FREE Education! The University of Southampton to launch MOOC

Not so much related to archaeology, but interesting nonetheless!

This coming September, the University of Southampton is launching its first ever MOOC or Massive Open Online Course. The idea of this is that anyone, living anywhere in the world, has access to the courses for free! To participate you do not need any previous knowledge of the subjects you may study - as long as you are keen and interested in learning something new, or wanting to get a taster for future studies, then it is just to get started!


Source: http://www.edudemic.com/2012/04/how-online-learning-is-shaping-the-future-of-education-right-now/

Sign up for the FutureLearn newsletter (all you need is an email address) today using this link. The courses will cover a range of subjects and will only require you to study for two to three hours per week. You can even choose not to complete the whole course, but instead only choose the topics that seem interesting to you.

You can find more information on this amazing opportunity by clicking the first link above! I personally can't wait to try this!

L

A Brief, Handy Guide to Bog Bodies

(n.b.: This post contains pictures of dead people! Although not gross in detail, I am warning you just to save you the shock)

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What's that? You want to learn about bog bodies? Then I shall educate you my dears!


Put very simply, bog bodies are bodies that have been naturally preserved in peat bogs; as well as most of the skin surviving, the internal organs, hair, nails, facial features and stomach contents usually survive too. This, however, is perhaps the best case scenario for a bog body; levels of preservation obviously differs from case to case. Some of the best known examples of bog bodies (famous for the high level of preservation), include the following...

Tollund Man

Lindow Man

Yde Girl

They make not look that well preserved, but they are, and it has meant that facial reconstructions can be made to recreate their life. But I shall tell you about the reconstructions later.


The Nitty Gritty
So why do these bodies survive so well? The conditions of a bog are quite particular; acidic, wet, cold and lacking in oxygen. This is, of course, a natural occurrence in bogs, but it is quite possibly the best place for a body to be preserved. It should be noted, though, that the bones do not usually survive in the process - hence the 'flattened' appearance of the bodies.


Why Are There So Many Bodies Found in Bogs?
Hundreds of bodies have been found in peat bogs across the world; dating from the Mesolithic to as recent as WWII (more on that later!). The excellent preservation enables us to work out why these bodies were put in the bogs.
From the evidence, there are three possibilities for bog bodies; burial, murder/ritual sacrifice, or an accidental death. Many have suffered violent deaths, which suggests murder or something similar; for example, the Huldremose Woman was found to have died from a large cut on her upper arm; the Tollund Man was found with rope around his neck, suggesting he had been hanged; and Grauballe Man had his throat sliced.

Similarly, Lindow Man was found with stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head, suggesting an attack; it may well be that he had been killed (on purpose or by accident, we will never know) whilst out and about, and then his body was just 'dumped' in the bog. However, his nails were spectacularly manicured; this and the way he was killed has caused arguments among people; the most common theory is that he was ritually killed by Druids.

There are examples of bog bodies that suggest they were killed purely for their 'deformities'; Aschenbroken Man had a deformity in the arm (from abornormal healing after being broken previously); and Yde Girl had scoliosis (causing her to have a curved spine) and was only 4'7", despite being 16 years old.


History of Bog Bodies
The oldest bog body is thought to be the Laois Boy of Ireland, which was found 2 years ago, and is thought to be 4,000 years old. However, there is also the Koelbjerg Woman from Denmark, which dates to 8,000BC; only her bones survived, so it is debatable as to whether she counts as a bog body or not.

There have been other bodies found during the Prehistoric, but the majority date to the Iron Age; it seems these bodies from the Iron Age are mostly ritual sacrifices, due to them all having strange deaths.

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I am currently compiling an online timeline of most bog bodies found in the world, with a quick intro about each body, and a picture if their faces have been reconstructed. Keep your eyes peeled - it should be finished soon!

I will also most likely update this post sometime in the next few days as well - many more pictures and other cool stuff!


M


Extra Reading:
European Iron Age Bog Bodies
Archaeology Magazine Archive: Bog BodiesNational Geographic Gallery of Bog Bodies
Bones Don't Lie (blog): Bog Bodies
Tales From the Bog - Karen E. Lange - National Geographic

The Vasa - a 17th Century Swedish Warship

First of all, apologies for the lack of posts during these summer months! Between graduation, family visits and sorting out stuff for the coming year there is a distinct lack of free time at the moment, but it shall get better!

