Welcome back, everybody!  This is Rick Pettigrew, with you again bringing the latest weekly batch of top news stories that appeared on Archaeologica!  Send us feedback on The Archaeology Channel Facebook page or post a message on our social networking site, ArchaeoSeek!

A new excavation is under way in northern Sudan to explore a major urban complex of the ancient Kingdom of Meroe.  Some sharpened turkey bones found in Tennessee could be the oldest evidence of tattooing yet found in the world.  Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the location of a major search for mass burials that followed the harrowing violence of the Tulsa Race Massacre that happened a full century ago. And animal bones from sites across Israel are helping archaeologists figure out when the kosher dietary laws of Judaism began to be observed.

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Welcome to the Audio News from Archaeologica!  I’m Laura Pettigrew, and these are the headlines in archaeological and historical news from Archaeologica for the week of May 23rd through the 29th, 2021.

Our first story this week comes from northern Sudan, where archaeologists continue to find artifacts from the Meroe kingdom built by the Black Pharaohs some 2,500 years ago.

The research is part of an ongoing cooperation between France and Sudan, aiming to protect Sudan’s archaeological heritage from looting and environmental damage.  

The Sudanese antiquities service has already identified 160 sites along the Nile Valley that may be endangered by flooding.

The relationship between French and Sudanese archeologists has a history of more than 50 years, and involves archaeological excavations, site preservation efforts and museum presentations. 

As reported by French radio station RFI, the work is dedicated to raising awareness of the sites for the people of Sudan, protecting the archaeological record for posterity, and providing tourism opportunities in coming years. 

This project comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns that halted most archaeological digs and prevented tourist travel worldwide.

The team, led by Marc Maillot, director of the French archaeological unit of the Sudan Antiquities Service, has now begun a dig in Damboya, some 270 km north of Khartoum. 

The 20-hectare Merotic urban site dates back to the 1st century AD, and is considered an important example of construction during the period.  Statuary adorned with lions, faience [FY-ahns] boxes, gilded beds, and fragments of hovering tables were identified among the ruins.

The functional layout of the site makes it unique from other previously discovered sites, and accurate mapping of the ancient urban landscape in the coming months may allow for a deeper understanding of daily life here between BC 300 and AD 300. 

One of the major differences between Sudanese sites from this period and other sites found in Egypt and elsewhere is the lack of found texts or written records, forcing researchers to rely on the archaeological record alone. 

As human activity encroaches on anthropological sites, some research opportunities are permanently lost.  Illegal gold mining and looting at sites across Sudan have caused problems for accurate age estimation and preservation of the remaining antiquities. 

A new, less repressive, Sudanese government hopes to create a vested interest in the heritage of the region.  Interest from the local residents helps to protect the sites from being looted, and their preservation becomes a source of civic pride and potential employment. 

With governmental and archaeological support, and buy-in from the local population, some sites in Sudan stand a better chance of remaining intact and providing a better understanding of the culture of the region’s past inhabitants.

For those interested in the Kingdom of Meroe, you can see lots more on the subject in the film, “The Kingdom of Meroe,” available on our subscription platform, Heritage Broadcasting Service, at heritagetac.org.

ScienceNews.com is reporting on a study of bone tools and other artifacts found near Nashville, Tennessee, that were likely used by Native Americans for ancient tattooing practices.

The story details a study to be published in the June 2021 issue of the Journal of Anthropological Science, and focuses on the analysis of two turkey leg bones with sharpened ends.  

Microscopic study showed evidence of red and black pigmentation and wear patterns indicating they were used between 5,520 and 3,620 years ago. 

The bones were analyzed by archaeologist Aaron Deter-Wolf and his colleagues at the Tennessee Division of Archaeology in Nashville.  Excavations in 1985 revealed the elements of a probable tattoo kit in a man’s burial pit at Tennessee’s Fernvale site.

The wear patterns resemble those of previously observed prototype tattoo needles, and the separate results from experimentation using sharpened deer bones on pig skins demonstrates their ability to be used as tattooing needles.

This find moves North American tattooing traditions more than a millennium prior to their previously recognized date.  This is also some of the earliest known evidence of tattooing anywhere in the world.

For comparison, Ötzi the Iceman, who lived in Europe about 5,250 years ago, previously had shown the oldest clear evidence of tattooing, on his own skin.  However, the tattoo needles were not found with him. 

Also found within the burial were pigment-stained seashells which may have held the red and black pigment used for tattooing with the sharpened turkey bones.

