ASIA, CHINA, WORLD

Stone Tools Offer Clues to Rice Domestication in China

Stone Tools Offer Clues to Rice Domestication in China

Rice plants near the Shangshan site in the Lower Yangtze River Valley in China.

A new Dartmouth-led study analyzing stone tools from southern China provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago. The researchers identified two methods of harvesting rice, which helped initiate rice domestication. The results are published in PLOS ONE.

Map illustrating Shangshan and Hehuashan sites in the Lower Yangtze River Valley of China.

Wild rice is different from domesticated rice in that wild rice naturally sheds ripe seeds, shattering them to the ground when they mature, while cultivated rice seeds stay on the plants when they mature.

To harvest rice, some sort of tools would have been needed. In harvesting rice with tools, early rice cultivators were selecting the seeds that stay on the plants, so gradually the proportion of seeds that remain increased, resulting in domestication.

“For quite a long time, one of the puzzles has been that harvesting tools have not been found in southern China from the early Neolithic period or New Stone Age (10,000—7,000 Before Present), the time period when we know rice began to be domesticated,” says lead author Jiajing Wang, an assistant professor of anthropology.

“However, when archaeologists were working at several early Neolithic sites in the Lower Yangtze River Valley, they found a lot of small pieces of stone, which had sharp edges that could have been used for harvesting plants.”

“Our hypothesis was that maybe some of those small stone pieces were rice harvesting tools, which is what our results show.”

In the Lower Yangtze River Valley, the two earliest Neolithic culture groups were the Shangshan and Kuahuqiao. The researchers examined 52 flaked stone tools from the Shangshan and Hehuashan sites, the latter of which was occupied by Shangshan and Kuahuqiao cultures.

Stone Tools Offer Clues to Rice Domestication in China
A selection of stone flake tools from the Shangshan (a-h) and Kuahuqiao cultures (i – l). Red dots delineate the working edge of tools.

The stone flakes are rough in appearance and are not finely made but have sharp edges. On average, the flaked tools are small enough to be held by one hand and measured approximately 1.7 inches in width and length.

Our hypothesis was that maybe some of those small stone pieces were rice harvesting tools, which is what our results show.

JIAJING WANG, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY

To determine if the stone flakes were used for harvesting rice, the team conducted use-wear and phytolith residue analyses. Phytolith refers to the silica skeleton of plants.

For the use-wear analysis, micro-scratches on the tools’ surfaces were examined under a microscope to determine how the stones were used. The results showed that 30 flakes have use-wear patterns similar to those produced by harvesting siliceous, or silica-rich, plants, likely including rice.

Fine striations, high polish, and rounded edges distinguished the tools that were used for cutting plants from those that were used for processing hard materials, cutting animal tissues, and scraping wood.

Through the phytolith residue analysis, the researchers analyzed the microscopic residue left on the stone flakes. They found that 28 of the tools contained rice phytoliths.

“What’s interesting about rice phytoliths is that rice husk and leaves produce different kinds of phytolith, which enabled us to determine how the rice was harvested,” says Wang.

The findings from the use-wear and phytolith analyses illustrated that two types of rice harvesting methods were used—“finger-knife” and “sickle” techniques. Both methods are still used in Asia today.

The stone flakes from the early phase, 10,000—8,200 BP, showed that rice was largely harvested using the finger-knife method in which the panicles at the top of the rice plant are reaped. The results showed that the tools used for finger-knife harvesting had striations that were mainly perpendicular or diagonal to the edge of the stone flake, which suggests a cutting or scraping motion, and contained phytoliths from seeds or rice husk phytoliths, indicating that the rice was harvested from the top of the plant.

Schematic representation of rice harvesting methods using a finger-knife, at left, and sickle.

“A rice plant contains numerous panicles that mature at different times, so the finger-knife harvesting technique is especially useful when rice domestication was in the early stage,” says Wang.

The stone flakes however, from the later phase, 8,000—7,000 BP, had more evidence of sickle harvesting in which the lower part of the plant was harvested. These tools had striations that were predominantly parallel to the tool’s edge, reflecting that a slicing motion had likely been used.

“Sickle harvesting was more widely used when rice became more domesticated, and more ripe seeds stayed on the plant,” says Wang. “Since you are harvesting the entire plant at the same time, the rice leaves and stems could also be used for fuel, building materials, and other purposes, making this a much more effective harvesting method.”

Wang says, “Both harvesting methods would have reduced seed shattering. That’s why we think rice domestication was driven by human unconscious selection.”

