Rescue Excavations Research Articles

Lost in Space? Reconstructing Frank Willett’s excavations at Ita Yemoo, Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Rescue Excavations (1957–1958) and Trench XIV (1962–1963)

Entre décembre 1957 et janvier 1958, Frank Willett dirigea une fouille de sauvetage à Ita Yemoo, Ile-Ife (Nigéria), afin d’apporter un éclairage scientifique sur la découverte fortuite par les ouvriers d’un chantier de construction d’un groupe de rares artefacts en laiton. Ita Yemoo allait se révéler être un site archéologique majeur, et F. Willett y poursuivit ses travaux de 1958 à 1963. Le site devint fameux pour ses « bronzes » et pour plusieurs têtes en terre cuite découvertes in situ, élevées au rang d’icônes de l’art d’Ife durant sa période de « florescence » entre les xiiie et xive siècles de notre ère. Son renom contraste cependant avec l’absence de publication détaillée de son archéologie. Dans cet article, nous faisons usage de photographies, croquis et notes de terrain extraits d’un fonds d’archives, riche mais encore peu connu, légué par Frank Willett à l’université de Glasgow ; notre objectif est de reconstituer les détails de sa première saison de fouilles sur ce site, interpréter ses observations et proposer une réflexion sur la nécessité de redécouvrir et de publier les archives oubliées du patrimoine archéologique de l’Afrique.

Who Killed the Small Mammals of Ittenheim (Northeastern France)? An Integrative Approach and New Taphonomic Data for Investigating Bone Assemblages Accumulated by Small Carnivores

Small carnivores are susceptible to regularly accumulating small- to medium-sized mammal remains in both natural and archaeological sites. However, compared to nocturnal birds of prey, these accumulations are still poorly documented and are generally based on a limited number of samples, including those of relatively small size. Here, we present an analysis of European hamster remains from a rescue excavation at Ittenheim (Bas-Rhin, Grand-Est, France), which were recovered from an infilled burrow, three meters below the current surface. The remains are well preserved and exhibit large proportions of tooth marks. Comparisons with a new and existing reference collection combined with an analysis of all recovered faunal remains suggest the accumulation reflects the action of young red foxes. This is supported by the fact that, although these young individuals leave teeth mark, they do not necessarily consume all parts of medium-sized prey species, including the European hamster. Conversely, the remains of smaller rodents, such as microtine, show distinct patterns of digestion and tooth marks. Carnivore bone accumulations from scats are generally poorly preserved; however, our results demonstrate prey size plays a major role, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in skeletal representation, bone preservation, and bone surface modifications. The present paper underlines the need for more diversified taphonomic reference collections based on an integrative approach designed to evaluate multi-taxa accumulations.

Ein Athener in Miletupolis. Der Grabstein des Hypermenes aus der klassischen Zeit – ein wichtiges Zeugnis zu den Beziehungen von Miletupolis und Athen

Ein Athener in Miletupolis. Der Grabstein des Hypermenes aus der klassischen Zeit – ein wichtiges Zeugnis zu den Beziehungen von Miletupolis und Athen

An inscribed Roman sarcophagus from Elazığ (eastern Turkey) with an appendix on a Latin military inscription

We present a previously-unknown sarcophagus of the Roman period with a fragmentary and hard-to-decipher inscription in Greek, today exhibited in the grounds of the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Elazığ in eastern Turkey. A personal name can still be deciphered on the front face of the sarcophagus: Menethymes. Elazığ Museum possesses a large collection of archaeological artefacts, especially from the rescue excavations at the höyük (tell or mound) sites in the area of the Keban dam construction in the 1960s and 1970s. The number of Roman artefacts in this museum is c. 100, excluding numismatic finds. This brief paper makes a contribution to the scanty knowledge of Roman-era funerary monuments in eastern Turkey. In the appendix, we also give the text of one of the most important finds at the same museum, a Latin military inscription from AD 64/65 on Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo and the Parthian war.

