Welcome back, everybody!  I’m Rick Pettigrew.  Hang on to hear about 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!

A study of Mesopotamian cylinder seals shows how their glyphs were the origin of the cuneiform writing system.  DNA analysis of Pompeii body casts poke holes in previous interpretations of the people who were encased in the ash.  Inscribed stone tablets from an important Ice Age site in Germany appear to show the act of fishing, with both fish and fishing nets.  And a burial mound on Peru’s north coast reveals 76 victims of child sacrifice.

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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 November 3rd through the 9th, 2024.

Our first story this week takes us back to the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk [UR-uhk] in southern Iraq, where researchers have connected ancient cylinder seals with the development of proto-cuneiform script. 

As reported by Phys.org, Uruk was an important city throughout the fourth millennium BC.  Its power ranged over a wide region from southwestern Iran to southeastern Turkey.  The city created a proto-cuneiform script around 3000 BC.  Proto-cuneiform involved hundreds of pictographic signs.  Today, the meaning of over half of these signs is unknown. 

Beginning in the mid-fourth millennium BC, Uruk used engraved cylinder seals made of stone to stamp images on clay tablets.  These tablets were important for record keeping, as they tracked how various goods were made, stored and transported. This included agricultural and textile products.  Uruk also used proto-cuneiform in accounting systems. 

According to Silvia Ferrara, professor in the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies at the University of Bologna and lead researcher, archaeologists have long known about the relationship between seals and the creation of writing in southwest Asia.  However, they had not established links between specific seal images and sign shapes. 

The team of researchers from the University of Bologna examined a comprehensive sample of southwest Asian seals from 4400-3400 BC.  They compared the markings on the seals with proto-cuneiform signs, emphasizing seals that existed before writing.  The team identified seal markings related to transporting pottery and textiles that evolved into proto-cuneiform signs.  This evidence indicates that meanings in the cylinder seals and in proto-cuneiform are related.

According to Professor Ferrara, the conceptual leap between symbolism and the development of writing systems is an important step in human cognitive technologies.  This research sheds new light on the creation of writing systems and the role that symbolic systems play.  The hope is that this new study will allow researchers to learn more about the meaning of the cylinder seals and the unknown proto-cuneiform signs. 

It's challenging to interpret seal images and signs, and not everyone agrees on how they were used.  Still, contextual evidence can help determine how seals contributed to the invention of writing. 

The study appeared in the journal Antiquity.  

Next, we go to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in Italy to rethink its grisly plaster casts.  Researchers from Harvard Medical School, the University of Florence, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have used DNA analysis to debunk previous assumptions about the people represented in those casts.  The study demonstrates the dangers of using modern views to analyze history. 

As reported in a press release from Harvard University, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 buried Pompeii under a thick layer of ash.  The ash compacted around the bodies of some unlucky inhabitants and preserved their shapes as the soft tissue decayed.  Later researchers filled in these outlines with plaster, creating 104 plaster casts to date. 

An international team of researchers analyzed the DNA of the remaining skeletal material in 14 of the casts to discover the genetic relationships, sex and ancestry of the individuals.  The remains showed various genomic backgrounds, demonstrating the diversity of Pompeii’s population, as well as that of the larger Roman Empire.  Many of the citizens of Pompeii were descendants of recent immigrants from the eastern Mediterranean. 

The DNA analysis also upended many prior assumptions about the individuals based on their physical appearances and the positions they held in their final moments. 

According to study co-author, Professor David Reich of Harvard University, an adult with a gold bracelet and holding a child was previously thought to be a mother with a  child.  The new analysis shows that the adult was a male holding a child who had no relation to him.  The analysis showed another pair who were thought to be sisters or mother and daughter, but at least one of the two in the pair was a male. 

Researchers’ preconceived thoughts about the casts had shaped their interpretations.  Changes in the stylization of the casting process over time, the removal of bones, and restoration-enhancing features have all altered the original interpretation of the Pompeii body casts.  For example, bunched up clothing around the abdomen may create the impression of a pregnant woman.

According to Dr. Alissa Mittnik, study co-author from Harvard University, this study is important for carefully considering the interpretation of archaeological data and ancient societies.  The findings of this study show the importance of genetic analysis in archaeological studies to avoid misinterpreting data because of modern assumptions.  The genetic diversity of the Pompeii body casts also reveals how mobile and cosmopolitan the Roman Empire was.  

