Europe

Huge tomb of Celtic prince unearthed in France: ‘Exceptional’ 2,500-year-old burial

“Huge tomb of Celtic prince unearthed in France:

‘Exceptional’ 2,500-year-old burial”

The tomb of an Iron Age Celtic prince has been unearthed in a small French town.

The ‘exceptional’ grave, crammed with Greek and possibly Etruscan artefacts, was discovered in a business zone on the outskirts of Lavau in France’s Champagne region.

The prince is buried with his chariot at the centre of a huge mound, 130 feet (40 metres) across, which has been dated to the 5th Century BC.

The biggest find at the site was a huge wine cauldron. Standing on the handles of the cauldron, is the Greek god Acheloos. The river deity is shown with horns, a beard, the ears of a bull and a triple mustache

A team from the National Archaeological Research Institute, Inrap has been excavating the site since October last year.

They recently dated it to the end of the First Iron Age – a period characterised by the widespread use of the metal.

Its discovery could shed light on Iron Age European trade, researchers say.

The 2,500-year-old burial mound has at its heart a 14 square metre burial chamber, not yet opened, of an ancient royal.

An Iron Age Celtic prince lay buried with his chariot at the center of this huge mound in the Champagne region of France, according to the country’s National Archaeological Research Institute (Inrap)

Eight lioness heads decorate the edge of the cauldron (right). Inside the cauldron, the archaeologists found a ceramic wine vessel, called oniochoe (left)

A team from the National Archaeological Research Institute, Inrap has been excavating the site since October last year. Pictured is part of the cauldron found

‘It is probably a local Celtic prince,’ Inrap president Dominique Garcia told journalists on a field visit.

WHAT WERE THE KEY FINDS?

The prince is buried with his chariot at the centre of a huge mound. His chamber has not yet been opened.

This biggest find was a large bronze-decorated cauldron that was used to store watered-down wine.

The cauldron has four circular handles decorated with bronze heads that depict the Greek god Acheloos.

Another interesting discovery was a perforated silver spoon that was part of the banquet utensils, presumably to filter the wine.

The mausoleum contained a decorated ceramic wine pitcher made by the Greeks.

The most exciting find, he said, was a large bronze-decorated cauldron that was used to store watered-down wine. It appears to have been made by Etruscan craftsmen from an area that is today in Italy.

The cauldron has four circular handles decorated with bronze heads that depict the Greek god Acheloos.

The river deity is shown with horns, a beard, the ears of a bull and a triple mustache.

Eight lioness heads decorate the edge of the cauldron.

The mausoleum contained a decorated ceramic wine pitcher made by the Greeks.

Decorations on the vessel reveal the god Dionysus, lying under a vine and facing a woman.

The archaeologists also found remains of a iron wheel, from a chariot buried with the prince.

Another interesting discovery was a perforated silver spoon that was part of the banquet utensils, presumably to filter the wine. . . . .

by Ellie Zolgfagharifard via “Daily Mail“
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Coming Exhibition: THE WONDERFUL LAND ARTISTS IN EAST PRUSSIA

“THE WONDERFUL LAND ARTISTS IN EAST PRUSSIA”

Who:

Lithuanian Art Museum

When: May 8, 2014 – May 8, 2016 (Hours Vary)

Where:

Lithuanian Art Museum
Liepu Str. 33, LT-92145
Klaipėda, Lithuania

More Information: Here

The Society of East Prussian Art Lovers’ Nidden was founded in 2009 in Klaipėda by a small group of ethnography and history lovers. The aim of Nidden is to search, collect and promote paintings from East Prussia that picturesquely portray the nature, history and inhabitants of this region.

