At Stonehenge, this special sunrise would have been framed by a pair of stones (although now only one survives).
📷: The surviving stone illuminated by the solstice; by Andrew Dunn / CC BY-SA 2.0
This computer model of the site shows how the Heel Stone and its missing partner would have framed the solstice sunrise, marked by the solid red arrow.
📷: By Jlert Joseph Lertola / CC0
This event likely had spiritual significance, but it could have also had a practical purpose.
Stonehenge may have served as a calendar, helping people count the days, weeks, and months of the year. The solstice shining through on the correct day confirms you counted right.
The proposed calendar works in a very straightforward way. Each of the stones in the sarsen circle is a day in a 30-day month, itself divided into three weeks of 10 days (decans). Distinctive stones mark the start of each week.
📷: The sarsens, with calendar bits labelled.
If you want to find out more, the original research is #OpenAccess:
NEW Analysis of Bronze Age arrowheads from the Tollense Valley 🇩🇪 reveals some were not produced locally, uncovering the earliest evidence for large-scale interregional conflict in Europe and suggesting a southern army fought at ‘Europe's oldest battle’.
#AntiquityThread 1/15 🧵
Warning: this thread contains images of human remains 2/16
The Tollense Valley in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is well-known as the site of a large conflict dating to c.1250 BC. The quantity of human remains found (more than 150 individuals) suggests over 2000 people were involved, an amount unprecedented for the Nordic Bronze Age. 3/16
NEW Greek colonisation of the Mediterranean and the development of the Greek alphabet took place earlier than previously thought, radiocarbon dates from the Geometric period site of Zagora on the island of Andros find.
An #AntiquityThread 1/9 🧵
The Greek Geometric period is named after the ceramics of the time, which were painted with geometric patterns. It took place towards the end of the Early Iron Age in Greece and witnessed the beginning of Greek colonisation in the central Mediterranean. 2/9
Key cultural developments, such as the introduction of the Greek alphabet, and a population boom took place during the Late Geometric period, which was thought to date from 760–700 BC. However, absolute dates are scarce and dating has been done using ceramic typologies. 3/9
NEW Painkiller or pleasure? Black henbane seeds discovered in a hollowed bone provide the first conclusive evidence for the intentional use of the poisonous plant in the Roman world.
Strap in for a hallucinogenic #AntiquityThread 🧵 1/13
📷 BIAX Consult
Archaeologists have discovered hundreds of black henbane seeds in a hollowed bone at the rural Roman-period settlement of Houten-Castellum in the Netherlands, providing the first firm evidence for the poisonous plant’s intentional use in the Roman world. 2/13
Black henbane is a plant, known from ancient and historical sources both for its medical properties and for its hallucinogenic effects. Before now, however, no conclusive evidence of its use in the Roman world had been found. 3/13
NEW Pottery analysis uncovers the complex flavours of Roman wine!
Archaeologists have compared Roman clay jars for winemaking with modern Georgian examples, revealing how Roman wine looked, smelled, and tasted. 🍷
A dry and full-bodied #AntiquityThread 1/12 🧵
The Romans are well-known for their love of wine. In the Roman world, large clay pots called dolia were manufactured for fermenting, storing and ageing wines. 2/12
"No study has yet scrutinised the role of these earthenware vessels in Roman winemaking and their impact on the look, smell and taste of ancient wines”, state the authors. 3/12
NEW DNA analysis has revealed that regional cuisines persisted as new staple crops spread across the prehistoric world, showing how even the first cooks retained strong cooking traditions.
Strap in for a tasty #AntiquityThread 1/12 🧵
Broomcorn millet was first domesticated in China before spreading west into Central Asia and beyond. In China it was cooked through boiling and steaming, producing a wet and sticky end product. 2/12
In Central Asia, however, grains were typically ground and baked into bread. When millet was introduced, people simply applied their pre-existing cooking techniques to the new grain. 3/12
NEW Deep in the remote, boreal landscape of the Siberian taiga, a promontory fort has been found to be 8000 years old, making it the oldest in the world! It is a rare example of hunter-gatherers building fortified sites.
A wintery Antiquity Thread ❄️ 1/10 🧵
Archaeologists have typically associated the rise of social and political 'complexity' in Eurasia with the development of agriculture. However, hunter-gatherers in Siberia built fortified settlements centuries before similar sites developed in Europe. 2/10
To find out why, researchers performed fieldwork at a promontory fort (Amnya I), thought to be the oldest Stone Age fortification in Eurasia, and its associated settlement (Amnya II), providing the first direct radiocarbon dates for Amnya II. 3/10