forensic archaeology

study:-scribes-in-ancient-egypt-had-really-poor-posture-during-work

Study: Scribes in ancient Egypt had really poor posture during work

ancient egypt, anthropology, Archaeology, bio archaeology, forensic archaeology, repetitive stress, Science / /

a scribe’s life —

There were degenerative joint changes in the spines, shoulders, knees, hips, and ankles.

–

Statues depicting the high dignitary Nefer and his wife (Abusir, Egypt).

Enlarge / Statues depicting the high dignitary Nefer and his wife (Abusir, Egypt).

Martin Frouz/Czech Institute of Egyptology/Charles University.

Repetitive stress injuries are a common feature of modern life, especially for office workers who spend a good chunk of their working days at a desk typing on a computer. Apparently, scribes in ancient Egypt suffered from their own distinctive repetitive stress injuries, according to a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports that provides fresh insights into how these scribes lived and worked during the third millennium BCE.

Egyptian kings, royal family members, and other elite people from this Fifth Dynasty era were buried in tombs in the acropolis at Abusir rather than at neighboring Giza, which by then had largely filled up thanks to all the activity during the Fourth Dynasty. The Czech Institute of Egyptology at Charles University in Prague has been conducting research at the site since 1960, leading to the discovery of nearly 200 tombs dating back to the Old Kingdom (between 2700 and 2180 BCE). The first human skeletons were excavated in 1976, and there are currently 221 Old Kingdom skeletons in the collection, 102 of which are male.

Scientists started looking into the health status and markers for specific activities in 2009, but it wasn’t until quite recently that there were enough skeletons to conduct a comprehensive study. That’s what Petra Brukner Havelková of Charles University and the National Museum in Prague, Czech Republic, and colleagues set out to do, analyzing the remains of 69 adult males of different social status and different ages at which they died.

The results show the scribes and the reference group differed in just under 4 percent of the various evaluated skeletal traits, which the authors attribute to the overall similarities in the sample (male, same age distribution, no physically demanding activities). However, the individuals identified as scribes had more degenerative joint issues clustered in several well-defined regions compared to males from other occupations, including the joint connecting the lower jaw to the skull, the right collarbone, where the right humerus meets the shoulder, the right thumb’s first metacarpal bone, where the thigh meets the knee, and all along the spine (but especially at the top). These bone changes can be indicators of repetitive stress.

Bad ergonomics?

  • Working positions of scribes. (A) cross-legged (sartorial) position, (B) kneeling-squatting position, (C) standing position. (D) Different position of the legs when sitting.

    Martin Frouz/Jolana Malátková

  • Osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint of a supposed family member of Khemetnu, the presumed owner of family tomb AS 79.

    Šárka Bejdová

  • Drawing indicating the most affected regions of the skeletons of scribes with higher prevalence of changes compared to reference group.

    olana Malátková

For instance, the osteoarthritis in the jaw joints may have been caused by the rush stems the scribes used to write hieroglyphics. The scribes would chew on the ends to make a brush, and whenever a pen started getting ragged or too clogged with ink, they would cut off the end and chew the next section to make a new brush.

Most scribes likely wrote with their right hands and used their left to roll papyrus into cylindrical scrolls. Writing with a rush pen required considerable dexterity, and as anyone with carpal tunnel syndrome could tell you, these sorts of repetitive motions can cause excessive stress in the hands and wrists. There were only minor wrist differences between scribes and the control group, but the significant right thumb degeneration in scribes likely corresponds to specific frequently used thumb motions and positions—probably the act of repeatedly pinching their pens, although the authors say more research is needed to make a definitive determination.

The degenerative signs noted in the cervical spines are likely due to the scribes’ typical working position. “The head had to be forward and the spine flexed, changing the center of gravity of the head and putting stress on the spine,” the authors wrote—a posture common to many modern occupations. Prolonged stretches of sitting cross-legged could also have contributed to the observed damage to the cervical spines. There were signs of stresses to the right rotator cuffs, which usually occurs when the arm is in an extended elevated position and is common among painters, for example. It’s also common in people prone to sitting for a long time and typing with unsupported arms.

As for the degenerative changes noted in the knees, hips, and ankles, the authors suggest this indicates that scribes may have sat with the left leg in a kneeling or cross-legged position and the right leg pointed upward—more of a squat or a crouch. Iconography and statues from that era frequently depict scribes in such positions, as well as standing. The authors concluded that scribes probably alternated their arm and leg positions, but the head and cervical spine were always in that stress-inducing forward position.