Aleksandr Popov, the chair and an active member of the Society, has been collecting paintings related to East Prussia for almost a decade. To date the collection has nearly 1,000 works of fine art and graphic art by almost 300 painters. Nidden promotes and presents its collection to the public, and it also organizes exhibitions – with over ten held so far in Nida, Rusnė, Kaliningrad (Russian Federation), Klaipėda, Kaunas and Vilnius. The success of and public involvement in the exhibitions, and the information and experience gained while searching for new works served as encouragement for the Nidden Society to release an educational publication – The Journey to the Prussian Barbizon, based on Popov’s collection of paintings.

Members of the Nidden Society have drawn-up a list of painters: over 400 that created works in East Prussia. Popov’s collection is continually updated by paintings and graphic art works, and newly purchased items are awaiting research and revision of dates and authorship.

The fine art of East Prussia reflected many international cultural connections, interweaving many styles and trends of European art. Due to the complicated history of the region, many artists were forgotten, many works were lost, some became private property, and only a few ended up in museums. Thus Popov’s collection is valuable not only aesthetically, but also historically and educationally.

Over 100 artists are presented in the exhibition, and over 200 paintings and graphic art works are to be displayed. They were created in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century, during the blossoming of fine art in East Prussia, when the region was a centre of attraction for many painters.

These oil, tempera, water colour and pastel paintings, prints made using various graphic art techniques, drawings and reproductive prints represent the most significant phenomena of fine art history in East Prussia – the Königsberg Art Academy and the Artists’ Colony of Nida (Nidden), as well as the works of painters that were born, permanently lived or occasionally visited this region.

The exhibition is mainly composed of landscapes that depict the motives of various East Prussian locations (the coasts of the Semba peninsula, the Vistula lagoon, the Curonian Spit and others). These landscapes reveal the beauty of forests, fields, waters and dunes – sometimes severe, sometimes mysterious or remarkably explicit. In addition to the landscape works there are also figural compositions, still life works and portraits.

Artists from the 19th to the first half of the 20th century often changed their place of residence, and were not afraid of taking long journeys. The biographies of local and arrived artists feature cities and countries where the artists spent time learning, studying, holding exhibitions, and in the works we see motifs reminiscent of other countries, alongside images of East Prussia. The characteristic mobility of artists from this period, their exchange of ideas, and the recognition of new art styles contributed to the variety of East Prussian art and its popularity far beyond the country’s borders.

The spectrum of the styles of work in the exhibition is very wide: from Academism, sentimental Realism, late Impressionism, and Naturalism, to Expressionism and New Objectivity. Some works, created in the second half of the 20th century and which represent late Expressionism, reveal a phenomenon of East Prussian fine arts post-1945: unable to return to their beloved places, painters created paintings by memory, based on their impressions deep in their minds.

The eloquent works of this long term exhibition are in show in the gallery alongside the Pranas Domšaitis permanent collection of works, and allow us to gain a better understanding of the creative origins, influences and historical context of these painters hailing from Prussian Lithuania. Many of the artists presented in “The Wonderful Land” were contemporaries of P. Domšaitis: teachers, colleagues, friends who he studied with at the Königsberg Art Academy, painted with along the coasts of the Semba peninsula, visited the Curonian Spit, and discussed art, participating in exhibitions in Königsberg, and other cities of Germany and Europe.

Kristina Jokubavičienė

Islamic Coins Discovered in Viking’s Shield Boss

“Islamic Coins Discovered in Viking’s Shield Boss”

via “Archaeology.com“

Last year, a metal detectorist discovered a sword from the Viking Age in a field in central Norway. Archaeologists from the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology excavated the site, and found a grave dating to about A.D. 950 that contained the remains of a Viking and his shield, in addition to the inscribed, high-quality sword. Hidden inside the shield boss they found a leather purse that contained several Islamic coins. Norwegian Vikings arrived in Spain in the 800s, where they may have come in contact with Islamic culture, or perhaps the coins were obtained through trade. “We have not managed to find out who owned the sword, but we know that he was a well-traveled man,” archaeologist Ingrid Ystgaard told NRK, as reported by ThorNews. The shield boss also bears combat scars. “The shield boss has a clear cut mark by an ax or a sword. If he died in combat, we do not know,” added Ystgaard. To read about the earliest Norse raids, see “The First Vikings.”

