National Geographic Tales of the Weird
Page 29
Found in U.K.
Construction of a U.K. supermarket uncovered a “substantial” find: an ancient Roman fort and the footwear of the soldiers who manned it.
Sophisticated Footwear
Footwear played an important role in the development of Roman civilization. Armies that had better shoes were able to travel farther and across rougher terrain. As the Roman Empire expanded, Roman shoemaking and vegetable tanning methods were introduced to newly acquired territories so that supplies would not have to be sent from Rome.
About 60 pairs of sandals and shoes that once belonged to Roman soldiers have been unearthed at a supermarket construction site in Camelon, Scotland, archaeologists say.
Soldiers’ Shoes
The 2,000-year-old leather footwear was discovered along with Roman jewelry, coins, pottery, and animal bones at the site, which is located at the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The cache of Roman shoes and sandals—one of the largest ever found in Scotland—was uncovered in 2011 in a ditch at the gateway to a second-century A.D. fort built along the Antonine Wall. The wall is a massive defensive barrier that the Romans built across central Scotland during their brief occupation of the region.
The find likely represents the accumulated throwaways of Roman centurions and soldiers garrisoned at the fort, said dig coordinator Martin Cook, an archaeologist with AOC Archaeology Group, an independent contractor in Britain. “I think they dumped the shoes over the side of the road leading into the fort,” he said.
“Subsequently the ditch silted up with organic material, which preserved the shoes.” Despite being discards, the hobnailed shoes are in relatively good condition, Cook added.
Newfound Fort One of Decade’s Biggest Finds
While the new supermarket site also includes the remains of a first-century Roman fort and ancient field systems, excavations have centered on the area of the younger Antonine fort. “We’ve got evidence of a really substantial structure,” Cook said. “You would have had a square fort with stone walls and three or four ditches around them.”
Other finds include a Roman ax and spearhead, three or four brooches, French Samian ware—which is a high-prestige ceramic—glass, and standard pots, he said. “I would say it is one of the most important forts in Scotland,” Cook added. “This will be one of the most important Scottish excavations in the last decade.” The Romans are believed to have abandoned the Antonine Wall and retreated south toward England in about A.D. 165.
The Camelon dig team is on the lookout for evidence that could challenge this by suggesting the Romans stayed longer in the region. To date, however, the excavation seems to confirm that the Romans legged it—minus their footwear, of course.
TRUTH:
THE 36-MILE-LONG ANTOINE WALL TOOK TWO YEARS TO BUILD AND WAS OCCUPIED FOR OVER 25 YEARS.
CULTIVATING CATASTROPHE
Maya Collapse!
Caused by Man-Made Climate Change?
Self-induced drought and climate change may have caused the destruction of the Maya civilization, say scientists working with new satellite technology that monitors Central America’s environment.
In early 2005, researchers from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, launched a satellite program, known as SERVIR, to help combat wildfires, improve land use, and assist with natural disaster responses. SERVIR works with leaders in Central South America, where climate change might deliver the hardest hits to ecosystems and biodiversity, say developers Tom Sever and Daniel Irwin. If the governments heed the warnings, the data may truly save lives, the experts add.
The researchers occasionally refer to the project as “environmental diplomacy,” but now they can expand it to another discipline: archaeology.
(Photo Credit 8.10)
Space Archaeology
SERVIR found traces of the Maya’s hidden, possibly disastrous agricultural past—and is now using those lessons to help ensure that today’s civilizations fare better in the face of modern-day climate change.
More than a hundred reasons have been proposed for the downfall of the Maya, among them hurricanes, overpopulation, disease, warfare, and peasant revolt. But Sever, NASA’s only archaeologist, adds to evidence for another explanation. “Our recent research shows that another factor may have been climate change,” he said during a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2008.
Shocking Stats
NASA researchers used computer simulations to re-create how deforestation could have played a role in aggravating the drought that may have contributed to the collapse of the Maya civilization. The worst- and best-case scenarios were modeled—100 percent deforestation in the Maya area and no deforestation. They found that a loss of all trees would have caused a three- to five-degree rise in temperature and a 20 to 30 percent decrease in rainfall.
Secret Farms
One conventional theory has it that the Maya relied on slash-and-burn agriculture. But Sever and his colleagues say such methods couldn’t have sustained a population that reached 60,000 at its peak. The researchers think the Maya also exploited seasonal wetlands called bajos, which make up more than 40 percent of the Petén landscape that the ancient empire called home.
In most cases, Maya cities encircled the bajos, so archaeologists thought the culture made no use of them. But groundbreaking satellite images show that the bajos harbor ancient drainage canals and long-overgrown fields. That ingenious method of agriculture may have backfired.
The data suggest that the combination of slash-and-burn agriculture and conversion of the wetlands induced local drought and turned up the thermostat. And that could have fueled many of the suspected factors that led to the Maya decline—even seemingly unrelated issues like disease and war.
