Category: Ann - Part 12

‘Nefertiti Stays in Berlin!’ Germany Confirms Once More

'Nofretete' (Nefertiti) only recently moved to her new home in the Neues Museum Germany has made a firm response to last week’s announcement by Zahi Hawass that Egyptian government will officially demand the return of the Bust of Nefertiti. Minister of Culture Bern Neumann today made it clear once again that the bust is going nowhere: Nofretete stays in Berlin!

Hawass claims the bust of Nefertiti Nofretete in German was smuggled out of Egypt illegally and should be returned. According to Egypt’s head of antiquities, archaeologist Ludwig Borchard intentionally lied to Egyptian officials about the value of the bust.

Bernd Neumann, also board member of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which oversees the Neues Museum where Nefertiti is now housed, stresses that the acquisition of the bust by the German Oriental Society and later by the Prussian state was legal. This can be documented beyond doubt, he says. There is thus no legal foundation for the Egyptian claim for the return of the Nefertiti Bust.

Nofretete bleibt in Berlin!

Neumann adds, The highlight of the Egyptian collection at the Neues Museum, Nefertiti is now the best and most beautiful ambassador of Egyptian art and culture in Germany. She also enjoys the greatest possible conservation precautions, which are needed because of her fragile condition.

The statement issued by the German government stresses that on several occasions the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has already justified the acquisition of the Nefertiti Bust by supplying the necessary details. In 1913 it was agreed by the German archaeological team that the finds from Amarna would be divided in half. The Egyptian Antiquities Service, as a representative of the Egyptian government, made the selection. The colourful Nefertiti Bust was allocated to Germany.

In 2007 Egypts loan request for the bust was rejected by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation over concerns of the artefact’s fragility, which makes it unfit for travel. Neumann supports the foundation in this position.

In 2009, the Bust of Nefertiti was moved (see images of the move)to the renovated Neues Museum,where she first went on display in 1924. Who ‘she’ belongs to is not the only ongoing debate concerning the bust. In the past decades, various scholars have claimed the bust is a fake.

Bija has previously listed 10 Reasons why the Bust of Nefertiti should (and will) stay in Berlin. Do you agree? Even if Egypt does not have a legal claim, is there an ‘ethical’ one?Or is Nofretete better off in Germany?

Do no harm to the dead, urges new thesis on ethics of human remains

Several DNA samples were taken from King Tut to find out more about his relatives and his medical history. The results were aired in 'King Tut Unwrapped' (now 'Tutankhamun, The Mystery Revealed in Britain). Image credit Barry Iverson for Discovery Channel. In philosophy there is a long-running discussion on whether or not the dead can be wronged. Our human or primate intuition seems to be that the dead can indeed be harmed. The philosopher Aristotle pointed out we’d better wait to call a person fortunate until some decades after his death: For it seems to some extent good and evil really exist for a dead man, just as they may exist for a man who lives without being conscious of them, for example, honours and disgraces, and generally the successes and failures of his children and descendents. Nowadays, it seems the dead need to worry more about inquisitive scholars than about posthumous slander or underachieving offspring.

Human remains are stored in universities and museums all over the world. Recent examples of genetic testing on ancient human remains are the research projects on Tutankhamun and his family, the Amesbury Archer, decapitated Viking skeletonsand even 40,000 year-old Neanderthal bones.

Only small amounts of DNA are needed to test for disease or confirm identity, even for the ‘ancient dead’. But this is still classed as ‘destructive’ research compared to the non-intrusive technique of scanning, which is often applied to mummies.

For DNA research you do need to remove a tiny part of the remains in order for it to be processed. A total of 400 milligrams of bone powder was used for the analysis of the Neanderthal genome. In the case of King Tut and his family, extraction of DNA from the mummies’ bones allowed researchers to reveal identities of until now unknown mummies and reveal the probable cause of death of the young king.

Tooth enamel from Dorset’s 51 decapitated Viking skeletons taught us that these were not locals, but rather came from somewhere (even more) cold, and that one of the executed warriors even originated from north of the Arctic circle.

Perhaps we need to consider how we deal with human remains of indigenous people, like the Sami skeletons that are stored in Swedish museums, as well as with human remains where there are no living representatives who can argue their case.