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3,300-year-old Mycenaean tomb and precious artifacts found in Central Greece

“3,300-year-old Mycenaean tomb and precious artifacts found in Central Greece”

by April Holloway via “Ancient Origins“

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of a vaulted Mycenaean tomb near Amfissa, central Greece, containing human remains and a hoard of treasures. The 3,300-year-old tomb is the first of its kind to be found in the region, and one of only a few that have been found untouched. The finding is expected to provide valuable information regarding the habitation, burial customs, and possessions of the Mycenaeans in the 2nd millennium BC. According to the Greek Reporter, the ancient tomb was found during an irrigation project that required excavation in the area. A preliminary analysis of the monument revealed that grave robbers had tried to gain access to the interior of the tomb in the past, but had failed, allowing the precious grave goods to remain untouched over the millennia. The tomb is a tholos, or beehive tomb, characterized by a vaulted ceiling created by the superposition of successively smaller rings of mudbricks or, more often, stones. In Greece, the vaulted tholoi are a monumental Late Bronze Age development. After about 1500 BCE, tholoi became more widespread and are found in every part of the Mycenaean heartland. They are typically cut into the slope of a hillside so that only the upper third of the vaulted chamber was above ground level. This masonry was then concealed with a relatively small mound of earth. After a burial, the entrance to the tomb was filled in with soil, leaving a small mound with most of the tomb underground. One of the finest examples is the Treasury of Atreus in Mycenae. The Treasury of Atreus in Mycenae, Greece (public domain) Lamiastar.gr reports that the newly-discovered tomb is 9 meters (30ft) long with a circular burial chamber measuring 5.9 meters (19ft) in diameter. The vaulted ceiling had collapsed but the walls of the chamber are well-preserved and maintained a height of almost 3 meters (10ft). Within the burial chamber, archaeologists found a large number of human bones. The dead had been buried in the floor with their personal belongings until complete decomposition. Their bones had then been pushed near the walls of the tomb in order to create space for newer burials and a few of these were better preserved than the rest. The research team, led by chief archaeologist Athanasia Psalti, unearthed many unique and valuable artifacts inside the tomb, including more than forty pieces of painted pottery, bronze vases, small vessels for storing aromatic oils, gold and bronze rings, one of which had an engraved decoration, buttons made of semi-precious stones, two bronze daggers, spearheads, female and zoomorphic idols and a large number of seals with animal, floral and linear motives. . . .

Ohio Art Museum to Return Likely Stolen Artifact to Germany

“Ohio Art Museum to Return Likely Stolen Artifact to Germany”

via “ABC News“

A 450-year-old German artifact that was used to tell time and to make astronomical calculations will be returned to a German museum from which it was likely stolen, according to the Toledo Museum of Art.

The device, called an astronomical compendium or astrolabe, disappeared from the Gotha Museum in Gotha, Germany, sometime in 1945.

“This was a one-of-a-kind scientific device,” said Brian Kennedy, president and director of the Toledo museum. “It’s sad to see it go, but it’s not ours.”

Americans occupied Gotha during the war and many of the museum’s collections were moved in 1945 to the former Soviet Union once authority over the area was transferred from United States.

The astronomical device, though, was one of the few items from the museum that didn’t end up in the Soviet Union. Instead, it landed in the hands of a New York art dealer before it was sold for $6,500 in 1954.

The museum in 2013 received a letter from the director of the Gotha Museum, saying that it found out about the piece in Toledo and believed it was theirs.

Kennedy said they reviewed documentation, including photographs, from the Gotha Museum and determined that the piece on display in Toledo was “most likely one and the same.”

The two museums then reached an agreement to get the historically valuable piece back to its rightful owner, Kennedy said. . . .