Where’s a good ergonomic office chair when you need one?

DOI: Scientific Reports, 2024. 10.1038/s41598-024-63549-z  (About DOIs).

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ancient-egyptian-skull-shows-evidence-of-cancer,-surgical-treatment

Ancient Egyptian skull shows evidence of cancer, surgical treatment

Archaeology, forensic archaeology, medicine, paleo-oncology, paleopathology, Science / /

“We could not believe what was in front of us.” —

“An extraordinary new perspective in our understanding of the history of medicine.”

–

Skull and mandible 236, dating from between 2687 and 2345 BCE, belonged to a male individual aged 30 to 35.

Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024.

The 4,000-year-old skull and mandible of an Egyptian man show signs of cancerous lesions and tool marks, according to a recent paper published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine. Those marks could be signs that someone tried to operate on the man shortly before his death or performed the ancient Egyptian equivalent of an autopsy to learn more about the cancer after death.

“This finding is unique evidence of how ancient Egyptian medicine would have tried to deal with or explore cancer more than 4,000 years ago,” said co-author Edgard Camarós, a paleopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela. “This is an extraordinary new perspective in our understanding of the history of medicine.”

Archaeologists have found evidence of various examples of primitive surgery dating back several thousand years. For instance, in 2022, archaeologists excavated a 5,300-year-old skull of an elderly woman (about 65 years old) from a Spanish tomb. They determined that seven cut marks near the left ear canal were strong evidence of a primitive surgical procedure to treat a middle ear infection. The team also identified a flint blade that may have been used as a cauterizing tool. By the 17th century, this was a fairly common procedure to treat acute ear infections, and skulls showing evidence of a mastoidectomy have been found in Croatia (11th century), Italy (18th and 19th centuries), and Copenhagen (19th or early 20th century).

Cranial trepanation—the drilling of a hole in the head—is perhaps the oldest known example of skull surgery and one that is still practiced today, albeit rarely. It typically involves drilling or scraping a hole into the skull to expose the dura mater, the outermost of three layers of connective tissue, called meninges, that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Accidentally piercing that layer could result in infection or damage to the underlying blood vessels. The practice dates back 7,000 to 10,000 years, as evidenced by cave paintings and human remains. During the Middle Ages, trepanation was performed to treat such ailments as seizures and skull fractures.

Just last year, scientists analyzed the skull of a medieval woman who once lived in central Italy and found evidence that she experienced at least two brain surgeries consistent with the practice of trepanation. Why the woman in question was subjected to such a risky invasive surgical procedure remains speculative, since there were no lesions suggesting the presence of trauma, tumors, congenital diseases, or other pathologies. A few weeks later, another team announced that they had found evidence of trepanation in the remains of a man buried between 1550 and 1450 BCE at the Tel Megiddo archaeological site in Israel. Those remains (of two brothers) showed evidence of developmental anomalies in the bones and indications of extensive lesions—signs of a likely chronic debilitating disease, such as leprosy or Cleidocranial dysplasia.

Ancient Egypt also had quite advanced medical knowledge for treating specific diseases and traumatic injuries like bone trauma, according to Camarós and his co-authors. There is paleopathological evidence of trepanation, prosthetics, and dental fillings, and historical sources describe various therapies and surgeries, including mention of tumors and “eating” lesions indicative of malignancy. They thought that cancer may have been much more prevalent in ancient Egypt than previously assumed, and if so, it seemed likely that Egyptians would have developed methods for therapy or surgery to treat those cancers.

  • Skull E270, dating from between 663 and 343 BCE, belonged to a female individual who was older than 50 years.

    Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024

  • The skulls were examined using microscopic analysis and CT scanning.

    Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024

  • CT Scan of skull.

    Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024

  • Cutmarks found on skull 236, probably made with a sharp object.

    Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024

  • Several of the metastatic lesions on skull 236 display cutmarks.

    Tondini, Isidro, Camarós, 2024

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bodies-found-in-neolithic-pit-were-likely-victims-of-ritualistic-murder

Bodies found in Neolithic pit were likely victims of ritualistic murder

anthropology, Archaeology, cultural evolution, forensic archaeology, neolithic, ritual sacrifice, Science, Uncategorized / /

murder most foul —

One victim may have been hogtied alive in pit, à la Mafia-style ligature strangulation.

–

View taken from the upper part of the 255 storage pit showing the three skeletons, with one individual in a central position

Enlarge / Three female skeletons found in a Neolithic storage pit in France show signs of ritualistic human sacrifice.