The key to Hermione? Notes on an inscribed monument

This article discusses an inscribed monument found during rescue excavations in the ancient city of Hermione. It provides an editio princeps for the one-word inscription and discusses the symbolism of its relief depiction of a temple key. The examination of the monument is followed by a discussion proposing a new perspective on how to approach the religious milieu of ancient Hermione.

The Underwater Recovery Excavation at Kekova Adası: Observations on the Tek Ada Shipwreck and Finds

The Tek Ada Shipwreck was discovered during underwater surveys around Kekova Adası, which is located within the district of Demre in the province of Antalya. The shipwreck, first detected in 2015, had been damaged by illicit diggings in 2017. As a result of excavating some of the sand on it, some timbers from the shipwreck were exposed. This situation caused the decomposition of the ship to increase rapidly. For this reason, to understand the characteristics of the shipwreck and to determine
 what necessary protective measures should be taken, studies were carried out within the scope of the “Kekova Adası Archeological Underwater Detection-Protection and Rescue Excavation Project” in 2018. During the excavation works, we observed that some of the timbers of the ship’s lower hull and its ballast have survived until today. The ship was built by using the frame-based method of construction. The Tek Ada Shipwreck is one of the rare shipwrecks on the Anatolian coast whose timbers have been preserved. These are thought to belong to the medieval period or later. In addition, around the shipwreck area and during the excavation, fragments from the ship in various forms and from different periods - made both of terracotta and lead and copper/ cooper alloy - were also identified.

An ancient cityscape and its people: A study of ancient Hermione. Introductory remarks on historical sources and visible remains, archaeological research and prospects

This article provides a brief introduction to the area of the Hermionid and the research that has been carried out in ancient Hermione. The main textual sources are presented, as are the still-visible archaeological remains and the results of important rescue excavations. The contribution outlines the scientific framework of the project that has generated the five articles that follow, and closes with an agenda for future development for the exploration and preservation of ancient Hermione.

Trade Relations between Byzantion and the Black Sea Region in the Hellenistic Period: An Assessment through Recently Found Amphora Stamps

The rescue excavations undertaken on the European and Asian sides of Istanbul in recent years have revealed significant information regarding Byzantion, which had an active and strategic role in Hellenistic trade. A highly important part of the work in question was undoubtedly the excavations carried out within the scope of the Marmaray Project. A large number of artefacts and structures were brought to light throughout the excavations of the project at the Sirkeci station. Among these finds were amphora stamps which had previously been little known. The excavations uncovered finds that shed new light on the commercial relations between Byzantion and
 two important cities in the Black Sea region - Chersonesus and Sinope. This study results from documenting these amphora stamps. Although these amphora stamps provide information regarding a limited geographical area within Byzantion, nevertheless, they provide some idea regarding the larger commercial relationships of the city.

THE LATE HELLENISTIC WINE PRESS EXCAVATIONS FROM KNOSSOS: THE EARLY IRON AGE, HELLENISTIC AND EARLY ROMAN CONTEXTS

The remains of an exceptionally well-preserved Hellenistic wine press were uncovered during a rescue excavation at Knossos in 1977. The architecture, stratigraphy and faunal remains from this campaign were published inBSA89 (1994) by J. Carington Smith (the excavator) and S. Wall. The artefact assemblages from this excavation, however, have remained unstudied and unpublished until now. The current article presents the artefact assemblages from the wine press excavation and considers them within their urban context at Knossos. The key findings from this excavation relate to the Late Hellenistic wine press and its associated material, which enables us to consider both the ancient winemaking process at Knossos and the economic topography of the city in the decades around the Roman conquest of the island in 67bc. In addition to the Late Hellenistic phase, material of Minoan, Early Iron Age–Early Archaic, earlier Hellenistic and Early Roman dates is also presented and discussed.

