabitants coped with climate change as the land began to
dry up around them again.
In their article 'Ancient lakes of the Sahara', which appears in
the January-February issue of American Scientist magazine, Dr Kevin
White of the University of Reading and Professor David Mattingly of
the University of Leicester explain how they used satellite
technology and archaeological evidence to reveal new clues about both
the past environment of the Sahara and of human prehistory in the
area. "The climate of the Sahara has been highly variable over the
millennia and we have been able to provide much more specific dating
of these changes," said Dr White. "Over the last 10,000 years, there
have been two distinct humid phases, separated by an interval of
highly variable but generally drying conditions between roughly 8,000
and 7,000 years ago. Another drying trend took place after about
5,000 years ago, leading to today's parched environment."
The researchers determined where surface water was once present
by using radar images of the desert taken from space. "This
information was essential because archaeologists need to focus their
efforts near ancient rivers, lakes and springs, where people used to
congregate due to their basic need for water," said Dr White. "We
found large quantities of stone tools around the ancient water
sources, indicating at least two separate phases of human occupation."
The earliest humans in the area were Palaeolithic
hunter-gatherers, who lived in the Fazzan between about 400,000 and
70,000 years ago. A prolonged arid phase from about 70,000 to 12,000
years ago apparently drove humans out of the region, but then the
rains returned - along with the people. Around 5,000 years ago the
climate began to dry out again, but this time people adapted by
developing an agricultural civilization with towns and villages based
around oases. This process culminated with the emergence of the
Garamantian society in the first millennium BCE.
Professor Mattingly said: "We have been given a completely new
view of this elusive and remarkable society. The Garamantes were
known to the ancient Romans as a race of desert warriors, but
archaeology has shown they had agriculture, cities and a phenomenally
advanced system of water extraction that kept their civilisation
going for 1,000 years as the land was drying up around them." They
cultivated a variety of high-grade cereals, such as wheat and barley,
and other crops such as date palms, vines, olives, cotton, vegetables
and pulses. As the Saharan climate began to dry out they drew their
water from a large subterranean aquifer (an underground bed of rock
that yields water) and transported it through a network of tunnels.
"The gradual drying up of springs and dessication of the
surrounding landscape must have seemed ominous, but the Garamantes
knew they had to develop sophisticated methods to cope with it. But
even this remarkably adaptable society - one of the first urban
civilisations built in a desert - could not cope forever with a
falling water table and intensifying aridity. Sometime around 500 CE,
the Garamantian society collapsed and their irrigation system fell
into disuse," Professor Mattingly said.
Source: Innovations Report (19 January 2006)
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/earth_sc...es/report-54055.htmlHair-gelled Celt may have been sacrificed
The hair-gelled head of an ancient Celt, dubbed the Iron Age Beckham
because of his slicked-back look, has been reconstructed by Scots
scientists. Examinations of the Clonycavan man, found fully preserved
in a peat bog in Ireland, revealed he used a gel made from a mixture
of plant oil and pine resin, believed to be from south-west France or
Spain, on his hair. The discovery has been held up as the first
evidence of the trade of luxury goods between Ireland and Southern
Europe 2,500 years ago. Archaeologists suggest the gel may have been
applied in an attempt to increase the man's diminutive stature - he
was only 5ft 2in tall.
Now a team of scientists at the University of Dundee has
reconstructed the Iron Age face from the man's preserved remains, and
Dr Caroline Wilkinson, a forensic anthropologist, said that the
discovery of the primitive hair product was one of the more
'surprising' finds of the project. "He has quite a forward-facing
profile and not a very strong chin, but I don't think he'd look all
that different to the faces you see today," she said.
Forensic anthropologists and forensic artists at Dundee
University used a state of the art computer system to recreate the
facial appearance of the Iron Age man and then add glass eyes, skin
tone and hair. The forensic scientists were in an unusual position
when reconstructing the man's facial features because his skull had
dissolved due to the acidic chemical composition of the peat bog
where he was found. This meant they had to create a human face by
"reinflating" the squashed but preserved soft tissue of Clonycavan
man, named after the area where he was found. Caroline Needham, a
forensic artist, said: "Because we did not have a skeletal structure
to work from, we had to work from soft tissue which was very
squashed.
Archaeologists believe that Clonycavan man was an aristocrat who
may have been part of a ritualistic sacrifice. The mummified corpse
had signs of violent blows to the back of the head. Ned Kelly, the
head of antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland, said: "My
belief is that these burials are offerings to the gods of fertility
by kings to ensure a successful reign."
