Near Indonesia’s shores, in the deep Madura Strait, researchers have found evidence of an ancient civilization. Among the fragments of Homo erectus are also the bones of Komodo dragons, buffalo, deer and Stegodon. The find of these fossils near Surabaya is the first indication we have of Sundaland which linked Southeast Asia together in a large tropical plain long in the past. Evidence going back over 140,000 years means these findings add new understandings of that period and show what was once a lively ecosystem, now covered by the sea. The first signs were found in 2011 when sand mining near Java and Madura Strait yielded more than 6,000 vertebrate fossils, among them two skull fragments—a frontal and a parietal bone, both Homo erectus. Only after Harold Berghuis and his team from the University of Leiden reviewed the fossils have researchers confirmed their age and significance. Using OSL on quartz grains, the researchers showed that the sediment layers date to between 162,000 and 119,000 years ago, agreeing with late Middle Pleistocene findings. “There is a strong showing of different hominin species, as well as movements of hominins in this period,” according to Berghuis, who spoke about the richness of the fossils for understanding early man’s migration. The fossils from the Madura Strait show the remains of a buried system of valleys made by the ancient Solo River flowing across the Sunda Shelf. Using data from sedimentary layers, researchers demonstrated that the area was rich with animal and human life thanks to a thriving river. The presence of fossils here challenges earlier assumptions about where Homo erectus lived, making this the first known underwater hominin site in Sundaland. These skull remnants, a close match to Homo erectus from Java’s Sambungmacan site, prove that early humans once lived in areas that sea levels later covered. The melting of glaciers between 14,000 and 7,000 years ago raised the sea level by more than 120 meters, covering part of Sundaland’s valley region. The inland communities may have all fled, so there are now no visible remains of what they left behind in the sea. Underwater archaeology is more important than ever for revealing information about human history. Thanks to new technology, researchers expect to learn a lot more about the lives and tools used by the ancient people of Sundaland, providing valuable details about human evolution and movements across Southeast Asia. Header image: Underwater image. Source: Pixabay
Chachapoya Tomb Unearths Ancient Rituals in Peru’s Kuélap
Archaeologists have made a big discovery high up in the foggy Andes of northern Peru. They found an old tomb in the style of a chulpa at the ancient city of Kuelap. This tomb had human remains and special offerings inside. It gives us new clues about the mysterious Chachapoya people. These “Warriors of the Clouds” lived before the Incas. They built their city on top of a mountain in the wild Amazonas area. This city has grabbed the attention of researchers for many years. The team dug in a part of the 6th-century fortress that no one had looked at before. What they found tells us a lot about how the Chachapoya buried their dead and how spiritual they were. Kuelap sits 3,000 meters up in the sky and covers almost 15 acres. Its tall limestone walls show how clever its builders were. These huge walls some as high as 19 meters, have caused many arguments among experts. Some think they were built to keep out enemies. Others say they might have had a special meaning maybe marking the city as a holy place. The Chachapoya lived from about 400 to 1470 CE. Then the Incas took over. We still don’t know much about the Chachapoya, but Kuelap stands as one of the biggest things they left behind. Peru’s Ministry of Culture announced a new find at Kuelap focusing on Research Area No. 1 within Complex 26. Archaeologists uncovered six round stone structures surrounding a central yard. In one of these, Structure 10, they found an above-ground stone grave typical of Chachapoya burial customs. The grave contained human remains with placed gifts, including a polished stone axe and a slate pendant with complex geometric patterns. These items used in everyday life and sacred rites, point to a culture that gave deep meaning to its burial practices. Other discoveries, like stone pieces and metal traces, suggest elaborate goodbye ceremonies before Kuelap was left around 1570 CE when the Spanish conquest upset native ways of life across the Andes. The careful layout of the tomb and its gifts shows that Chachapoya burials were planned events showing social ranks