. Beeching/Ludes et al., 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of two women in a Neolithic tomb in France, with the positioning of the bodies suggesting they may have been ritualistically murdered by asphyxia or self-strangulation, according to a recent paper published in the journal Science Advances.

(WARNING: graphic descriptions below.)

France’s Rhône Valley is home to several archaeological sites dating to the end of the Middle Neolithic period (between 4250 and 3600/3500 BCE in the region); the sites include various storage silos, broken grindstones, imported ceramics, animal remains (both from communal meals and sacrifices), and human remains deposited in sepulchral pits. Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux is one such site.

According to Bertrand Ludes of the Université Paris Cité and his co-authors, the remains of the three women were found in Pit 69, a structure aligned with the summer and winter solstices, as was often the case in ancient agrarian societies. But the body positioning was decidedly atypical. One woman (No. 1), around age 50, was in the center of the pit, reclining on her side with a vase near her head. The other two bodies were just beneath an overhang. Woman No. 2 was on her back, legs bent, with a piece of grindstone placed on her skull. Woman No. 3 was in a prone position, knees bent, with her neck on the thorax of Woman No. 2 and two chunks of grindstone placed on her back.

The unusual positions imply a forceful, deliberate placement, according to the authors, suggesting they died in the pit rather than being tossed in after death. As for the cause of death, the archaeological evidence combined with recent forensic studies suggests “homicidal ligature strangulation” and “forced positional asphyxia”—at least for two of the three women. Woman No. 2, for example, would have struggled to breathe on her back, especially with the weight of Woman No. 3 pressing down on her neck (positional asphyxia), further exacerbated by the placement of the grindstone fragment.

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and the area surrounding pits 69 and 70.

Enlarge / Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and the area surrounding pits 69 and 70.

Ludes et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadl3374 (2024)

Woman No. 3’s prone position would mean she also would have struggled to breathe, and the volume of blood pumped by the heart would have sharply decreased, leading to cardiac arrest, a form of positional asphyxia now known as “prone restraint cardiac arrest.” All these clinical terms don’t quite capture the horrifically cruel nature of the manner of death. Given the placement of the woman’s knees—bent at more than a 90-degree angle, making the legs almost vertical—it’s possible she was tied up lying on her stomach, with the ligature connecting her ankles to her neck (similar to being hog-tied). In this position, “self-strangulation becomes inevitable,” the authors wrote, particularly if the mouth and nose are obstructed or there is cervical compression—say, from the strategic placement of grindstone fragments.

This form of torture, known as incaprettamento, has been used by the Italian Mafia, per Ludes et al., often to punish traitors, and dates as far back as the Italian Mesolithic era, “suggesting a highly ancient origin within ceremonial sites.” Sometimes, the victim would be strangled and the body tied up postmortem before the remains were disposed of. Ludes et al. believe Woman No. 3 would probably have been placed in the burial pit and tied up while still alive before self-strangling to death.

  • Reconstruction of the remains, blocked under the overhang of the wall of the storage pit lined with straw.

    Ludes et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadl3374 (2024)

  • Reconstruction of skeletal remains for Woman No. 2 positioned on her back with bent knees.

    Ludes et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadl3374 (2024)

  • Reconstruction of skeletal remains for Woman No. 3 in a prone position on her stomach with bent knees. The feet are behind the pelvis/toward the lower back, and the hands are tied behind the back.

    Ludes et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadl3374 (2024)

  • Mesolithic rock art scene from the Addaura Cave is believed to depict ritual sacrifice by ligature strangulation (bolded figure).

    B. Ludes et al., 2024

In fact, one scene from Mesolithic rock art found in the Addaura Cave in Sicily, Italy, seems to depict a ritual sacrifice by ligature strangulation. There are 11 human figures and the figure of a slain deer. Nine of the human figures form a circle, within which are the other two human figures (male, judging by the erect genitalia). Those figures are shown lying on their stomachs in a prone position, legs folded beneath them, with a rope stretched between their ankles and necks. The erect male genitalia, and one figure drawn with his tongue hanging out, are both signs of strangulation or hanging, per the authors.