THE BRONZE AGE KURGAN NEAR THE VILLAGE OF GROZDEVE IN UMAN REGION

This paper presents the data from the excavation of the kurgan 6 near the village of Grozdeve in Uman region of the Cherkasy oblast. The complex was investigated by the Expedition of the Cherkasy Archaeological Rescue Surveys in 2011. This kurgan was a component of the large kurgan group located to the east and north-east from the village of Grozdeve, near the road Uman — Kirovohrad in the direction of the village of Babanka. Topographically the kurhan cemetery is located on top of the watershed of the rivers Umanka (from the west) and Revukha (from the east), which flow into the Yatran river (basing of the Southern Buh).
 Kurhan 6 was located in the central part of the group. The southern part of the kurgan was partly destroyed by the road, which was built in 1950s. Initially the elevation of kurgan reached 2.5—3 m. By the moment of excavations its elevation reached 1.3—1.5 m, and the diameter was measured to 35—40 m. The kurgan included ten burials of the Bronze Age. Eight of those belong to the Yamna culure (3rd mil. BC), two others were attributed to the Babyne cultural complex (the first half of the 2nd mil. BC). Despite the significantly destroyed mound, profiles preserved the stratigraphy of the kurgan. The buried soil and at least two mounds were identified.
 Yamna burials are similar to the Southern Buh variation of the Yamna culutural complex by its ritual: nearly rectangular pits covered with wood, remains of bark on the floor, position of skeletons, burials of two people, western and eastern orientation of buried, use of ochre etc. Two burials included ceramic pots with a short neck, egg-shaped body and sharp bottom. Those are dated to the late period of Yamna culture.
 Babyne burials do not have significant features. Both are characterized by nearly rectangular pits of a small size and depth, organic remains on the floor and wooden constructions in burials, eastern orientation of buried, the lack of inventory. These burials are dated to the late period of the culture (Dnipro-Prut Babyne culture).

Preliminary report on salvage excavation at the southern limit of ancient Balagrae (modern al-Beida)

AbstractThis article presents a preliminary report on a rescue excavation conducted during the building of a new mosque close to the campus of Omar al-Mokhtar University at Balagrae (al-Beida) in 2017. The excavation, undertaken by the Department of Archaeology at the university, revealed the remains of part of a building with a mosaic floor built in the late second or early third century AD, and perhaps destroyed by an earthquake in AD 365. The discovery created considerable local interest and resulted in the developers relocating south the new mosque to prevent further disturbance to the archaeological remains. The building was carefully backfilled for long-term protection.

Yenikapı 27 Batığı: Gemi Elemanları, Yapım Tekniği ve Yapısal Özellikler

Yenikapı (YK) 27 shipwreck was uncovered by salvage excavations conducted by the Istanbul Archaeology Museum between 2004 and 2013 at Yenikapı, Istanbul. The vessel, most probably a merchant ship from the 8th and 9th centuries AD, was one of the 37 boat remains found at the site where Thedosian Harbour was situated in the Byzantine period. The principal structural components of the ship’s hull including the keel, bottom planks, and most of the floor timbers were found intact, however the upper structure above the waterline level and rigging are not survived. This study analyzes the construction technique and structural features of the vessel based on a detailed post-excavation examination of the wooden hull members; its construction features have been evaluated within the framework of development of shipbuilding traditions in the Mediterranean and by comparisons with other contemporaneous wrecks. As the condition of wreck’s surviving hull members is exceptional, its examination provides a better understanding of important details that might help to explain the profound change that occurred in Mediterranean shipbuilding during the early medieval period. Rarely seen framing pattern and non-edge fastened planking strakes are the major features that make YK 27 different from other ancient ship hulls. General characteristics of the ship suggest that it was built with a distinctive understanding of shipbuilding combined with ancient and early medieval traditions.

Roman imperial age belt mounting with scene from Nemeske

AbstractNemeske still belongs to the sparsely researched area of Baranya County. Here during plowing human bones came to light. Archaeologists of the Janus Pannonius Museum conducted a rescue excavation and an instrumental survey, too. During the excavation three Árpádian period tombs were found. In surway trenches traces of several demolished Roman walls were observed. The most interesting find is a bronze plate depicting an armed rider, a lion and an altar.