and family ties. This find fits with other proof of how the Chachapoya honored their dead, a custom that might have brought people closer in a region often faced with conflict and tough environmental conditions. This dig is part of a bigger plan to check out 16 different spots in Kuelap covering more than 24,000 square meters. Besides digging up old stuff, experts are trying to protect the site’s weak buildings from wear and tear and earthquakes. The story of the Chachapoya put together from these finds, shows us a smart group of people who mixed practicality with spiritual beliefs, and made it work in one of the toughest parts of the Andes. As they keep digging, researchers want to learn more about how these people lived day-to-day, what they believed in, and how their society was set up in this city high up in the clouds. Finding the tomb in Kuelap Peru, shows why people are still so interested in the Chachapoya civilization. It sheds light on their complex burial habits and reminds us why it’s so important to keep this old city safe for the future. As experts study each item they find, Kuelap keeps showing us how tough and creative these people were. They carved out a place for themselves in the Andean mountains leaving behind a lasting link to Peru’s rich cultural past. Header Image: Archaeologist in the dig site in Peru. Source: Gob.pe Sources
Ancient Roman Victory Relief Found at Vindolanda Fort
On the windswept hills close to Hadrian’s Wall in northern England, at the Vindolanda fort, archaeologists have found a stone relief of Victoria, the goddess of victory. This sarcophagus, completed around AD 213 and measuring 47 cm tall, 28 cm wide and 17 cm deep, likely marked the royal entrance of a grand archway celebrating Rome’s success over Britain’s new northern border reached at the end of the Severan wars. As a result of decades of hard work by volunteers, we can now glimpse the lives of soldiers, skilled artisans and the everyday culture of a Roman outpost. What can we learn about a goddess from her journeys at the empire’s borders? Long-serving volunteers Jim and Dilys Quinlan found the relief while they were digging in a layer of rubble over an infantry barracks, for the Vindolanda Trust. We can see from its details that an artist, commissioned to capture a major battle, was responsible for sculpting this statue. Dr. The exceptional rarity of such discoveries in Roman Britain, shown by Director Andrew Birley, reflects the importance of the Roman relief in Devon. Professor Rob Collins found that the carving is connected to an extreme monumental archway from the post-Severan era, when Emperor Septimius Severus succeeded in defeating tribes in the north. Curator Barbara Birley says that since the stone mixes a wide range of color, experts are searching for evidence of old pigments commonly added to Roman statues to livens their textures. As the Roman match for Nike, Victoria was much more than a goddess, standing for divine approval and the fighting skills of soldiers at the busy fortress of Vindolanda. Such relief probably reflected that the fort had recovered, offering military strength and cultural activities after the Severan wars. It is clear from the barracks that the statue influenced daily activities of soldiers far from central Rome. Apart from its artistic value, the stone reflects what happened in ancient Ireland: how a sculptor worked, men hoped for victory and these two societies waited through the ages to be united. Vindolanda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is important to the communities of Northumberland because its stones form part of the area’s heritage. It shows Italy’s pride and inspires us to think about how local tribes stood up against the ruling power. It will be presented at Vindolanda’s exhibition called “Recent Finds” in 2026, bringing visitors from around the world to reflect on the history of conquest and endurance. Learn more at: https://www.vindolanda.com/
Pope Leo XIV’s Coat of Arms: Emblems of Faith and Unity
Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms and motto were revealed by the Vatican this May 2025, as is customary in heraldry for Popes to signal their main interests. According to Leo, all three order symbols, the fleur-de-lis, the pierced heart and the motto In Illo Uno Unum, are rooted in the life of St. Augustine, a fourth-century Italian theologian and bishop. Based on what an art historian might say, these choices highlight humility, unity and devotion which both represent the pope’s Augustinian background and explain what he hoped for in the Church. How do objects and places from history and theology underline the Pope’s challenge in today’s environment? The Heraldic Shield The diagonally divided coat of arms of Pope Leo XIV is full of both symbolic and balanced elements. In the upper half, you’ll see the Virgin Mary’s purity represented with a silver fleur-de-lis on a blue field. The three petals of the fleur-de-lis, like the Holy Trinity, were discussed at length by St. Augustine in On the Trinity. Fr. Pompili of the Italian Heraldic-Genealogical Institute explains that the Marian symbol is a proof of Leo’s strong commitment to his faith. In the lower area, the emblem of the Order of St. Augustine is displayed: a red heart on fire, hurt by an arrow and sitting on a closed book. It is inspired by Saint Augustine, who wrote in his Confessions that God’s Word had pierced his heart. The Bible, the basis of Augustine’s change, features on the cover, with the heart showing his strong love for Christ and others. Rafael Nieto, an Augustinian Recollect, states that a heart like this is a proof of humility and celebration of God’s grace. At the top of the shield, the keys are crossed to suggest papal powers, with a gold key and a silver one and a plain mitre replaces the traditional tiara, another point about humility. Some people researching heraldry online have mentioned that this symbol’s lower field could be ivory or argent, as its use receives international attention. Call to Unity To these words, In Illo Uno Unum or “In the One, we are one,” St. Augustine refers to his Exposition on Psalm 127. It illustrates his view that the Church, amid its variety, is united as one in Christ. In Augustine’s words, “We are many, but we are one through Christ, the principle behind what Pope Leo XIV aims to achieve. He pointed out in a Vatican News interview in 2023 that unity is a main Augustinian value, saying, “Being part of the community guides my mission and my expectations for the Church.” Chosen by peers on May 8, 2025, Leo was named the 267th pope and wishes to unite the world despite its disagreements. The saying also reveals Augustine’s humility, as we can see from a Holy Legend (1483). When puzzled by the Trinity, Augustine came across a child trying to put the sea into a tiny container. When asked about his behavior, the child said it wasn’t more pointless than Augustine’s quest to grasp the infinite. The artist Michael Pacher’s altarpiece from 1482 and Leo’s first Mass both show how human understanding has its borders—something Leo called attention to with his remark that being pope was both a burden and a source of joy. Augustine in Art For 34 years as bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine greatly influenced both theology and the arts. His contributions, for example The Confessions and The City of God, influenced the thinking of the medieval and Renaissance ages. Many artists depicted Augustine with a pierced heart, as in a stained-glass window made by Tobias Müller in 1622 which while showing Augustine talking to a child, represents his humility. Painted in 1480 by Sandro Botticelli, Augustine is pictured working in a study filled with literature, rather than wearing his bishop’s hat. Underlying the current concept is a geocentric model that has now been replaced but still outlines the limitations of leading thinkers. Pope Leo XIV is known for operating within the same tradition of community learning. He has previously taught canon law and early Christian theology at San Carlos y San Marcelo in Peru, giving his ministry an air of academic competence. Since his Augustinian background springs from a rule founded in 1244—‘Let everything be owned by all’—this explains why he stresses the importance of community in faith and service. His symbol and motto, chosen by Pope Leo XIV, help guide him in his leadership. Benefiting from his past role as a missionary and bishop in Chiclayo, Peru, he now helps the Church by encouraging unity and outreach. At the time of his election, he made it clear that he wanted the Church to “pursue peace and justice together.” The fleur-de-lis and pierced heart mean that Louis appreciated both the Virgin Mary and the Catholic movement, while his motto encouraged unity during a difficult time. Because social inequality, division among cultures and technology are current issues, Leo’s Augustinian perspective continues to be relevant. Do you think, like Augustine’s open heart, the Church is ready to be affected by God and its community? While scholars learn from his papal legacy and Peruvians fete their one-time bishop, Leo XIV’s images prompt us to be faithful, humble and united.