Proven Success
The SERVIR researchers are now taking their theories to the people, showing tabletop-size satellite images to villagers and national leaders that reveal deforestation in some cases and still-lush landscapes in others. In one instance, the Guatemalan congress was inspired to create the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Central Americas largest protected area, after viewing satellite imagery and seeing striking differences between Guatemala’s forests and those that had been clear-cut to the north.
SERVIR, which is being supported in part by USAID and the World Bank, has also proved its worth in other ways since the program’s headquarters was opened in Panama at the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC). In 2006, Panamanian President Martin Torrijos used the SERVIR office as his command post during widespread flooding—and when SERVIR technology forewarned of landslides, he paid attention. CATHALAC senior scientist Emil Cherrington has never deleted the text message the government sent out that day—a red alert about the landslides SERVIR said were imminent. Cherrington called the cooperation “inspiring.”
“It was a pretty neat example of the decision makers acting on information when it was provided,” he said.
“The Maya are often depicted as people who lived in complete harmony with their environment. But like many other cultures before and after them, they ended up deforesting and destroying their landscape in efforts to eke out a living in hard times.”
Robert Griffin
archaeologist, Penn State University
Learning From the Past
Despite these local efforts in environmental stewardship, however, Latin American countries are facing a heavy burden from worldwide climate change. Already, rains don’t come as predictably to the Petén region, NASA archaeologist Sever said.
Local residents say their chicle trees are yielding fewer harvests, and clouds are forming higher and later in the day, sometimes not sending down rain at all, he pointed out.
Through SERVIR, Sever and his team are monitoring soil and plant responses to the changing conditions. They’re also making maps for the ministries of environment and agriculture in several countries. And CATHALAC’s Cherrington, who is from Belize, is using t
he information to predict how climate change will alter his home country in the future.
“Belize is really a country where biodiversity conservation is possible,” he said, speaking at a AAAS meeting. Cherrington said precipitation will be disrupted most in the mountains and temperatures will increase the most on the coasts. SERVIR data are predicting that some bird and mammal species will be lost, but amphibians will be the hardest hit.
If satellite precipitation forecasts can be passed to farmers, they’ll be able to make decisions about crops based on how much water they’ll require, he added. The SERVIR scientists also hope to expand the space-based technology into other realms. They’re looking to develop the kind of air quality index for Central America that is standard on U.S. weather reports.
And industry has already suggested applications that the SERVIR scientists didn’t originally have in mind. A Panamanian company seeking to build solar panels asked recently if SERVIR could show the company where to find the best sun exposure. “It’s kind of astounding,” Cherrington said, “how space-based information can lead to making better decisions.”
TRUTH:
THE LONGEST DROUGHT IN RECORDED HISTORY LASTED 400 YEARS IN THE ATACAMA DESERT IN CHILE, THE DRIEST PLACE ON EARTH.
NATIVE AMERICAN BLING
Ancient Gem-Studded Teeth
Show Skill of Early Dentists
The glittering “grills” of some hip-hop stars aren’t exactly unprecedented. Sophisticated dentistry allowed Native Americans to add bling to their teeth as far back as 2,500 years ago, a new study says.
Ancient peoples of southern North America went to “dentists”—among the earliest known—to beautify their chompers with notches, grooves, and semiprecious gems, according to a recent analysis of thousands of teeth examined from collections in Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.
Found in Chiapas, Mexico, the gems in this skull’s teeth remain intact. (Photo Credit 8.11)
Sparkling Smiles
Scientists don’t know the origin of most of the teeth in the collections, which belonged to people living throughout the region, called Mesoamerica, before the Spanish conquests of the 1500s. But it’s clear that people—mostly men—from nearly all walks of life opted for the look, noted José Concepción Jiménez, an anthropologist at the institute, which recently announced the findings.
“They were not marks of social class” but instead meant for pure decoration, he commented in an email interview conducted in Spanish. In fact, the royals of the day—such as the Red Queen, a Maya mummy found in a temple at Palenque in what is now Mexico—don’t have teeth decorations, Jiménez said. Other evidence of early Mesoamerican dentistry—including a person who had received a ceremonial denture—has also been found.
TRUTH:
YOUR TEETH ARE HARDER THAN YOUR BONES.
Knowledgeable Dentists
The early dentists used a drill-like device with a hard stone such as obsidian, which is capable of puncturing bone. “It’s possible some type of [herb-based] anesthetic was applied prior to drilling to blunt any pain,” Jiménez said.
The ornamental stones—including jade—were attached with an adhesive made out of natural resins, such as plant sap, which was mixed with other chemicals and crushed bones, Jiménez said.
The dentists likely had a sophisticated knowledge of tooth anatomy, Jiménez added. For example, they knew how to drill into teeth without hitting the pulp inside, he said. “They didn’t want to generate an infection or provoke the loss of a tooth or break a tooth.”
MYSTERY WRITING
Mysterious Inscribed Slate
Discovered at Jamestown
An inscribed slate found in a well in Jamestown, Virginia, has presented an interesting mystery to archaeologists. Who did it belong to? What does it say? And what was it doing in a well?
