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The Center for Archaeology of Montenegro began a series of rescue excavations in the ancient city of Doclea near Podgorica, one of the most important historical monuments in Montenegro, after an ancient villa was destroyed during the construction of a railway line.

Credit: Balkan Heritage Field School

During the course of the excavations the foundations of several temples were found, evidently belonging to the Illyrian Docleati tribe on which territory the city was built.

According to the archaeologists, coins found at the site date it to the reign of the Illyrian King Ballaios and Queen Teuta of the Ardiaei tribe who ruled in the mid-second century BC.

Credit: Balkan Heritage Field School

"This area has an obvious antiquity where various ancient cultures are intertwined," said Milos Zivanovich, an archaeologist from the Center for Archaeology, who is heading the rescue excavation.

"The purpose of these excavations is to fully reveal the layout of the city and to understand how it evolved through time," Zivanovich added.

Credit: Balkan Heritage Field School

In Roman times the city of Doclea was strategically situated near the crossings of several main roads on a plateau bordered on three sides by the Zeta, Moraca and Siralija Rivers.

The foundation of the city is related to the Roman effort to urbanize the newly established province of Dalmatia in the beginning of the first century AD. It quickly became an important trading center and was given the status of municipium during the Flavian Age along with other Dalmatian cities.

Credit: Balkan Heritage Field School

The Romans enforced the city’s protection through mighty 2.5 m - thick walls, towers, battlements and fortified bridges across the rivers. The city itself is built according to the classical urban grid plan, with a typically square-shaped forum with a colonnaded porticoes that run the length of the space at its heart.

The East-West Via Principalis features the most important city buildings which are still preserved today: the triumphal arch dedicated to Emperor Gallienus, the temple & the statue of Roma, the temple of Diana, a palace, as well as the spacious and richly decorated city baths.

Credit: Balkan Heritage Field School

The city flourished as a capital city of the Late Roman province of Praevalitana (3rd - 5th centuries AD). The Early Christians churches and the large episcopal basilica dated to this period are located in the eastern urban and suburban areas both intra and extra murum.

The bishop of Doclea, Evandros is mentioned among the participants of the 4th Ecumenical Council held in Halkidon 451.

Credit: Balkan Heritage Field School

The city’s urban life declined after the Ostrogoths sacked Doclea in AD 490. It was devastated further during the earthquake of AD 518.

Doclea never recovered its glory and during the following turbulent period of Avar and Slavic invasions, the city was finally abandoned.

Source: Tirana Times & The Balkan Heritage Field School [December 08, 2018]

Otago researchers have discovered a rare case of genetic population discontinuity on the Mediterranean Island of Ibiza. Essentially, the original genetic signature of the founding female population, handed down through centuries on Ibiza has been replaced, prompting a change in understanding of the island’s genetic history.

Set of figurines from Es Culleram. Archaeological Museum of Ibiza and Formentera [Credit: © Ministerio de Cultura]

Ancient DNA from Ibiza demonstrates a clear genetic discontinuity in the maternal lineages of the early Phoenician settlers and the modern inhabitants of the island according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

The study was led by Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith and her team from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and Professor Pierre Zalloua of the Lebanese American University, Beirut, with the collaboration of researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Universitat Pompeu Fabra-CSIC), Barcelona, the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza and archaeologists from Lebanon and Italy.

The team analysed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is maternally inherited, from archaeological Phoenician remains and from modern inhabitants of Ibiza. They also obtained whole genome data (representing their total ancestry from both parents) from one ancient Phoenician individual.

Arriving from Cadiz, on the Iberian mainland, the Phoenicians first settled on the strategic island of Ibiza around 654 BCE and remained the main inhabitants of Ibiza for about seven centuries.

Burial rituals and other archaeological findings at the Puig des Molins necropolis of Ibiza provide evidence for a second population influx from Carthage or other Punic settlements in the Mediterranean, coinciding with a period of prosperity and major development of the island around 5th BCE. After the 2nd Punic War, Ibiza started a long process of integration of Ibiza into the Roman Empire, followed by the Islamic conquest of the island around 900 CE. Beginning around 1200 CE Ibiza was the recipient of migrations from the Iberian and Southern European mainland.