AFRICA, WORLD

Denisovan Genes May Have Boosted Modern Human Immunity

Denisovan Genes May Have Boosted Modern Human Immunity

When modern humans first migrated from Africa to the tropical islands of the southwest Pacific, they encountered unfamiliar people and new pathogens. But their immune systems may have picked up some survival tricks when they mated with the locals—the mysterious Denisovans who gave them immune gene variants that might have protected the newcomers’ offspring from local diseases.

Ancient Denisovans like this reconstruction from a 146,000-year-old potential Denisovan skull from Harbin, China, gave immune-related DNA to people in Papua New Guinea.

Some of these variants still persist in the genomes of people living in Papua New Guinea today, according to a new study.

Researchers have known for a decade that living people in Papua New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia, a subregion of the southwest Pacific Ocean, inherited up to 5% of their DNA from Denisovans, ancient humans closely related to Neanderthals who arrived in Asia about 200,000 years ago.

Scientists assume those variants benefited people in the past—perhaps by helping the modern humans better ward off local diseases—but they have wondered how that DNA might still be altering how people look, act, and feel today.

It’s been difficult to detect the function of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in Melanesians, however, because scientists have analyzed so little genetic data from living humans in Papua New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia.

The new study overcomes that problem by using genetic data from 56 individuals from Papua New Guinea that were recently analyzed for another paper, part of the Indonesian Genome Diversity Project.

The researchers, mostly from Australia and New Guinea, compared those genomes with those of Denisovans from Denisova Cave in Siberia, as well as Neanderthals.

They found the Papuans had inherited unusually high frequencies of 82,000 genetic variants known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, which arise from differences of a single base or letter in the genetic code—from Denisovans.

The team then looked for those variants in a database that links genes to various functions in different tissues in humans. They homed in on immune-related gene variants that might promote or enhance a nearby gene’s production of proteins, for example, or shut off or dampen its function. These tweaks can help optimize an immune system for the specific pathogens in its environment; too strong an immune response can be as deadly as the infection itself.

In Papuans, the scientists found many Denisovan variants that were located near genes known to impact human immune responses to viruses and other pathogens, such as the flu and chikungunya. Next, they tested the function of eight Denisovan gene variants associated with the expression of proteins produced by two genes, in particular, OAS2 and OAS3, “lymphoblastoid”—cell lines of B cells, a type of white blood cell that makes antibodies critical to the body’s immune response. Those cell lines were collected from Papuans by study co-author Christopher Kinipi, a Papuan physician and health services director at the University of Papua New Guinea.

Two of the Denisovan genetic variants found in those Papuan cell lines lowered the transcription or production of proteins that regulate cytokines, part of the immune system’s defense against infections, reducing inflammation. This subdued inflammatory response could have helped Papuans weather a rash of new infections they would have encountered in the region.

“One of the strengths of the study is that they tested the Denisovan variants in Papuan cell lines, which are essentially the cell environment in which they evolved,” says functional genomicist Francesca Luca of Wayne State University, who was not part of the study.

Taken together, these experiments suggest those Denisovan gene variants “might be fine-tuning the immune response” to optimize it to its environment, says human evolutionary geneticist Irene Gallego Romero of the University of Melbourne, lead author of the new study published in PLOS Genetics. “In the tropics where people have high loads of infectious disease, you might want to tone down the immune response a little and not go overboard.”

These findings dovetail with earlier work on the role of Neanderthal variants in living Europeans. Studies of both Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in different populations are showing how mating with archaic humans—long-adapted to their regions—provided a rapid way for incoming modern humans to pick up beneficial genes, says computational biologist Janet Kelso of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

The study shows this sort of gene swap was “an important mechanism for how humans adapted quickly [to new challenges], specifically pathogens,” says human geneticist Luis Barreiro of the University of Chicago.

But he would like to see future work test whether the Denisovan gene variants actually give Papuans a better shot at warding off or surviving specific diseases.

Overall, this study shows “matings which took place tens of thousands of years ago are still influencing the biology of contemporary individuals,” says population geneticist Joshua Akey of Princeton University.

MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Maya Statue Discovered in the Yucatán

Maya Statue Discovered in the Yucatán

Maya Statue Discovered in the Yucatán
The headless statue may represent a decapitated prisoner of war, the INAH director explained.

An imposing, life-size sculpture of a headless human found during excavation work for the Maya Train has been temporarily nicknamed “Yum keeb” — the god of the phallus or fertility. 