That such tests can be performed on historical persons raised enough questions for Malin Masterton to write a doctoral thesis about the ethical issues of such techniques. On May 29th, she will defend her PhD thesis Duties to Past Persons: Moral Standing and Posthumous Interests of Old Human Remains at the Uppsala University in Sweden. Masterton’s thesis covers the moral status of past people and our duties towards the dead.

At least in Sweden, the living are protected by laws on genetic integrity. We have no legal obligations to King Tut or other historical persons, but there is perhaps still integrity worth protecting, says Malin Masterton at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB).

In her thesis, Malin Masterton discusses ethical guidelines for the handling of human remains and makes suggestions for revisions. The basis for these revisions is that the dead also have an identity in the form of a narrative. I propose that the dead should be given moral status based on our respect for human life, says Malin Masterton.

Whose integrity and interest is it when the person is dead? Malin Masterton argues that parts of a persons identity remain after death. One way of looking at identity is as a narrative the story of ones life that both stands alone and is interwoven with other peoples stories. Seen like this, the dead too have a name and a reputation worth protecting. So no more calling Helen of Troy a whore, Nero a nitwit or Belzoni a looting circus artist?

If the dead, to some degree like the living, have integrity and reputation, they also have moral status and we can wrong them. According to Malin Masterton, we have three duties to the dead:

We have a duty of truthfulness in our description of a persons reputation.
We have a duty to respect the personal integrity of the dead in research contexts.
We have a duty to admit wrongs we have committed against the dead, like illegal archaeological digs.(or decapitating a royal mummy because it is the only way to get that pretty, shiny death mask off?)

Masterton’s thesis is particularly relevant for those who handle remains of known historical persons, but could also influence the debate on all the anonymous human remains stored in universities, institutions and museums around the world. Until today, it is mainly indigenous peoples or in Britain, furious druids – who have reacted to the handling of their ancestors remains and make request for repatriation or reburial of old human remains. Masterton believes these demands on repatriation and reburial need to be considered, both by archaeologists and museums.

Recent cases of repatriation of human remains from museums are Maori remains returning to New Zealand from Sweden, part of a large-scale repatriation programme under way at New Zealand’s National Museum. The University of Oxford returned its Aboriginal remains to Australia and Egypt got… Akhenaton’s toe back.

Malin Masterton’s thesis is in English and can be read in full on the Uppsala University website by following this link. In Britain, there is the 2005 ‘Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums’ whichcovers the legal and ethical frame work, curationand preservation and how to handle claims for thereturn ofhuman museums, available from the Department for Culture, Media and Sports.

Statue of ancient Egyptian god Thoth Discovered at Amenhotep III’s Mortuary Temple

Thoth Statue found at Luxor Amenhotep III funerary temple Archaeologists have discovered a colossal statue of the ancient Egyptian god Thoth at the north-western side of King Amenhotep III’s funerary temple at Luxor.

The red granite statue depicting Thoth, the ancient Egyptian deity of wisdom, is 3,5 metres tall and 140 cm wide. In a statement, Dr Zahi Hawass said that evidence found at the excavation suggests more colossi could be found here still. The first traces of these large statues were uncovered during works aiming at controlling the subterranean water level on Luxor’s west bank.

Only months ago, the head of 2,5 metres high statue depicting Pharaoh Amenhotep III in standing position possibly the best preserved depiction of the pharoah’s face found to date – was unearthed at the King’s funeral temple at Kom El-Hettan only months ago. Astatue of the god Thoth in the shape of a baboon was discovered as well. In 2009 two black granite statues of the pharaohs were found at the temple.Previous excavations also revealed a 5 metres high statue similar to the Thoth statue.

Afifi Rohayem, assistant director of the excavations, said that the site could contain an avenue of Thoth statues, who once outlined the original path leading to Amenhotep III’s funeral temple.

Recent research hasidentified Pharaoh Amenhotep III who ruled Egypt between 1390 BC and 1352 BC as themost likely grandfatherof Tutankhamun.

Thoth Statue found at Luxor Amenhotep III funerary temple Built closer to the river than any other temple ot Thebes – right on the edge of the floodplain – after less than 200 years Amenhotep III’s funerary temple had collapsed. Many of its stones were subsequently pilfered for building projects of later pharoahs.

The famous Colossi of Memnon, two 18-metres-high stone statues of Amenhotep III, are all that remains of the pharaoh’s mortuary temple, once the largest religious complex an ancient Egypt.