Archaeologists in Jamestown, Virginia, have discovered a rare inscribed slate tablet dating back some 400 years, to the early days of Americas first permanent English settlement.
Slate tablets were sometimes used in 17th-century England instead of paper, which was expensive and not reusable. According to Bly Straube, Historic Jamestown’s curator, people drew games and wrote on broken roofing tiles, which could be washed off and used again and again. “Inscribed slates from this time period are rarely found in England, so little is known about them,” she said.
Baby’s Toy
Another recent discovery from the same Jamestown well is a brass baby’s toy that’s a combination whistle and teething stick. The teething-stick portion is made from coral. In the 17th century, coral was considered good for babies’ gums and a magical substance that kept away evil. It may have belonged to one of the women who arrived with children in 1609.
Down the Well
Both sides of the Jamestown slate are covered with words, numbers, and etchings of people, plants, and birds that its owner likely encountered in the New World in the early 1600s. The tablet was found a few feet down in what may be the first well at James Fort, dug in early 1609 by Capt. John Smith, Jamestown’s best known leader, said Bill Kelso, director of archaeology at the site.
If the well is confirmed as Smith’s, it could help offer important insights into Jamestown’s difficult early years. Records indicate that by 1611, the water in Smith’s well had become foul and the well was then used as a trash pit. Archaeologists discovered the slate among other objects thrown into the well by the colonists.
“The crude drawings of birds and flora offer dramatic evidence of how captivated the English were by the natural wonders of the alien New World.”
Bill Kelso
excavation director at the Jamestown site
“A Minon of the Finest Sorte”
Archaeologists and other scientists are still trying to decipher the slate, the first with extensive inscriptions to be found at any 17th-century colonial American site. The scratched and worn 5-by-8-inch (13-by-20-centimeter) tablet is inscribed with the words “A MINON OF THE FINEST SORTE.” Above the words are the letters and numbers “EL NEV FSH HTLBMS 508,” interspersed with symbols that have yet to be interpreted.
“We don’t know what it means yet,” Kelso said. But there are some clues.
According to Straube, “minon” is a 17th-century variation of the word “minion” and has numerous meanings, including “servant,” “follower,” “comrade,” “companion,” “favorite,” or someone dependent on a patron’s favor. A minion is also a type of cannon—and archaeologists have found shot at the James Fort site that’s the right size for a minion.
Drawings on the slate depict several different flower blossoms and birds that may include an eagle, a songbird, and an owl. “The crude drawings of birds and flora offer dramatic evidence of how captivated the English were by the natural wonders of the alien New World,” excavation director Kelso said. There’s also a sketch of an Englishman smoking a pipe and a man, whose right hand seems to be missing, wearing a ruffled collar.
Although the age of the tablet is not yet known, archaeological evidence—including turtle and oyster shells, Indian pots, trade beads, mirror glass, early pipes, medicinal jars, and military items—indicates that it was deposited in the well during the early years of James Fort, which was established in 1607. If it’s Smith’s well, archaeologists believe the tablet could date to 1611, when the well was probably filled in, or earlier.
A sketch of a man can be seen on this slate tablet from Jamestown.
Looking for Clues
It’s impossible to know yet who the slate’s owner—or owners—may have been. Straube said an image that looks like a palmetto tree, normally found from South Carolina to the Caribbean, suggests that the drawings may have been made during the voyage from England to Jamestown through the West Indies, once a common route to the New World.
Or, she said, the slate could have been used by a colonist who was among about 140 castaways from the Sea Venture shipwreck in 1609. They were stranded in Bermuda for ten month
s and arrived at Jamestown in the spring of 1610.
Drawings of three rampant lions, used in the English coat of arms during the 1603 to 1625 reign of King James I, have also been discovered on the slate and could mean that the slate’s owner was someone involved with government.
Archaeologist Kelso suggests the slate may have belonged to William Strachey who served as secretary of the colony. He was among the shipwrecked colonists in Bermuda and arrived in Jamestown in 1610.
Straube, the curator, also said the tablet may have been used by someone living in Jamestown who died in the winter of 1609 to 1610, known to colonists as the Starving Time, when the fort was under siege. Only about 60 of 200 people survived.
Near the slate archaeologists have found butchered bones and teeth from horses, as well as dog bones, that may date back to the infamous winter, when colonists resorted to eating their horses and dogs to survive.
It’s also possible that the tablet was used by more than one person. “There seems to be a difference in the style of handwriting,” Straube noted.
TRUTH:
JAMESTOWN WAS A POOR LOCATION FOR A SETTLEMENT BECAUSE THE DRINKING WATER WAS BAD, THE LAND WAS WET, AND THERE WERE TOO MANY DISEASE-CARRYING MOSQUITOS.
Scratches and Grooves
The images on the tablet are difficult to see because they are the same dark gray color as the slate and they overlap. The colonists would have written on the tablet with a small, rectangular pencil made of slate with a sharp point. This would have made a white mark—and fortunately for archaeologists today it also left a scratch.