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9,000-Year-Old Reed Mat from Iran Reveals How Neolithic Homes Were Floored
A 9,000-year-old reed mat from Ali Kosh in western Iran preserves direct evidence of how one of the region’s earliest village communities prepared the floors of its mudbrick homes. The fragment, now held by the National Museum of Iran, measures only 13.5 by 22 centimeters. Its surface retains a regular woven pattern, while traces beneath…
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New Roman Military Camp Reveals the Vast Scale of a Cantabrian Wars Siege in Spain
Archaeologists have identified another Roman military camp around the Iron Age stronghold of La Loma in northern Spain, expanding a siege network that now includes seven known Roman positions. The newly documented installation, designated Site F, suggests that the Roman army deployed between 12,000 and 18,000 soldiers during the assault. The revised estimate places La…
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Broken Sword and Horse Butchery Reveal an Unusual 2,100-Year-Old Gallic Settlement in France
Archaeologists investigating a late Iron Age settlement in central France have uncovered a deliberately damaged sword, an enigmatic limestone statue and evidence that horses were butchered for meat on an unusually large scale. The discoveries were made at Le Désert in Mettray, just north of Tours. The enclosed rural settlement dates to the La Tène…
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Rare Hellenistic Ritual Complex Unearthed in North Macedonia
Archaeologists excavating the ancient settlement of Gradište in North Macedonia have uncovered a Hellenistic ritual complex where offerings, libations and ceremonial feasts may have taken place more than 2,300 years ago. The discoveries were made on the Lower Terrace of the hilltop settlement near Mlado Nagoričane. According to information provided to Arkeonews by project director…
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2,000-Year-Old Theatre Street Unearthed at Aspendos with Shops, Bakery and Ancient Sewer
Archaeologists at Aspendos in southern Turkey have uncovered nearly 300 metres of a 2,000-year-old street lined with shops, houses, public buildings and a well-preserved bread oven. Known as the Theatre Street, the road once connected Aspendos’s famous Roman theatre with the acropolis above. It was one of the ancient city’s main internal routes, carrying residents…
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Monumental 3,000-Year-Old Tomb in Armenia Reveals Weapons and a Sacrificed Horse
Encircled by massive rings of stone, a Late Bronze Age tomb at Shamiram in western Armenia has yielded bronze weapons, obsidian arrowheads and the remains of a horse sacrificed during an elaborate funerary ritual. Known as Tomb No. 3, the burial dates to roughly 1600–1200 BCE. Its concentric stone enclosures and central chamber distinguish it…
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3,000-Year-Old Copper-Smelting Complex in Georgia Is the Largest Found in Ancient Colchis
Archaeologists working in western Georgia have uncovered a 3,000-year-old metallurgical complex described as the largest Bronze Age copper workshop yet discovered in the ancient region of Colchis. The site lies near the village of Doghurashi in Tsageri Municipality, within the mountainous district of Lechkhumi. Laboratory analysis conducted at the University of Oxford dates the complex…
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7,000-Year-Old Fish Traps Reveal Hunter-Gatherers Stocked Norway’s Mountain Lakes
Wooden fish traps discovered in a mountain lake in southern Norway have revealed that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers deliberately introduced brown trout into waters the fish could not have reached naturally. Radiocarbon dating places the earliest traps at around 5000 BC, making them direct evidence that communities in prehistoric Scandinavia were actively managing aquatic resources thousands of…
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A 1,700-Year-Old Antioch Curse Tablet Called on Iao to Destroy a Greengrocer
A roughly 1,700-year-old curse tablet from ancient Antioch called upon Iao—the Greek form of the divine name Yahweh—to attack an ordinary greengrocer named Babylas. Inscribed in Greek on a thin sheet of lead, the spell was not directed against an emperor, military commander or wealthy official. Its target was a man who sold fruit and…