Based on the mtDNA results, the study showed clear genetic discontinuity between the early Phoenician settlers and the modern inhabitants of the island.

“Thus, the unusual genetic signature that has previously been identified in modern Ibizans does not appear to be the result of their Phoenician ancestry, at least from a maternal perspective”, explains Professor Matisoo-Smith.

Multiple population arrivals through invasions or other movements combined with periods of population instability after the early Phoenician settlement seems to have led to a reshuffling of the genetic makeup of this island.

“It is fascinating to see that the ancient maternal lineages were replaced over time. Today the mitochondrial DNA lineages in indigenous Ibizans appear to be most closely related to those of modern French, which may indicate a Catalonian connection,” adds Professor Zalloua.

While ancient DNA evidence generated over the last few years does now show us that there were population replacements in deep time, for example in Europe when farmers moved into western Europe several thousands of years ago and replaced many hunter-gatherer populations, we do not often see genetic replacement during more recent times.

Despite the lack of continuity observed in the mitochondrial genomes, previous Y chromosome analyses suggest that there is still some Phoenician signature in the modern Ibizan population. The whole genome data obtained from one ancient Phoenician from Ibiza belonged to an individual with a European maternal lineage but with a significant Eastern Mediterranean component to their genetic ancestry, indicating an admixed Phoenician community in Ibiza during the 3rd century BCE. This result is consistent with the archaeological evidence and further indicates that diversity and integration was a hallmark of Phoenician societies.

The results are consistent with historical evidence suggesting that Phoenician influence in the West was male dominated and indicates that there was not a total replacement of the Ibizan founding population, however, we now know that the genetic distinctness of the modern indigenous inhabitants of Ibiza is not due to Phoenician ancestry as has often been suggested. Further whole genome data is needed to help us understand why and how the genetic makeup of the Ibizan population changed over time. For example, disease or social impacts like war or famine may have played a major role in shaping the genetic makeup of the population of the island.

Source: University of Otago [December 07, 2018]

The Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Communications and Works, announced the completion of the 6th season of excavations in the framework of the Agios Sozomenos Excavations and Survey Project (ASESP) at the localities Ampelia and Nikolides, under the direction of the Curator of Antiquities Dr. Despina Pilides.

Stone basin at the Ampelia site, Agios Sozomenos [Credit: Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus]

This excavation season lasted from 10 September-26 October 2018. This year the aim was to further investigate the pithos storage house on the small hillock at Ampelia, its extent and chronology as well as investigate the plan, chronology and nature of the monumental fortification at Nikolides.

Agios Sozomenos-Ampelia

Excavation continued on the east side of the building found last year, to establish whether it extended down the slope of the hillock. The cobbled courtyard, part of which was uncovered last year did indeed extend further, possibly enclosed within a very disturbed wall on the east side. The cobbled floor extended further to the south. It seems that this floor was renewed, as in some places where this was not preserved, another quite well preserved cobbled floor was found below, with strewn pithos sherds on it, some decorated with wavy lines left in situ.

The pebbles of the earlier floor were set in a layer of plaster, which was then covered with another layer of plaster in which the pebbles of the new floor were set. In some places a thin layer of yellowish brown soil was found below the later floor. The extent of the floor on the south part was lost as a result of recent cultivation activities. The same activities caused the destruction of the architecture on the east side, although it seems that the building extended on this side as well. The north wall of Room 1 (the Pithos room) was not preserved and excavation on the north side, down the slope again proved fruitless.

On the west side, traces of a floor were found as well as a layer of ashes, possibly from the fire destruction noted last year, as well as strewn burnt stones, possibly remains of a wall. Only pithos and storage jar sherds were retrieved. Some crevices in the bedrock seem to continue the ones noted last year. The same layer of ashes and remains of a burnt floor of plaster were noted on the SW part of the building.

Cobbled courtyard at the Ampelia site, Agios Sozomenos [Credit: Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus]

A broken pithos was found fallen on top of a stone basin, sunk in the floor. Inside the basin, of roughly oval shape, there were small sherds of a White Slip I bowl with a perforation, sherds from a Base Ring juglet, fragments of a Plain Ware plate and Black Slip sherds. A large storage jar with a wide fairly tall neck and a horizontal incised band on the shoulder and horizontal handles was found as well as a thumb-grip handle, most probably from another pithos.

