Roman Bioarchaeology Carnival XXXIII

Here is September's Roman(ish) bioarchaeology news...

New Finds and Excavations - Human

Iron Age Hillfort massacre (via Daily Mail)

Skeleton and tomb of Etruscan noble (via Discovery)

• 4 September - Slaughtered bodies stripped of their flesh: a gruesome glimpse of Iron Age massacre at UK's largest hillfort (Independent). Hundreds of bodies, many with indications of defleshing, were found at this 1st-2nd c AD site in England.
• 4 September - Roman-period urn grave found in Poland (Archaeology News Network). An urn dating to the 1st to 2nd century was found in Czelin.
• 6 September - Headless skeleton discovered in a well in a Roman cemetery in Gloucester (Gloucestershire Echo). In spite of the headline, it seems the man was deliberately buried in the well; his limbs and head decomposed or found their way elsewhere.
• 9 September - Intact 1,800-year-old Roman sarcophagus uncovered at Alba Iulia (ActMedia). Archaeologists think it dates to the 3rd century AD. The site is in Romania, which was called Dacia during the Roman period.
• 9 September - Pictish burials found at 'Royal Rhynie' site (Past Horizons). These are from the immediate post-Roman period in northern Scotland, dating to about the 5th-6th centuries AD. Apparently the soil in this area of the world isn't great for preserving skeletal remains, so this is a pretty interesting find.
• 10 September - Pagan-era rock tombs unearthed in southeastern part of Turkey (Hurriyet). Around a dozen tombs dating to early Roman times (3rd-2nd centuries BC) were found in the city of Mardin.
• 11 September - New archaeological discovery found in Alexandria (Egypt Independent).  A short news item reports that a headstone, some pottery and, it looks like, some bones were found dating to the Roman era.
• 17 September - Ancient Egyptians' links to Yorkshire uncovered (Yorkshire Post). A news piece seemingly in service of a new exhibition, this features information about mummies found in Yorkshire that bioarchaeologists suggest were of people born in North Africa. And another version from the Daily Mail on Sept. 22.
• 20 September - Skeleton of ancient "prince" reveals Etruscan life (Discovery). A very cool, largely complete Etruscan tomb was recently discovered. Initial archaeological assessment suggested a male skeleton, due to the grave goods, but this Italian report on the bioarchaeologists' assessment says it's female.
• 20 September - Pompei, la disfida della necropoli: Proprietaria contro la Stato (La Repubblica). It seems that the landowner on whose property there are at least two tombs is planning to auction off the land at Sotheby's.  Here's a La Repubblica blog post in English with more details.

New Finds and Excavations - Animal

Horses from a Thracian
chariot (via Daily Mail)

• 21 September - Discovery of sacred Roman well amazes archaeology team (The Portsmouth News). The well's contents included the skeletons of at least eight dogs, possibly the result of a sacrifice.
• 26 September - Mystery of the 2,500-year-old horse remains found in Bulgaria that suggest the creatures were buried standing up (Daily Mail). A Thracian carriage with two horses attached dating to the 1st century AD was discovered. There were a whole bunch of nifty grave goods too. (NB: The Mail curiously says that the Thracians had no written language, which is not true. I am loathe to link to them, but they always have the best pictures.)

Follow-ups and Updates

• 4 September - Scavi archeologici a Vagnari (GravinaLife.it).  Bioarchaeologist Tracy Prowse talks about her ongoing excavation and research at the site of Vagnari.
• 19 September - Three-dimensional field recording in archaeology: an example from Gabii (Archaeology of the Mediterranean World). Rachel Opitz, the lead topographer for the Gabii Project, writes about all the cool digital models they're making at Gabii. I tried a few months back to print out one of the digitally modelled graves, but it just ended up being a big pile of plastic.

Articles

• 3 September - Evaluating marine diets through radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis of victims of the AD79 eruption of Vesuvius, Craig et al., AJPA.  Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to read this yet.