This study appeared in the journal Current Biology. 

Our third story takes us to the Ice Age site of Gönnersdorf in Germany, where a team of researchers came up with the earliest known depictions of fishing.  The images at Gönnersdorf might hint that fishing nets were important for cultural and symbolic reasons as well as being practical.

As reported by Heritage Daily, a team of archaeologists from the Leibniz Center for Archaeology and Durham University excavated the site.  Gönnersdorf is one of the most well-researched sites from the Magdalenian period, around 15,500 years ago.  The site was preserved by a layer of pumice from an eruption by the Laacher See [LAW-ker zay] volcano.  Previous excavations uncovered more than 81,000 artifacts, including tools, weapons, jewelry, and artistic objects. 

The team used Reflectance Transformation Imaging, or RTI, to examine the 406 engraved stone plaquettes from the site.  RTI is an advanced imaging technique that allows researchers to examine details that traditional methods cannot detect.  The team discovered eleven images that appear to depict ancient fishing practices, including eight images with grid designs believed to represent fishing nets.  Researchers had previously recognized four of the grid designs.  These grids are the earliest known European images of fishing nets. 

These engravings apparently began with the fish, which were followed by the grid, suggesting a deliberate artistic practice.  Other animal depictions at Gönnersdorf have a high degree of naturalism, which is common for Magdalenian art in the region.  However, these images are much simpler, reflecting a deliberate focus on abstraction and simplification.  This indicates that the images represent a more symbolic depiction of fishing rather than a naturalistic depiction of fish.

According to the Leibnitz Center, the engravings reveal individual artists with separate styles.  These images appear to show that Ice Age artists carefully considered the broader nature of fishing and how vital it was in shaping the social practices of Late Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers.  The minimalist artistic style of the fish engravings emphasizes the action of fishing instead of simply depicting fish.

This research provides the first evidence of net fishing during the Magdalenian period and emphasizes the complexity and ingenuity of Magdalenian fishing practices.  The study appeared in the online journal PLOS ONE. 

Finally, our last story takes us near the modern coastal city of Trujillo [troo-HEE-yoh] in northwestern Peru, where researchers opened up a burial mound containing 76 child and 2 adult sacrifice victims.  The victims were likely nonlocal workers who were sacrificed to improve the lands for agriculture.

As reported by Live Science, the burial mound is one of several sacrificial sites at Pampa La Cruz near Trujillo.  The sacrifices are connected to the Chimú, a pre-Inca people whose civilization flourished between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.  The Chimú are recognized for their artwork and textiles.

The burial mound is 197 feet long by 66 feet wide.  Inside, the children were buried naked.  Their chests were cut from collarbone to sternum and their ribs pried open.  Previous research at other sacrificial sites suggests that the ritual practitioners did this to reach their hearts.  Alongside the children were their clothes, silver and copper squares, ear ornaments, and Spondylus shells. 

According to Gabriel Prieto, researcher and assistant professor of archaeology at the University of Florida, the Chimú considered Spondylus shells more valuable than gold.  The shells originate in the territory of the Lambayeque [lam-bayek] farther north. This territory was home to many skilled metalworkers. 

A previous excavation in 2022 uncovered another 76 victims at the same site.  Analysis of those remains showed that the heads all had cranial modifications, a practice where an infant’s skull was remolded through the use of boards or head wraps.  While this practice existed among the Chimú, the higher degree of modification aligns more to Lambayeque practices.

Testing the clues of the victims’ origins, the researchers performed isotopic analysis on the remains.  The analysis concluded that some of the victims came from Lambayeque territory. 

The team suggests that the children belonged to people that the Chimú conquered, and were brought into the region to help improve agriculture.  As the Chimú broadened their territories into less arable land, they needed workers to build irrigation systems for growing food.  It’s likely that the laborers were sacrificed after finishing that work. 

According to Prieto, in Andean cosmology, dead people become ancestors who support the production and legitimacy of a given area.  The outsider status of the children may have added more strength to the revitalization of the land. 

The central Chimú government probably ordered the sacrifices.  The researchers hope to learn more about Chimú society through excavating their capital, Chan Chan, the largest pre-Columbian city in South America.  This site is on the itinerary of our planned tour of northern Peru, scheduled for October 2025.

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 growing subscription platform, Heritage Broadcasting Service, at heritagetac.org!

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