Welcome back, everybody!  This is Rick Pettigrew.  Stay tuned for 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 new study offers evidence that whoever made the controversial Shroud of Turin placed it over a low-relief model of a human body, not an actual human body.  A dental analysis of medieval burials in England shows how malnutrition in childhood leads to poor health in adulthood as well as early death.  Archaeologists in Belize have found a distant source for the mineral palygorskite, a key ingredient of the unique ancient pigment, Maya Blue.   And excavators in the Czech Republic have unearthed an ancient Celtic settlement with a huge abundance of valuable items.

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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 July 27th through August 2nd, 2025.

We begin this week with a new modeling study that is testing a long-held hypothesis about the creation of the famed Shroud of Turin.

As reported by Live Science, this linen shroud was first documented in the late 14th century, immediately sparking debate over whether it was an authentic relic from the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.  In 1989, researchers carbon-dated the artifact to between AD 1260 and 1390, indicating that it was a medieval creation rather than a first-century artifact. 

Archaeologists have long noted that the print on the shroud—of the front and back of a man’s body—would be difficult to create through contact with a three-dimensional body.  It was likely that the print came from the fabric being placed on a low-relief model of a human body.  Depictions of religious figures in this style were common during this period of European medieval history. 

Cicero Moraes, a Brazilian designer specializing in historical facial reconstructions, used a digital model to compare the effect of draping fabric over a human body with that of a low-relief sculpture.  As he detailed in his findings, published in the journal Archaeometry, the cloth he had virtually draped over the low-relief model was a nearly exact match with photos of the shroud taken in 1931. 

According to Moraes, the relief may have been made of wood, stone or metal.  To produce the observed pattern of the individual’s body, it may have been pigmented or heated in the spots that made contact with the linen.

He favors the explanation that the shroud was made for funerary purposes, serving as a masterpiece work of Christian art. 

Next, we head to England, where a new dental study of individuals buried in London and Lincolnshire [LEEN-kun shur] is illuminating the effects of childhood malnutrition on long-term health and life expectancy. 

As reported by Phys.org, the research team led by Julia Beaumont from the University of Bradford analyzed the remains of 275 individuals who lived during the period surrounding the Black Death.  This pandemic, which occurred from 1348 to 1350, was part of a turbulent period marked by the Little Ice Age, leading to years of famine.  Those individuals also faced another epidemic, known as the Great Bovine Pestilence, which killed two-thirds of cattle in England and Wales. 

Their findings, published in the journal Science Advances, indicate that early nutritional stress can influence an individual’s health outcomes well beyond childhood. 

The research team examined the dentin on each individual’s teeth, the hard layer underneath the enamel that records the early diet.  They were able to identify those who grew up during the years of famine by noticing a signature in their dentin: rising nitrogen levels combined with either stable or decreasing carbon levels. This happens as a child’s body breaks down fat reserves and muscles to keep growing. 

As these children reached adulthood during the plague, the research team discovered that their mortality rates differed from those who had not experienced malnutrition in their youth. 

Those who experienced early nutritional deprivation, growing into adulthood with shorter stature and an increased capacity to store fat, experienced a short-term benefit as their bodies were better equipped to handle the turbulent years.  Past the age of 30, however, they were more likely to die than their peers who had grown up with proper nutrition. 

Beyond early mortality, nutritional stress in childhood has been linked to illnesses ranging from heart disease to diabetes—conditions that can be inherited by future generations. As children around the world face similar nutritional crises today, studies like these can help us understand the long-term impacts of failure to intervene in such circumstances and thereby prevent their suffering.  

We now make our way to western Belize, where archaeologists are investigating the creation process of an iconic ancient pigment: Maya Blue.  Researchers have learned that the ancient Maya created this distinctive color, ranging from turquoise to a blue-green, by mixing organic indigo with inorganic palygorskite — a technique that gives the color more stability when exposed to sunlight and acids.  As a result, even centuries-old uses of the pigment have remained vibrant in the tropical lowlands of Mesoamerica, one of the harshest climates in the world. 

As reported by Phys.org, archaeologists have long been uncertain whether the palygorskite used to make this pigment was sourced from local mines or imported from elsewhere.  

Dr. Dean Arnold led a research team comprising Joseph Ball, Laure Dussbieux, and Jennifer Tachek that analyzed samples of Maya Blue from ceremonial vessels unearthed in Buenavista del Cayo.  These items date from the Late Classic to the early Terminal Classic periods, roughly from AD 680 to 790, when this settlement served as a medium-sized hub of activity. 

Their findings, published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica, show that the palygorskite used to decorate the items from Buenavista was mined in Salacum—a site in present-day Mexico more than 375 kilometers away.

Given the distance, the palygorskite likely traveled to Buenavista via maritime routes along the Yucatan coast or the Belize River.  According to Ball, this method would have been faster, safer and more efficient than making the journey on land.

For the Maya, this blue was a sacred color connected to sacrifice, rain, water, and fertility.  According to 16th-century reports from Bishop Diego de Landa, the Maya often painted their human sacrifices and sacrificial altars blue.

In the 1960s, researchers working at Chichén Itzà [chee-CHEN eet-ZAH] found an offering vessel containing indigo, Maya Blue and palygorskite, along with melted copal incense.  As a result, they suggested that Maya Blue was a byproduct of the ritual burning of copal in the presence of indigo and palygorskite. 

Future avenues for research include looking into whether Maya settlements had multiple sources of palygorskite—and why Buenavista, a smaller region, had such abundant access to the pigment.

Finally, we end this week in the western Czech Republic, where archaeologists have unearthed one of the largest troves of ancient artifacts ever found in the region. 

As reported by Smithsonian Magazine, the excavations took place at an ancient Celtic settlement in the Bohemia region.  The site was first located last year near the city of Hradec Králové [HRAD-ek GRAH-loh-vah], where construction for a highway will begin soon.

Researchers from the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, the University of Hradec Králové, and Archaia Praha, an archaeological research company, collaborated to study the site.  They recovered a variety of treasures, including jewelry, silver and gold coins, glass beads, and ceramic fragments.  They also identified the foundations of multiple buildings, including dwellings, sanctuaries and manufacturing rooms—but did not find any fortifications to protect the settlement from potential attackers. 

The team also found fragments of amber, which was commonly used in high-quality jewelry, indicating that the settlement’s inhabitants participated in the trading system that carried amber from the Baltic and the North seas to Central Europe. 

According to Matouš Holas, an archaeologist at the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, the volume of the recovered items—about 13,000 bags worth—supports their hypothesis that this site functioned as a central hub for economic and social activity in its day.  

The 62-acre settlement was likely established in the 4th century BC.  Known as the La Tène Period, this phase of the late Iron Age saw the Celts spread throughout much of Europe.

Historians have long posited that the Celts who lived in Bohemia were members of the Boii [BOY-ee] tribe, after whom Bohemia is named.  However, it’s uncertain whether the Boii inhabited this specific site. 

Despite the significant amount of belongings that the settlement’s inhabitants left behind, the research team found no evidence that a violent event led to its abandonment around the first century BC. 

The Museum of Eastern Bohemia, where the artifacts are currently being cleaned, analyzed and documented, will open a small exhibition displaying the items in the next few months. 

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!