Since 1998, the mortuary temple of Amenhotep IIIhas been on the World Monument Fund’s list of the planet’s 100 most endangered monuments. Extensive excavation and restoration works at thetemple site are taking place. I believe that in less than 20 years we will have achieved our objectives here, Dr Hourig Sourouzian, head of the conservation project,said in a video interview with Heritage Key. The final stage of the works at Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple will be the creation of an open-air museum.

Video:Egyptologist Hourig Sourouzian about saving Amenhotep III’s funerary temple at Thebes

MEanderthaler iPhone App – Morphing technology brings out the Caveman in you

We all know we have a bit of Neanderthal in us, but how would you look if you were to up that amount?A new application for iPhone and Android allows you to create a pretty prehistoric, personalised mug shot, by morphing your face into that of an early human. Using ‘MEanderthal’, within seconds (watch the video here), you get to see what you would have looked like, if you lived thousands of years ago and ended up on the wrong ‘branch’ of evolution.

The app, released by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, is a mobile edition of the very popular ‘morphing station’ at the Smithsonian thatcreates the same facial transformation.

For the ‘caveman morphs’ created, the ‘MEanderthal’ app relies on what we’ve learned about the appearance of our extinct relatives through reconstructions of their skulls and general physique. Neanderthal faces tend to have much bigger noses. Big noses were good for humidifying and warming glacial, ice age air, Briana Pobiner, a palaeoanthropologist at the Smithsonian told Live Science.

Quick video demo of the morphing into caveman

Jon *cough* volunteered *cough* to demonstrate how a ‘modern day human’ face gets morphed into that of an early human. The app ‘dissolves’ the photo into a portrait of the species chosen (we opted for ‘Heidelberg Man’ for Jon) and keeps the areas around the eyes on mouth.

Using MEanderthal on iPhone is quite simple. You take a nice portrait shot of your face (we advise against a white wall, frontal lighting) which you then upload and line up with markers for the eyes, nose and mouth. Then select the human species you’d like to ‘de-evolve’ into:

Homo neanderthalensis (male and female) – Modelled respectively by Prad and Meral
Homo floresiensis (female) – Modelled by Rebecca and Ann
Homo heidelbergensis (male) – Modelled by Sean

You can then email the results (with some extra information on your ‘species’) to yourself or friends, or share them on Facebook for your friends to comment upon.

Don’t be embarrassed, download the free application – andgive morphing yourself backwards in time a try! (If you’re non-indigenous African, you could have 1-4% Neanderthal DNA, anyway.)

Just don’t hesistate !;)

Neanderthal DNA Sequenced – How Similar are they to Modern Humans?

svante paabo with reconstructed neanderthal skull Some 400,000 years ago, Neanderthals diverged from the primate line that led to present-day humans. The Homo neanderthalis died out 30,000 years ago, while we managed to evolve into the handsomely built, technically skilled, and somewhat reasonable animal we are today. Research into Neanderthal DNA now shows that our extinct relatives did leave their mark in the genomes of some modern humans, leading researchers to believe that our species ‘paired up’ with our less evolutionary successful cousins when we were both living in the Middle East, about 100,000 to 50,000 years ago and before we left to populate Europe and Asia.

Neanderthals are the most recent, extinct relatives of modern humans. The current fossil records suggest they diverged from the primate line that led to the Homo sapiens some 400,000 years ago in Africa. Neanderthals then migrated north into Eurasia, where they became a geographically isolated group, evolving independent of the line that led to modern humans in Africa. They lived in Europe and western Asia, and Neanderthal remains have been found as far east as southern Siberia and as far south as the Middle East. Until 370,000 years later about 30,000 years or approximately 1500 generations ago they disappeared.

For comparison, another of our relatives, the chimpanzee not extinct yet, but endangered diverged from the same primate line some five to seven million years ago. Currently there are about half a million chimps populating Planet Earth, almost seven billion humans and zero Neanderthals.

Click the images for a larger version. Then use the arrow buttons to browse the slideshow.

In the last decades, controversy has surrounded the question of whether Neanderthals interbred with anatomically modern humans. Both physical properties of early man (derived from fossils) and DNA research have been used to argue both for and against an, errr, genetic contribution by Neanderthals towards the kind of animal we are today. Previous studies comparing Neanderthal and human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have failed to provide a match, and thus evidence for interbreeding or ‘admixture’. However, this does not exclude the possibility of Neanderthal-on-human action, leading to Neanderthals contributing other parts of their genome to our present day genetic make-up.

