[Web : Vesti] Medijana: Spasavaju antičko nasleđe, Novosti

Italijanski stručnjaci započeli konzervaciju fresaka na Medijani. U naredne dve nedelje testovi čišćenja i dezinfekcija slojeva

GRUPA stručnjaka sa Instituta za koncervaciju i restauraciju u Rimu započela je na arheološkom lokalitetu Medijana konzervaciju fresaka iz 4. veka. Zidne slike stare 2.000 godina, koje su decenijama bile prekrivene prašinom, u lošem su stanju, ali naši stručnjaci uz pomoć kolega iz Italije koriste najsavremenije tehnologije u spasavanju ovih remek-dela.

- Reč je o freskama koje su izuzetnog kvaliteta, rađene su autentičnom antičkom tehnikom - kaže za „Novosti“ dr Donatela Kavacali menadžer italijansko-srpskog projekta. - Pigmenti su bili odlično apsorbovani, jer su autori radili na svežem materijalu. Ta tehnika je omogućila da se veoma dobro održe 2.000 godina. Slike su u lošem stanju, ali ispod tih hemijskih, biloških naslaga freske su ipak očuvane. Počeli smo najpre sa pričvršćivanjem slika za zid, jer su se vremenom odlepljivale. Za te radove koristili smo tečni malter, na bazi kalcijuma, krečnjaka, jer nikada ne koristimo organske materijale. Da bismo bili bezbedni, pokrili smo ovom konsolidacijom čitavu površinu.

Italijani u naredne dve nedelje planiraju testove čišćenja, zatim dezinfekciju, jer su primetili dosta slojeva mikrogljivica. Za ove svrhe koriste se vrlo delikatne tehnike. Sve vreme na desetine naših stručnjaka uči i osamostaljuje se da potpuno nezavisno krene da radi složenu konzervaciju fresaka.

- Doveli smo naše najbolje osoblje - iznosi za „Novosti“ Santa Mole, direktorka Instituta za kooperaciju i razvoj. - Projekat, koji se radi za celu Srbiju, košta oko milion evra, ali sam sigurna da će takva ulaganja dati rezultata. Italija je svetski lider u konzervaciji, imamo veoma veliko iskustvo u restauraciji i konzervaciji kulturne baštine. Koristimo konzervativnije tehnike, jer kada se radi rekonstrukcija, često dolazi do brisanja i uništavanja tragova. Obrazovanje mladih konzervatora u Srbiji radimo u dve etape, teorijski i praktično.

Na freskama na Medijani preovlađuju floralni i geometrijski ornamentni. Freske su imale ukrasani karakter i prilagođene su funkcijama odaja u kojima su pronađene. I njihova izrada, zajedno sa prošlogodišnjim otkrićem 20 metara vrednog mozaika, kao i poslednjim pronalaskom glave boginje Artemide, ukazuju na ranije naučno mišljenje da je Vila sa peristilom na nalazištu pripadala visoko kotiranom pripadniku carstva, te da su u njemu najverovantije boravili članovi carske porodice.

- Važno je da insituticije u Srbiji razviju blisku međusobnu saradnju, a mi ćemo pomagati koliko bude bilo potrebno - ističe dr Donatela Kavacali.

[Web] Assisi's Roman Villa,

by Marco Merola

A surprise discovery under a medieval Italian town square

Found among the well-preserved remains of a Roman villa inhabited until the 1st century A.D. was a cubiculum, or bedroom, decorated with frescoes and an intricate geometric mosaic. 
(Courtesy Soprintendenza Archeologica dell’Umbria)

On September 26, 1997, a strong earthquake shook the central Italian town of Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis. The quake damaged dozens of medieval buildings and shattered into tens of thousands of pieces the frescoes that covered the walls and ceiling of the Basilica of St. Francis. These include thirteenth-century frescoes by the greatest early Renaissance masters—Giotto, Cimabue, Simone Martini, and Pietro Lorenzetti. (After five years and millions of dollars, the frescoes were restored to as close to their original condition as possible.) But just half a mile from the Basilica, untouched by the earthquake, lay other beautiful frescoes that once covered the walls of a first-century A.D. Roman villa.