It is notoriously difficult to distinguish between a merely violent death and one with ritualistic overtones when it comes to prehistoric remains. So Ludes et al. combed through existing literature for reports of similar cases. They found 20 cases of probable ligature strangulation or positional asphyxia in total across 14 different archaeological sites in Eastern Europe and Catalonia, spanning nearly 2,000 years. The individuals were found lying on their backs or sides, lower limbs flexed until the feet aligned with the pelvis, indicating hip extension. The oldest remains were found at sites in the Czech Republic and date back to between 5400 and 4800 BCE; the three women found at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux are the most recent.

The latter site in particular has elements that “suggest a profound interconnection between religious systems and power structure in an agricultural society,” the authors concluded—namely, various structures aligned with summer and winter solstices indicative of an agricultural cycle and the placement of two women facing the central woman. It’s unclear why the women were sacrificed, the authors added, but such ritualistic sacrifice likely developed across central and southern Europe sometime in the Mesolithic and evolved over the course of two millennia before culminating in the late Middle Neolithic.

Science Advances, 2024. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl3374  (About DOIs).

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Brutally bludgeoned “Vittrup Man” went from forager to farmer before his death

anthropology, Archaeology, Biology, bog bodies, forensic archaeology, Science, Vitrup man / /

From forager to farmer —

The skull was shattered by at least eight blows before the body was tossed into a peat bog.

–

reconstructed skull showing fractures

Enlarge / The cranial remains of Vittrup Man, who was bludgeoned to death and tossed in a peat bog between 3300-3100 BCE.

Stephen Freiheit via Fischer A., et al./PLoS ONE

In 1915, peat diggers recovered the fragmented skeletal remains of a man with a severely fractured skull in a peat bog near the village of Vittrup in Denmark. The remains were kept in a museum for the next century, but scientists have now conducted an in-depth analysis of the remains using various techniques to learn more about the so-called Vittrup Man’s life and violent death. They described their findings in a recent paper published in the journal PLoS ONE—including the surprising fact that Vittrup Man grew up in a coastal foraging community along the Scandinavian coast before his murder as an adult in a farming culture in Neolithic Denmark.

Vittrup Man is one of numerous “bog bodies” unearthed from peat bogs in northwestern Europe. These are human cadavers that have been naturally preserved and frequently mummified by the unique chemistry of the bogs. As peat ages, it releases humic acid, which has a pH level similar to vinegar. The bog bodies are basically pickled, and decomposition is dramatically slowed because of the anaerobic conditions of the bog. The best-preserved bog bodies are those that were put there during the winter or early spring when the water is very cold—less than 4° Celsius (39° F), i.e., too cold for bacteria to thrive—because the bog acids were able to saturate the tissues before decay could begin.

Peat has been a common fuel source since the Iron Age, and there are records of peat diggers coming across bog bodies dating back to 1640 in Germany. Bog bodies became of interest to antiquarians in the 19th century and archaeologists in the 20th century. One of the most famous examples is Tollund Man, a bog body found in the 1950s and dating back to the 5th century BCE. Tollund Man was so exquisitely mummified that he was originally mistaken for a recent murder victim, although only the head was preserved for posterity; the rest of the body was allowed to desiccate, given the less advanced state of preservation techniques in the 1950s.

But many bog bodies are only partially preserved, or only the skeletons (or parts thereof) survive. Vittrup Man falls into the latter category, consisting of a right ankle bone, the left tibia, the fractured skull, and a jawbone. He was discovered along with a wooden club, which archaeologists believe may have been the weapon used to bludgeon him to death. Various radiocarbon dating and isotope analyses confirmed that the bones all belonged to the same individual, while genetic analysis confirmed the remains were those of a male. He was likely deposited in the peat bog sometime between 3300–3100 BCE.

  • Left lower leg bone and right ankle bone of Vittrup Man.

    Marie Louise Jorkov/Fischer A., et al./PLoS ONE

  • The jawbone of Vittrup Man showing several worn teeth.

    Arnold Mikkelsen/Fischer A., et al./PLoS ONE

  • Drawing of Vittrup Man’s cranium showing front and back views of impact lesions and radiating fracture lines.

    Fischer A., et al./PLoS ONE

  • Drawing of Vittrup Man’s cranium showing right and left side views of impact lesions and radiating fracture lines.

    Fischer A., et al./PLoS ONE

Vittrup Man was included in a sweeping 2014 genomic project to learn more about Eurasia’s Mesolithic and Neolithic gene pools, but the resulting genetic profile was markedly different from other remains from the same region and time period. This intrigued University of Gothenburg (Sweden) archaeologist Karl-Göran Sjögren and his co-authors, and they decided to take a closer look, integrating data collected with various genetic, isotopic, physical, anthropological, and archaeological techniques. “To our knowledge, this is the first time that research has been able to map a north European inhabitant’s life history in such a high degree of detail and in such a high distance of time,” the authors wrote.

