Latest news with #discovery


The Sun
2 days ago
- Science
- The Sun
Incredible complete handprint found on ancient Egyptian tomb ornament in museum – that had gone unnoticed for millennia
AN INCREDIBLE detail on an Ancient Egyptian tomb item that had gone unnoticed for millennia has been spotted. This "rare and exciting" discovery was found on the artefact as it was prepared for display at a museum exhibition. 4 4 4 A complete handprint was spotted on a clay model designed to go inside a tomb. It is likely the hand of the object's maker, who would have touched it before the clay set, an Egyptologist at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum said. The hand print is estimated to have been left a jaw-dropping 4,000 years ago. Helen Strudwick, senior Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum, said: "We've spotted traces of fingerprints left in wet varnish or on a coffin in the decoration, but it is rare and exciting to find a complete handprint underneath this soul house. "This was left by the maker who touched it before the clay dried. "I have never seen such a complete handprint on an Egyptian object before." The print was found on the base of a "soul house" - a building-shaped clay model placed inside a tomb. These soul houses may have acted as offering trays - or as a place for the deceased's soul to reside. This particular model is dated to 2055-1650 BC. It is set to go on display at the university's Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition, which opens on October 3. First look inside incredible immersive Egyptian experience coming to Glasgow Strudwick added: "You can just imagine the person who made this, picking it up to move it out of the workshop to dry before firing. "Things like this take you directly to the moment when the object was made and to the person who made it, which is the focus of our exhibition." Analysis suggests this item was made by coating a framework of wooden sticks with clay to form a two-storey building. Its staircases would have been made by pinching the wet clay. The use of ceramics was widespread across Ancient Egypt - both for functional and decorative use. It is not the only amazing Egyptian discovery to be reported in recent weeks. Researchers have used modern technology to learn more about The Bashiri Mummy, also known as the "untouchable one". This mummy has long remain fully wrapped up due to fears of causing damage to the intricately tied fabric. But X-ray and CT scanners have allowed researchers to unveil ancient mysteries without causing such harm to artefacts. Scans revealed that the that Bashiri Mummy would have been an adult man who stood about 5.5 feet tall.


Fox News
2 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Italian archaeologists unveil rare 2,600-year-old tomb untouched by looters: 'Doorway to our ancestors'
Archaeologists recently unearthed a remarkable 2,600-year-old tomb in Italy — a rare find untouched by looters. The discovery was announced by the Italian Ministry of Culture on June 30. In a press release, the organization said the burial mound dated back to the late 7th century B.C., during the Orientalizing period of Italian history. The tomb is part of the Caiolo Necropolis within the San Giuliano archaeological area, some 30 miles north of Rome. The site is famous for housing other ancient burials, including the Queen's Tomb, the Tomb of the Stag and the Tomb of the Beds. The newly discovered tomb has not been officially named, but authorities emphasized its significance – especially as it remained undisturbed for 2,600 years. Its treasures included ceramic vessels still bearing paint, along with bronze ornaments. "Once the slab sealing the chamber was removed, numerous vessels immediately became visible," the ministry said in a statement translated from Italian to English. "Some [were] fine painted ceramics, such as those near the entrance – deliberately placed according to a precise ritual performed before the tomb was sealed," the statement added. "Finding an untouched tomb is incredibly rare. That's what makes this discovery so exceptional." "On the left-hand bed, a basin and several bronze ornamental elements belonging to the deceased remain in situ." The excavation was conducted under the supervision of the Superintendency of Viterbo and Southern Etruria, in partnership with Baylor University. Supervising archaeologist Barbara Barbaro said that the necropolis contains over 500 tombs, though most were looted by either ancient people or modern robbers – but not the most recent one. "Finding an untouched tomb is incredibly rare," Barbaro noted. "That's what makes this discovery so exceptional." Barbaro also said that further study on the site will be "fundamental to advancing knowledge of the ancient world." "A sealed context is crucial not only for preservation but also because it gives us a complete snapshot of life through the ritual of death," she added. "We're thrilled to have rescued this material from those who would illegally profit from it." Reflecting on the emotional weight of the find, Barbaro compared the discovery of the tomb to "a bridge to our past, a doorway to our ancestors." "This is what happens when an untouched tomb is found – it becomes a collective event," the archaeologist said. "The silence … the awe, the respect for those waiting behind that massive stone. The emotion." "We're thrilled to have rescued this material from those who would illegally profit from it," she added. "Now, it will tell a beautiful story for everyone."