The finding occurred in the state of Yucatán in the archaeological zone of Oxkintok, about 55 kilometers south of Mérida. The limestone statue without a head, hands, lower legs and feet measures 1.65 meters tall, or about 5 feet 5 inches.

“He was found lying on his back and represents the human figure,” archaeologist Luis Pantoja Díaz said during a media tour of the area on Wednesday. “We see the marked pectorals, the middle part that could be the hanging belly and the part of the member.”

He also said one could see buttocks (which are clearly visible in the photo) and some lines on the back, such as those that delineate shoulder blades (which are not).

While the newspaper La Jornada used the terms falo (phallus) and miembro (member) in describing the figure, another newspaper reported nothing along those lines, or about fertilidad (fertility), explaining instead that the sculpture is that of a warrior.

Its lack of a head “surely represents a warrior who was a prisoner in combat,” said Diego Prieto, general director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), as quoted by El Financiero.

Both sources said the sculpture was possibly used as an offering to the gods. It was found near a hieroglyph-laden staircase that was being cleaned and restored.

Pantoja Díaz stressed that the figure is still being analyzed to determine its specific function, thus the “temporary” nickname. Even the statue’s status as the representation of a male is not 100% assured, he added.

Oxkintok was a Maya city that existed in the latter portion of the Mesomerican Classic Period (A.D. 250 to 900) and was the capital of the region before the emergence of Uxmal. Noted for its historical markers, such as pyramids and monuments, it is nestled among mountains that are covered in undergrowth — with lots of potential discoveries still to be made.

The statue was found in Oxkintok in western Yucatán, along Section 3 of the Maya Train. (INAH)

The Maya Train has been divided into seven sections and the INAH reportedly has completed its excavation work in sections 1-3 and 5, with No. 4 to be completed soon and sections 6 and 7 in the prospecting stage.

“We have uncovered information that will nourish the knowledge of the Mesoamerican Maya world for at least the next two decades,” said Prieto, the INAH director. “This work will undoubtedly impact the study of Maya cultures … over many, many years.”

Overall, according to INAH data through Dec. 6, findings on the entire Maya Train route include 31,306 structures including foundations, 1,541 ceramics and chiseled stones, 463 sets of bones or skeletons, 1,040 natural features such as caves and cenotes, 708,428 ceramic figures and fragments (from sections 1-4) and 576 pieces in the process of analysis.

The Maya Train, one of President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador’s most ambitious projects, and one that has been challenged by various problems and issues, will pass through Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.

Originally budgeted for nearly US $8 billion in 2020, it has now ballooned to up to US $20 billion, according to reports.

Last month, AMLO was quoted as saying that “the largest [current] railway project in the world” at 1,550 kilometers (963 miles) will be completed “in December 2023.”

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Why the discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb would rewrite history

Why the discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb would rewrite history

Why the discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb would rewrite history
The south wall of the temple of Hathor at Dendera. Cleopatra and her son Caesarian are depicted on the left side.

It couldn’t have been a case of better timing. Egyptologists celebrating the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, now have a promising new archaeological discovery that appears to have been made in Egypt.

Excavators have discovered a tunnel under the Taposiris Magna temple, west of the ancient city of Alexandria, which they have suggested could lead to the tomb of Queen Cleopatra.

Evidence that this is really the case remains to be seen, but such a discovery would be a major find, with the potential to rewrite what we know about Egypt’s most famous queen.

According to the ancient Greek writer Plutarch – who wrote a biography of Cleopatra’s husband, the Roman general Mark Antony, and is responsible for the lengthiest and most detailed account of the last days of Cleopatra’s reign – both Antony and Cleopatra were buried inside Cleopatra’s mausoleum.

Bust of Cleopatra’s husband, Roman General Mark Antony, at the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid.

According to Plutarch, on the day that Augustus and his Roman forces invaded Egypt and captured Alexandria, Antony fell on his sword, died in Cleopatra’s arms, and was then interred in the mausoleum. Two weeks later, Cleopatra went to the mausoleum to make offerings and pour libations, and took her own life in a way that is still unknown (a popular misconception is that she was bitten by an asp). She too was then interred in the mausoleum.

In the days that followed, Antony’s son Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Cleopatra’s son Ptolemy XV Caesar (also known as Caesarion, “Little Caesar”), were both murdered by Roman forces, and the two young men may likewise have been interred there.

If the mausoleum of Cleopatra has not already vanished beneath the waves of the Mediterranean along with most of the Hellenistic city of Alexandria, and is one day found, it would be an almost unprecedented archaeological discovery.