A soft fill inside the basin contained a cylindrical perforated stone weight, a triangular stone weight, a clay weight with a central perforation and a flat grinder of diabase. The bottom layer inside the basin was darker in colour and was sampled in the hope that it may provide evidence for the activities conducted. On one side of the basin facing north, there was a perforation but if it was a drain hole, there was no outlet as it was sunk in the bedrock. A layer of packed mud around the basin was removed to reveal stones in situ that may have held the basin in place, on the south side these were placed upright. A burnt White Slip bowl, some cooking ware sherds, Plain Ware and Red slip sherds were collected in this area. At a short distance to the south another small circular pit was found, possibly for holding another storage jar in place.

Further excavation on the west side revealed a fragment of a possible wall but nothing else was preserved. A large saddle quern of diabase, a gaming stone with depressions, a pounder and large quantities of pithos sherds indicate agrarian activities.  The house must have been consisting of at least three adjacent rooms, next to the storage room and a large courtyard to the south.

Nikolides

The large building stones, some of them worked, which were redeposited to the east of the tower and hampered our work, were removed by mechanical means and retained, so as to be utilized for the study of the volume of the stone material used for the construction of the fortifications. The aim was to establish the way that the circuit wall joined the tower. Below this debris, a soft sandy fill was removed to reveal the plaster floor below, made directly on bedrock. The plaster floor was only partly preserved and, at parts, it seems to have been laid on top of a pebbly reddish substratum. No finds were recovered except for a few sherds of Black Slip or Red Slip.

Stone built tower at the Nikolides site, Agios Sozomenos [Credit: Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus]

A cavity in the bedrock was excavated close to the circuit wall, which seems to have been made at a stage, however, because it cut through the floor of the entrance between the tower and the circuit wall, as supported by some Plain White sherds from an amphora found inside. The circuit wall was revealed for some distance, running parallel to the ashlar wall of the tower. The outer face of the circuit wall was also dressed with rectangular ashlar stones, perhaps to be in uniformity with the tower. The tower was built on top of the bedrock, which was used as a foundation; in the cases where it was uneven, small stones were used to level it to a straight line and the ashlar stones were placed on top. Only small sherds of Red Polished ware, some cooking pot sherds and the flat base of a miniature juglet were found.

Excavation continued on the line of the circuit wall, to trace its outline and see how it joined with the tower. Huge destruction was caused by bulldozing as the cavities in the stone rubble have shown, that required laborious removal of the shifted ashlars and stones of about 0.5 m. depth until a staircase of large ashlars (1.20mx0.45m) was revealed leading from the interior of the fort onto the tower. Smaller sized ashlars were placed on either side to form a floor surface.

A large worked stone with projections was found, possibly at the point of the entrance from the circuit wall into the area in front of the tower, and in the adjacent trench there were two postholes, possibly for the support of a doorway; further work is, however, necessary in order to clarify the construction at this point. As already noted last season, very little cultural material was retrieved consisting of small quantities of ceramics and no objects, a fact that needs to be taken into consideration in the interpretation of the evidence, as it is also a characteristic of the settlement (Tzirpoulos and Ampelia).

Even though excavation is slow and laborious, it is now evident that we have a monumental fort, erected initially, towards the end of the Middle Bronze Age, with an addition  of a formidable tower of fine construction, possibly in the early part of the Late Bronze Age; it is a fort of strategic importance overseeing the entire valley in all directions and a construction that could not have been built without organized labour and substantial control of resources.

Source: Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus [December 06, 2018]

What's a feast for the human eye may be a literal feast for microorganisms that colonize works of art, according to a new study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Elisabetta Caselli of the University of Ferrara, Italy, and colleagues. The researchers characterized the microbial community on a 17th century painting and showed that while some microbes destroy such works of art, others might be employed to protect them.

