Ancient History Roundup

Fingerprints, big shoes, scams, and much more

Before we begin this month’s Ancient History Roundup, a quick news update:

I am appearing at Chalke Valley History Festival this Wednesday! I am giving talks on life as a history writer, the Ptolemies and their world, and fact checking ancient history claims in the modern world (my Bad Ancient website).

If you are going to be there, make sure you come and say hello!

Right, onto the Roundup.

Psychoactive plant use in Iron Age Arabia

More news from ancient Arabia. Researchers have analysed the residue found in fumigation devices dating back to the iron age to discover the earliest known use of harmal, or Syrian rue, which is known for its antibacterial, psychoactive, and therapeutic properties. The plant is still used to this day in traditional medicine and fumigation practices, but this discovery shows just how long this relationship between human and plant has existed.

Finds along Hadrian’s Wall

Every year we see new excavations along Hadrian’s Wall, in the north of England. This year has started strong, with two stories coming out this month! The first is the discovery of a statue that researchers believe depicts the Roman goddess of Victory. The sandstone statue is about one and a half foot tall and was found in the fort at Vindolanda.

If Roman statues don’t interest you, how about enormous shoes? Discovered at the fort of Magna, a soldier’s leather shoe has raised some eye brows - measuring a UK size 10 (US size 14). Not enormous by modern standards, but previous research has suggested the average soldier had size 6 feet (US size 8). The shoe was found in a small, purpose dug trench that the Romans used, known as an ‘ankle breaker’ for obvious reasons.

Oldest known fingerprint detected

There is something so very human in this discovery. A small rock has been found in Spain which has three natural indentations which look a little bit like a face (two eyes and a mouth). It seems that 43,000 years ago a Neanderthal agreed with us, because they used red ochre to add the missing nose. In so doing, this person gave us their fingerprint! The fact that there is no ochre in the local area of the find, it raises the question whether this would count as a piece of portable art, giving the object symbolic value - something researchers debate whether Neanderthals had such symbolic capacity.

Romans in Ireland

If you look on a map of the Roman Empire you will notice that Ireland is not included. It may seem odd but the Romans were aware of the island, they just had no interest in settling there. Roman geographers would often comment on its cold weather and presumed inability to sustain [civilised] life! But we know that Roman traders would go there to sell their wares and have the archaeology to prove it. The most recent find in co. Dublin has particularly excited researchers because it is the first Roman pot found in Ireland that is fully in tact.

Scamming the Romans?

I love a good scam in the historical record. People were often up to no good, even thousands of years ago, so it is always exciting when we find possible evidence of their misdeeds. Crete was famous in the ancient world for its raisin wine, a long process that requires drying out the grapes before fermentation, which resulted in a sweeter taste. However, the discovery of some ceramic beehives has inspired one researcher to question whether some winemakers were using a shortcut and mixing in honey instead.