Pregnant Warriors: The Power of Viking Women
Pregnant women wielding swords and wearing martial helmets, foetuses set to avenge their fathers – and a harsh world where not all newborns were born free or given burial. These are some of the realities uncovered by the first interdisciplinary study to focus on pregnancy in the Viking age, authored by myself, Kate Olley, Brad Marshall and Emma Tollefsen as part of the Body-Politics project. Despite its central role in human history, pregnancy has often been overlooked in archaeology, largely because it leaves little material trace. Pregnancy has perhaps been particularly overlooked in periods we mostly associate with warriors, kings and battles – such as the highly romanticised Viking age (the period from AD800 until AD1050). Topics such as pregnancy and childbirth have conventionally been seen as “women’s issues”, belonging to the “natural” or “private” spheres – yet we argue that questions such as “when does life begin?” are not at all natural or private, but of significant political concern, today as in the past. In our new study, my co-authors and I puzzle together eclectic strands of evidence in order to understand how pregnancy and the pregnant body were conceptualised at this time. By exploring such “womb politics”, it is possible to add significantly to our knowledge on gender, bodies and sexual politics in the Viking age and beyond. First, we examined words and stories depicting pregnancy in Old Norse sources. Despite dating to the centuries after the Viking age, sagas and legal texts provide words and stories about childbearing that the Vikings’ immediate descendants used and circulated. We learned that pregnancy could be described as “bellyful”, “unlight” and “not whole”. And we gleaned an insight into the possible belief in personhood of a foetus: “A woman walking not alone.” An episode in one of the sagas we looked at supports the idea that unborn children (at least high-status ones) could already be inscribed into complex systems of kinship, allies, feuds and obligations. It tells the story of a tense confrontation between the pregnant Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir, a protagonist in the Saga of the People of Laxardal and her husband’s killer, Helgi Harðbeinsson. As a provocation, Helgi wipes his bloody spear on Guđrun’s clothes and over her belly. He declares: “I think that under the corner of that shawl dwells my own death.” Helgi’s prediction comes true, and the foetus grows up to avenge his father. Another episode, from the Saga of Erik the Red, focuses more on the agency of the mother. The heavily pregnant Freydís Eiríksdóttir is caught up in an attack by the skrælings, the Norse name for the indigenous populations of Greenland and Canada. When she cannot escape due to her pregnancy, Freydís picks up a sword, bares her breast and strikes the sword against it, scaring the assailants away. While sometimes regarded as an obscure literary episode in scholarship, this story may find a parallel in the second set of evidence we examined for the study: a figurine of a pregnant woman. This pendant, found in a tenth-century woman’s burial in Aska, Sweden, is the only known convincing depiction of pregnancy from the Viking age. It depicts a figure in female dress with the arms embracing an accentuated belly — perhaps signalling connection with the coming child. What makes this figurine especially interesting is that the pregnant woman is wearing a martial helmet. Taken together, these strands of evidence show that pregnant women could, at least in art and stories, be engaged with violence and weapons. These were not passive bodies. Together with recent studies of Viking women buried as warriors, this provokes further thought to how we envisage gender roles in the oft-perceived hyper-masculine Viking societies. Missing children and pregnancy as a defect A final strand of investigation was to look for evidence for obstetric deaths in the Viking burial record. Maternal-infant death rates are thought to be very high in most pre-industrial societies. Yet, we found that among thousands of Viking graves, only 14 possible mother-infant burials are reported. Consequently, we suggest that pregnant women who died weren’t routinely buried with their unborn child and may not have been commemorated as one, symbiotic unity by Viking societies. In fact, we also found newborns buried with adult men and postmenopausal women, assemblages which may be family graves, but they may also be something else altogether. We cannot exclude that infants – underrepresented in the burial record more generally – were disposed of in death elsewhere. When they are found in graves with other bodies, it’s possible they were included as a “grave good” (objects buried with a deceased person) for other people in the grave. This is a stark reminder that pregnancy and infancy can be vulnerable states of transition. A final piece of evidence speaks to this point like no other. For some, like Guđrun’s little boy, gestation and birth represented a multi-staged process towards becoming a free social person. For people lower on the social rung, however, this may have looked very different. One of the legal texts we examined dryly informs us that when enslaved women were put up for sale, pregnancy was regarded as a defect of their bodies. Pregnancy was deeply political and far from uniform in meaning for Viking-age communities. It shaped – and was shaped by – ideas of social status, kinship and personhood. Our study shows that pregnancy was not invisible or private, but crucial to how Viking societies understood life, social identities and power. This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Ancient Wrecks off Costa Rica Revealed to Be Danish Slave Ships, Not Pirate Vessels