Four years after the earthquake, authorities began to stabilize and modernize some of Assisi’s oldest structures. They decided that one of these buildings, the seventeenth-century Palazzo Giampè, which houses the town’s court, would get an elevator. This required engineers to dig deep down to the building’s foundations. But work stopped almost immediately. Only 20 inches below the entrance, builders had begun to find pieces of stucco of a kind that is often found decorating ancient Roman column capitals. “Right away we had to start a real excavation,” says Maria Laura Manca of the Archaeological Superintendent’s office in Umbria, who supervised the dig. Soon the archaeologists had uncovered three 14- to 15-foot-tall columns that formed the peristyle (a colonnaded space with a central garden) of a very large house. “We had not ever expected a discovery of this kind,” says Manca. “We were astounded.”

http://www.archaeology.org/

[Web : Vesti] Archeologists discover a hoard of silver Roman denarii coins at Vindolanda

Ahoard of twenty one silver denarii has been recovered during the recent excavation of the foundations of a clay floor in a centurion’s apartment of the late Antonine period (cAD180-200) at Vindolanda, northeast England.

The hoard had been buried, possibly in a purse or some similar organic package which had long since rotted away, in a shallow pit within the foundation material of the floor of the structure in the middle of the room.

Dr Andrew Birley – director of excavations at the site explains, “The coins were tightly packed together and several had corroded onto one another, held together as a group by the foundation clay of the building on the surrounding packaging that had rotted away. The surface area covered by the coins was no greater than 10cms, suggesting that there had been little movement by post depositional processes. The archaeological context suggests that the hoard may well have been deliberately buried, rather than lost, and was probably the savings of an individual who was unable to recover his money.”

Twenty-one denarii in the late second century represented a substantial sum being roughly one tenth of a ranking auxiliary’s gross annual salary

Twenty-one denarii in the late second century represented a substantial sum being roughly one tenth of a ranking auxiliary’s gross annual salary and the equivalent of perhaps two or three thousand pounds in today’s money.

The hoard has now been conserved at Vindolanda and reported as treasure trove under the 1996 Treasure Act. It is hoped that the hoard will remain at Vindolanda, as part of the site archive, and for public display at the Vindolanda Trust’s site museum.

More information

Vindolanda website: http://www.vindolanda.com/Home.htm

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[Web : Vesti] Caligula Statue Seized From Looters Is Unveiled

A statue believed to depict the Roman emperor Caligula was officially unveiled in Rome on Tuesday, six months after police seized it from looters. Archaeologists are currently excavating the spot where it was found, which may prove to be the site of a long-lost imperial villa.

Yesterday, Italian authorities unveiled a giant statue thought to represent the ancient Roman emperor Caligula. Police confiscated the 8-foot-tall marble figure in January after spotting a man loading it into a truck near Lake Nemi, located south of Rome. Two men were later arrested for unlawfully excavating a nearby site. It is believed that they planned to smuggle the statue and other archaeological finds out of the country and sell them on the black market.

In the months since the seizure, experts have cleaned the 2,000-year-old statue, which was already in a dilapidated state and had been broken into pieces by the plunderers. Its subject, who is cloaked in a robe and seated on a throne, was identified as Caligula because his foot is encased in a “caliga”—a type of boot worn by Roman legionary soldiers that gave the emperor his nickname. According to Suetonius, who chronicled the history of Rome in the first century, Caligula, born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus in 12 A.D., accompanied his father on military campaigns as a small child. His miniature uniform inspired soldiers to dub him Caligula, meaning “little boots.”

His unintimidating pet name notwithstanding, Caligula grew up to earn a reputation as a tyrannical ruler, characterized by ancient historians as violent, narcissistic, sex-crazed, incestuous and completely insane. (Some contemporary scholars have questioned the neutrality of these assessments, while others have attributed Caligula’s alleged madness to medical conditions or lead poisoning.) He died at the hands of his own personal guard in 41 A.D., less than four years into his reign.

