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Weekly Top Stories: A Quick Catch Up On What You Missed

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In last week’s top stories; Coronado Expedition Site found, ancient reindeer hunting techniques revealed, oldest road in Berlin uncovered, ever-burning lamps explored, possibly the best exhibition ever in London, and more tragic child sacrifices in Peru.

16th Century Spanish Coronado Expedition Site Found in Arizona

A few of the latest Coronado Expedition artifact finds in Arizona, recently discovered by independent researcher Deni Seymour. ( YouTube screenshot )

A few of the latest Coronado Expedition artifact finds in Arizona, recently discovered by independent researcher Deni Seymour. ( YouTube screenshot )

An Arizona-based archaeologist claims to have found artifacts linked to the famous 16th-century Spanish Coronado Expedition led by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. The Coronado Expedition traveled through present-day Mexico and the American southwest, but the exact route has never been proven. The discovery of the relics in Arizona’s Santa Cruz County could “rewrite the history of the Coronado expedition,” archaeologist Deni Seymour said in a lecture on the find.

Although Seymour, an independent researcher, hasn’t disclosed the exact location of the site, going by her description, it is at least 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Coronado National Memorial, which overlooks the US-Mexico border, reported CBS.

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Reindeer Hunting Relics Found On Ancient Mountain Trail in Norway

A rare iron arrowhead dating to AD 300-600 was found at Sandgrovskaret in 2018.   (Espen Finstad/ Secrets of the Ice)

A rare iron arrowhead dating to AD 300-600 was found at Sandgrovskaret in 2018.   (Espen Finstad/ Secrets of the Ice)

Fittingly, archaeologists who explore landscapes exposed by glacial melt are known as glacial archaeologists. In 2018, a team of these specialized experts were dispatched to the ice-covered mountains of Norway, to seek treasures revealed by the retreat of the glaciers in that frozen northern land. These explorations, which focused on the area around a remote 6,000 foot- (1800 meter-) peak known as Sandgrovskaret, were spectacularly successful. The archaeologists discovered ample quantities of artifacts and ruins left behind by cultures that hunted mountain reindeer in the distant past. They also uncovered the imprint of a long-hidden and forgotten mountain trail, which showed how ancient hunters and their social groups managed to reach this remote mountainside location.

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700-year-old Causeway Found Under Central Berlin Street

The causeway found on Berlin is remarkably well preserved. (Morgenpost)

The causeway found on Berlin is remarkably well preserved. (Morgenpost)

Located in Berlin-Mitte in the German capital, Stralauer Straße has a storied history which is now known to stretch back to the medieval founding of Berlin in the year 1237. Excavations in January 2022 by archaeologists from Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (LDA) at Molkenmarkt, the oldest sqaure in Berlin, have revealed a medieval plank embankment roughly 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) below the surface.

Initial wood samples taken from the causeway have been tested using tree ring analysis, reports Archaeology News Network . The tests reveal the trees were cut down around 1238, dating the wooden planks to the earliest founding of Berlin.

The significance of the find cannot be understated, according to statements made by the German Senator for Culture and Europe Klaus Lederer, who called the discovery "a real hit". State curator Christoph Rauhut spoke of a "really significant find" and Matthias Wemhoff, state archaeologist of Berlin, even described it as a "real sensation", as per a Morgen Times report.

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Unique Golden Pectoral Ornament Found in 2,500-Year-Old Scythian Grave

Next to the remains of the woman, the researchers found unique gold ornaments. (Igor Pieńkos / Science in Poland )

Next to the remains of the woman, the researchers found unique gold ornaments. (Igor Pieńkos / Science in Poland )

While performing excavations inside a large barrow (burial mound) at a place known as the “Siberian Valley of the Kings,” a team of Polish and Russian archaeologists uncovered the remains of two Scythian bodies, who were likely buried there around 500 BC. One was that of a toddler, and the other was of a middle-aged woman. Next to the woman they found a rich collection of Scythian burial goods, including golden ornaments, an iron knife, a bronze mirror, and an engraved wooden comb.