The scientists surmise that two other turkey wing bones found in the same Fernvale gravesite display microscopic wear and pigment residues that likely resulted from applying pigment during tattooing.

Our third story takes us to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the centennial anniversary of the destruction of the Greenwood district is being marked amid ongoing efforts to discover and identify victims’ remains.

One of the worst instances of racial violence and hatred in American history, The Tulsa Race Massacre occurred on May 30, 1921, with an estimated death toll of hundreds of people and hundreds more wounded. 

The attack on the Greenwood neighborhood, a district of 11,000 residents dubbed “the Black Wall Street,” led to the deaths of African Americans at the hands of a white mob.

The massacre, spurred by an alleged altercation between a young black man and a white woman, left the entire community burned to the ground.  For a 24-hour period the area was essentially a war zone where munitions dropped from private planes and lawless mobs with machine guns left a wake of devastation.

After 100 years, researchers are still trying to locate potential burial sites for its victims.  

As reported by ScienceNews.com, a mass grave that may hold the massacre victims was identified in October 2020, and the goals of identification and reunification of the remains with their families became possible. 

The careful excavation of remains begins in June 2021.  Bones and artifacts can be analyzed to determine identification, and learn more about what happened during the riot.  Trauma patterns, gender markers and DNA analysis will be used to identify any remains.  

The sites of the mass grave were identified using photographic records and numerous tips and interviews with over 300 people, and three potential sites were identified. 

For the surveys, the team used a gradiometer to measure subtle magnetic variations in soil.  Researchers deployed an electrical resistivity meter, which sends electric currents into the ground to detect differences in the soil moisture.

Additionally, ground-penetrating radar, which can detect underground anomalies, was used to provide clues about the size and depth of subterranean chambers.

One of the sites revealed steps dug into the dirt, suggesting a mass burial site.  They found twelve coffins at the site, but evidence suggests the possibility of at least three more. 

The fact that mass graves were used for people who perished from the 1918 influenza pandemic has further complicated efforts.

The focus of the project, moving forward, is to find lost ancestors and to honor those murdered during the massacre.  Residents of present-day Tulsa may then better understand who perished and begin to heal from the events of 100 years ago. 

We end this week’s news with research on the archaeological history of the Kosher diet that’s being reported at SmithsonianMag.com. 

The complex set of Hebrew laws of Kashrut contained in the Torah outline foods suitable for human consumption, now commonly referred to as Kosher foods.  Archaeologist Yonatan Adler, of Israel’s Ariel University, seeks to explain why non-Kosher food remains would be present in ancient Judea.

Adler has been working on the Origins of Judaism Archaeological Project, which aims to find out precisely when ancient Judeans began to observe the laws of Torah, including dietary rules.  

The remains of three non-kosher aquatic creatures have turned up in two ancient Judean settlements.  Evidence of catfish, skate and shark remains contribute to curiosity around the adoption of dietary rules and peoples’ adherence to them during ancient times. 

Published in the journal, Tel Aviv, this study found that, based on the evidence of food waste discovered here, Judeans were not fully adhering to kosher regulations as currently practiced for much of the 1st millennium BC. 

Adler argues that the currently accepted practices were not written in the Torah or followed widely until 140 BC.  With the exception of the societal elite, most individuals were likely illiterate, so the meaning of written law may have been poorly understood, and therefore the implementation of these rules would have evolved over time.

The team used an existing database of about 100,000 fish remains from dozens of sites across Israel, spanning some 10,000 years.  From the entire collection, they examined about 20,000 individual specimens of calcified cartilaginous vertebrae and teeth.

The impressive collection was in the possession of co-author Omri Lernau, a senior research fellow at Haifa University and Israel’s top authority on all things fish.

During the Persian Period, which lasted from 539 to 332 BC, well after Moses is said to have received his commandments, ancient Judeans continued to consume catfish and other non-kosher species.  By Roman times, from 63 BC to AD 324, evidence of these scaleless creatures mostly disappeared from the archaeological record. 

Other researchers’ discovery of pig bones suggests similar dates for the adaption of Kosher dietary laws at other sites across the region.  Pork is another type of non-kosher food, yet some digs have yielded a number of pig remains.

Lernau and Adler hope that their paper will not only add to the existing knowledge about ancient Judeans, but also will inspire more archeologists to search for fish bones and other food remains for more evidence during future excavations.

That wraps up the news for this week!

For more stories and daily news updates, visit Archaeologica on the World Wide Web at www.archaeologica.org where all the news is history!

I’m Laura Pettigrew and I’ll see you next week!