Carlo Bononi, Incoronazione della Vergine: 1616-1620, oil on canvas, 280 cm in diameter, Ferrara, Basilica of Santa Maria in Vado: a) painting (sampling points are indicated by asterisks, *); b) damage due to biodegradation (verso); c) craquelures network; d) lacerations, deformations, and gaps corresponding to the cloth stitching (recto). Details of the damage are reported on the side [Credit: MuseoinVita biannual journal, 2018]

The wide variety of organic and inorganic materials that comprise a painting, such as canvas, oil, pigments, and varnish, can provide an ideal environment for colonizing bacteria and fungi, increasing the risk for biodegradation. To characterize the microorganisms on one such painting, "Incoronazione della Virgine" by Carlo Bononi, completed in 1620, the authors removed a 4 mm2 section of the painted surface adjacent to a damaged area.

Using a combination of microscopy and microbial culture techniques, the authors identified a variety of microbes which had colonized the painting. They isolated multiple strains of Staphylococcus and Bacillus bacteria as well as filamentous fungi of the Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Alternaria genera.

Bacteria detected on the painting: Samples were collected from the recto (a, b, c) and the verso (d, e, f) of the painting. a) colonies of Staphylococcus spp. on a Mego agar plate; b) the same Staphylococcus spp. viewed by OM after Gram staining (original magnification 100X) and c) by SEM. d) colonies of Bacillus spp. on a TSA agar plate; e) the same Bacillus spp. viewed by OM after Gram staining (original magnification 100X) and f) SEM [Credit: Caselli et al., 2018]

The authors note that some of the 17th century paint pigments used, notably red lac and red and yellow earths, may be nutrient sources for the microbes. They also tested a decontaminating biocompound which contained spores of three Bacillus bacteria and found that these could inhibit growth of both the bacteria and the fungi isolated from the painting.

The authors conclude that a wide range of bacterial and fungal species may inhabit such ancient paintings, but biocompounds potentially represent a novel approach for preserving works of art at risk of biodegradation.

The authors add: "Clarification of biotederioration processes in artworks is important, as it could help in preventing or solving the associated damages. This study investigated such aspects in a 17th century painting, by analyzing both microbial communities and chemical composition of painting, also evaluating a possible biological way to counteract these phenomena."

Source: PLOS [December 05, 2018]

The ancient Greek Statue of a Victorious Youth by fabled sculptor Lysippos belongs to Italy, the supreme Cassation Court said Tuesday, saying the Getty Museum in California must hand it back.

The disputed 'Statue of a Victorious Youth', 300–100 BC  [Credit: Dave & Margie Hill/WikiCommons]

The top court rejected an appeal by the US museum against a Pesaro judge's order to confiscate the fourth-century BC bronze statue.

"The Lysippos (as it is known in Italy) must return to Italy, it's the last word from Italian justice," Pesaro prosecutor Silvia Cecchi told ANSA after the long legal battle.

Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli told ANSA "now we hope the US authorities will act as soon as possible to favour the restitution of the Lysippos to Italy".

He said he was happy that "this judicial process has finally ended and the right to recover an extremely important testimony of our heritage has been recognised.

"Let's hope the statue can soon return to be admired in our museums".

But the Getty said in a statement that "we will continue to defend our right to the Lysippos.

"The law and the facts do not justify the restitution to the Italian government of a sculpture that has been exhibited to the public in Los Angeles for almost half a century". In June the Pesaro prosecutors announced that the order issued to seize the statue for years disputed by Italy and the Getty Museum in Malibu was "immediately executive".

"The Lysippos statue must return to Italy," prosecutors told ANSA, accompanied by Tristano Tonnini, the lawyer for the association "Cento Citta'", which has been fighting the legal battle for 11 years.

"We expect politicians to play their part," they said.

The Italian judge rejected an appeal by the Getty Museum, ruling that the fourth-century BC Greek statue - known as Lysippos or Lysippus after its creator and fished out of the sea off Pesaro in 1964 - must be seized wherever in the world it is.

Commonly referred to as the Getty Bronze and formally named Statue of a Victorious Youth, the statue is one of the best-known works in the Los Angeles-based museum.

The Lysippos has been contested ever since the Getty bought it for almost four million dollars in 1977 from German art dealer Herman Heinz Herzer, paying nearly 800 times the $5,600 that Italian dealers paid the fishermen for it in 1964.

Italy has long claimed the statue was smuggled out of the country and has demanded that the Getty hand it back.