Two shipwrecks maintain their presence in Costa Rica’s Cahuita National Park beneath its turquoise waters as coral reefs dance with tropical fish that have graced the ocean floor for more than three hundred years. For numerous decades fishers from the area shared stories about pirate galleons whose broken pieces suggested battles which occurred long ago. Marine archaeologists explored Caribbean waters in 2023 to find proof which debunked the pirate ship speculation by revealing these vessels as slave ships. These two vessels Fridericus Quartus and Christianus Quintus sailed as Danish slave ships before sinking to their fate in 1710 as they transported hundreds of enslaved Africans to servitude. The Danish National Museum identification ended up both rewriting maritime history and producing excitement for a Costa Rican community about their ancestral roots. These wrecks contain hidden secrets which establish a continuous link between the two countries across historical periods. In 2015 American archaeologists detected strange yellow bricks during their exploration near the Costa Rican southern Caribbean coastline. The discovered brick blocks originated from clay deposits located at Flensburg Fjord during the 18th century as part of Danish colonial activities. The underwater excavation started in 2023 through joint efforts between the National Museum of Denmark and the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde and the Costa Rican authorities to reveal this disturbing tale. Through their efforts Marine archaeologists David Gregory and Andreas Kallmeyer Bloch started the expedition by diving into shallow water at Cahuita National Park to investigate the shipwrecks distributed along the seabed. The researchers used their equipment alongside careful techniques to gather the burned timber samples from oaks alongside yellow brick pieces along with fragile clay pipes. The team at University of Southern Denmark determined the oak trunk originated from an area across the western Baltic Sea including Germany and Sweden and Denmark before being cut down somewhere between 1690 to 1695. The clay pits of Flensburg produced the distinctive signs detected on the discovered bricks. Clay pipes discovered on board dating from just before 1710 displayed the delicate features that captured the brief rest period of a sailor at sea. The evidence was undeniable. According to Gregory this analysis proved beyond doubt that the findings were correct as he stated in a National Museum press release. The ship’s burnt timbers match historical records that describe a burn incident while the bricks show clear Danish properties. Both ships have been scientifically identified as the Fridericus Quartus and Christianus Quintus.” For Bloch the archaeological mission defined his career path. At that moment he admitted to having almost quit the endeavor but called this experience the most adventurous excavation he had ever participated in. The discoveries extend beyond Danish history because they directly connect to the people in Costa Rican territory. The Fridericus Quartus and Christianus Quintus departed from Copenhagen during December 1708 to transport Africans to Danish West Indies plantations under a dark purpose. The transatlantic voyage carried goods including weapons, textiles, and metal components, which they planned to use for trading Africans on the West African coast to transfer to Caribbean plantations for labor. But fate intervened. Archival evidence reveals how the ships encountered destruction off Costa Rica’s coastlines in 1710 after their crew members mutinied, navigational errors led them far off course, and their supplies ran short. The Fridericus Quartus experienced fires that destroyed it before it sank into the ocean, while the Christianus Quintus found destruction when its anchor rope was deliberately cut during the mutiny, causing it to crash into coral reefs. Survivors of enslavement escaped from the sunken ships, but about 100 individuals were recaptured to labor on local cacao plantations. Historical documentation shows that while many enslaved Africans escaped from the sunken ships, approximately 100 survivors were taken into captivity by local cacao plantation owners. Descendants from these shipwrecks make up the Afro-Caribbean members of Limón Province who settled in Costa Rica before official narratives or written documentation. The recovery of these sunken ships has established a whole new historical account. This revelation carries profound weight. Local legends throughout the centuries believed the wrecked