Welcome back, everybody!  This is Rick Pettigrew to hand off our four fascinating 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!

Our stories this time cover a rare, 5000-year-old textile fragment in Bulgaria; a unique Maya patolli game board in Guatemala; a 2000-year-old stone labyrinth in India; and a fragmentary stone tablet in the Czech Republic with an ancient Hittite cuneiform inscription.

Thanks to everyone for supporting our subscription platform, Heritage Broadcasting Service, available at heritagetac.org.  We now have hundreds of titles you can binge upon on Roku, including our recent video series about searching for the lost aircraft of Amelia Earhart.  Please help us spread the word!  Again, that link is heritagetac.org.

Our tour program, TAC Tours, will continue in February 2026 with our tour of spectacular sites from the impressive civilizations of Cambodia, including Angkor Wat.  You can still join us for that!  The link to our tour program is at archaeologychannel.org/tours.

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 December 21st through the 27th, 2025.

Our first story this week comes from Magura Cave in northwestern Bulgaria, where archaeologists have uncovered rare textile fragments around 5,000 years old.  This new information adds valuable information on the prehistoric wall paintings for which it was already famous.

As reported by the Bulgarian News Agency, researchers found the fragments within an archaeological structure radiocarbon dated to the Early Bronze Age, between 3300 and 3000 BC.  Previously, this period was represented archaeologically with artifacts only from the Devetashka [de-ve-TASH-ka] Cave in north-central Bulgaria.

Researchers from the National Academy of Art have conducted fabric analysis on the samples, determining that they were made from hemp, a material utilized during the Early Bronze Age along with wool and flax. 

According to research director, Dr. Vanya Stavreva, the find, while not unique, is very rare.  Expert knowledge of prehistoric textile production largely comes from artifacts like spindle whorls and ceramic loom weights, not fabric samples.  This makes Magura Cave a very important find for the history not only of Bulgaria, but of textile production globally.

The high humidity and constant temperature within Magura Cave helps create a fantastic environment for preserving organic materials, which often disappear in less favorable conditions.  These organic materials have helped provide radiocarbon dates over the last three years that have extended the timeline of habitation over a transitional period between the Copper Age, which ended around 3500 BC, and the Early Bronze Age.

The Municipality of Belogradchik in Vidin Province has partnered with a team of archaeologists to conduct excavations over the next three years.  The artifacts are currently on display at the Belogradchik Historical Museum, but in the future, officials plan to display some artifacts inside the cave.

In February 2026, the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia will hold an exhibit that will include artifacts from the Magura Cave for the first time.  These artifacts will include the new textile samples, bone artifacts, and a restored ceramic vessel.

Next, we go to the Maya city of Naachtun [nah-atch-TOON] in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala, where researchers have analyzed a unique patolli game board with a mosaic design.  This board is the first example of a mosaic patolli board, so it may offer valuable insights into patolli.

As reported by Phys.org, Naachtun was a regional capital during the Classic Period, between AD 250 and 900..  Excavations in 2023 unearthed the board within a floor mosaic of a building structure.  Part of the board was destroyed, but archaeologists Dr. Julien Hiquet [hee-KETT] and Dr. Rémi Méreuze [MAY-ree-euz] determined it was a patolli board.  

According to Dr. Hiquet, patolli boards are cross-shaped and covered in rectangles.  Spanish historical records indicate that the Mexica in central Mexico played patolli with blue and red pebbles as counters.  They also used patol beans marked on one side for dice, which are the origin of patolli’s name.  The team did not find any counters near this board. 

Archaeologists estimate that this board was around 78 centimeters wide by 110 centimeters long.  The surface held 45 squares made from 478 red tesserae, or mosaic tiles.  These tesserae likely came from broken ceramics.

Nearly all patolli boards are scratched or painted, and this discovery is the only known board with a mosaic design.  The researchers tentatively date its creation to the Early Classic Period.  That makes it one of the earliest known patolli boards discovered so far.

The board’s uniqueness also makes it puzzling why the builders covered some of the board with a thin wall.  This hints that the board was used only between the construction of the floor and the making of the wall.  The builders may have used it for leisure, but researchers question why the board would be so elaborate.