Thanks to the statue’s recovery, we may soon gain a deeper understanding of one of ancient Rome’s most infamous emperors. In April, Italian archaeologists began excavating the site where the smugglers had conducted their illegal dig. So far, they have unearthed the ruins of what was initially thought to be a mausoleum but now appears to be a thermal bathing complex. They have also found more than 250 artifacts, including additional pieces of the broken statue.

The project has generated significant interest among historians because Caligula is known to have spent time in the Lake Nemi region and may have had an imperial villa there. He also kept two ships, described by Suetonius as lavish pleasure boats used for merrymaking, anchored on the lake; their remains were recovered in the 1930s. Perhaps further excavation will reveal whether a botched robbery led archaeologists to Caligula’s long-lost palace.

[Web : Vesti] Caligula statue discovered by 'tomb raiders' unveiled in Rome

 

A massive statue believed to be a rare image of Roman emperor Caligula sitting on a throne has been unveiled in Rome.

Officials said that it came from an illegal dig south of the Italian capital, and that may have been the site of one of his palaces.

The statue, which had been broken in several large pieces and a head, was first found last January when finance police stopped it from being smuggled out of the country by boat at a port near Rome.

The operation led to the arrest of two so-called "tomb raiders" – those who dig up the countryside looking for archaeological treasures to sell on the black market.

But more importantly, the arrests led police to the site near Lake Nemi, just south of Rome, where Caligula was believed to have had one of his imperial residences.

The statue, now cleaned of the earth that had covered it for 2,000 years, shows parts of a robed man sitting on an elaborate throne like the Greek god Zeus.

Significantly, it shows a man wearing a "caliga," shoes worn by Roman legionaries and from where the emperor got his nickname. His real name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.

Caligula, who reigned from 37 to 41AD, has gone down in history as a crazed and power-hungry sex maniac who demanded that his horse, Incitatus, be made a consul.

The Telegraph

[Web : Vesti] The Search for Cleopatra Continues

Aradar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna, west of Alexandria in Egypt, was completed last month as part of the ongoing search for the tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. The expedition excavating the temple and its surrounding area is headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass and Dr. Kathleen Martinez from the Dominican Republic.

The recent radar survey is a significant step forward and was carried out by an Egyptian team, with American expert Dr. Roger Vickers serving as a consultant. The radar revealed three possible areas of interest where a tomb may be located. These locations have been passed to the archaeological team who received the results of the survey with great interest, and will begin excavation of the targets next week.

Radar survey at the Temple of Taposiris Magna in progress. Image: Supreme Council of Antiquities

The most important recent development at Taposiris Magna has been the discovery of a large, previously unknown cemetery outside the temple enclosure.

The expedition has found 27 tombs, twenty of them shaped like vaulted sarcophagi, partly underground and partly above ground. The remaining seven consist of staircases leading to simple burial chambers. Inside these tombs, the team has found a total of ten mummies, two of them gilded. The discovery of this cemetery indicates that an important person, likely of royal status, could be buried inside the temple. It was common for officials and other high-status individuals in Egypt to construct their tombs close to those of their rulers throughout the Pharaonic period. The style of the newly discovered tombs indicates that they were constructed during the Greco-Roman period.

Mummies in one of the newly discovered tombs outside the temple. Image: Supreme Council of Antiquities

Dr. Martinez stated that the expedition has been excavating a temple at Taposiris Magna dedicated to the goddess Isis, and even discovered coins depicting the face of Alexander the Great.

They have found a number of deep shafts inside the temple, three of which seem to have been used for burials. It is possible that these shafts were the tombs of important people, and the team’s leaders believe that Cleopatra and Mark Antony could have been buried in a deep shaft similar to those already discovered inside the temple.

Dr. Hawass said that the expedition has so far found a beautiful head of Cleopatra, along with 22 coins bearing her image. The statue and coins show her as a beauty, contradicting the idea recently suggested that the Queen was quite ugly.

