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Mysterious Beast on a 1,000-Year-Old Amulet Still Defies Identification
A 1,000-year-old amulet discovered in Pskov’s Zavelychye district depicts a mysterious beast that archaeologists have still been unable to identify. The surviving fragment preserves the creature’s long snout, heavy jaw and exaggerated features. What the animal represents, however, remains uncertain. The fragment came from the Olginsky-10 excavation on Paromenskaya Street. Based on parallels from better-preserved…
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Could the Lost Tomb of Georgian Queen Tamar Be in Posof? Medieval Caves in Kesikkayalar Reopen an Old Mystery
The burial place of Queen Tamar, one of the most powerful rulers in Georgian history, has never been identified with certainty. The latest claim points not to Georgia, but to a remote cave landscape in northeastern Türkiye: Kesikkayalar, near Yolağzı village in Posof, Ardahan. Local tradition has long linked the caves and rock-cut spaces of…
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A Knife Beneath the Neck and a Nail on the Chest: Medieval Grave Found in Poland
Archaeologists in northern Poland have uncovered a medieval grave near Dąbrówno that immediately stood out from the rest of the cemetery. Beneath the dead man’s neck lay a large iron knife, its blade facing upward. On his chest was a nail. Over the pelvis, researchers found a fragment of a ceramic vessel. It is the…
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DNA Reveals Poland’s First Genetically Confirmed Same-Sex Medieval Burial
A rare same-sex medieval burial beside a cathedral wall in southern Poland is forcing archaeologists to rethink one of the oldest assumptions about people buried together: that closeness in death usually means family. In Opole, near the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, researchers found the remains of two adults placed in a…
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Archaeologists Unearth Roman Brooches, Anglo-Saxon Beads and a Medieval Pilgrim Object in Suffolk
Archaeologists from Oxford Cotswold Archaeology, working as part of the ongoing excavations connected with the Sizewell C nuclear power station project, have uncovered a remarkable group of personal ornaments. The finds include Roman brooches, a decorated hair or dress pin, Anglo-Saxon beads from burial grounds, and a medieval object that may once have been worn…
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Gold Pendant Found in England Does Not Fit the Viking Age and Depicts John the Baptist
A small gold pendant discovered in eastern England is forcing historians to confront an unexpected contradiction. The object, dated to the 9th century, belongs to a period when Vikings controlled much of the region. Yet it clearly depicts a central figure of Christianity: John the Baptist. That combination should not exist within the same historical…
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A Lost Medieval City Emerges from the Forest: The Mystery of Stolzenberg
In a forested area of western Poland, archaeologists have confirmed the remains of a long-forgotten medieval town: Stolzenberg. Hidden for centuries near the modern settlement of Zagrody, close to Sławoborze, the site preserves the earthworks and layout of a town that briefly flourished in the late 13th or early 14th century—before being mysteriously abandoned. Spread…
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A Medieval Glass Crucifixion Jewel Emerges from England’s Largest Infrastructure Dig
Beneath the future site of the Sizewell C nuclear power station, archaeologists have uncovered an object that feels unexpectedly intimate.A tiny medieval glass jewel, depicting the Crucifixion, lay hidden in Suffolk soil for centuries. The find comes from one of the largest archaeological investigations ever carried out in eastern England, revealing not only the jewel…
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Astonishing Claim from Madagascar: Teniky May Be a Medieval Persian Zoroastrian Sanctuary
Hidden deep within the rugged canyons and rainforests of Isalo National Park, the archaeological site of Teniky has long been regarded as one of Madagascar’s most perplexing enigmas. Carved sandstone niches, dry-stone walls, and its extreme isolation have puzzled researchers for decades. For years, the dominant explanation linked the site to shipwrecked Portuguese sailors of…