Researchers have now produced the first whole Neanderthal sequence written as a succession of three billion letters using DNA samples from the bones of three female Neanderthals who lived and died at the Vindija Cave in Croatia some 40,000 years ago. The study was published in last week’s Science.

Complete Neanderthal Genome Sequenced

Working with ancient, sample-derived DNA is tough when compared with fresh samples, said Andy Bhattacharjee of Agilent’s Life Sciences Group. Thirty to forty thousand years have passed since Neanderthals walked on earth, and all that is left are ancient bones containing severely degraded DNA. The DNA itself has also undergone a sort of chemical aging, deamination.

Svante Pbo, Director of the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, says the main problem that arose when doing this was contamination by other organisms. Over 95 percent of the DNA in one sample originated from bacteria and microorganisms which colonized the Neanderthals after their death.

Therefore, removal of this contaminant DNA is of paramount importance, as this allows more coverage of the endogenous genome and therefore allows one to better decipher the genetic code. The capture methodology solves this big problem by enriching for Neanderthal sequences and depleting contaminant DNA. It’s an elegant solution, adds Bhattacharjee.

The method, published in the same May 2010 issue of the journal Science as the Neanderthal study, uses two rounds of ‘target enrichment’ procedure to enrich ancient DNA from rare and precious bone samples so it can be sequenced.

Another factor was human DNA, which could enter the samples during excavation or in the laboratory, jeopardizing the results. Various techniques were used to prevent this from influencing the results: each DNA fragment was marked with a short synthetic piece of DNA as a label, the samples were processed in ultra-clean rooms and various tests were run on the date to ensure contamination was minimized.

Comparing the draft Neanderthal genome sequence with the genetic sequence of humans and chimpanzees allows scientists to catalog the genetic differences. The researchers do so by identifying features that are unique to present-day humans and estimating when these mutations took place, as well as checking their findings against the fossil record for the evolution of hominins.

However, the new data suggests evolution did not proceed in a straight line. The diagram that shows how the different branches of hominins split off from one another that we were shown in high school might, as we suspected, just be too simplistic. Rather, evolution appeared to be a messier process, with emerging species merging back into the lines from which they diverged.

The comparison of these two genetic sequences enables us to find out where our genome differs from that of our closest relatives, said Svante Pbo.

Cataloging What Makes us Human

reconstructed neanderthal skeleton

By comparing the Neanderthal and modern genetic sequences, researchers have tried to discover genes that distinguish modern humans from their close relatives and which may have given us certain advantages over the course of evolution. For example, the catalogue includes differences in genes that code for functional elements, such as proteins, in which the Neanderthal versions are more like those of the chimpanzee than present-day humans. Some evolutionary changes were found in genes involved in cognitive development, skull structure, energy metabolism, skin morphology and wound healing.

This was done by identifying sites in the genome alignment where the human genome sequence which was decoded about ten years ago does not match that of chimpanzee, orangutan or rhesus macaque and are likely to have changed since the ancestor we shared with chimps and then comparing these to the Neanderthal DNA.

Two notable genes that emerged from the results are a gene influencing the pigmentation of the skin, and differences in genetic make-up that could affect aspects of energy metabolism how effectively mammoth steak is rendered into human action.

Another gene that differs is RUNX2. When affected in the Homo sapiens (that’s us!) it can cause a series of abnormalities, which can easily be associated with the Neanderthal physique: a bell-shaped rib cage, a more prominent cranial frontal bone and differences in the architecture of the shoulder joint. It is thus reasonable to assume that an evolutionary change in this gene was of importance to the origin of modern humans.

The Neanderthal in you

The study found Neanderthals are equally close to Europeans and East-Asians, but significantly closer to non-Africans than to Africans. The Neanderthal exchanged genes with ancestors of non-Africans, more particular, the researchers concluded that the gene flow was from Neanderthal into modern humans.

A 2009 study estimated the amount of non-African genomes affected by gene flow from ‘archaic’ hominids, including Neanderthals, to be 14%, however Pbo’s team claim that this figure is over-estimated. They conclude that between 1 to 4% of ‘Eurasian DNA’ is derived from Neanderthal.