A discovery that could rewrite history

While the tombs of many famous historical rulers are still standing – the mausoleum of Augustus, Antony, and Cleopatra’s mortal enemy, in Rome, is one example – their contents have often been looted and lost centuries ago.

The Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome.

One notable exception is the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, uncovered at Vergina in the late 1970s.

The tomb was found intact, and this has enabled decades of scientific investigation into its contents, advancing our knowledge of members of the Macedonian royal family and their court. The same would be true if Cleopatra’s tomb were discovered, and found to be intact.

The number of new information Egyptologists, classicists, ancient historians, and archaeologists could glean from its contents would be immense. For the most part, our knowledge of Cleopatra and her reign comes from ancient Greek and Roman literary sources, written after her death and inherently hostile to the Egyptian queen.

We do not have much evidence revealing the Egyptian perspective on Cleopatra, but what we do have, such as honorific reliefs on the temples that she built and votives dedicated by her subjects, gives us a very different view of her.

The ethics of unearthing Cleopatra’s remains

To date, no other Ptolemaic ruler’s tomb has been found. They were reportedly all situated in the palace quarter of Alexandria and are believed to be under the sea with the rest of that part of the city.

The architecture and material contents of the tomb alone would keep historians busy for decades, and provide unprecedented amounts of information about the Ptolemaic royal cult and the fusion of Macedonian and Egyptian culture. But if Cleopatra’s remains were there too, they could tell us a great deal more, including the cause of her death, her physical appearance, and even answer the thorny question of her race.

The mummy of an ancient Egyptian woman decorated with gold and enamel in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

But should we be hoping to find Cleopatra’s remains, and analyze them? From Tutankhamun to the ordinary ancient Egyptians whose mummies have been excavated over the centuries, there has been a long history of mismanagement and mistreatment.

While the days when mummies were unwrapped as a form of entertainment at Victorian dinner parties have thankfully passed, concerns are increasingly being raised by those who work in heritage about the appropriate treatment of our ancestors.

While the discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb would be priceless for Egyptologists and other scholars, is it fair to deny the queen the opportunity for peace and privacy in death that she did not receive in life?

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Rare Archaeological Discoveries In The Sacred Animal Necropolis In Saqqara

Rare Archaeological Discoveries In The Sacred Animal Necropolis In Saqqara

Egypt is a land of great interest to anyone interested in archaeology and ancient history, but at present times the Coronavirus outbreak doesn’t allow us to admire the treasures of the land of the Pharaohs.

However, we can still use online resources to learn more about archaeological findings in Egypt.

On their official website, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has told the public about some intriguing archaeological discoveries.

Rare Archaeological Discoveries In The Sacred Animal Necropolis In Saqqara

In the sacred animal necropolis in Saqqara, archaeologists have brought to light a beautifully decorated tomb of Wahti and the cachette of the sacred mummified birds and animals. Some of these animal mummies are very rare.

The latest discovery was at the bottom of an 11-meter-deep shaft where scientists uncovered five sealed stone coffins/sarcophagi, four niches in a room containing wooden coffins, and Late Period human burials were uncovered.

A massive anthropoid wooden coffin with hieroglyphs written in yellow pigment was discovered in one niche.

“We found several other artifacts around the coffin,” the ministry said.

“They included 365 faience Ushabti figurines, some of which bear hieroglyphs texts; a small wooden obelisk about 40 cm tall, all four of its sides bearing painted scenes depicting the deities Isis and Nephthys, and the deity Horus; wooden statues of the god Ptah-Sokar-Osiris; and three pottery canopic jars in which the viscera removed during mummification was kept, in addition to many other artifacts.”

Ushabti were servants who worked for their owners in the afterlife.

According to archaeological expert Abdel-Rahman Rihan, the discovery should be dated to the late Pharaonic kingdom following the third transitional era and prior to the Ptolemaic Era, dating back to 332 B.C.

“Egyptian archaeologists do not all agree on the beginning of the late era. However, they do agree that it was around the late 25th Dynasty and before or during the 26th Dynasty,” Arab News reports.

Credit: Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

The 25th Dynasty rulers were from Sudan, particularly Sudan’s northern area of Nabta, which was the capital of the kingdom of Kush in ancient times. The region is about 300 km from the capital Khartoum.

“The discovery is certainly very important as it coincides with the expected inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is at the top of the Egyptian state’s priorities after the coronavirus pandemic is over,” Rihan said.

