Rock carvings found by schoolchildren in Russia
A group of children, led by local geologist Mikhail Karchevsky on an archaeological expedition over the summer, may have found evidence of a 4,000-year-old civilization that occupied three islands in the Vuoksa River region of the Leningrad region (Russia). According to Karchevsky, a series of rock carvings and paintings were discovered at the foot of some cliffs on one of the islands as the expedition worked for two months to scrape away moss and dirt. More evidence of an ancient civilization, said Karchevsky, is an 8,000-year-old staircase - apparently man-made - found on a separate island from the paintings and sculptures. But according to Olga Smirnova, an archaeological expert at the Hermitage Museum, the staircase is more likely to have been constructed by Finnish tribes in the 12th century. "If Karchevsky finds a petroglyphics expert who is able to confirm these findings, then we may have to start speaking about an unknown culture that existed here at those times," Smirnova said.
What Karchevsky and his pupils discovered when they scraped off the moss and brushed down the rocks was a series of paintings that resembled a fish, a dog and a prehistoric sign of the sun. Under the debris on another rock, Karchevsky said, they discovered several sculptures that were as big as 5 meters. "One of those sculptures looked like the huge head of some kind of monster with deeply carved eyes and a nose that has apparently fallen off," said Karchevsky. "The other two seemed to be the smooth heads of two snakes with small eyes," he said. The Leningrad region, Karelia and Scandinavia were all densely settled by tribes who built sculptures and painted petroglyphs throughout the region. "The thing is that the Vuoksa region resembles Onega Lake in Karelia, where many petroglyphs as old as 4,000 years have been found," said Karchevsky.
Indeed, there were many doubters among scientists interviewed in relation to the find. Andrei Mazurkevich, one of the members of the Hermitage's Eastern Europe and Siberia archaeology department who saw a picture of the staircase, said that there was only a 20 percent chance the sculptures were made by man. "You know that sometimes nature can create such things that we can only wonder how they can be possible," he said, adding that other expeditions have revealed similar discoveries that eventually proved disappointing.
Source: The Moscow Times (8 November 2000)
4,000 year old settlement discovered in Kerry
Archaeologists have discovered what could be the oldest house in Kerry (Ireland), probably more than 4,000 years old. Work on the new Tralee to Killarney N22 road has unearthed what could well be a Bronze Age ringed settlement near Flemby, which archaeologists have described as one of the most exciting finds ever made in Kerry. The find includes a Bronze Age house, a burial tomb, a large collection of pottery and an axe head. What makes this discovery so unique is that all these sites were all found in the same area. "To find a combination of sites like that all within 20 metres of each other is a rarity. It's a tremendous find, especially with pottery, and we haven't even finished the excavations yet,'' Aegis archaeology director Frank Coyne said.
A total of four sites have been excavated around the base of Glanbane Hill, including a pit which contained pottery made by the Beaker people, and an axe head. The site is believed to date from some time between 2500BC and 2000BC. Aegis also discovered a ring barrow containing a number of cremated bones, which Mr Coyne said were probably placed there as a sacrifice. The last site, and one of the most exciting, could turn out to be a Bronze Age round house. If this is the case it fills a significant gap in the history of Kerry. "Until we actually get the dates back to pigeon hole the site we can't slot it into a time frame, but it does fill the gap between the neolithic and the Ballycarthy passage tomb,'' Mr Coyne said, referring to the earlier discovery in Ballymacelligott. "They are all clustered around the foot of Glanbane Hill, which is a hill fort, so it adds a big chunk of the picture,'' he added. The hope at Aegis is that this does turn out to be part of an enclosed settlement, which is rare in Ireland but extremely rare in Kerry.
Source: The Kerryman (13 October 2000)
Were the oldest cave painters Italians?
What may be the world's oldest known cave paintings have been discovered in northern Italy. They are between 32,000 and 36,500 years old. Archaeologists have found tablets of stone showing images of an animal and a human-like creature. The discovery adds to evidence that people living when Europe was in the grip of the last Ice Age were more sophisticated than was once thought. The painted slabs were discovered in Fumane Cave, near Verona. Previously this cave has provided stone tools and other evidence of occupation.
Apparently, the slabs on which the drawings were found had fallen from the cave roof and become embedded in the floor. Alberto Broglio of the University of Ferrara said the paintings were covered with calcite that made the original red ochre finish difficult to see. Archaeologists have now removed much of the calcite. Like many stone drawings from the distant past, they are enigmatic and difficult to interpret. On one of the slabs is an unknown, probably symbolic, four-legged beast. A human figure with the head of an animal is depicted on another slab. The current record-holder for the oldest images are from the Grotte Chauvet in southern France, dated at about 32,000 years old.
Source: BBC News (1 November 2000)
Oldest lunar calendar identified
What could be the oldest lunar calendar ever created has been identified on the walls of the famous, prehistoric caves at Lascaux in France. The interpretation that symbolic paintings, dating back 15,000 years, show the Moon going through its different phases comes from Dr Michael Rappenglueck, of the University of Munich. The German researcher has previously associated patterns left in the caves with familiar stars and constellations. He now says groups of dots and squares painted among representations of bulls, antelope and horses depict the 29-day cycle of the Earth's satellite.
"They painted the sky, but not all of it. Just the parts that were specially important to them." said Dr Rappenglueck. Below a stunning painting of a deer is a row of 13 dots, ending in a square. "These dots represent half of the Moon's monthly cycle," the researcher said. "One dot for each day the Moon is in the sky. At the new Moon, when it vanishes from the sky, we see an empty square, perhaps symbolically representing the absent Moon." Beneath a dappled, brown horse with a dark mane is another row of dots. This time there are 29 of them "One for each day of the Moon's 29-day cycle when it runs through its phases in the sky. It was a rhythm of nature that was important to these people." said Dr Rappenglueck.
Earlier this year, the German researcher identified a series of constellations painted on the wall of a shaft off the main chamber at Lascaux. The tiny pattern of the Pleiades star cluster can also be seen hanging above the shoulder of a bull near the entrance to the main passageway. We will probably never understand completely what Cro-magnon man had in mind when he painted the Lascaux caves.
Source: BBC News (16 October 2000)
Malta's Hal Saflieni Hypogeum opens to the public
The island of Malta is only five miles wide, but its rich cultural heritage spans more than 7,000 years. Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it is home to an amazing archaeological treasure. The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, built some 4,500 years ago, is a subterranean burial chamber carved out of solid bedrock beneath a Neolithic temple. And now, after a nine-year restoration that cost more than $1 million, this Maltese treasure is open to the public.
Accidentally discovered in 1902, the Hypogeum is a roughly hewn, multi-room tomb that descends several stories below ground and covers an area of more than 464 square meters (5,000 square feet). The remains of more than 7,000 individuals were recovered by archaeologists who believe this sacred site was not only a tomb, but a place of worship. Little is known about the culture that created this marvel with only rudimentary stone tools; they disappeared around 2000 B.C. In 1980, the Hypogeum, along with the Ggantija Temple - the oldest free-standing monument in the world, which was built about 1,000 years before the Egyptian pyramids of Giza - were added to the World Heritage List of Archaeological Sites. The Hypogeum was opened to the public on August 31, 2000. For more information: www.visitmalta.com
Source: Discovering Archaeology (26 September 2000)