Last Saturday (10^th August) it was exactly 385 years since the sinking of the Swedish warship ‘Vasa’. The Vasa has always been one of my personal favourite historical ships; the ship didn’t have a long history, as it sank on its maiden voyage after travelling only 1300 m from the harbour in 1628, but she has provided us with some amazing insights into the life in 17^th Sweden as some of the artefacts recovered from the ship as well as the ship herself were in very good condition.

The sinking of the Vasa. Source: http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/The-Ship/The-sinking/

The building of the Vasa began in 1626 on the orders from the Swedish king himself. Gustaf II Adolf, the King of Sweden at the time, was fighting several wars and was in the need of more warships. The Vasa was built to amaze everyone who saw her, and with 64 guns and a crew of 450 men she truly was a powerful war machine, built to turn the wars into Sweden’s favour. She was also a very beautiful ship with many carved ornaments and sculptures, painted in colourful colours.

Overview of the construction the Vasa. Source: http://lovingstockholm.wordpress.com/tag/visit-vasa/

Unfortunately, the shipwrights had been a bit over ambitious when building the ship, which doomed her to sink on her maiden voyage. On 10^th August 1628 the Vasa set sail from the Stockholm harbour. Many had come down to watch the ship proudly sail out of the harbour, and many of the crew had brought their families onboard for the first length of the journey. As soon as the ship had sailed out of the lee of the port, sails were raised to allow the wind to carry her for the rest of the journey. Suddenly when the wind got hold of the ship, the Vasa started heeling to the portside and the water started rushing in through the lower gunports that had been left open after firing the salute when leaving port. As the situation was hopeless the crew abandoned the ship, clinging onto the masts or other debris that was floating on the surface, waiting to be rescued. It is thought that around 30 people out the 150 people onboard at the time of the sinking were killed in the event.

After the sinking of the Vasa, an inquest was carried out to determine why the ship sank and whose fault it may have been. From eyewitness accounts it could be determined that the ship sank due to instability in the construction. The day before the ship was due to set sail, Vice Admiral Klas Fleming had carried out an exercise to test the stability of the ship, where 30 men would run across the deck and back ten times causing the ship to heel to either side. However, this exercise had to be stopped after the third time as the ship was in the risk of heeling over. The Swedish King also held part of the blame as he had approved the dimensions of the ship prior to the start of construction. Naturally the master shipwright, Henrik Hybertson, would carry some of the blame as he, although being an experienced shipwright, had carried out the building of the ship. Finally, the blame could have been laid on the captain of the Vasa, Captain Söfring Hansson, as he was aware of the instability in the construction and should have closed the lower gunports and also redistributed the weight of the ship or even suggested to reconstruct the Vasa prior to its maiden voyage.

On the 25^th August 1956, Anders Franzen rediscovered the ship’s location after the information of the location of the ship had been lost through time. This was the start of a major project that on this date is still ongoing. On the 24^th April 1961, the hull of the ship broke the surface in front of the world media after 333 years on the bottom of the sea. The major conservation project of preserving the ship and the artefacts started soon after. Nothing of its like had ever been done before, so a lot of the work carried out were experiments with unknown consequences. The ship was sprayed with polyethylene glycol (PEG), which functions as a replacement of the water in the wood, creating a wax-like surface that preserves the wood in its original shape. Same technology was used during the preservation work of King Henry VIII’s warship the Mary Rose.

The remains of the Vasa, as currently displayed in the Vasa Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

95% of the original wood from the hull of the Vasa has been successfully preserved. In addition, ca. 45 000 other finds have been preserved and archived. The collection of finds can be found in an internet database that has been made available to the general public.

The Vasa Museum. Source: http://www.photoglobe.info/blhl_stockholm/stockholm_20050724_004.html. 

More information about this magnificent ship can be found on the Vasa Museum’s website: http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/. If you happen to be in Stockholm (Sweden), or will be going for a visit, I really hope you plan to visit the Vasa Museum in the future. I visited the museum in 2011 and was absolutely blown away by their amazing exhibits and of course the ship herself. I really can’t recommend this museum enough!

L

Source: http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/The-Ship/

100-Year Old Miniature Watch Found In A Tomb Over 400 Years Old

This is a bit of an old story, but an interesting one nevertheless. In 2009, a miniature ring in the shape of a Swiss watch was found in a tomb Shangsi, Southern China - sealed over 400 years ago in the Ming Dynasty.

During this Dynasty, 'flashy items' were banned, so being buried with a ring/watch like this makes sense as it is a practical item. The fact that it's very small also makes sense; there are many examples in Egyptian tombs where people are buried with items that are very small etc. - it is idea that they 'come alive' and become their real size in the afterlife. The fact that they are made very small was probably to make enough room in the tomb for many other items.