The ministry was using technology to introduce its archaeological discoveries to the world, and these would be “awaiting visitors” after the pandemic ended, he said.

WORLD

Ancient Mongolian Nests Show Dinosaurs Protected Their Eggs

Ancient Mongolian Nests Show Dinosaurs Protected Their Eggs

Ancient Mongolian Nests Show Dinosaurs Protected Their Eggs

An exquisitely preserved dinosaur nesting site discovered in the Gobi Desert shows that some of these prehistoric animals nested in groups and, like birds, protected their eggs.

“Dinosaurs are often portrayed as solitary creatures that nested on their own, buried their eggs and then just went away,” says François Therrien, a palaeontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology near Calgary, Canada.

He co-authored a study published this month in Geology describing the find. “But here we show that some dinosaurs were much more gregarious. They came together and established a colony that they likely protected,” Therrien says.

The find includes the fossils of 15 nests and more than 50 eggs that are roughly 80 million years old. It provides the clearest evidence to date that complex reproductive behaviours, such as group nesting, evolved before modern birds split off from the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

Certain modern birds and crocodiles build nests and lay eggs in a communal area during their breeding seasons. Many palaeontologists think that this ‘colonial nesting’ first arose in dinosaurs, as a way to counter nest predators. But the evidence for this hasn’t been solid, says Amy Balanoff, a palaeontologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Since the 1980s, palaeontologists have unearthed fossilized eggs or nests that are clustered together. But the surrounding rock often represents several thousand years or more, making it difficult for researchers to tell whether the eggs were laid at the same time, or just in the same place years apart, says Darla Zelenitsky, a palaeontologist at Calgary University in Canada and a study co-author.

A THIN RED LINE

The recently-described nest site is different. Located in southeast Mongolia, the 286-square-metre formation contains vivid layers of orange and grey.

Between these bands runs a thin streak of bright red rock that connects 15 clutches of relatively undisturbed eggs. Some of the spherical eggs, about 10–15 centimetres in diameter, had hatched and were partially filled with the red rock.

Several egg clutches, like this one, were found in the area.

Flooding from a nearby river, which blanketed the nesting site under a thin veneer of sediment, probably created that bright red line, says Therrien. “Because everything is relatively undisturbed, it likely wasn’t a massive flood,” he says.

But the streak connects all of the eggs, suggesting the dinosaurs laid them in a single breeding season. “Geologically, I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better site,” says Zelenitsky.

“It’s a compelling story,” says Balanoff, adding that the researchers back it up with a strong analysis.

Zelenitsky and her colleagues were also able to identify the type of dinosaurs that were probably responsible. The eggs’ exterior and interior textures, as well as shell thickness, points to a kind of non-avian theropod, a large group that includes dinosaurs such as velociraptors and Tyrannosaurus.

The researchers also estimated that just over half of the nests had at least one successful hatch, on account of the number of fragmented eggs.

This relatively high rate mirrors the hatching success of modern birds and crocodiles that guard their nests, rather than those that abandon or only occasionally check their nests.

EUROPE, SWEDEN, WORLD

Mysterious shipwreck found near Sweden full of household items dates back to 14th century

Mysterious shipwreck found near Sweden full of household items dates back to 14th century

New details have emerged surrounding the mysterious wreckage of two medieval ships found off the coast of Sweden last spring. Researchers have finally determined their age and distant origins.

Mysterious shipwreck found near Sweden full of household items dates back to 14th century
One of the mysterious medieval ships found in Sweden.

The merchant ships were spotted near the construction of a railway tunnel in Varberg, about 120 miles north of Copenhagen, according to a Nov. 16 press release from Arkeologirna, an archaeological consultancy.

According to archaeologists, the ships were known as cogs, a common medieval ship type.

According to the Estonian Mere Museum website, cogs were “large, with a spacious hold, and most often fitted with a mast and a large square sail”.

The remains of the ships were found about 30 feet apart in what archaeologists say is a highly unusual occurrence. One of the wrecks consists of a nearly intact port side, making it the best preserved cog wreck ever found in Sweden.

Months after archaeologists first discovered it, wood samples from the wreck were finally analyzed and the results answered unanswered questions.

The larger ship, known as Varbergskoggen 1, was built with timber dating back to 1346, archaeologists said. The wood was sourced hundreds of kilometers away in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

The smaller ship, known as Varbergskoggen 2, was built between 1355 and 1357 using trees from northern Poland, meaning that while the ships share a final resting place, they were sourced from different countries.