BBC News
4 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Orkney carved stone head could be more than 900 years old
An intricately-carved sandstone head which could be more than 900 years old has been found on the Orkney island of head was discovered by University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) archaeology student Katie Joss at the Skaill Farm was exploring the foundations of a large wall when the head popped out into her hands."It was quite a shock, we were removing a slab when the head came rolling out at us and as we turned it around we saw a face looking back at us. It was really exciting," she said. Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon from the UHI Archaeology Institute is co-director of the dig at Skaill Farm, which is now in its 10th year. She said she was surprised at the intricacy of the carved face and hair, which looks serene despite its nose being broken off."It looks very similar to a carved head in the south aisle of St Magnus cathedral," she added that the style of it suggested it might have had a similar function in a 12th Century building."It's really unusual, we've found nothing like this here at Skaill before," she said."We don't know how the head ended up in the backfill of this building, though the fact the nose is broken could be a clue." The head - which has not been given a name yet - is being preserved with the other finds from the will be cleaned up and put on public display at some point in the name of Skaill farm comes from from the Old Norse word "skáli", meaning "hall".The Skaill excavation site sits directly on top of what was once the Norse settlement of powerful 12th Century Viking chieftain, Sigurd of Westness. Dan Lee, an archaeologist with the UHI Archaeology Institute, said: "Sigurd was pals with Earl Rognvald, who built St Magnus cathedral in Kirkwall."We think we are standing on the hall that Sigurd built and lived in, which then became a late-medieval farmstead."Right next door we have the remains of St Mary's chapel and a medieval tower called The Wirk."We think this was a real seat of power in that period."


BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Staffordshire gardener finds 70-year-old letter under tree in Wolverhampton garden
A gardener says he was amazed to find a letter dated 1955 virtually intact under a tree he was clearing in a Wolverhampton Elshaw said it was from a hotel in Torquay, Devon, and addressed to a man who lived on the Stafford Road in Fordhouses, setting out the costs of its was working in a garden in nearby Tettenhall a few weeks ago when he found it and said the homeowners knew nothing about t."How it got there, and under a tree, and survived 70 years I do not know," he said. "I was trimming the tree and tidying it up and I just thought it was a bit of rubbish," Elshaw, from Bishop's Wood, Staffordshire, added."I couldn't believe it was an envelope and a letter that was 70 years old."I was amazed.... It's a once in a lifetime find I think and I'd be interested to see if there's anything else we can find out about it."The typed letter is dated 21 January 1995 with the letterhead of Ashleigh Court in Torquay and sent to a JR Gwilt Esquire of Stafford Road, responding to an inquiry by Mr Gwilt about a possible booking, the letter stated rooms were charged at six, seven and seven-and-half guineas per person for a week, including meals."The rooms vary in size and position of course, but all are attractive and comfortable," the letter News contacted a hotel of the same name but spelt slightly differently in the town, but the owner said it was not from his hotel, believing it to be from another of the same name in Torquay that shut several years ago."It's a bizarre find given it's age and that it was just under a tree where I was clearing and has no connection to the house. It's pretty unexplainable currently." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.


BBC News
6 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Explorers discover largest cave system found in over ten years
Have you ever gone off on an adventure and found something spectacular?Well, one team of cavers from Gloucester has done exactly that - an "exploratory urge" led them to one of the biggest discoveries in over a found a 10km (6 mile) long network of narrow passages and gaping caverns near English Bicknor in the Forest of team was led by conservation officer and retired physicist Dr Tim Nichols, and he said all their dreams came true when they stepped into it for the first time. The start of the network, called Redhouse Lane Swallet, was actually found first by a man called Paul Taylor in the Dr Tim explained that while exploring this mile-long original system, he felt a strong breeze coming from a passage filled with boulders at one end of it and simply had to investigate further."That exploratory urge to go and find where no person has ever been before is really special."With each trip it just kept getting better and better." It took a lot of hard work, but eventually his team of explorers successfully dug past the boulders in August last Tim said: "You have to pinch yourself, it is a once in a lifetime [find]."Every trip's just been like another birthday present and every trip we've been finding something different."Caves remain one of those things on the planet that are largely undiscovered."True genuine exploration - that's what's exciting about it," Dr Nichols added. Cool cave facts The largest network of caves in the UK is the Three Counties System in the Yorkshire DalesGaping Gill has the largest unbroken waterfall of any cave in the UK, and its main cavern is about 365ft (111m) deep, which is the same height as St Paul's Cathedral in LondonThe deepest known cave in the UK is in Derbyshire - it's called Titan, and is 141.5 meters (464 ft) deep