Ancient Origins Unleashed Debrief: The Most Ancient Fortress, Ingenious Neolithic Engineering, and a Pyramid Tomb!Top of Form
Greetings The Unleashed!
There have been some massive finds in the last couple of weeks, both in size and importance. The world’s oldest fortresses are changing our ideas on what went on in the Stone Age, AKA the Paleo-, Meso-, and Neo-lithics, otherwise known as a very long time ago indeed. The broader Stone Age actually denotes a period of 3.4 million years of hominin history, and ended just 4-6000 years ago, when we entered the age of metal (cue air guitar…). So, to find a fortress that was around when the only tools were stone is pretty awesome.
And there have been some other really old revelations too. The slightly younger Menga Dolmen has been found to have architectural and engineering aspects not known to have existed at the time.
And, well there is this pyramid in Kazakhstan that caused an unfounded stir a few years ago when certain news outlets exaggerated its age and size statistics somewhat. It was nowhere near the oldest pyramid, and at just 7 ft (2 meters) high…pyramid shaped yes, but pyramid? Hmm… Anyway, now they have reconstructed what is in fact a fancy tomb, it does look pretty cool.
And so, without further ado… to the Editor’s latest picks…
A fort-uitous find…
World’s Oldest Fortress Discovered in Siberia Challenges Traditional Archaeology
The world's oldest fortress has been discovered in Siberia, dating to 8,000 years ago. This defensive complex reveals an ancient class structure, and like Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, it challenges traditional views about the lifestyles of hunter-gatherers.
Built by hunters-gatherers in Siberia around 8,000 years ago, archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest fortress. Known as The Amnya I and II fortress, historians claim this structure will greatly assist them in understanding how complex hunter-gatherer societies evolved in the Mesolithic period.
Surrounded by sand on a bank of the Amnya River, sediment, soil, and debris analysis of a study recently published in Antiquity have determined that the defensive site was burned to the ground several times. Furthermore, the discovery of arrowheads in the outer ditch speaks of violent conflict in the region, as groups of hunter-gatherers battled for control of the most abundant fishing spots.
A report in IFLScience explains that between from 1987 and 2000, archaeologists identified a series of wooden palisades. These fence-like structures were crafted from wooden stakes, or logs driven into the ground, forming a fortification to protect a settlement or camp from external threats.
Colin Grier of Washington State University told Science.org that Amnya I is defined by the remains of “10 pit depressions.” A further 10 huts, found outside the fortified structure, suggest “a hierarchical structure.” While those in the inner fortified area enjoyed a degree of protection, those living outside, in Amnya II, served as a front line of defense.
Grier said this architectural format speaks of “property ownership and social inequality,” which he said people have been thinking about “since we became human”.
The Menga Dolmen really is mega!
Menga Dolmen Unveiled As “The Greatest Neolithic Engineering Marvel”
A team of archaeologists has deciphered the hidden Neolithic building dynamics within Spain’s 5,700-years-old Menga dolmen. Not only were sophisticated engineering and building methodologies discovered, but the tomb’s alignment with surrounding hills offered visitors an other-worldly light show.
“One of the greatest engineering feats of the Neolithic,” is how the Menga dolmen, in Antequera, Málaga, Spain, is described in a new study published in Scientific Reports. Dated to around 5,700 years ago, and located atop a hill with huge stones, this is the largest known megalithic structure built in what is today, Europe.
The authors, a multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, geologists and historians, have rigorously demonstrated how this ancient burial site was constructed using wood, ropes and cleared tracks.
One of the enormous menhirs within the structure is estimated to weigh more than 100 tons, so some well-planned methodologies were at play. The paper reveals not only how the burial mound was built, but from where the stones were sourced, and how they were transported, undamaged, to the top of the sacred hill.
The research team discovered that stones around the edges of the burial chamber were assembled in what they call “an interlocking fashion.” It was discovered that this specific design served as a system of water channels to divert, seepage, to prevent erosion and extend the longevity of the tomb. Furthermore, the new research reveals archaeoastronomical considerations in the structure’s orientations, for it was deliberately aligned with nearby mountains, “in a way that creates complex light patterns inside the chamber.”
Who gets buried in a pyramid like this?
Stunning 3,400-Year-Old Pyramid in Kazakhstan Was a Monument to a Deceased Leader
In 2016 the remains of a fascinating pyramid-shaped monument were discovered in the windswept and largely deserted Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan. This five-layered stepped structure was eventually put back together stone by stone, revealing it to have been a monumental mausoleum likely built sometime in the second millennium BC. After years of study and analysis, experts have now concluded that the pyramid-shaped tomb was constructed between 3,200 and 3,400 years ago as a burial site for an important leader of the Begazy-Dandybai people, a group linked to the ancient Andronovo culture that dominated Central Asia at that time.
