Dan Davis Author

Pretty sure one of you made this.

Genetic breakdown for the Early Viking Age Salme Ship Burial samples of Saaremaa, Estonia Believed to have originated in the Mälaren region of Central Sweden, the Salme ship burial represents one of the earliest known instances of an attempted Viking raid. Most of the individuals aboard these ships appear to have died in battle, likely at the hands of the local Oeselians. Y-DNA: I1a (x20), R1a (x7), N1c (x7) right = c('Cameroon_SMA','Russia_Arkhangelsk_Veretye_Mesolithic.SG','Italy_Epigravettian_Tagliente','Russia_Samara_HG','Sweden_Motala_HG','Russia_Tyumen_HG','Turkey_N','Russia_Steppe_Eneolithic','Russia_Khvalynsk_Eneolithic','Russia_CentralYakutia_LN.SG','Russia_KolymaRiver_LN.SG','Russia_Samara_EBA_Yamnaya')

Why did milk loving Celts build 4000 forts in the Iron Age? New documentary film explains the origin of these structures

Wow, that's two of my favourite things. Will be watching this asap.

Wagons, sleds, and even one boat were found in a Western Yamnaya subculture. This is the first Yamnaya boat I have seen. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h5ZbEQ7vi-zfvsTazPlPtaW5yhXLCVJO/view?pli=1 p. 92

The Yamnaya lifestyle was characterised by massively increased mobility, compared to those Pontic Steppe societies before c. 3500 BC. Not only in wagons but also in river transport up and down the mighty rivers crossing the steppe - Dnieper, Don, Volga, Ural - but also around the shores of the Black Sea. The coastal trade linked the steppe people with Old Europe around the lower Danube in the west and on the eastern shores there was a trade route passing the Caucasus, and so ultimately linked the steppe societies with Mesopotamia. David Anthony talks about this.

New in archaeology! Links for May/June 2024 The Treasure of Villena - A stash of Bronze Age artefacts from Iberia has been successfully dated to 1400-1200 BC. Two artefacts contain meteoritic iron, making them the first two pieces attributable to meteoritic iron in the Iberian Peninsula. https://www.sciencealert.com/strange-metal-from-beyond-our-planet-found-in-ancient-treasure-stash New Bronze Age haul - A sword believed to have been ritualistically broken into three parts has been found in Dorset. The hilt, though cast in bronze, was shaped to mimic a wooden handle. https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/may/30/detectorist-unearths-bronze-age-haul-after-getting-lost-on-treasure-hunt Ramses II sarcophagus - The sarcophagus of one of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs has finally been found, three millennia after his death. https://www.gbnews.com/science/archaeology-breakthrough-sarcophagus-finally-discovered Pre-Viking Ship Burial - On the Norwegian island of Leka, archaeologists have unearthed the earliest known ship burial in Scandinavia, dated to 700 AD. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/science/archaeology-vikings-ship-burial.html Neolithic Ireland - Elongated earthworks, wooden posts, and a batch of new Neolithic monuments have been discovered in Ireland. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/unique-neolithic-monuments-discovered-ireland-2476484 Temple of the Emperors - The Greek Ministry of Culture declared that fresh discoveries had been made during archaeological excavations at the ancient Nikopolis Agora in the northern Greek region of Epirus. Recent excavations in the ancient city of Nikopolis have uncovered the building of the Sebasteion (“temple of the emperors”) in the agora, the square that constituted the town’s urban center. https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-discovered-temple-of-the-emperors-in-the-agora-of-the-ancient-city-of-nikopolis-greece/ Roman Centurion letter - On the western outskirts of Berenike, an ancient port located on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, archaeologists have discovered papyrus fragments correspondence between Roman military commanders. https://www.newsweek.com/archaeologists-find-roman-centurions-letters-ancient-animal-cemetery-1906378

Man of the Sredny Stog culture based on an anthropological bust. This was made in collaboration with @upas0124 and we also plan on creating another Sredny Stog reconstruction (a woman). Sredny Stog is considered to be early PIE in the steppe hypothesis and is the direct ancestors of the Yamnaya. They were pastoralists who practiced some limited agriculture (and also engaged in some fishing and hunting). They lived near river valleys and traded with groups in the Balkans and the Caucasus. They are the builders of some of the earliest kurgans and had similar burial customs to the Yamnaya. They wore cloths decorated with shell, copper, and animal bone/teeth beads. Some burials included copper jewelry as well.

Check out this awesome Bell Beaker reconstruction by Remy on Twitter. Show him some support by retweeting: https://twitter.com/Re_my_06/status/1791785863891845356?s=19

Thanks for the quarter of a million subscribers, everyone 🙏