The team has proposed two hypotheses.  The first idea is that builders used the board during a construction banquet sponsored by wealthy patrons.  In preindustrial societies, elites could pay laborers for private construction projects via festivals with elaborate meals and entertainment.  The second hypothesis is that the structure holding the board was a ballcourt.  Historical codices indicate a relationship between patolli and ballgames, where patolli boards can be seen as ballcourts. 

Archaeologists will continue excavating at Naachtun, which hopefully will provide more clues about the original purpose of the board.  The study appeared in the journal Latin American Antiquity.

Our third story takes us to the Borami grasslands in the Solapur district of western India, where archaeologists have uncovered a large circular stone labyrinth, believed to be the largest in the country.  The labyrinth may have been involved in intercultural trade.

As reported by Heritage Daily, a team of wildlife conservation researchers discovered the labyrinth while conducting fieldwork and then notified archaeologists.  The structure measures approximately 50 by 50 feet.  It contains 15 concentric stone rings that lead visitors inside to the central spiral.

According to Jeff Saward, an expert on labyrinths and an editor at Caerdroia - the Journal of Mazes & Labyrinths, the new discovery belongs to the classical labyrinth tradition, involving a single continuous path.   However, the central spiral, known as a chakravyuh [chuk-RUH-vyuh], is unique to India.

The Hindu epic known as the Mahabharata [mah-haa-BAA-rah-tah] describes the chakravyuh as a complex military formation that allows defenders to overwhelm enemies with multiple defensive layers.  Its similarity to a labyrinth has been well known for a long time.

Archaeologists have dated the labyrinth's creation to around 2000 years ago during the Satavahana [sah-taa-vah-HAA-nah] dynasty.  The Satavahana were known for their extensive trade and cultural exchange.

Experts propose that the labyrinth indicates exchange with the broader ancient world.  Rome had established links with India along the coast, where they exchanged ideas and goods.  However, the similarity between certain designs on Roman coins and the new labyrinth hints that these relationships continued farther inland.

The project archaeologist, Sachin Patil, suggests that Roman merchants traveling inland may have used labyrinths as navigational or symbolic markers.  They would trade gold, wine and precious ornaments for Indian silk, spices and indigo dye.  Further research is needed to confirm the importance of labyrinths in trade networks and relationships.

We end our week in a cave in the Czech Republic, where archaeologists have found a stone fragment with cuneiform writing.  This unprecedented find might be a hoax, or it might bring up incredible links between Anatolia and prehistoric Europe.

As reported by the Greek Reporter, researchers found the artifact in Kateřinská [kah-the-ZHIN-skah] Cave in the Moravian Karst nature preserve just north of Brno.  The new fragment is similar to stone fragments excavated in 2021 in terms of thickness, material, composition and carving.  Researchers suggest that the pieces came from an object that originally depicted deities reminiscent of Hittite deities from a sanctuary in modern Turkey.

The Czech Caves Administration verified the stone fragment.  Preliminary dating indicates that the original object came from central Anatolia, which was the most important region for the Hittite Empire around 1500 BC. 

However, during this period, Central Europe practiced different religious traditions from the Hittites and did not have an established writing system.  The presence of a Hittite fragment is bizarre and brings up several chronological and cultural contradictions.  Researchers currently posit two alternatives for the fragment’s origins.

The first hypothesis is that previously unknown trade or ritual networks brought the artifact to Central Europe.  If archaeologists uncover more evidence to prove this idea, it might disprove current notions of prehistoric European isolation. 

However, since the cave has been extensively explored since the nineteenth century, the second option is that the fragment is a hoax.  According to Petr Zajíček of the Czech Caves Administration, if the fragment is indeed a hoax, it would still be considered an important archaeological moment.

Whether or not the new discovery is authentic, Kateřinská Cave is still an incredibly valuable archaeological site that has been studied since 2016.  Researchers have discovered 15 charcoal drawings inside that form some of the oldest cave art in the Czech Republic.  They have also discovered 8000-year-old Neolithic ornaments made of snail shells as well as a medieval counterfeiter’s workshop.  The story of this discovery will only add to the rich history of the site.

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!