Thus the genomic data seems to suggest that Neanderthals re-encountered anatomically modern humans, who began migrating out of Africa some 80,000 years ago. When we were leaving Africa in small pioneering groups, we must have encountered of the seventh kind a bunch of Neanderthals living in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, before the human population spread across East Asia.

These are preliminary data based on a very limited number of samples, so it is not clear how widely applicable these findings are to all populations. The findings do not change our basic understanding that humans originated in Africa and dispersed around the world in a migration out of that continent.

The study does stipulate that the actual amount of interbreeding between Neanderthal and modern humans may have been very limited, given that it only contributed to 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day non-Africans.

It was a very unique series of events, with a founding population of modern humans of greatly reduced size tens to hundreds of individuals, Jim Mullikin commented. Geneticists can detect a population constriction or bottleneck where certain genetic markers are concentrated; that only occurs when the population is small. At that time, Dr Mullikin continued, where the population was greatly reduced, the modern humans migrating out of Africa encountered Neanderthals and interbreeding occurred between the two groups, leaving an additional, but subtle, genetic signature in the out-of-Africa group of modern humans.

The researchers have not yet detected any signs that the DNA from modern humans can be found in the Neanderthal genome. Neither is it known whether a more systematic sampling of African populations will reveal the presence of Neanderthal DNA in some indigenous Africans.

Click To Watch Video

MEanderthal iPhone app – Morph yourself (and your friends) into a caveman!

If you’re non-African there’s a good chance 1 to 4% of your DNA is ‘Neanderthal’. But how would we look if we were 100% ‘prehistoric man’? Find out with this free app for iPhone and Android.

CLICK TO WATCH

These are preliminary data based on a very limited number of samples, so it is not clear how widely applicable these findings are to all populations, said Vence Bonham. The findings do not change our basic understanding that humans originated in Africa and dispersed around the world in a migration out of that continent.

So nothing is ‘really’ certain, yet again. But don’t let that put you off: the methodology developed during these studies can also be applied to other challenging studies in paleontology and archaeology as well as other human forensics. And having overcome multiple technical challenges, the scholars look optimistically into the future: We will also decode the remaining parts of the Neanderthal genome and learn much more about ourselves and our closest relatives, said Svante Pbo.

This did lead to an entertaining challenge over the weekend: explaining all this over a pint, and accurately estimating the amount of Neanderthal (or other primitive hominins) DNA in the specimens of male Homo sapiens we observed or interacted with. The conclusion was that this study must still underestimate the amount of DNA the more primitive hominids have contributed, unless they did not take alcohol intoxication of said specimens into account. We’d also appreciate a heads up on any more research into a) if ‘addiction’ is mapped into our genes or rather a Pavlov effect (fruits beyond conservation date make me merry, so I’ll consume more) and b) spatial awareness, in particular, theoretically, whether a monkey can learn to beat a human at foosball?

LiDAR Survey Uncovers Ancient Maya City of Caracol

data gathered by a lidar suvey over caracol Using NASA laser technology, researchers have discovered thousands of new structures and illustrated the complex urban centres built at the ancient Maya city of Caracol, Belize. The equivalent of 25 years worth of data (if gathered through machete-wielding means) was gathered in only four days using a technique of emitting laser beams from a plane to penetrate the thick canopy that covers the site.

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) equipment brought aboard a small Cessna 337 bounced laser beams to sensors on the ground, penetrating the thick tree canopy to see ‘beyond the rainforest’, allowing for the detecting of many previously unknown features.

Until now, exploring large sites and the nature of landscape modifications by the ancient Maya civilisation was a challenging and time consuming mission. Most of the features archaeologists are looking for are hidden within heavily forested and hilly terrain and are difficult to record. 25 years of excavations hard work of removing the trees by research scientists and students alike have resulted in the mapping of some 23 square kilometres of the Caracol site.

Airborne LiDAR makes research significantly easier, and faster. The laser survey produced images of the ancient settlement and its surroundings and covered a 200 square kilometre radius in just four days. It took about 24 hours of flight time for the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping to capture the images and then three weeks for remote sensing experts from the University of Florida to analyse the data.

It is very exciting, said Arlen Chase, Anthropology Professor at the University of Central Florida, in a statement. The images not only reveal topography and built features, but also demonstrate the integration of residential groups, monumental architecture, roadways and agricultural terraces, vividly illustrating a complete communication, transportation and subsistence system.

