🧐 Ancient Beat #133: Proto writing, submerged temples, and unexpected fingerprints

Hi folks! Welcome to issue #133 of Ancient Beat! A lot of cool finds this week — it was tough to pick the top 5. Let’s dive right in.

Here’s the latest ancient news. 👇

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🗞 Ancient News: Top 5

• Archaeologists Discover Submerged Nabataean Temple Off Italy’s Coast — In a groundbreaking discovery near Pozzuoli, Italy, archaeologists have unearthed a submerged Nabataean temple estimated to be at least 2,000 years old, marking the first known Nabataean temple found outside the Middle East. Built by Arabian immigrants from the Nabataean culture, the temple features two large marble altars and internal pathways connecting submerged rooms. This find not only illuminates the Nabataean's extensive trade networks but also their cultural integration within the Roman Empire, showcasing their ability to maintain religious practices while adopting local building techniques.

• Oldest Depictions of Fishing Discovered in Ice Age Art — The Ice Age camp site of Gönnersdorf, located on the Rhine's banks, has unearthed engravings on schist plaquettes depicting sophisticated fish traps, dating back 15,800 years. This discovery includes grid-like patterns interpreted as nets, marking the earliest evidence of net or trap fishing in European prehistory. The site, renowned for its rich trove of prehistoric art featuring animals like wild horses and wooly rhinos, now also highlights fishing's role in Paleolithic diets and its symbolic importance. These engravings not only enrich our understanding of Ice Age art but suggest that fishing technologies may have origins much older than previously documented. The findings, enhanced by new imaging methods like Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), also explore the potential influence of natural plaquette shapes on artistic expression, suggesting artists may have leveraged natural features to guide their depictions, a phenomenon known as pareidolia.

  

  Image credit: Robitaille et al

• Site Linked to King Arthur Older Than Previously Known — Recent excavations at King Arthur’s Hall on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, have revealed that the monument dates back approximately 5,000 to 5,500 years, placing its construction in the Neolithic period. This challenges earlier beliefs that it was a medieval structure. The site comprises standing stones sourced locally, arranged in a rectangular formation. Sediment core analysis, including radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating, confirmed its ancient origins. Evidence suggests the site underwent multiple phases of use and renovation, extending into the medieval era.

• Fingerprints on Ancient Terracotta Figurines Show Men, Women and Children Worked on Figurines — A recent study analyzed fingerprints on terracotta figurines from Thonis-Heracleion, an ancient Egyptian port city active between the 7th and 2nd centuries BCE. Using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), researchers examined nine figurines with preserved fingerprints. Ridge density analysis indicated that both adults and children, including males and females, participated in crafting these artifacts. This finding challenges the assumption that figurine production was exclusively a male profession in ancient Egypt.

• Study Investigates the Origins of Writing — Researchers have traced the development of proto-cuneiform script to designs on Mesopotamian cylinder seals from around 6,000 years ago. These seals, used to record the production, storage, and transport of goods, were rolled onto clay tablets to create impressions. In the ancient city of Uruk, located in present-day southern Iraq, scribes developed proto-cuneiform around 3000 BCE. The study identified that certain seal designs, particularly those related to pottery and textile transport, evolved into specific proto-cuneiform signs with corresponding meanings. This discovery highlights the direct connection between early seal imagery and the emergence of written language in Mesopotamia.

That’s it for the free Top 5! If you’re a free subscriber, sign up for the paid plan for another 20 discoveries and 5 recommended pieces of content covering the oldest known ochre mine (48,000 years old), early fishers, aurochs, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and pottery at a pre-pottery site. .

Until next time, thanks for joining me!

-James
Twitter: @jamesofthedrum

P.S. If you want access but it’s a little too steep for you right now, just email me — I want this to be accessible.

P.P.S. Paid members, read on!

🗞 Ancient News: Deep Dive