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3,000-Year-Old Cremated Bones in Greek Macedonia Reveal How Ancient Funeral Pyres Were Built
Cremated bones from two Early Iron Age cemeteries near Thessaloniki are helping archaeologists reconstruct a part of ancient funerals that almost never survives: the funeral pyre itself. A new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports examined burned human remains from Polichni and Nea Philadelphia, two cemeteries in northern Greece. The burials date…
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100,000-Year-Old Burned Human Bones in Ethiopia May Reveal Earliest Trace of Cremation
On a floodplain in Ethiopia’s Afar Rift, early Homo sapiens left behind stone tools, animal bones and human remains that open an unusually close window onto life and death 100,000 years ago. A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports discoveries from the Halibee Member of the Dawaitoli Formation, part…
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A Roman Funeral Pyre Overflowing with Gold: Elite Bustum Burial Discovered in France’s Dordogne Valley
A routine rescue excavation near the Dordogne River has revealed one of the most lavish Roman pyre burials ever documented in southwestern France. When archaeologists from France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) opened a trench at the locality known as La Bourgatie Ouest in Lamonzie-Saint-Martin (Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine), they originally expected to uncover traces…
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Rare 3,500-Year-Old Chariot Wheel Discovered at Inverness Golf Course Site
Archaeologists have unearthed a rare prehistoric chariot wheel at the site of a future golf course near Inverness. The discovery sheds light on ancient ceremonial practices and the lives of those who inhabited the Highlands thousands of years ago. This extraordinary find, revealed during excavations at the Old Petty Championship Golf Course, underscores the area’s…