It is that time again! Welcome to this month’s Ancient History Roundup. If you are interested in the ancient world and feel like you want to know more about what was going on, away from the centres of Greece and Rome, you are in luck: my book The Far Edges of the Known World is now available in the UK here (affiliate link) and the US here. You can also find them to buy pretty much anywhere that sells non-fiction books.
Archaeologists uncover numerous ancient burial mounds in Kazakhstan
A new ancient culture identified in Kazakhstan? Maybe maybe not. But the recent discover of around 150 large burial mounds in West Kazakhstan has caused some real excitement. Conventional burial mounds are a dime a dozen, but some in the region are rectangular in shape — which is very unusual — and some that are made up of interconnected rings. Dating from the Iron Age, we await excavation reports which may be able to shed more light on these amazing burials.
Wealthy ancient Roman’s tomb discovered in Albania
Considering how large the Roman Empire was at its height, I am always amazed when countries that sat inside those borders find a Roman ‘first’. It is an exciting moment! So the discovery of a large, Roman tomb in Albania — the first one found in the country — is an amazing find. It was apparently uncovered after researchers were tipped off by locals about some unusual stones on a plateau. I doubt anyone could have predicted what that tip off would later unveil!
Brown bear, that fought Romans in the arena, found in Serbia
Whether you like Romans, gladiators, or bears (or all three), this news story is the one for you. Researchers have identified the remains of a brown bear that shows the signs of prolonged captivity and injuries from combat. The six year old male died as a result of an infection in one of its head wounds, most likely obtained while fighting in the arena. Most upsetting, the bear’s canines show considerable wear that is indicative of a bear rubbing them along the bars of a cage. It would suggest that some animals were reused in the arena and kept captive for long periods of time.
An ancient frog statue’s secret message
The discovery of a small, clay statue of two frogs in Peru’s Huaura Valley offers insight into one of the earliest civilisations of the Americas. The Caral civilisation was roughly contemporaneous to ancient Egypt, almost 5,000 years ago, and they were similarly practicing agriculture, living in many urban centres and bonded by sharing religious beliefs. The lead archaeologist Tatiana Abad described the importance of these amphibians: “In the Andean cosmos, frogs are associated with water and rainfall, essential elements for agricultural cycles and survival in ancient societies.”
Rescue Excavation Uncovers Archaeological Finds in Ibri (Oman)
In what is unintentionally becoming a mini feature of these newsletters, there are more excavations underway in the Arabian peninsula! This month it is in Oman, where recent rescue excavations have uncovered 25 graves dating from the 3rd millennium BCE. Among the grave goods were imported pottery from the Jemdet Nasr in Iraq. So they had trade links — at least — with Mesopotamia at this time.
30,000-year-old ‘personal toolkit’ found in the Czech Republic
Sometimes we hear about a new discover in archaeology that just makes us stop and appreciate the humanity of what has been found. In 2021, researchers found a cluster of stone blades — 29 in number —dating from the Paleolithic era. Dubbed a ‘toolkit’, it is presumed that these tools were kept together in a container which has since degraded away. Finds like these offer a little glimpse into the real lives of our earliest human ancestors. Evidence on the blades show that they were used for a variety of tasks including hunting, skinning, butchering, maintenance of other tools and maybe even the collection of woody plant resources.