Lawyer Tonnini said he was satisfied by the judge's ruling, but said he is also convinced that "the California museum always knew that it was buying a smuggled and illegally exported artifact".

Pesaro prosecutor Cristina Tedeschini said she expected a favourable ruling from the Court of Cassation.

"But the fact is that three different judges have reaffirmed that the statue belongs to the Italian state and that it must be given back," Tedeschini said.

In November 2007, a court in Fano, near Pesaro, cleared the Getty Museum of wrongdoing in the case.

But prosecutor Silvia Cecchi said the judge "affirmed that the statue was taken in Italian national waters and therefore belongs to Italy," which has been the sustained argument since 2007 to get the statue back.

"It must be very clear that the order is immediately executive and we will apply this principle by notifying the American authorities," Cecchi said.

The Getty said it would lodge an appeal at the Cassation Court to "defend our rights".

Source: ANSA [December 04, 2018]

Sewerage works in Muro Leccese, a small town in the province of Lecce, in the Apulia region of south-east Italy, led to the discovery of an intact Messapian tomb containing the remains of several children and their funerary goods.

Credit: Salento Archeologico

According to archaeologists Oda Calvaruso and Francesco Meo from the University of Salento, the tomb dates from the Hellenistic period, between the fourth and third centuries BC.

"This is the first time that such a deposit has been discovered with vases, bowls, toys and feeding bottles, still intact", said the archaeologists.

"It is an invaluable discovery because it was found in an area of the ancient necropolis and testifies to the importance of Muro Leccese in the Messapian era."

Source: Salento Metropoli [December 01, 2018]

The bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage completed the restoration of two more monuments, located in the old city of Turkish-occupied Famagusta, the Church of Saint Anne and Tanner’s mosque. A ceremony will be held on December 7, to mark the completion of the two projects.

The small and well-proportioned Church of St Anne presents a number of distinct Gothic elements. It closely resembles  the Carmelite church in style and therefore, likely dates to the same period between the early 1320s and 1363. Due to  its location in what is thought to have been the sector of the city inhabited by Oriental Christians, it may well have been a Maronite church [Credit: WikiCommons]

Speaking to CNA, Takis Hadjidemetriou, the Greek Cypriot Head of the Technical Committee, referred in particular to Saint Anne, which dates from the 14th century BC, and said that the Maronite Patriarch from Lebanon will also attend the ceremony.

He also noted that a religious service was held in Saint Anne in May 2016, for the first time after almost five centuries, adding that the church is now completely renovated.

It is thought that Tanners Mosque was built in the 14th century by the Jacobites, as a small church dedicated to St Kathrena.  In Ottoman times, it was used as a mosque by the leather tanners, who worked nearby, thus it became known as the Tanners' mosque or Tabakhane Mosque [Credit: Famagusta Walled City]

Next week’s event will be held in the presence of Technical Committee, UNDP and EU representatives, as well as members of the Maronite community of Cyprus. A religious ceremony will follow.

Hadjidemetriou noted finally that Famagusta continues to figure in future restoration plans of the Technical Committee, due to the various churches, monuments and parts of the city wall that exist in the old city.

Source: Cyprus News Agency [November 30, 2018]

The Acropolis Museum in Athens is perfectly capable of hosting its original sculptures of the Parthenon instead of the well-crafted copies it exhibits, said Deputy Editor of the Sunday Times, Sarah Baxter.

Plaster casts from the east pediment sculptures of the Parthenon at the Acropolis Museum against  the backdrop of the Athenian Acropolis [Credit: The Acropolis Museum]

The original sculptures of the east pediment in the British Museum [Credit: Kevin Gessner/Flickr]

“I simply can’t think of a sound reason for refusing Greece’s claim for their return,” said Ms Baxter in a column she wrote for the British publication.

Plaster casts from the east pediment of the Parthenon at the Acropolis Museum, as well as original metopes  and both orginal and casts of the Ionic frieze [Credit: The Acropolis Museum]

The original sculptures of the east pediment in the British Museum [Credit: ANA-MPA]

“It is hard to deny that they belong to their original place, why not exchange them? We are fighting a losing battle to maintain our looting when there are innovative ways to share our knowledge,” added the Deputy Editor, who defends the return of the Parthenon Marbles and agrees with the opinion of which Labor leader Jeremy Corbin has also made publicly known.