Report on Rescue Excavations at the Church in Denizli, Tavas District, Yaka Neighborhood, and Preliminary Evaluation of A New Inscription of Artemis Sibyrallis

Bu makale, 2018-2019 yıllarında Denizli İli, Tavas İlçesi, Yaka Mahallesi, Bağlar Mevkii, Hancı İsmailler Sokak’ta gerçekleştirilen kurtarma kazılarının rapor ve sonuçlarını bilim çevrelerine ve kamuoyuna duyurmayı amaçlamaktadır. İlk etabı tamamlanan disiplinlerarası kurtarma kazıları çerçevesinde bölgenin yerleşim arkeolojisi ve epigrafi araştırmaları öncelikli olarak değerlendirilmiştir. İki açmada sürdürülen kazılar sonucunda neredeyse tamamı devşirme malzemeyle inşa edilen apsisli bir kilise yapısı keşfedilmiş, ancak henüz bir kısmı ortaya çıkarılabilmiştir. Binanın yapımında kullanılan yer döşemeleri, sütun kaideleri, lahitler, seramikler ve Artemis Sibyrallis’in kökenine ait yeni kehanet yazıtı kilisenin daha öncesinde Roma İmparatorluk Dönemi’nde de bir kamu binası olarak kullanım gördüğünü belgelemektedir. Yine de Salbake Dağı’nın hemen kuzeybatı eteklerinde konumlanan söz konusu alan daha önce herhangi bir yerleşimle ilişkilendirilememiştir. Bu nedenle kazı alanının görece olarak yakınında keşfedildiği ileri sürülen Kosa ile Antikosa adlı köylerin söz konusu tanrıçaya adanmasına ve Herakleia Salbake’ye devrine ilişkin daha önceden yayımlanmış bir sınır yazıtı bu çerçevede tekrardan ele alınarak hem kazı alanının bağlamı hem de kentin güney sınırıyla ilintili yeni öneriler sunulmuştur. Tarihsel olaylar çerçevesinde apsisli kilise yapısı da MS 5. yüzyıl sonrasına tarihlendirilerek Herakleia Salbake kentiyle ilişkilendirmiştir.

RADIOCARON DATA OF FUNERARY DESCOVERIES FROM MIDDLE BRONZE AGE IN THE MUREȘ VALLEY. THE WIETENBERG CEMETERY FROM LIMBA-OARDA DE JOS (ALBA COUNTY, ROMANIA)

The archaeological rescue excavations occasioned by the construction of the Lot no. 1 of the Highway no. 10, Sebeș-Turda, highlighted an unexpected Bronze Age necropolis belonging to Wietenberg Culture. The Bronze Age necropolis was delimited between 6+600 and 6+650 kilometers, and located on the southwestern part of the Site no. 6, right above the early Vinča settlement defensive trenches (Fig. 1-2). With 74 excavated funerary complexes, the partially excavated Wietenberg cemetery is one of the largest in Transylvania. According the radiocarbon data presented in this study, the necropolis was used in the Middle Bronze Age (1780-1690 cal. BC), associated with the Wietenberg culture (phase II), and is contemporary with the end of the cemetery from Sebeș-Între Răstoace located approximately 7.5 km South - South-West, on the Sebeș River terraces.

Spatial Analysis of Charcoal and Wood: The Case Study of the Late Neolithic Site of Hekelingen III, the Netherlands (2900–2500 BCE)

ABSTRACT This paper concerns the spatial distribution of charcoal and uncarbonized wood at the Dutch Late Neolithic wetland site of Hekelingen III, dating to c. 2900–2500 BCE, where a rescue excavation in 1980 revealed occupation units that were intermittently in use during three phases. While earlier published archaeobotanical data from Hekelingen III included only a list of charcoal identifications, rediscovered documentation from the 1980s now allows contextualization of the charcoal data. In addition, the spatial distribution of both the charcoal and uncarbonized wood data is presented for the first time. With few exceptions, the charcoal and wood spatial data indicate continuity of wood use and site function through space and time.