The finds from Taposiris reflect a charm that could have captured the hearts of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and indicate that Cleopatra was in no way unattractive. Moreover, the features of the sculpted head show no sign of African ancestry, contradicting a recently advanced theory. The team has also found many amulets, along with a beautiful headless statue dating to the Ptolemaic Period. Among the most interesting finds is a unique mask depicting a man with a cleft chin which bears some similarity to known portraits of Mark Antony himself.

Read more >> http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/07/2011/the-search-for-cleopatra-continues#ixzz1RYaNszCV 



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[Web] The Tsunamis of Olympia

Olympia, the Sanctuary of Zeus and venue of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, was probably destroyed by tsunamis that reached far inland, and not as previously believed, by earthquakes and river flooding.

This is the latest theory put forward by University Prof. Dr. Andreas Vött from the Geographical Institute of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz (JGU). Vött examined the site in the exploration of Paläotsunamis that have taken place over the last 11,000 years along the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean. The Olympic-tsunami hypothesis has been put forward due to sediments found in the vicinity of Olympia, which were buried under an 8 metres thick layer of sand and other debris, and only rediscovered around 250 years ago.

Recovering the sediment sequences only a few hundred meters west of the Temple of Zeus. In the background is the mountain of Olympia, the Kronos hill. Image: © Andreas Vött/JGU

“The composition and thickness of the sediments we have found, do not fit with water flow of the river Kladeos and  geomorphological events such as earthquakes,” sad Vött. It was previously believed that an earthquake in 551 AD. destroyed the shrines and  afterwards floods from the Kladeos filled the ancient buildings.  However, Vött was puzzled that the small river Kladeos that flows past the Olympic site would need to have first been buried under several metres of sediment, in order to cut 10-12 metres deep at its ancient overflow level. In cooperation with the local Council of Antiquities and colleagues from the Universities of Aachen, Darmstadt, Freiburg, Hamburg and Cologne, Vött and his team researched extensively in the area using modern geomorphological geoarchaeological methods.

Marine foraminifera. Image: Noora.S, Flickr

The results suggest that the region was hit several times by major catastrophic floods and was covered by sediments in the past.  Mussel and snail shells and the remains of foraminifera (marine protozoa) clearly indicate a marine origin. The sediments must have arrived at speed from the coast towards Olympia which has an altitude of about 33 metres above sea level.

“Olympia is now 22 km from the sea, but previously the coast was at least 8 km, further inland,” explains Vött. In his scenario: tsunamis from the sea built up then ran into the narrow valley of Alpheus – which also includes the River Kladeos – with great force, and then rushed over the saddles in the range of hills that lie behind Olympia. The sanctuary then becomes flooded and the water flows slowly out, as the Alpheus valley is blocked by the incoming tsunami and its sediments. This suggests that in the context of deposited sediment sequences in the area, such a scenario has been repeated several times during the last 7,000 years; with one of the most recent events occurring  in the 6th Century AD. which carried with it the final destruction of Olympia.

Column drums from Temple of Zeus. Image: Templar1307, Flickr

In support of the Olympic tsunami hypothesis is the fact that both on the sea facing side of the hilly terrain as well as in Olympia, identical high-energy sediments were found. “The deposits at Olympia have the same signature as the tsunami deposits upstream in the Alpheus valley,” said Vött. He ruled out an earthquake as the cause, as the fallen column drums of the Temple of Zeus  actually “float” in the sediment.  All sedimentological, geochemical, geomorphological and geo-archaeological findings support the new, sensational Olympic tsunami hypothesis.  Detailed analysis of faunal species composition, the origin and age of micro-organisms and age determination of sediments are being carried out, and these results will be available soon.

Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in the eastern Mediterranean, which is mainly due to the high seismic activity along the Hellenic arc where the African plate pushes under the Eurasian plate, triggering strong earthquakes often with an accompanying tsunami. The last giant tsunami devastated coastal regions in 1908 after an earthquake in the Straits of Messina (southern Italy) where more than 100,000 people died. However, in the southern Aegean Sea in 1956, a 30 metre high wave was recorded. “An analysis of historical records has shown that in western Greece on average every 8-11 years, a tsunami occurred,” Vött confirmed.