The size and distinctive characteristics of the skull, lower leg bones, and teeth indicate that at the time of his death, Vittrup Man was an adult male in his 30s. The cranium was shattered by at least eight blows delivered by a blunt object (like the wooden club), and the injuries were fatal, with no signs of healing post-trauma. There are no marks on the surviving bones indicating dismemberment, so the authors believe the body may have come apart while decomposing in the bog. It’s possible more Vittrup Man fragments have yet to be recovered.

But the clues gleaned from two of Vittrup Man’s teeth (sacrificed to science) are what provided the most interesting insights. Sjögren et al. found isotopes of strontium, carbon, and oxygen and concluded that the man had grown up along the coast of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Genetic analysis showed commonalities with Mesolithic people of Norway and Sweden; Vittrup Man had blue eyes and darker skin than the usual Neolithic farmer. The teeth and bones also had proteins and isotopes indicating a shift in diet from marine mammals and fish as a child, to sheep, goat, cereals, and dairy as an adult—the latter more typical of a farming community as opposed to a coastal foraging community.

Why Vittrup Man left the Scandinavian coast and ended up in Denmark remains a mystery. He may have been captured and enslaved or immigrated, or he may have been a foreign merchant selling goods like flint axes between foraging and farming communities. Either way, he eventually integrated into the farming community—at least until they killed him.

As for why he was killed, “At that time, it was commonplace in present-day Denmark to sacrifice humans in bogs, and these acts were often conducted in violent ways,” the authors concluded. “Evidently, such dubious honor was also given to persons of nonlocal provenance.”

PLoS ONE, 2024. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297032  (About DOIs).

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Notre Dame cathedral first to use iron reinforcements in 12th century

12 days of Christmas, Archaeology, architecture, forensic archaeology, medieval architecture, notre dame, Science / /

On the twelfth day of Christmas —

Devastating 2019 fire gave scholars access to previously hidden parts of the cathedral.

–

View of the chevet of Notre-Dame de Paris under restoration.

Enlarge / The Notre-Dame de Paris has been under restoration since a devastating fire destroyed the main spire and roof in April 2019.

There’s rarely time to write about every cool science-y story that comes our way. So this year, we’re once again running a special Twelve Days of Christmas series of posts, highlighting one science story that fell through the cracks in 2023, each day from December 25 through January 5. Today: The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris has been undergoing extensive renovation in the wake of a devastating 2019 fire. Previously hidden portions of its structure have revealed the use of iron reinforcements in the earliest phases of the cathedral’s construction, making it the earliest known building of its type to do so.

On April 15, 2019, the world watched in collective horror as the famed Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was engulfed in flames. The magnificent cathedral’s roof and its support structure of 800-year-old oak timbers were destroyed when the main spire—750 tons of oak lined with lead—collapsed in flames, landing on the wooden roof. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rebuild the cathedral, and that work has continued steadily in the ensuing years; the current planned re-opening will occur on December 8, 2024.

If there is a silver lining to the destruction, it’s that the damage has revealed parts of the cathedral’s structure that were previously inaccessible, telling archaeologists and conservationists more about the materials originally used to construct Notre Dame in the mid-12th century. According to a March 2023 paper published in the journal PLoS ONE, the original builders used iron reinforcements during the initial phases, making Notre Dame the earliest building of its type to do so.

“The fire has shed light on certain uses of iron, such as the staples on the top of the upper walls which were totally hidden by the framework,” co-author Maxime L’Héritier of Université Paris told Gizmodo. “We could not have seen them without the blaze or a huge restoration. We believed that [the] great building yards of the 13th century had invented these construction processes using iron armatures, but now it seems that it all occurred at Notre Dame.”

Although no original plans for Notre Dame Cathedral exist, a couple of centuries after Notre Dame’s construction, other building projects left behind documents called building accounts or fabric accounts, which include information like materials purchases and payments to masons. But in the late 12th century, written documents weren’t yet widely used. In the early 1800s, the cathedral was crumbling, and architects Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus received a royal contract to restore the medieval structure. Working with relatively simple tools, Viollet-le-Duc left behind detailed, accurate drawings of the original architecture and his own restoration work.

