There are many articles and essays about new archaeology finds that are of interest to modern Pagans, Heathens, and polytheists out there, more than our team can write about in-depth in any given week. Therefore, The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up. Here are our favorite picks this month.
GUANGZHOU, Guangdong Province, China – A unique skull, initially discovered in the city of Harbin, the capital of the northeast Heilongjiang province during the construction of a bridge in the early 1930s, has the potential to reorder theories that surround the evolution of homo sapiens.
Dubbed the “Dragon Man” skull in media reports, the skull is quite large and has an elongated cranium with a pronounced heavy brow that shadows the square eye sockets beneath. The approximate age of the skull dates to at least 146,000 years ago.
The Dragon Man or Harbin skull is similar to the Dali Man skull pictured here as a reconstruction – Image credit: Gary Todd – CC0
Dr. Chris Stringer, Ph.D., a paleoanthropologist with the London Natural History Museum noted that size of the skull is extraordinary. Stringer said, “It’s enormous.”
The Harbin skull was originally found by one of the workers who helped to build the bridge, hid the skull in a well where it stayed for almost 90 years. He only told his family about its existence and where he had placed it near the time of his death. In 2018, his family members recovered the skull and eventually agreed to donate it to the Geoscience Museum of Hebei GEO University.
Some of the resulting research and study of the Dragon Man skull has led researchers to propose classifying it as representing a new human species, “Homo longi.” If this new human species classification were to be accepted, it would almost certainly shake up the current theories on the order of human evolution.
Researchers initially expect the Harbin skull to be an offshoot of the Neanderthal line, but some of the features the skull exhibited were more reflective of modern humans, like flat, delicate cheekbones that are lower on the face. Yet other aspects of the skull, like the lone molar remaining in the skull having three roots, is not a common trait found in the human species today.
The combination of these somewhat conflicting traits could indicate that the Harbin is skull is possibly representative of the Denisovans, an offshoot or sister line of the Neanderthals. Few remains of the Denisovans have ever been found, and those that have are limited to bone fragments and teeth.
Not all researchers agree that the skull represents a new branch on the tree of human evolution. Some have pointed out that variations within a species are normal, so the unique features of the Harbin skull could merely be an example of variations, not a new species.
Research on the skull continues, and as new discoveries and data are added it could help offer a better and clearer picture of human evolution.
HELSINKI – Archaeologists working on the shores of Rautajarvi Lake at the Järvensuo 1 prehistoric site in southwest Finland have found that some reports are describing as a “serpent staff.” Their findings were published in Antiquity this week.
Järvensuo 1 dig-site sits within wetlands and its discovery as an archaeological site dates to the 1950s when a wooden paddle that dated to be as old as possibly the 34th century B.C.E., was found by a maintenance worker. Subsequent finds over the years have included a wooden scoop with a handle carved into a bear’s head, and parts of fishing gear.
A 4,400-year-old staff resembling a snake was found a Finnish wetland. Experts said the staff was likely used during shamanic rituals https://t.co/D3qIXJ7WPn
— ARTnews (@artnews) July 4, 2021
This latest find is of a wooden, life-sized snake, measuring in length roughly 53 centimeters (21 inches), with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters (1.2 inches). The staff has the head of a viper with an open mouth and sinuously curving body that tapers down to the point of the tail.
Imagery of snakes is not common in northern European Neolithic art. Though there are some instances of their depiction in cave art, like the Neolithic rock carvings of Lake Onega and the White Sea, and Karelia (Russia). Figurines of snakes that have been found are rare. The only other one found in Finland that is similar is a small Neolithic clay figurine that was discovered in Hietaniemi about 100 km (62 miles) from Järvensuo in 1967. That snake is coiled and depicts the snake with its head raised.
The Järvensuo snake was naturally preserved by the peat that makes up the wetland areas surrounding the lake. Radiocarbon dating places the age of the artifact as 2471–2291 BCE, making it roughly 4,400 years old.
Speculation as to the purpose of snake ranges from it being part of some type of shamanistic practice and culture or possibly merely decorative. The authors of the research, Satu Koivisto and Antti Lahelma caution that while conclusions cannot be safely drawn without learning more about the area where the snake was found, they do feel carving likely may have had a religious value.
LYTTOS, Crete, Greece – A new excavation in the ancient Crete city of Lyttos is beginning as a collaboration between the U.S. and Greece. A team of international 15 archaeologists and archaeology students will be part of the project led by Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies and New York University.
There have not been any major excavations done at Lyttos since the late 1980s and some researchers believe that a thorough excavation and study of the ancient city could end up rivaling the finds at Knossos.
The bouleuterion of ancient Lyttos – Image credit: C messier – CC BY-SA 4.0
Lyttos or Lyktos as it was known during the Minoan era, is possibly the oldest city in Crete and figured prominently through to the Roman era – a span of several thousand years.
The new excavation could offer new insights on the entire history of Crete and the Minoan culture.
Archaeologist teams plan to focus on three separate areas: a “bouleuterion” which would be the ancient equivalent of a courthouse or senate assembly, which was excavated in the early 1980s by George Rethemiotakis, another public building of the Archaic or Classical period, and a Byzantine basilica.
Each of the sites chosen for excavation represent a different historical period in the history of Crete. Little is known about the Roman period in Crete and the new excavations could offer a wealth of information on that period, as well as offering a more complete picture of other eras.
Dr. Angelos Chaniotis, Ph.D., with the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and one of the lead researchers of the project said, “The history of Crete is a history of continuity, it does not stop at the Minoan civilization,” citing the various transitions that range from antiquity to the Byzantium era, on to the Venetian period and extend to the modern era.
PASADENA, California – A new study focused on rock art and petroglyphs may answer a problem that has long puzzled researchers. Petroglyphs that are carved into rock faces were done by the carvers cutting through the surface layers of what researchers refer to as “rock varnish.”
Rock varnish is composed of clay minerals, iron oxide, and high levels of manganese but its origin, whether naturally occurring or manufactured, was unknown.
Petroglyphs – Mesa Verde – Image credit: Rationalobserver – CC BY-SA 4.0
The new study did not set out to answer this question. In fact, its actual focus was on how microbial ecosystems in desert environments interact with the rock varnish.
Researchers used a variety of techniques that included analyzing minerals present, DNA sequencing, and electron microscopy. Stanford Synchroton Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) scientist Samuel Webb contributed key data with the use of advanced X-ray spectroscopy methods that allowed for the mapping of different types of manganese as well as other elements found in samples of rock varnish.
What the team found points to rock varnish forming as a result of microbial growth using manganese to protect against the effect of desert sun and harsh environment.
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