Geographical Institute of the Johannes Gutenberg University

Mamo, B. L.; Strotz, L. C.; Dominey-Howes, D.  Tsunami sediments and their foraminiferal assemblages, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009

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[Web : Vesti] U Egiptu otkopana prva bazilika iz rimskog perioda

KAIRO - Arheolozi su otkopali prvu baziliku podignutu u egipatskom gradu Aleksandriji, saopštili su danas egipatski zvaničnici.

Bazilika potiče iz rimskog doba i sagrađena je na ruševinama hrama iz vremena vladavine dinastije Ptolemejida koja se završila Kleopatrinom smrću. U saopštenju egipatske Uprave za antikvitete se navodi da dva paralelna reda stubova od granita i krečnjaka ukazuju da je bazilika bila ne samo mesto okupljanja vernika, već i mesto gde su se rešavali sporovi i obavljala trgovina. Tokom petomesečnih iskopina, arheolozi su pronašli i nekoliko statua drevne egipatske boginje Izis i grčko-egipatskog boga Serapisa.

[Web : Vesti] Hadrijanovoj vili preti urušavanje

IZVOR: BETA

Hadrijanova vila, rezidencija slavnog rimskog cara u blizini Rima, delimično je zatvorena za posetioce zbog opasnosti od urušavanja zbog nedostatka novca za održavanje lokaliteta.

Smešten u Tivoliju, 10-ak kilometara od glavnog grada Italije, taj kompleks zdanja prostire se na 80 hektara (što je više od Pompeje) a dobio je samo 370.000 evra od 2,5 miliona koje konzervatori smatraju minimalnom sumom potrebnom za održavanje. 

Za tri godine, od 6,7 miliona evra traženih za konzerviranje vile, deblokiran je samo milion i po, pa zato svake godine raste broj zona kompleksa zaštićenih metalnim ogradama sa natpisom "opasnost od rušenja". 

Vila je podignuta u periodu između 117. i 138. godine nove ere, po naređenju cara Hadrijana, a nacrt zgrada i konstrukcija inspirisan je delima i lokalitetima koje je imperator posećivao tokom mnogobrojnih putovanja po rimskom carstvu.

[web ; Vesti] The oldest depiction of an Egyptian King wearing the Upper Egyptian crown

 via 
http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.com/
 
“Dr. Maria Carmela Gatto (Director of Aswan-Kom Ombo Archarological Project) made a discovery at Nag el-Hamdulab site(North west of Aswan) of the oldest graffiti shows a King wearing the Upper Egypt headgear(crown) with a group of royal scenes dated back to dynasty zero.” Said Dr. Zahi Hawass. “The find shows many hieroglyphic graffiti and the first drawings shows a complete royal celebration looks exactly like what was known in the different Pharanoic eras, showing the Pharaoh wearing his white crown accompanied by Horus followers or the royal court.”Hawass added. 


Dr. Maria Carmela said “This discovery is considered an update or completing the work on the site which was discovered by Dr. Labib Habashi on the west bank on the Nile north of Aswan at Nag El Hamdulab. The new study shows that the site dated back to dynasty Zero which is the same of tomb of Narmer (2960-2770 B.C).
The significance of this discovery is the uniqueness of the rock art of the pre-dynastic era represents a procession of boats superintended by the King who is accompanied by 2 standard bearers, one fan bearer and a dog.”

There is a remarkable similarities could be obviously noticed between Nag El Hamdulab tableaux and the Scorpion mace-head, Narmer mace-head and Narmer palette as the scene shows a man with a bow repress a man held captive lying on the ground. The tableaux was restored by the mission after a severe damage using the original photographs by Dr. Labib Habashi which were kept at the Oriental Institute at Chicago University.

For more about Dr.Maria Gatto, her notes and her work .... Check Here and Here