Original segments of the Ionic frieze from the Parthenon bordered by paster casts  of those found in the British Museum [Credit: The Acropolis Museum]

Section from the original Ionic frieze of the Parthenon displayed in the British Museum [Credit: ToVima]

The Sunday Times also observes that modern technology can provide perfect replicas and representations of ancient cities such as ancient Rome and the Arc of Triumph of Palmyra and raises the question if Britain could return the Parthenon Marbles and reproduce with technology the grandeur of the Parthenon for the new generations of visitors to the British Museum, why not do it?

Finally, she notes that a similar replica policy is followed by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Source: Greek City Times [November 26, 2018]

Supported throughout by the British School at Rome the team - drawn from Newcastle University, UK, the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums - have been able to bring the splendour of successive transformations of the ancient city to life.

Research beneath the Archbasilica of St John Lateran has revealed the appearance of world's first cathedral and the remarkable transformations that preceded its construction. A team of archaeologists from Newcastle University,UK, the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums, have worked far beneath the streets of Rome  to piece together a pivotal moment in the history of the eternal city [Credit: The Lateran Project]

The church, the Pope's own cathedral, was originally built in the 4th century AD by Constantine - the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Positioned on the Caelian Hill, the church would have dominated the Roman skyline at the time.

As research reveals, however, the site had already been in use for centuries. To build his magnificent cathedral, Constantine had swept away the Castra Nova (New Fort), the lavish headquarters of the imperial horseguard constructed over a century before by the Emperor Septimius Severus. In much the same way, Severus had previously destroyed the palatial houses of some of Rome's most powerful residents to make way for the horseguards' impressive new home.

This ongoing process of construction on the site meant that over hundreds of years layers of Roman history were laid down, much of it reflecting the changing fortunes and priorities of the Empire.

Working far beneath the modern streets of Rome, the team on the Lateran Project have brought to life the first ever holistic picture of hundreds of years of Roman history by using digital mapping, ground penetrating radar and 3D visualisation techniques.

Working with some of the world's leading visualisation specialists, the team has reconstructed the splendour of the buildings. It is one of the first projects in the world to have used terrestrial laser-scanning over such a large area to drive archaeological research.

Research beneath the Archbasilica of St John Lateran has revealed the hidden history of the world's first cathedral and the remarkable transformations that preceded its construction. A team of archaeologists from Newcastle University, UK, the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums, have worked far beneath the streets of Rome  to piece together a pivotal moment in the history of the eternal city. To build his 4th century cathedral, To build his magnificent cathedral, Constantine swept away the Castra Nova (New Fort), the lavish headquarters of the imperial horseguards constructed over a century before by the Emperor Septimius Severus [Credit: The Lateran Project]

The work has also permitted study of how the different buildings that occupied the site evolved, how different elements relate to one another and has given a sense of the scale the four-hectare site covers.

The work carried out by the Lateran Project is featured in the latest edition of Current World Archaeology. Talking exclusively to the publication, Professor Ian Haynes, Co-Director of the Lateran Project and Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle University, UK, said: "There is a large area of space underneath the Lateran that it is possible to walk or crawl through.

"The archaeology is at varying levels below - at the deepest we were 8.5m below modern ground surface. To access some of the spaces we worked with a group called Roma Sotteranea who specialise in working on buried sites and use exactly the same equipment and techniques as potholers. In some places, it was necessary to rotate the teams on a half hourly basis because otherwise it just becomes stifling."

The construction of the cathedral was a pivotal moment marking the start of the major Christian buildings that came to define Rome and is a potent symbol of the military making way for religion.

In AD312 Constantine's army fought the Battle of Milvian Bridge, after which the old Horse Guards base and several nearby buildings were destroyed. The land was given to the Church and provided the perfect spot for Constantine to set out his new vision for Rome.