The body was found by a farmer operating a peat-cutting machine
in 2003 in Clonycavan, near Dublin. The man had been so well
preserved that detectives originally thought he was a victim of an
IRA murder from the 1970s. It is now thought that he lived between
392 and 201 BCE. Since being found, the body has been preserved in
wet peat and exposed for only two days at a time. More than 350 'bog
bodies' have been found in Northern Europe, although fleshed remains
are extremely rare.
Sources: BBC News, The Scotsman (19 January 2006)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4629888.stmhttp://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=89512006Man's suicide near prehistoric site
A man shot himself in the head at the site where he had made
'significant discoveries' as an amateur archaeologist, an inquest has
heard. Derek Upton's body was found on the shores of the River Severn
(Wales) in November, six weeks after he went missing. During his
life, the retired steelworker from Caldicot had found Stone Age human
footprints and Bronze Age settlements near where he died. Newport
Coroner's Court heard how Mr Upton had been suffering from paranoia
and hallucinations in the months before he disappeared. He had been
taking pain killers which he believed were causing the hallucinations.
The court heard how Mr Upton, who had been awarded an Honorary
Fellowship of the University of Wales College, Newport for his
archaeological work in and around the Severn Estuary, was reported
missing on the 25 September. Air and ground searches were launched
after it emerged that a shotgun was also missing.
Police discovered his car parked on the foreshore of the River Severn
between Magor and Rogiet near Newport. Nearly two weeks later, his
gun was found on mud flats near Rogiet. A month after the discovery
of the gun, Mr Upton's body was found washed up on a river bank
nearby.
Source: BBC News (19 January 2006)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/4628920.stmLecture on early history of Chippenham
The early history of Chippenham (Wiltshire, England) is the topic of
an illustrated lecture to be given by Mike Stone, curator of
Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, next month. Chippenham's
Beginnings: Recent Archaeological Work, will explain details of some
of the recent excavation work in the town, including evidence of
Neolithic farmers, Roman settlements and Viking invaders.
The talk starts at 2.30pm on Saturday, February 18, and is being
held at Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes. Early booking is advised,
and the museum can be contacted on 01380 727369. The cost of the talk
is �3 in advance, or �3.50 on the door.
Source: The Bath Chronicle (18 January 2006)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=1634...42375&folderPk=89126Ancient 'Cyclops' wall collapses in Italy
Part of a massive wall started in around 600 BCE around the central
Italian town of Amelia collapsed for reasons still unclear. The
so-called Polygonal walls around Amelia are famous not only for their
age but also their size. Built out of huge polygonal stones, they are
8-10 metres high and about 3.5 metres thick.
The 20-metre section of wall which collapsed was undergoing
restoration work in recent weeks although activity had been suspended
for a few days because of bad weather. Central Italy recorded record
rainfall in December, a fact which experts are taking into account as
they study the broken section. Police and fire services confirmed
that no one had been hurt by the collapse. Scaffolding set up for
restoration was destroyed and a car parked nearby was slightly
damaged.
Located some 55 miles north of Rome in Umbria, Amelia was in
ancient times called Ameria. The city was said by Latin author Pliny
to have been founded at least three centuries before Rome.
Archaeological experts were expected to examine the rubble in efforts
to see whether the collapsed section of wall could be rebuilt. The
800-metre long wall, which now has a breach in the section to the
right of the old city gate, has always impressed archaeologists for
the skill with which it was built. According to local legend, it was
constructed by the Cyclops, the one-eyed monsters encountered by
Greek hero Ulysses.
Source: ANSA (18 January 2006)
http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-01-18_2398931.htmlEarly Neolithic site found in western Beijing
A site dating back about 10,000 years offers new clues about the
development of people living in northern China in the early Neolithic
period. The excavation of Donghulin Site, located in Zhaitang Town,
Mentougou District, in the western suburbs of Beijing, fills the
archaeological gap after the discovery of the Upper Cave Man, a type
of primitive man who lived in the late Paleolithic about 20,000 years
ago and whose fossil remains were found in 1933 at Zhoukoudian in
western Beijing.
The Donghulin Site was excavated by archaeologists from Beijing
University and the Institute of Archaeology of Beijing. An ancient
tomb and remains of houses have been found at the site, said Zhao
Chaohong, a professor with Beijing University. Archaeologists have
unearthed many stone instruments, earthenware, boneware, as well as a
large number of bones from deer, pigs and other animals, Zhao said.
"Mussel shell decorations have been found. One of the biggest
shells was about 30 centimeters long, which showed that ancient
Beijing was warm and had plentiful water resources," said Zhao.
Archaeologists have also discovered hematite pigments and a stone
abrader used to grind the pigments. "But we still don't know what the
pigments were used for," saidZhao.
In a well preserved tomb at the site, the remains of the tomb
owner, legs flexed, were unearthed. A small stone axe and a necklace
made of spiral shells were buried with the body, Zhao said. He noted
that another important discovery at the site was that relics of
chipped stone implements were found in the lower stratum of the site,
which may date back to an earlier age.
