Archeology

Archaeologists working at White Sands National Park have uncovered traces of a pre-wheeled vehicle alongside human and mammoth footprints preserved in late Pleistocene sediments.

Archaeologists found a nearly complete peahen fresco, missing its head, dating to the mid-first century B.C., that may have belonged to Poppaea Sabina, the second wife of Emperor Nero.

Officers seized around 10,000 archaeological artifacts, including 7,000 coins issued by various Greek city-states that existed on Sicily in ancient times.

The site is widely identified with the ancient village of Bet Zecharia, where the Seleucid army and the forces of Judah Maccabee clashed in what is known as the fifth Maccabean battle.

Israel’s Heritage Minister, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, called the discovery: “tangible and moving evidence of Jerusalem’s might and stature during the Hasmonean period.”

The experts who analysed the coins believe, based on the dates on the coins, that the discovery unburied a treasure which was buried between A.D. 280 and 310.

"When you see a hole in the ground next to the fence, you instinctively think of Hezbollah tunnels. This kind of anxiety doesn’t fade easily," a Shlomi resident commented.

“It sheds light on the architectural style and the function of the site, which is not mentioned by Josephus, our only historical source for the period,” Dr. Raviv, director of the excavation, said.

“Even a seemingly modest site can provide important clues for reconstructing past environments and climates," the researchers wrote.

Turkey's Stone Mounds Project, including Gobeklitepe and Karahantepe, features the world's oldest structures for gathering and rituals, dating to 9,500 BCE.