Two hundred years later, art historian Stephen Murray and the late architectural historian Andrew Tallon of Vassar College carried laser scanners through the entire cathedral, including the space above the vault and several out-of-the-way spiral staircases, passages, and other hidden spaces. As for the cathedral’s much-praised acoustics, a group of French acousticians made detailed measurements of Notre Dame’s “soundscape” a few years before the fire. All of that data has been instrumental in helping architects and conservationists reconstruct the cathedral.

The 2019 fire exposed iron staples in the top walls, inside a column in the nave, and in the tribunes of the choir.

Enlarge / The 2019 fire exposed iron staples in the top walls, inside a column in the nave, and in the tribunes of the choir.

M. L’Heritier et al. 2023

Other medieval French cathedrals built after Notre Dame, such as in Chartres, Bourges, or Reims, all used iron armatures, tie-rods, and chains. But until now, it hasn’t been clear to what extent the original builders of Notre Dame used iron in its construction. Harnessing and scaffolding gave researchers access to the upper parts of the cathedral, although some parts remained inaccessible. Still, L’Héritier et al. found extensive use of iron staples at different levels, with the lowest being two rows of staples in the floors of the second-level tribunes above the arches, as well as in the nave and choir.

Per the authors, some iron reinforcements clearly dated back to reconstruction efforts during the 19th century, most notably iron chains and tie rods in the top walls of the choir and above its upper vaults. The real question was just how old the other iron staples might be. The team mapped and measured all those that were accessible, totaling roughly 170 staples for the upper walls and 100 for the tribunes. They also took samples for the metallographic analysis from iron staples that were already broken or damaged by the fire. The team used a new method for characterizing metal, combined with radiocarbon dating, to determine the age and possible provenance of those samples.

Broken iron staple in the tribunes.

Enlarge / Broken iron staple in the tribunes.

M. L’Heritier et al. 2023

L’Héritier et al. concluded that the iron staples in the floor of the tribunes dated back to the early 1160s, i.e., the earliest phases of construction. “So far, these series of staples are the earliest known example of iron armatures used in the initial design of a Gothic monument,” they wrote, a good 40 years before the iron reinforcements used to build the Chartres or Bourges cathedrals. The staples found at the top of the great lateral walls date to the early 13th century, indicating that the architects of that period also relied on iron reinforcements.

As for the iron itself, the metal analysis showed that the iron alloys used to make the staples were common to the Middle Ages and of similar quality to those found at Chartres, Troyes, and similar cathedrals. What makes the Notre Dame staples unusual is the presence of welding lines, indicating that several pieces of iron of different provenances were welded together to form each staple. Tracking those supply sources could shed light on the iron trade, circulation, and forging in 12th and 13th century Paris.

“Compared to other cathedrals, such as Reims, the structure of Notre Dame in Paris is light and elegant,” Jennifer Feltman of the University of Alabama, who was not involved in the research, told New Scientist. “This study confirms that use of iron made this lighter structure at Paris possible and thus the use of this material was crucial to the design of the first Gothic architect of Notre Dame.”

PLoS ONE, 2023. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280945  (About DOIs).

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how-archaeologists-reconstructed-the-burning-of-jerusalem-in-586-bce

How archaeologists reconstructed the burning of Jerusalem in 586 BCE

12 days of Christmas, antiquities, Archaeology, biblical archaeology, biblical texts, chemistry, forensic archaeology, Hebrew bible, Science / /

On the seventh day of Christmas —

Hebrew bible is only surviving account of siege that laid waste to Solomon’s Temple.

–

How archaeologists reconstructed the burning of Jerusalem in 586 BCE

Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority

There’s rarely time to write about every cool science-y story that comes our way. So this year, we’re once again running a special Twelve Days of Christmas series of posts, highlighting one science story that fell through the cracks in 2020, each day from December 25 through January 5. Today: Archaeologists relied on chemical clues and techniques like FTIR spectroscopy and archaeomagnetic analysis to reconstruct the burning of Jerusalem by Babylonian forces around 586 BCE.

Archaeologists have uncovered new evidence in support of Biblical accounts of the siege and burning of the city of Jerusalem by the Babylonians around 586 BCE, according to a September paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The Hebrew bible contains the only account of this momentous event, which included the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. “The Babylonian chronicles from these years were not preserved,” co-author Nitsan Shalom of Tel Aviv University in Israel told New Scientist. According to the biblical account, “There was a violent and complete destruction, the whole city was burned and it stayed completely empty, like the descriptions you see in [the Book of] Lamentations about the city deserted and in complete misery.”