ships to be pirates when actually those remains were scattered at sea. Science combined with community partnership revealed real findings that prove the persistence of survivor populations who formed Costa Rica’s multicultural heritage. The discoveries show how Denmark operated as a significant participant in the Atlantic slave trade, although larger entities receive more attention historically. The discovery has established a joint historical connection that spans the distances between Denmark and Costa Rica. The discovery rises as an occasion for Denmark to face historical events that brought them immense distress. The highly preserved Fridericus Quartus shipwreck in the Caribbean gives archaeologists one of the rare opportunities to study 18th-century Danish shipbuilding practices and the ambitions of colonial expansion. The Njord research center at the National Museum continues its mission to conduct worldwide Danish wreck excavations to reach a deeper knowledge of these shipwrecks. Costa Rica carries the most direct effects from the discoveries. The wrecks rest inside the biodiversity sanctuary that is Cahuita National Park which serves as both habitat and cultural protection zone. The youth divers of the local community under Ambassadors of the Sea leadership completed this project which combined academic research practices with individual identity development. The decade of work documented by Enslaved as presented in its 2020 documentary series with Samuel L. Jackson eventually attracted worldwide recognition to their history. The discovery contradicts official history records by proving that Afro-Costa Ricans settled in Limón during 1710 and it expands the local story. The preserved wrecks function as tangible monuments that honor the tragedies faced by human beings. The future of the remains will be decided by Costa Rica while they strive to protect them with dignity for the enslaved individuals who lived there. Through their partnership with Danish institutions along with local NGOs and Costa Rican institutions archaeologists established a model approach to culturally-sensitive practice which gives ancestral communities an active role. Header Image: Costa Rican shipwreck underwater exploration
Europe’s Oldest Bone Spear Tip Unearthed
Imagine a Neanderthal hunter, crouched in the dim light of a prehistoric dawn, meticulously shaping a bone into a deadly spear tip. This scene, vivid with the weight of survival, comes to life through a remarkable discovery in northern Spain. Archaeologists have unearthed a 120,000-year-old bone spear tip, created by Neanderthals, now recognized as the oldest of its kind in Europe. In northern Spain, the Cueva del Forat de la Mico cave has guarded its secrets for millennia. Here, archaeologists uncovered a small but extraordinary artifact: a bone spear tip, measuring just a few centimeters, carved with precision. Radiocarbon dating places it back between 80,000 and 70,000 years, making it the earliest known bone weapon in Europe. Unlike stone tools, which dominate Neanderthal archaeological records, bone tools require intricate techniques—selecting the right material, shaping it without breaking, and honing it for function. This spear tip, likely fashioned from a deer or horse bone, showcases a level of dexterity and planning that challenges outdated stereotypes of Neanderthals as brute cave-dwellers. The artifacts significance lies in its rarity. Bone tools degrade faster than stone, leaving sparse evidence of their use. Yet, this spear tip survived, its surface etched with the story of its maker’s hands. Researchers suggest it was used for hunting, possibly thrust into the hide of a deer or boar during communal hunts. The discovery aligns with other evidence of Neanderthal sophistication, such as their use of fire, creation of jewelry, and even burial rituals. Far from primitive, these early humans were problem-solvers, adapting to their environment with creativity. The Cueva del Forat de la Mico find adds a crucial chapter to the Neanderthal story. For decades, scholars assumed Homo sapiens held a monopoly on advanced tool-making, relegating Neanderthals to a lesser role in human evolution. However, discoveries like this bone spear tip paint a different picture. The artifact predates the arrival of modern humans in Europe, proving Neanderthals independently developed complex technologies. This challenges the narrative that they merely mimicked Homo sapiens or lacked innovation. The discovery also raises questions about Neanderthal extinction. If they were so skilled, why did they vanish around 40,000 years ago? Climate change, competition with Homo sapiens, or interbreeding may hold answers, but the spear tip suggests they thrived for millennia before their decline. Each find like this stitches together a richer tapestry of their lives, urging us to see Neanderthals not as failures but as resilient ancestors. Featured image: Four photographs of the tapered part of the specimen. White rectangles marked with numbers indicate: 1 – areas of red-brown coloration of the type caused by heat at the tip; 2 – location of the photograph of bitumen residue. Credit: L.V. Golovanova et al.