The Karajartas mausoleum, as the structure is called, was built on the top of a hill overlooking the Taldy River in Karaganda’s Shet district. It was fully unearthed and reconstructed by archaeologists affiliated with the Saryarka Archaeological Institute at Karaganda State University, who’ve been studying this remarkable find, along with other ruins and artifacts excavated nearby, for the past seven years. While they’ve long suspected the mausoleum was a creation of the Late Bronze Age Begazy-Dandybai culture, the latest research confirms this and helps establish a timeline for when these industrious people actually occupied the region.
The most recent conclusions about the mausoleum’s age and purpose were announced by Dr. Aibar Kassenali, one of the leaders of the ongoing excavations. Dr. Kassenali explained that carbon-14 dating tests have shown that the pyramidal structure must have been built between the 14th and 12th centuries BC. This makes it contemporary with other pyramid-shaped mausoleums in the region, which were also constructed by the Begazy-Dandybai people (although not necessarily at the same time).
Based on how challenging the construction of such an elaborate monument would have been for the ancient residents of Kazakhstan, Dr. Kassenali and his colleagues are certain the tomb was built to honor a revered political or military figure.
How the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire Shifted Populations
Despite the Roman Empire's extensive military and cultural influence on the nearby Balkan peninsula, a DNA analysis of individuals who lived in the region between 1 and 1000 AD found no genetic evidence of Iron Age Italian ancestry. Instead, a study published December 7 in the journal Cell revealed successive waves of migrations from Western Anatolia, central and northern Europe, and the Pontic-Kazakh Steppe during the Empire's reign.
From the 7th century AD onwards (coincident with the fall of the Western Roman Empire), large numbers of people emigrated from Eastern Europe, likely related to the arrival of Slavic-speaking populations, which resulted in present-day Balkan residents having 30%-60% Slavic ancestry seen in present-day Balkan peoples.
"We found this genetic signal of Slavic migration all across the Balkans," says senior author and paleogenomicist Carles Lalueza-Fox of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. "This could have important social and political implications given that the Balkans has had a long history of conflict associated with their perceived identities."
People liked this one…
Stone Age Scandinavia: First People in the North (Video)
In the unforgiving realm of Stone Age Scandinavia (10,000-5,000 BC), resilient pioneers, descendants of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, emerged as the first inhabitants. Venturing northward, crossing the Jutland Peninsula, they confronted a formidable environment shaped by retreating ice. Operating in small clans, these resourceful individuals harnessed fire but remained unfamiliar with agriculture. Dense birch forests replaced open plains, signaling the end of woolly mammoths and the rise of giant elk as essential prey. Accompanied by their indispensable companions, domesticated dogs, these early Scandinavians navigated marshy wetlands using primitive boats for hunting.
Archaeological findings, such as those at Mag Lumos, unveiled a thriving hunter-gatherer culture spanning Doggerland. From 8,700 to 6,500 BC, the "bone age" witnessed a blossoming culture with jewelry, musical instruments, and symbolic artifacts crafted from the great forests' abundant resources. Around 7,000 BC, rising sea levels submerged Doggerland, prompting survivors to adapt as seafaring conquerors. By 5,000 BC, encounters with Central European farmers introduced agriculture, marking the transition to permanent settlements and the onset of the first battles. In the saga of Stone Age Scandinavia, these tenacious pioneers, shaped by survival instincts and cultural evolution, left an indelible mark on a challenging and ever-shifting landscape.
The Catholic underground…
Hiding to Avoid Hanging: Priest Holes, Hidden Chambers, and Secret Passages
Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, which began in 1558, Catholics were persecuted by law and priests were imprisoned, tortured, and frequently executed. As a result of this oppression, wealthy Catholic families began building secret chambers and passages in their homes called ‘priest holes’ in order to hide priests when the pursuivants or ‘priest hunters’ came searching.
During the 16th century, Europe was under the religious leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. However, over time, protests against the Catholic Church and its influence eventually led to the formation of the Protestant movement. The separation of the Church of England from Rome under Henry VIII in 1537 brought England alongside this broad Reformation movement, which came to influence the Church of England decisively under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
During Elizabeth’s reign, the constant threat posed by recurring plots involving the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots heightened the severity of the situation and an Act was passed making it High Treason for a Catholic priest to enter England or for anyone to aid a priest that did. To enforce the Act, ‘priest hunters’ were given the job to hunt down and capture any such priests. Arrest meant imprisonment, and often torture and execution.
Til next time, rock on…
Genial como siempre.