Judah was a vassal kingdom of Babylon during the late 7th century BCE, under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II. This did not sit well with Judah’s king, Jehoiakim, who revolted against the Babylonian king in 601 BCE despite being warned not to do so by the prophet Jeremiah. He stopped paying the required tribute and sided with Egypt when Nebuchadnezzar tried (and failed) to in invade that country.  Jehoiakim died and his son Jeconiah succeeded him when Nebuchadnezzar’s forces besieged Jerusalem in 597 BCE. The city was pillaged and Jeconiah surrendered and was deported to Babylon for his trouble, along with a substantial portion of Judah’s population. (The Book of Kings puts the number at 10,000.) His uncle Zedekiah became king of Judah.

Zedekiah also chafed under Babylonian rule and revolted in turn, refusing to pay the required tribute and seeking alliance with the Egyptian pharaoh Hophra. This resulted in a brutal 30-month siege by Nebuchadnezzar’s forces against Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. Eventually the Babylonians prevailed again, breaking through the city walls to conquer Jerusalem. Zedekiah was forced to watch his sons killed and was then blinded, bound, and taken to Babylon as a prisoner. This time Nebuchadnezzar was less merciful and ordered his troops to completely destroy Jerusalem and pull down the wall around 586 BCE.

There is archaeological evidence to support the account of the city being destroyed by fire, along with nearby villages and towns on the western border. Three residential structures were excavated between 1978 and 1982 and found to contain burned wooden beams dating to around 586 BCE. Archaeologists also found ash and burned wooden beams from the same time period when they excavated several structures at the Giv’ati Parking Lot archaeological site, close to the assumed location of Solomon’s Temple. Samples taken from a plaster floor showed exposure to high temperatures of at least 600 degrees Celsius

Aerial view of the excavation site in Jerusalem, at the foot of the Temple Mount

Enlarge / Aerial view of the excavation site in Jerusalem, at the foot of the Temple Mount

Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority

However, it wasn’t possible to determine from that evidence whether the fires were intentional or accidental, or where the fire started if it was indeed intentional. For this latest research, Shalom and her colleagues focused on the two-story Building 100 at the Giv’ati Parking Lot site. They used Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy—which measures the absorption of infrared light to determine to what degree a sample had been heated—and archaeomagnetic analysis, which determines whether samples containing magnetic minerals were sufficiently heated to reorient those compounds to a new magnetic north.

The analysis revealed varying degrees of exposure to high-temperature fire in three rooms (designated A, B, and C) on the bottom level of Building 100, with Room C showing the most obvious evidence. This might have been a sign that Room C was the ignition point, but there was no fire path; the burning of Room C appeared to be isolated. Combined with an earlier 2020 study on segments of the second level of the building, the authors concluded that several fires were lit in the building and the fires burned strongest in the upper floors, except for that “intense local fire” in Room C on the first level.

“When a structure burns, heat rises and is concentrated below the ceiling,” the authors wrote. “The walls and roof are therefore heated to higher temperatures than the floor.” The presence of charred beams on the floors suggest this was indeed the case: most of the heat rose to the ceiling, burning the beams until they collapsed to the floors, which otherwise were subjected to radiant heat. But the extent of the debris was likely not caused just by that collapse, suggesting that the Babylonians deliberately went back in and knocked down any remaining walls.

Furthermore, “They targeted the more important, the more famous buildings in the city,” Shalom told New Scientist, rather than destroying everything indiscriminately. “2600 years later, we’re still mourning the temple.”

While they found no evidence of additional fuels that might have served as accelerants, “we may assume the fire was intentionally ignited  due to its widespread presence in all rooms and both stories of the building,” Shalom et al. concluded. “The finds within the rooms indicate there was enough flammable material (vegetal and wooden items and construction material) to make additional fuel unnecessary. The widespread presence of charred remains suggests a deliberate destruction by fire…. [T]he spread of the fire and the rapid collapse of the building indicate that the destroyers invested great efforts to completely demolish the building and take it out of use.”

DOI: Journal of Archaeological Science, 2023. 10.1016/j.jas.2023.105823  (About DOIs).

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a-forensic-artist-has-given-a-500-year-old-inca-“ice-maiden”-a-face

A forensic artist has given a 500-year-old Inca “ice maiden” a face

12 days of Christmas, forensic anthropology, forensic archaeology, forensic reconstruction, inca, Science / /

On the fourth day of Christmas —

Dubbed “Juanita,” the young woman was likely killed during a sacrificial ritual.