So being buried with a watch makes sense. But being buried with a miniature watch with the letters "Swiss" written on in English on the back of it during this period is a bit strange.

(c) Lunatic Outpost

So what do you think? The Doctor? A practical joke by previous visitors? Or some horrendous advertising scheme?

You can read more about it here.

M

A Missing Link?

Earlier this month, National Geographic published a very interesting article on evidence of a possible new human ancestor. The evidence in form of a bone was found in the Denisova Cave, southern Siberia, by the Russian archaeologist, Alexander Tsybankov, in 2008. However, it wasn't until a few years later when it was discovered how significant the bone fragment actually was. The article is well written and I doubt I will be able to do it better myself, so please have a read through! This story really reminded me that it is because of moments like these I chose to do archaeology as a profession.

L

By: Robert Clark
Source: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/125-missing-human-ancestor/shreeve-text

Ancient Beer...UPDATE

As announced in the news this week, the Great Lakes Brewing Company (based in Ohio) are recreating a beer based on the Hymn to Ninkasi - a song written by Sumerians c.1,800BC dedicated to the goddess of beer, Ninkasi - using the authentic techniques they would have used thousands of years ago. They have said that they do not plan to sell the beer, but it is possible they'll set up educational events where people will have a chance to sample the beer and learn how it was made.

(c) Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Cardamom and coriander were first used in the beer, but it was found to be too sour, and so next time round it will be sweetened with honey and/or dates. The brewery have been working for over a year with the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, but for the past few months they have been experimenting with brewing the beer for the last few months. Keep an eye out on this blog for updates on how they get on!

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I have also just discovered that Anchor Brewing (based in San Francisco) also created a beer based on the Hymn to Ninkasi in the 1989 - they called it...Ninkasi! The hymn, translated in 1964 by Professor Miguel Civil, talks about using "beerbread", "earth-covered malt" and "honey and wine".

(c) Twitgoo.

The beer was 3.5% vol., was very dry and bitter; the taste was apparently very similar to hard apple cider. It did not keep very well, and I believe it was only a limited edition beer.

Ancient Diseases and Their Evidence in the Skeleton

After the recent discovery of the oldest tumour ever found in the rib of a Neanderthal, I have been inspired by it to do a blog post about diseases in archaeology that can be found in the bones that remain. This is what I'm hoping to write my Masters dissertation on, so here is a quick run-through of diseases that have been found in the archaeological record:

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-Tuberculosis (TB): this is a fairly common, infectious disease, that is usually caused by breathing in a strain of bacteria called mycobacteria; which can also cause leprosy. The disease affects the lungs, and therefore symptoms include coughing, fever, weight loss and coughing up blood. Today, TB can be diagnosed by x-rays, and although antibiotics can be used to treat the disease, tuberculosis can cause death.

The disease has been noted to be one of the oldest diseases, as it has been found in skeletons from Neolithic Mediterranean and Ancient Egypt...many times. It was even thought that Nefertiti and her husband Akhenaten died of TB. Evidence of TB has also been noted in various ancient writings; Hippocrates wrote about phthisis during the 4th century BC, describing tuberculosis-type symptoms; the Sushruta Samhita (a Sanskript medical text written in India c. 400-200BC) notes a treatment for tuberculosis; and the Ebers Papyrus (an Egyptian medical text written c.1550BC) mentions tuberculosis and its treatments.

In the flesh, the symptoms of TB are not that easy to spot: the sufferer may be sweaty, they will look thinner due to the weight loss and loss of appetite, they will look exhausted, but also they might have a swollen neck of sorts (due to possible enlarged lymph nodes). 

TB usually mainly affects the lungs, but if it spreads to the bones, it can affect the spine, ribs and/or long bones...

Tuberculosis of the spine causing the collapse and fusion of several thoracic vertebrae.
(c) Mutter Museum

Rib of an adolescant female from St George's Crypt, Leeds; the signs of TB are shown in the boxes.
(c) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA

Last year, Professor Terry Brown and Professor Charlotte Roberts conducted a study together that aimed to identify tuberculosis in skeletons easier; focusing on a 19th century skeletons, but using it as part of a wider study for TB skeletons from 100AD-the late 19th century. Using the bones, they looked at the DNA sequence of bones and found that there were specific gene sequences in TB skeletons; this technique might possibly be used in future tuberculosis studies, and it makes identifying the disease a lot quicker. 