The researchers are not yet sure why or how the pair of ships sank.

According to the Maritime Injury Center, bad weather, collisions, flooding and the shifting of improperly stored cargo are some of the top reasons for ships sinking.

Soil samples could eventually reveal the types of food and other cargo stowed on board, archaeologists said, which could provide further answers about the ships’ final voyages.

A variety of household items found in the wreck, including leather shoes, wooden spoons and engraved barrels, could also help researchers further unravel the mystery of the sunken ships.

At least several other ancient shipwrecks have been discovered off the coast of Sweden in recent years.

A 500-year-old ship full of soldiers and Danish nobles was found off the coast of southern Sweden in 2021, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

And in October, archaeologists announced that another Swedish shipwreck had been rediscovered by divers, according to previous McClatchy News reports. Wood samples led researchers to conclude the wreck was the Äpplet, a 17th-century warship commissioned by a Swedish king.

Google Translate was used to translate Arkeologirna’s press release.

Warship wreck – sunk by the Navy over 300 years ago – rediscovered in Sweden

Robbers mug rideshare drivers and then pick up victims, Baltimore police officers say

“Toy” discovered on school trip turns out to be 3,000-year-old find, Israeli experts say

Dad chases car thief who drove away with his four kids, Minnesota cops say

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Discovery of a rare lead sling bullet bearing a magic inscription for victory

Discovery of a rare lead sling bullet bearing a magic inscription for victory

During excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority in Yavne, a rare lead sling bullet was discovered – possibly belonging to a Greek soldier, bearing a magic inscription for victory.

Ancient Bullet With ‘Victory’ Inscription Uncovered in Israel
Ancient Bullet With ‘Victory’ Inscription Uncovered in Israel

On the sling bullet was the Greek inscription “Victory of Heracles and Hauronas”.

“The inscriptions were part of psychological warfare, the main purpose of which was to terrorize the opponent, and in addition, to unite the warriors and raise their spirits,” says Prof. Yulia Ustinova of Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

Was the projectile used for warfare against the Hasmoneans?

New research has revealed a lead sling bullet from the Hellenistic period, a rare of its kind in Israel, with an inscription in Greek intended to ensure victory in battle.

The 2,200-year-old sling bullet, which bears the inscription – “Victory of Heracles and Hauronas,” was uncovered in excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in Yavne as part of the Israel Lands Authority’s initiative to expand the city, in cooperation with the Yavne Municipality. The length of the sling bullet is 4.4 cm, and it was intended to be used in an early sling.

“The pair of gods Hauron and Heracles were considered the divine patrons of Yavne during the Hellenistic period,” says Prof. Yulia Ustinova from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, who deciphered the inscription.

“The inscription on a sling bullet is the first archaeological evidence of the two guardians of Yavne, discovered inside Yavne itself. Until today, the pair was only known from an inscription on the Greek island of Delos.”

As a couple, the gods Heracles and Hauron were a perfect team of victory-givers. “The announcement of the future victory of Heracles and Hauron was not a call addressed to the deity, but a threat directed towards the adversaries,” says Prof. Ustinova. “Lead sling bullets are known in the ancient world beginning in the 5th century BCE, but in Israel, few individual sling bullets were found with inscriptions.

The inscriptions convey a message of unifying the warriors to raise their spirits, scare the enemy, or a call intended to energize the sling bullet itself magically. These inscriptions were part of psychological warfare, the main

Purpose of which is to terrorize the opponent, and in addition, to unite the warriors and raise their spirits.”

It seems that we will not be able to know for sure if the sling bullet belonged to a Greek soldier,” said Pablo Betzer and Dr. Daniel Varga, the directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “but it may be related to the conflict between the Greeks and the Hasmoneans.

In the 2nd century BCE, pagan Yavne – an ally of the Seleucids (the Greeks who ruled Eretz-Israel), were subject to attacks by the Hasmonean armies.

The Hasmoneans sought to subjugate the other nations and create a homogeneous and ‘pure state’ from a religious-ritualistic point of view. The tiny lead sling bullets, announcing the imminent victory of the gods of pagan Yavne, are tangible evidence of a fierce battle in Yavne at that time.

“One can only imagine what that warrior who held the sling bullet 2,200 years ago thought and felt as he held on to the hope of divine salvation,” says Eli Escusido, Director-General of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The Yavne excavation is a ‘mega’ excavation – one of the largest conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has yielded fascinating discoveries that testify to a rich and varied history of 7,000 years, and we eagerly await future findings.”

All In One Magazine