–

The final approximation of the Incan girl wearing clothing that's similar to what she wore when she died.

Enlarge / The final approximation of the Incan girl dubbed “Juanita” wearing clothing similar to what she was wearing when she died.

Dagmara Socha

There’s rarely time to write about every cool science-y story that comes our way. So this year, we’re once again running a special Twelve Days of Christmas series of posts, highlighting one science story that fell through the cracks in 2023, each day from December 25 through January 5. Today: Swedish forensic artist Oscar Nilsson combined CT scans of frozen mummified remains with skull measurements and DNA analysis to reconstruct the face of a 500-year-old Inca girl.

In 1995, archaeologists discovered the frozen, mummified remains of a young Inca girl high in the mountains of Peru, thought to have died as part of a sacrificial ritual known as Capacocha (or Ohapaq hucha). In late October, we learned how she most likely looked in life, thanks to a detailed reconstruction by Swedish forensic article Oscar Nilsson. A plaster bust of the reconstruction was unveiled at a ceremony at the Andean Sanctuaries Museum of the Catholic University of Santa Maria in Arequipa, Peru, where the girl’s remains (now called Juanita) have been on near-continuous display since her discovery.

“I thought I’d never know what her face looked like when she was alive,” archaeologist Johan Reinhardt told the BBC. Reinhardt had found the remains with Peruvian mountaineer Miguel Zárate at an altitude of 21,000 feet (6,400 meters) during an expedition to Ampato, one of the highest volcanos in the Andes. “Now 28 years later, this has become a reality thanks to Oscar Nilsson’s reconstruction.”

According to Reinhardt, Spanish chroniclers made reference to the Inca practice of making offerings to the gods: not just statues, fine textiles, and ceramics, but also occasionally human sacrifices at ceremonial shrines (huacas) built high on mountain summits. It’s thought that human sacrifices of young girls and boys were a means of appeasing the Inca gods (Apus) during periods of irregular weather patterns, particularly drought. Drought was common in the wake of a volcanic eruption.

During those periods, the ground on summits would unfreeze sufficiently for the Incas to build their sites and bury their offerings. The altitude is one reason why various Inca mummified remains have been found in remarkable states of preservation.

Earlier discoveries included the remains of an Inca boy found by looters in the 1950s, as well as the frozen body of a young man in 1964 and that of  a young boy in 1985. Then Reinhardt and Zárate made their Ampato ascent in September 1995. They were stunned to spot a mummy bundle on the ice just below the summit and realized they were looking at the frozen face of a young girl. The body was surrounded by offerings for the Inca gods, including llama bones, small carved figurines, and bits of pottery. Juanita was wrapped in a colorful burial tapestry and wearing a feathered cap and alpaca shawl, all almost perfectly preserved. Reinhardt and Zárate subsequently found two more ice mummies (a young boy and girl) the following month, and yet another female mummy in December 1997.

Reconstructing the face of the Incan

Enlarge / Reconstructing the face of the Incan “ice maiden” took nearly 400 hours.

Oscar Nilsson

It was a bit of a struggle to get Juanita’s body down from the summit because it was so heavy, the result of its flesh being so thoroughly frozen. That’s also what makes it such an exciting archaeological find. The remains of meal of vegetables were in her well-reserved stomach, although DNA analysis from her hair showed that she also ate a fair amount of animal protein. That, and the high quality of her garments, suggested she came from a noble family, possibly from the city of Cusco.

There were also traces of coca and alcohol, likely administered before Juanita’s death—a common Inca practice when sacrificing children. A CT scan of her skull revealed that Juanita had died from a a sharp blow to the head, similar to the type of injury made by a baseball bat, causing a massive hemorrhage. This, too, was a common Inca sacrificial custom.

Nilsson was able to draw upon those earlier analyses for his reconstruction, since he needed to know things like her age, gender, weight, and ethnicity. He started with the CT scan of Juanita’s skull and used the data to 3D print a plastic replica of her head. He used wooden pegs on the bust to mark out the various measurements and added clay to mold the defining details of her face, drawing on clues from her nose, eye sockets, and teeth. The DNA indicated the likely color of her skin. “In Juanita’s case, I wanted her to look both scared and proud, and with a high sense of presence at the same time,” Nilsson told Live Science. “I then cast the face in silicone [using] real human hair [that I] inserted hair by hair.”

A forensic artist has given a 500-year-old Inca “ice maiden” a face Read More »