One of these items especially intrigued the archaeologists.

“A particularly interesting artifact was a golden pectoral ornament, a decoration hung at the neck in the shape of a sickle or crescent,” Dr. Łukasz Oleszczak, an archaeologist from Jagiellonian University in Kraków and leader of the Polish half of the dig, said in a press release issued by the Science in Poland website.

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The Ancient Mystery of the Ever-Burning Lamps

There are stories of ever burning lamps throughout history and in different parts of the world. (Kanea / Adobe Stock)

There are stories of ever burning lamps throughout history and in different parts of the world. (Kanea / Adobe Stock)

Fire is only produced when certain materials – a combustible material, an oxidizer, and a source of heat – are present in the right proportions. The absence of one or more of these elements would extinguish a flame. It is believed, however, that there are lamps whose flames have continued burning for an exceptional amount of time without human intervention. This phenomenon, which has not been scientifically explained, is indeed a very intriguing one. What are these so-called ever burning lamps? And, do they really exist?

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World of Stonehenge Exhibition Is a Stunning Treasure Hall of Fame

From upper left clockwise: Bronze Age sun pendant, 1000–800 BC, Source: © The Trustees of the British Museum ; The world-famous Nebra Sky Disc of Germany from about 1600 BC. (Juraj Lipták / State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt ); Bush Barrow gold lozenge of the Bush Barrow grave goods,1950–1600 BC Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, Source: David Bukach / Wiltshire Museum ; Dagger from the Bush Barrow grave goods with replica handle, 1950–1600 BC, Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, Source: David Bukach / Wiltshire Museum

From upper left clockwise: Bronze Age sun pendant, 1000–800 BC, Source: © The Trustees of the British Museum ; The world-famous Nebra Sky Disc of Germany from about 1600 BC. (Juraj Lipták / State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt ); Bush Barrow gold lozenge of the Bush Barrow grave goods,1950–1600 BC Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, Source: David Bukach / Wiltshire Museum ; Dagger from the Bush Barrow grave goods with replica handle, 1950–1600 BC, Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, Source: David Bukach / Wiltshire Museum

A new Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum in London, entitled  The World of Stonehenge , will display a stunning collection of objects, artifacts and human remains from across Europe, dating from 4000 BC to 1000 BC, the age of Stonehenge. An age that was restless and highly connected, a period of immense transition in lifestyles and worship, as stated on the British Museum’s website .   The five-month-long (Feb-July 2022) Stonehenge exhibition will present as many as 430 items on loan from museums and institutions in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and within the United Kingdom. Many will be publicly displayed for the first time in the UK. Famous as they are, so many have never been seen up close by the public.

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Mummies of Six Sacrificed Children Found at 1,000-Year-Old Peru Site

One of the six sacrificed children found in the tomb of an important man in the ancient Andean city of Cajamarquilla. The tiny skeletons were wrapped tightly in cloth. (PHYS)

One of the six sacrificed children found in the tomb of an important man in the ancient Andean city of Cajamarquilla. The tiny skeletons were wrapped tightly in cloth. (PHYS)

Archaeologists from Peru recently discovered the remains of six mummified sacrificed children, who were apparently the victims of human sacrifice sometime between the years 1,000 and 1,200 AD. The sacrificed children were entombed near the mummified remains of an important aristocrat or wealthy individual, and it appears the children were chosen to be his companions on his journey into the afterlife.

The mummy of the dead man , who was believed to have been approximately 20 years old at the time of his death, was originally discovered in November 2021 by archaeologists digging at the ancient pre-Incan city of Cajamarquilla. This long-abandoned adobe metropolis is located about 15 miles (24 kilometers) inland from Peru’s capital city of Lima, near the Peruvian Pacific coastline.

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