Research beneath the Archbasilica of St John Lateran has revealed the hidden history of the world's first cathedral and the remarkable transformations that preceded its construction. A team of archaeologists from Newcastle University, UK,  the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums, have worked far beneath the streets of Rome to  piece together a pivotal moment in the history of the eternal city. Using innovative 3D mapping and visualisation tools, the Lateran Project team have brought to life the first ever holistic picture of hundreds of years of Roman history [Credit: The Lateran Project]

Professor Haynes told Current World Archaeology: "The land may have been given to the Church within weeks of the battle. A decision was certainly taken pretty soon afterwards and work on the Lateran started some years before it did on St Peter's.

"The cathedral was rebuilt in the 1650s but there is still original Constantine fabric in the walls, while the original foundations are exposed beneath the church.

"There have been various efforts to reconstruct it since then, so we wanted to pull together all of this information to create a digital cathedral that you can walk around.

"Working with colleagues at the University of Amsterdam and Newcastle-based visualisation specialists, New Visions, we've incorporated information from earlier excavations. We also created a simpler model to test the acoustics and to try to understand how sounds would have worked in the basilica."

Source: Newcastle University [November 27, 2018]

This excavation season completed the five year project of excavation research in the Bronze Age settlement at the 'Asvestaria' site in Petroto, Trikala, in northwestern Thessaly, Greece. The excavation is being conducted under Maria Vaiopoulou, archaeologist of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa, with the collaboration of an interdisciplinary team of researchers and the support of INSTAP.

Overall view of excavation at the 'Asvestaria' site in Petroto, Trikala [Credit: Ministry of Culture]

The dig at the “Asvestaria” site in Petroto, Trikala began as a rescue excavation due to the construction of the Larisa–Trikala national highway where a Late Bronze Age settlement came to light. The excavation research carried out during the five year programme provided interesting data on the settlement’s use of space over the centuries.

The case of the Petroto settlement is the only known example in West Thessaly of a Final Neolithic or even earlier settlement whose life continued uninterrupted to the end of the Bronze Age.

Architectural and residential remains

During the excavation, parts of 14 buildings came to light which date from the EH II to the LHIIIC. One of the best preserved is Building H with a NE-NW orientation which dates from the LHIIIC. It is an arched building with an entrance on its northwest side and measuring 8.75x7m.

Ceramics from the excavation at the “Asvestaria” site in Petroto, Trikala [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Building E which dates from the LH IIIA is a large, rectangular building with three construction phases. A 16.21m wall survives from the first phase, while a 12.22m wall remains from the second phase, where the building is found to be smaller. In the third phase, at least three spaces as well as a monumental entrance can be distinguished. The dimensions of the building in this phase are 16.21×5.60m.

The building continues under the old Larisa–Trikala national highway. Building I which dates from the LHIIIB period, has a NW-NE orientation with the maximum remaining dimensions being 21.77×5.56m. It is made up of at least four spaces. On the north east side of Building I where its entrance is situated, a section of paved street came to light, 4.22m long and 2.40m wide, which covers building IB that dates from the LHIIB.

Burials

During the excavations 42 burials came to light either in cist or pit graves that dated from the EHI to the LHIIIC, as well as a Roman pit grave with rich grave gifts, inside a layer of the EHIII. Some of the burials are particularly interesting such as that of a family (father, mother and infant) in a pit grave.

Moulds for metal casting [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Likewise, a burial came to light in a pit grave of a mother with an infant at her breast. In a box next to a child’s cist grave, among other grave gifts a dog’s skeleton was uncovered. As we know, dogs as grave gifts are often encountered in the Late Bronze Age.

Ceramics

Apart from the discovery of locally produced ceramics, there was a remarkable number of “imported” vases from Argolis and Crete.

In the local ceramics of the LHX period which have their particular characteristics regarding the clay and the distinctive handles, the Middle Helladic tradition can be traced even in the shape of the vessels.

A large number of local ceramic vases mainly of the LHIIB period, imitate the ceramics of Argolis, using α dye in the coating which is similar in colour to the Argolis clay. Most of these ceramics are also to be found in northern and western Greece and in Albania.

Finally it is worth mentioning the presence of animal bones under the foundations of a building that dates from the MHX I (between 2134 and 1939 BC), which perhaps suggest a foundation ritual, as well as the burial of a piglet located under backfills of the LHIIIA1 period.

Source: Greek Ministry of Culture via Archaeology & Arts [November 26, 2018]