Constructing from the Invisible: Conceptualizing Indigenous Village Layout and Dynamics in the Circum-Caribbean

ABSTRACT In recent years, thousands of posthole features have been located during open-area excavations of Indigenous archaeological sites in the Caribbean Islands. However, the reconstruction of village spatial organization and its changes over time is sometimes a challenging task, because Indigenous village occupation can span more than 500 years. This article presents archaeological data from rescue excavations at Argyle, an Indigenous village site dating to the late pre-colonial and early colonial period on Saint Vincent Island in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Islands. The archaeological data are juxtaposed with an ethnographic reading of seventeenth-century European documentary sources of the Lesser Antilles and two ethnoarchaeological village studies conducted with Arawakan and Cariban-speaking peoples in the Tropical Lowlands of mainland South America. This study demonstrates the value of an integrated approach in understanding the Argyle site and conceptualizing the dynamics of Indigenous village settlements in the wider Circum-Caribbean area.

Hull characteristics of the Yenikapı 16 galley

The Theodosian harbour, unearthed during salvage excavations at Yenikapı by the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, has revealed many archaeological artefacts that have enriched the cultural history of Istanbul, in addition to 37 shipwrecks, which sank at different moments over a time span of approximately 600 years. The Byzantine galeai discovered are particularly important, as they constitute the first archaeological evidence of galleys in the early medieval age. In this article, we shall describe the construction characteristics of one of these galleys, YK16, within the context of the other galleys.

Finding Scepter: assessing European influences in early Swedish shipbuilding and evaluating new excavation techniques

In 2017 the Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums were commissioned to monitor the excavation at the old shipyard at Skeppsholmen’s quay in Stockholm in case remains were revealed. The shipyard was the biggest workplace in the 17th century. During the excavation a careening dock that was used for the maintenance and repair of large naval ships was first found. It was made of a large number of huge piles. The piles were pulled up and massive ship parts appeared beneath. It turned out to be a large shipwreck in oak. Due to the short time available we tried a new technique. We used a powerful suction digger so as not to damage the roots of trees during excavations. The suction digger helped us to remove the fill material very smoothly and quickly. With this method we managed to uncover large parts of the starboard side. A great number of dendro-samples were taken and it was also possible to conduct detailed archaeological documentation.The identification of the Scepter was made with the support of archaeological observations and dendrochronological samples, confirmed by archival documents. With these results we could see that this ship was indeed the first flagship of King Gustav II Adolf. The ship had a long and exciting history that now could be revealed.This is a fine example of how salvage archaeology together with new techniques can give us new information and great history that was once forgotten.

The combined use of SEM-EDX, Raman, ATR-FTIR and visible reflectance techniques for the characterisation of Roman wall painting pigments from Monte d\u2019Oro area (Rome): an insight into red, yellow and pink shades

The aim of this work has been the identification of the painter’s materials employed in the wall decoration of some destroyed buildings dating approximately between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D. This research originates from a previously started joined archaeological and analytical investigation concerning a varied group of findings that resulted from a rescue excavation performed by Soprintendenza Archeologica in the area of Monte d’Oro in Rome. The focus of this study progression has been directed to a numerous selection of monochrome red, pink and yellow-pigmented fragments. The analyses were performed by means of scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) combined with Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies; visible reflectance measurements have also been carried out and the relevance of this technique in such a kind of archaeological studies has been highlighted. Most attention has been given to the assessment of the performances of non-destructive techniques achieved by portable Raman, and visible reflectance instrumentation to test their diagnostic capabilities. In addition to the expected and well-known pigments such as cinnabar, red ochre, hematite for the reds and yellow ochre for the yellows, the study highlighted a diffuse use of mixed colours and in some cases the possible presence of overlapped painted layers and confirmed the presence of gildings. Among the mixtures of pigments, the most singular outcome concerns the pink fragments revealing the possible application of bone white, which seems to be rather uncommon as a pigment in Roman wall decorations.