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-Osteoarthritis: this is an extremely common, degenerative joint disease that degrades the bones and consequently can cause joint pain, stiffness of the joints, joint locking and possible effusion (extra fluids around the joint). It is generally prevalent in older people, but can occur in anyone, depending on the quality of the bone and any injuries that might have been suffered. As it is a degenerative disease, there is nothing that can be done to get rid of it. However, there are treatments that may help: a change in lifestyle, painkillers or even a complete joint replacement. 

Arthritis in general is technically older than tuberculosis - but not in humans - there has been evidence of secondary arthritis in dinosaurs! However, the earliest evidence of arthritis in humans is from a 60,000 year old man from France, named The Old Man of La Chapelle. Later examples include 4,500BC North America and Otzi the Iceman from c.3,255BC Austria/Italy. 

It is prevalent in the archaeology, and therefore is fairly easy to identify in the bones; as a bone-based disease, most if not all, of the consequences of arthritis can be identified on skeletons. The following pictures show that arthritis can completely destroy cartilage (1), can cause extra growth of bone over the joint (osteophyte growth) and eburnation (where the bone changes so it looks 'shiny') (2).

1. Osteoarthritis of the knee from a Middle Saxon cemetary in Norfolk.
(c) Spoilheap Archaeology

2. Hip joints of a 45-year old male, showing osteophyte growths and eburnation.
(c) College of Charleston

There is also evidence in the archaeology of treating arthritis; most famously, the tattoos Otzi had over his various joints that were thought to be a form of acupuncture to treat arthritis.

 

Some of 50+ tattoos found on Otzi.
(c) Rose City Acupuncture.

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-Leprosy: this is a chronic, infectious disease that is caused by the bacteria, mycobaterium leprae. It affects part of the nervous system, as well as the muscuous membrane, which leads to the various painful lumps and lesions on the face. It can also cause severe infections or numbness in body parts, which as a result sometimes have to be amputated or taken off.
Today, there are treatments available to get rid of leprosy - various "leprosatic agents" are available to be taken daily until the leprosy has disappeared. 

Leprosy is also an ancient disease; the first evidence of it in a skeleton is from c.2000BC in India, and the first evidence in text is around c.1500BC in the Ebers Papyrus from Egypt. Previous to finding the skeleton from India, it was thought that a man from the Tomb of the Shroud in Jersualem (1-50BCE) was the earliest case of leprosy.

1. Top: a normal person's foot; bottom: a leper's foot.
(c) The Naked Scientists

As mentioned, leprosy mainly causes skin lesions and affects the nervous system; however, surprisingly there is not a lot of evidence in the skeleton that shows the person had leprosy. If someone has had leprosy for a very long period of time - say 20 years or so - then there may be evidence of the shortening of digits on the hands or feet (1); destruction of areas of the face such as the nose (2 & 3); loss of teeth (3) or loss or erosion of any body part (4).

2. The skull of a leper from 4,000 years ago, India.
(c) Live Science

It should be noted though that these symptoms can also show tuberculosis - however the more of the above symptoms are found in the skeleton, the more likely it is that it is leprosy instead of tuberculosis.

A recent study has found that by studying the lepers from the Medieval period, the reason leprosy isn't so common in the world anymore (in Medieval Europe, 1 in 30 people had leprosy) is because we as humans have changed, not the disease. It has been noted that this study could be useful in solving clues about TB, syphilis and the bubonic plague.

3. Destruction of the top row of teeth and part of
nose due to leprosy.
(c) Bones Don't Lie.

4. Feet from a leper c.1250-1500, Netherlands.
(c) sciencemuseum.org

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That's all for now, there are many more diseases that have ancient origins, and can be evident in the skeleton - cholera, typhoid, smallpox, rabies, malaria etc. - however I fear if I write about any more diseases, I may never stop.
Please see below for some further reading; The Archaeology of Disease is a must if you wish to know more about disease in the archaeological record, it's a fantastic book.


Further Reading:
- The Archaeology of Disease - Charlotte A. Roberts & Keith Manchester - 2010
- The Bioarchaeology of Metabolic Bone Disease - Megan Brickley & Rachel Ives - 2008
- Disease in London, 1st-19th Centuries: An Illustrated Guide to Diagnosis - Don Walker - 2012
- Mummies, Disease and Ancient Diseases - Thomas A. Cockburn et al - 1998
- Bones Don't Lie blog post on tuberculosis


M