Welcome back, everybody!  I’m Rick Pettigrew, and we’re about to reveal our four top news stories from this past week of Archaeologica.  Send us feedback on The Archaeology Channel Facebook page or post a message on our social networking site, ArchaeoSeek!

Archaeologists in Crete uncovered traces of what appears to be a Sacred Gate, which would be a first for an important Minoan palace.  New research points to Carpathian Mountains copper miners as the inventors of the wheel.  A LiDAR survey in the Amazon has located a forgotten historic settlement.  And a LiDAR survey in Central Asia has identified a Silk Road urban center at a surprisingly high elevation.

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And now, here’s Laura Kennedy with the Audio News from Archaeologica!  We hope you find this to be a valuable part of your day!

Welcome to the Audio News from Archaeologica!  I’m Laura Kennedy, and these are the headlines in archaeological and historical news for the week of October 20th through the 26th, 2024.

We begin this week on the island of Crete, where archaeologists have unearthed a surprising discovery at a palace belonging to the Minoans, the oldest civilization in Europe. 

As reported by Arkeo News, the excavations took place at the Archanes [ahr-KAH-nayz] palace, which was built around 1900 BC. The site, discovered in the 1960s, is 15 kilometers south of Knossos Palace, the largest Minoan palace on the island.  

The team was led by Dr. Efi Sapouna-Sakellarakis, an archaeologist who has studied ancient culture for decades. Aiming to deepen their understanding of the palace complex's remains, the team created a three-story-tall depiction of the palace in its heyday.

The recent excavations show that Four altars and two arms of a stone platform accompany a sanctuary in front of the palace's main entrance. These striking characteristics highlight the site's religious significance and would have formed a Portico Sanctuary, or Sacred Gate. This feature has never been discovered in any Minoan palace before.

Additionally, four bronze hooks and charred wood remnants came to light, indicating that the hooks may have been used to support a wooden figure in the upper part of a room. Excavations of the external platform also revealed a pyramid-shaped base and locations where two axes would have been placed.

Sanctuaries were a common feature of Minoan building entrances and have been found at other sites that honored local deities. One notable example is the cult of Eileithyia Prothyraia [ee-LEE-thee-ah pro-thee-RYE-ah], a Cretan goddess who guarded thresholds and represented the connection between sacred and profane ground.

These findings reinforce the importance of Archanes in Minoan Crete, both for cultural and religious purposes.

Next, we go to Eastern Europe, where a new study investigates the influence of copper mining on the development of the wheel.

As reported by Live Science, a research team comprising archaeologists and engineers used computational mechanics and design science to explore innovations in wheel technology. The study was published in the journal, Royal Society Open Science. 

Although the invention of the wheel was one of the most pivotal technological advances in human history, archaeologists still do not fully understand its exact origins. Evidence of wheels and wheeled vehicles throughout Europe, Asia, and northern Africa dates back to the Copper Age, including illustrations of battle scenes, children's toys and references to wheels in text.  It's unclear whether there was a single place and time of invention or if multiple groups developed the wheel independently.

Debate centers around three proposals for the creation of the wheel: its initial appearance in Mesopotamia around 4000 BC before spreading to Europe, development around the northern coast of Turkey around 3800 BC, and invention in the Carpathian Mountains between 4000 and 3500 BC before spreading in multiple directions.

Richard Bulliet, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, first put forth this last proposal in 2016.  A co-author of the new study, he posited that copper mining spurred the need for more efficient transport methods, leading to the development of the wheel. Late Copper Age wagons in the Carpathian region share a similar design to modern mining cars.

Starting with their knowledge of ancient wheel systems, the team tested various methods that people might have used to turn a simple set of rollers into a wheel-and-axle system. They concluded that the wheel likely evolved in three stages as miners searched for the most efficient way to move a heavy basket or box.

Initially, they would have placed rollers under a box and pushed it forward, continuously retrieving the rollers left behind to put them back under the item.  

They would have found that grooved rollers allowed the box to rest on the rollers while moving back and forth, before developing a set of wheels fixed to an axle that would bring the box higher off the ground. 

Finally, they would have built wheels that could move independently of the axle, making the cart even easier to maneuver. This development likely came 500 years later.  

According to Kai James, an aerospace engineer at Georgia Tech, these increasingly energy-efficient designs were likely influenced by the narrow, enclosed nature of the Carpathian mines.

We now make our way to the Amazon, where archaeologists have used LiDAR technology to identify a lost colonial settlement from the 18th century.

As reported by Heritage Daily, the discovery was made through the work of the Amazônia Revelada project, which brings together local researchers who are members of the regions' indigenous and traditional peoples.  

The team conducted LiDAR flights using the remote sensing technique that employs a pulsed laser to create a 3D map of the landscape below.  Peering through the thick vegetation, they found traces of a street system.

According to Eduardo Neves, director of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography at the University of São Paulo, this settlement appears on contemporary 18th-century maps of the colonial Portuguese Amazon region.  However, it was forgotten after its inhabitants abandoned the area after 300 years of colonial rule.

Two additional discoveries come from the state of Rondônia.  One of these was a stone structure encircling a number of geometric features—linear features which appear to be roads, as well as square and circular shapes.  A reticular-shaped feature also appeared, which archaeologists plan to investigate further.

Neves posits that these areas may have been used for agriculture or living spaces.  Further excavations will be needed to better understand their purpose. Similar formations have appeared in other regions, including Bolivia, but this is the first time they have been located in Brazil.

Finally, we arrive in the mountains of eastern Uzbekistan, where archaeologists have identified hundreds of undocumented medieval structures along the famed Silk Road. The study, which centers on the network of ancient trade routes that spanned Eurasia, appeared in Nature.

As reported by Newsweek, the research team examined two high-altitude settlements. Tashbulak, first identified in 2011, dates between the 8th and 11th centuries. Tugunbulak, the larger of the two sites, was first discovered in 2015 and was likely occupied from the sixth to the 11th centuries. 

The research team conducted LiDAR flights over the two sites, using the remote sensing method to create 3D models of each area.  They found evidence of more than 300 previously undocumented man-made structures in Tugunbulak alone. These ranged from a central fortress to watchtowers connected with walls and evidence of terracing.

According to Michael Frachetti, a Professor of Archaeology at Washington University, St. Louis, and the study's lead author, the two cities were likely interconnected and part of a wider urban network.  What was previously considered a large trading town nestled in the mountains may have been a major node along the Silk Roads.

It is rare for a large urban center to exist at such a high altitude—between 2,000 and 2,200 meters above sea level.  Urbanization typically occurs near reliable rivers that sustain the agriculture and infrastructure needed to support a large population.

According to Zachary Silvia, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Brown University, this is the first—and likely only—ancient or medieval city found at this elevation in Central Asia.  Only 3 percent of the world's population lives above that level today, and even fewer are in an urban setting.

LiDAR models often produce what's known as a "palimpsest [PAL-imp-sest] effect," where structures are superimposed on top of one another.  Other tools, including geophysics, can help the research team determine whether these new archaeological features were contemporary with one another.  This insight will deepen our understanding of urbanization in the region.

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! Also, be sure to check out our new subscription platform, Heritage Broadcasting Service, at heritagetac.org!

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