Chen Xingcan, a researcher with the Institute of Archaeology
ofthe Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Almost all types of
Neolithic cultural relics have been found at Donghulin Site."
Source: China View (17 January 2006)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/17/content_4064246.htm4,000-year-old 'kitchen' unearthed in Indiana
Workers building a boat ramp at southeastern Indiana's Charlestown
State Park (USA) have uncovered the apparent remains of a
4,000-year-old "kitchen" ancient American Indians tribes may have
used to prepare their winter food supply. The discovery of the site
in eastern Clark County prompted the state to temporarily halt work
on the Ohio River boat ramp project.
Bob McCullough, who heads an archaeological survey team from
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said the low-lying
area was probably used by nomadic tribes of hunters and gatherers. He
said they appear to have collected hickory nuts, used large slabs of
rock to crush them and then made fires to boil them and extract fatty
oils. Tribes often stored such high-energy nut oils for use during
the lean winter months, McCullough said.
The IPFW team has made two trips to the site and plans a third
study of the area. No human remains or bones have been found at the
site. McCullough said he was surprised by how well-preserved the
cooking area site was, but he said it was protected over the
centuries by layers of silt deposited by floodwaters.
Michael Strezewski, the lead archaeologist from IPFW on the first
two visits to the park last fall, estimated the site dates from about
2000 BCE. He said it contains large amounts of Laurel chert, a stone
from which stone tools can be created. Other artifacts included stone
slabs used for grinding and cracking nuts, the remains of fire pits
and some charred bits of plant material.
The area being studied is part of a 2,700-acre expansion at the
park closed to the public. Over the years, several archaeological
sites have been found in the park area.
Sources: Associated Press, Indystar, WKYT (16 January 2006)
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2006...01160350/1006/NEWS01http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4365448&nav=4CALExperts try to explain the Cycladic mystery
British and Greek archaeologists are preparing a major excavation on
a tiny Greek island to try to explain why it produced history's
largest collection of Cycladic flat-faced marble figurines. Artwork
from barren Keros inspired such artists as Pablo Picasso and Henry
Moore but also attracted ruthless looters. Now experts are seeking
insight into the island's possible role as a major religious center
of the enigmatic Cycladic civilization some 4,500 years ago.
Excavations will run April through June.
"Keros is one of the riddles of prehistoric archaeology," said
Peggy Sotirakopoulou, curator of the Cycladic collection at the
Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens. Of the more than 1,400 Cycladic
figurines that have survived, only 40 percent are of known origin, as
looters destroyed all evidence on the rest. But more than half the
documented artifacts are from Keros. "What is particularly impressive
is not just the bulk of the finds, which is larger than the total
from the rest of the Cyclades, but also that they were intentionally
broken during ancient times," Sotirakopoulou said.
The Cycladic culture - a network of small, sometimes fortified
farming and fishing settlements that traded with mainland Greece,
Crete and Asia Minor - is best known for its elegant artwork: mostly
naked, elongated figures with their arms folded under their chest.
The seafaring civilization was eclipsed in the second millennium BCE
by Crete and Mycenaean Greece.
Currently inhabited by a goatherd and his flock, Keros lies near
the eastern rim of the Cyclades island chain between the larger
islands of Naxos and Amorgos. Keros was extensively pillaged during
the 1950s and 1960s for its marble figurines, hundreds of which were
illegally exported to fill museums and private collections. Evidence
from excavations in the '60s and 1980s failed to explain why the
barren islet was so much more important in the 3rd millennium BCE
than its bigger, more hospitable neighbors. "The prevailing
explanation is that this was a sacred repository, a sort of
pan-Cycladic sanctuary where people left objects within the framework
of rituals which included their intentional smashing," said
Sotirakopoulou.
She will participate in the summer's excavation together with
Cambridge University professor Colin Renfrew and other experts. This
year's work will focus on virgin ground. "We hope the forthcoming
excavations will clarify further the nature of the occupation and
activities at Dhaskalio and Kavos," Renfrew said. "It is clear Kavos
was an important site where high prestige artifacts were deliberately
broken and left. It is possible, but not yet certain, these were
ritual actions relating to ceremonies in honor of the dead."
Experts agree that the elegant marble figurines were highly
prized in the early bronze age Cyclades but still don't understand
for what purpose they were made. The figurines have been variously
interpreted as depicting gods or venerated ancestors, serving as
replacements for human sacrifice - or children's toys. One thing is
certain: They were not abstract works of art pared down to the barest
representational essentials.
Sources: Associated Press, Yahoo! News (9 January 2006)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060110/ap_on_sc/art_cycladic_secret***************************************
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