The results of the LiDAR mapping are indeed astonishing: 11 new causeways, 5 new termini, tens of thousands of agricultural terraces and many hidden caves were located. The survey data was also used to confirm the previous estimates for the size of the settlement and population. The Maya city of Caracol was spread out over 177 square kilometres, with at least 115,000 residents by 650 AD.

Researchers are hoping that now Caracol’s entire landscape can be seen in 3D, it will will offer new understanding of how the Maya were able to build such a huge empire and clues to what may have caused its destruction.

Technology is becoming more and more important in archaeology, allowing for non-invasive research and more thorough surveying.

X-ray analysis can tell us which metal alloys were used to create certain weapons, making it easier to decipher the time and date of manufacture. CT-scans, Isotope analysis and DNA analysis can teach us about ancient human remains, including their medical history and their lineage, and scientists have now even unlocked the Neanderthal genome. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) allows archaeologists to detect and map archaeological remains without putting a shovel into the ground and robot explorers are send down pyramid shafts too narrow for man to access, let alone excavate.

Our favourite technological innovation, which is used more and more frequently in archaeology and history research, is 3D modelling. These projects utilise data gathered by surveying projects such as those of the Great Sphinx, the catacombs in Rome, ancient skulls and the landscape around Stonehenge (a LiDAR survey as well), or even data crowd-sourced from Flickr. The digitalisation of our heritage keeps information (at least dimensional and textural information) safe for the future. It also allows for easy access to whoever needs or desires it, be they archaeologists using specialised gear such as VR-systems to ‘dig virtually’, or members of the public who want to explore history in a virtual environment such as our King Tut & Stonehenge Virtual or Giza 3D, which will hopefully be released soon by the Giza Archives Project and Dassault Systemes.

Church and Nilometer Discovered on the Avenue of Sphinxes

new discoveries at the avenue of sphinxes at luxor egypt Archaeologists working at the Avenue of Sphinxes in Luxor, Egypt, have uncovered the remains of a fifth century Coptic church and a Nilometer, a structure used to measure the level of the Nile during floods.

According to a statement released by the SCA, the church’s remains were found on the second of five sections of the ancient religious path leading to the Karnak temple.

Thechurch was built with limestone blocks originally belonging to the Ptolemaic and Roman temples that once stretched along the Avenue. The blocks are well preserved, with many of them bearing depictions Ptolemaic and Roman kings offering sacrifices to ancient Egyptian gods. One particular block contains information on Muntomhat, mayor of the Luxor area during the 26th Dynasty.

Also this week, in the avenue’s fourth section, the Egyptian team discovered the remains of a Nilometer. Constructed out of sandstone, the Nilometer is a cylindrical structure seven metres in diameter and has spiral steps which used to descend into the Nile. During periods of flooding it was used for measuring the increase in water level of the river. A collection of New Kingdom clay vessels were discovered inside the Nilometer.

The development and restoration works at the Avenue of Sphinxes aim to revive this 2700-metres-long and 76 meters wide ancient route connecting the Luxor and Karnak temples. It is thought that originally no less than 1350 sphinxes were guarding the path.

Other recent discoveries along the Avenue are foundation stones decorated with depictions of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, the chapel of 21st dynasty priest Min-Kheber-Re and a number of fragmented sphinxes that are now being restored in order to be reinstated along the Avenue.

Learn about the restoration of Saint Anthony’s Coptic monastery in this video, and keep an eye on Owen’s blog (next to the author profile you can now find options to subscribe via RSSor e-mail) for news from the Coptic Symposium in Toronto, this year focussing on ‘Egyptian Graffiti’.

Mayan Plumbers or Hydraulic Engineers at Palenque?

This is a depiction of Piedras Bolas aqueduct functioning as a fountain. This illustrates one plausible explanation of how the feature used water pressure. Due to destruction of the aqueduct, exact details of the its use are unknown. Note that during the monsoon, excess runoff flows over the freature while the buried conduit continues to function. A water feature excavated in the Maya city of Palenque, in Chiapas, southern Mexico, is the earliest known example of engineered water pressure in the New World, according to a collaboration between an archaeologist and a hydrologist from Penn State University. The spring-fed conduit has a restricted opening that would cause the water to exit forcefully, under pressure, to a height of 6 metres. How the Maya used the pressurized water is, however, still unknown. Such water pressure systems were previously thought to have entered Mexico with the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century.

“Water pressure systems were previously thought to have entered the New World with the arrival of the Spanish,” the researchers said in a recent issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science. “Yet, archaeological data, seasonal climate conditions, geomorphic setting and simple hydraulic theory clearly show that the Maya of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico, had empirical knowledge of closed channel water pressure predating the arrival of Europeans.”

The area of Palenque was first occupied about the year 100 but grew to its largest during the Classic Maya period 250 to 600. The city was abandoned around 800. More than 50 springs have been recorded at the Palenque site, and aside from these springs, the site can expect more than 2000mm of rainfall annually. For comparison, on average, London receives just below 650 millimetres per annum. No wonder the Maya citys central district was named Lakam Ha, meaning Big Water.

Kirk French Penn State University The feature PB-A1, first identified in 1999 during a mapping survey of the area, while similar to the aqueducts that flow beneath the plazas of the city, was also unlike them. In 2006, Kirk French, lecturer in anthropology, returned to Palenque with Christopher Duffy, professor of civil and environmental engineering, to examine the unusual water feature.

It is a spring-fed passage located on steep terrain, dropping about 6 metres from the entrance of the tunnel to the outlet about 60 metres downhill. The cross section of the feature decreases from about 3 square metres near the spring to about 0.15 square metres where water emerges form a small opening. The combination of gravity on water flowing through the Piedras Bolas Aqueduct and the sudden restriction of the conduit causes the water to flow out of the opening forcefully, under pressure. At the outlet, the pressure exerted could have moved the water upwards of 6 metres.

The Piedras Bolas Aqueduct is partially collapsed so very little water currently flows from the outlet. French and Duffy used simple hydraulic models to determine the potential water pressure achievable from the Aqueduct. They also found that the aqueduct would hold about 65,000 litres of water if the outlet were controlled to store the water.

The experience the Maya at Palenque had in constructing aqueducts for diversion of water and preservation of urban space may have led to the creation of useful water pressure.

“Under natural conditions it would have been difficult for the Maya to see examples of water pressure in their world,” said Christopher Duffy. “They were apparently using engineering without knowing the tools around it. This does look like a feature that controls nature.”

Underground water features such as aqueducts are not unusual at Palenque. Build on a narrow escarpment, surrounded by steep hills, inhabitants were unable to spread out. In order to increase the areas of liveable terrain, the Palenquenes constructed a large number of subterranean aqueducts, routing the pre-existing streams beneath plazas as well as bridges, damns, drains and pools. These spring-fed streams combined with the downpours during the six-month rainy season also presented a flooding hazard that the aqueducts would have at least partially controlled.

Map of the Maya city of Palenque in Mexico, the area around the Piedras Bolas aqueduct highlighted. Image credit Ed Barnhart “They were creating urban space,” said Kirk French. “There are streams in the area every 300 feet or so across the whole escarpment. There is very little land to build on. The experience the Maya at Palenque had in constructing aqueducts for diversion of water and preservation of urban space may have led to the creation of useful water pressure.”

One potential use for the artificially engineered water pressure would have been a fountain. The researchers modelled the aqueduct with a fountain as the outlet and found that even during flood conditions, water would flow in the aqueduct, supplying the fountain, and above ground in the channel running off the slope.

Another possibility could be to use the pressure to lift water onto the adjacent residential area for use as wastewater disposal.

New Statue Discovered at Taposiris Magna Possibly Ptolemy IV

Kathleen Martinez and Dr Zahi Hawass at the Taposiris Magna dig Archaeologists excavating at Taposiris Magna, 45 km west of Alexandria, have discovered a huge headless granite statue of an as yet unidentified Ptolemaic king, and the original gate to the temple one of fourteen temples said to contain a piece of the god Osiriss body.

The monumental sculpture, which is a traditional image of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh wearing collar and kilt, could represent Ptolemy IV, the pharaoh who constructed the Taposiris Magna temple. In a statement issued by the SCA, Dr Zahi Hawass says that the statue is very well preserved and might be one of the most beautiful statues carved in the ancient Egyptian style.

The joint Egyptian-Dominican team working at Taposiris Magna discovered the temple’s original gate, located on its western side. In pharaonic Egypt the temple was named Per-Usir, meaning ‘A place of Osiris’. When the god Seth killed Osiris, he cut him into fourteen pieces and threw them all over Egypt. This temple (there are 13 more, spread over Upper and Lower Egypt) contained one piece of the god’s body.

Click the images for a larger version.

The team also found limestone foundation stones, which would once have lined the entrance to the temple. One of the foundations, explained Hawass, bears traces indicating that the entrance was lined with a series of Sphinx statues similar to those of the pharaonic era.

The team, led by Kathleen Martinez, began excavations in Taposiris Magna five years ago in an attempt to locate the tomb of the well-known lovers, Queen Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. There is some evidence that suggests that Egypt’s last Queen might not be buried inside the tomb built beside her royal palace, which is now under the eastern harbour of Alexandria.

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Zahi Hawass – The Search for Antony and Cleopatra

Join Zahi Hawass at the temple of Taposiris Magna near Alexandria, where he and Dominican scholar Kathleen Martinez are searching for the tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Antony!

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Dr Hawass has already hailed the dig as a success, whatever the outcome: If we discover the tomb… it will be the most important discovery of the 21st century. If we do not discover the tomb… we made major discoveries here, inside the temple and outside the temple.”

Dr Hawass pointed out that in the past five years the mission has discovered a collection of headless royal statues, which may have been subjected to destruction during the Byzantine and Christian eras. A collection of heads featuring Queen Cleopatra was also uncovered along with 24 metal coins bearing Cleopatras face.

Behind the temple, a necropolis was discovered, containing many Greco-Roman style mummies. Early investigations, said Dr Hawass, show that the mummies were buried with their faces turned towards the temple, which means it is likely the temple contained the burial of a significant royal personality, possibly Cleopatra VII.

Lost World of Old Europe to be found at Ashmolean Museum starting May

The Thinker - The Lost World of Old Europe at the Ashmolean Museum The discovery of the 7,000-year-old Varna Necropolis in 1972 send a shock through the archaeological world.Dated to the fifth millennium BC, the 264 graves and funerary gifts show that when the ancient Egyptians just started to settle the Nile Delta and long before the invention of the wheel, in modern day Bulgaria, ‘Old Europeans’ were already crafting high-quality gold and bronze objects.Neolithic farmers living in the fertile valleys of the Danube riverhad advanced ideas about the afterlife, widespread trade connections and the oldest known burial evidence of an elite male, yet most people – and even archaeologists -have never heard of these cultures.

At least Britain will soon learn, when in May’The Lost World of Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC’arrives at the Ashmolean Museum.The exhibition contains more than 250 amazing objects (object highlights slideshow), each one of those demonstrating the peak of sophistication, technological advancementand creativity that was achieved at what is now south-eastern Europe.

During the 1500 year period covered in the exhibition, some villages grew to city-like proportions with more than 2,000 buildings, and an exchange network for precious materials stretched from the Aegean to north-west Europe. By the fifth millennium BC, the while coloured Spondylus shellwas traded as far as the modern United Kingdom. Stunning painted pottery was crafted, we were metallurgy experts (there was alarge variety of copper and gold objectsin circulation)and the vast amount of elaborate female figures discovered points to amatriarchal, relatively peaceful society. (Helen – who visited the exhibition in New York – asksif the collapse of Old Europe brought along a shift from female to male power, I’d rather speculate that male dominance was to blame for the decline. Or wasit theinvention of thewheel? ;))

Architectural Model Christopher Brown, Director of the Ashmolean said, We are delighted to host this remarkable exhibition, which I was tremendously excited by when I first saw it in New York. ISAW has revealed the richness and complexity of ancient cultures, which are rediscovered in this exhibition and for the first time given the importance they deserve in the development of western civilisations.

Highlights you can expect at the exhibitionare’the oldest gold in the world’ -the earliest major assemblage of gold artefacts to be found anywhere in the world from the Varna cemetery – and andenigmatic set of 21 terracotta female figurines as well as chairs from Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru. Beaded necklaces, bracelets, pendants and amulets made out of Spondylus shell ornaments and pottery with bold geographic design from the Cucuteni culture. Personally, I think just the 6000-year-old architectural model and the ‘Thinker’ arealready worth the visit!More artefacts from ‘The Lost World of Old Europe:The Danube Valley’ can be seen in this slideshow.

You can (and should) visit ‘The Lost World of Europe: The Danube Valley,5000 to 3500 BC’ at the recently revampedAshmolean Museum starting May 20th. It runs until August 15th, 2010. Admission is6, and anaccompagnying catalogue is available from Princeton University Press.