Two archaeology finds I enjoyed this week:
A Middle Minoan burial (about 2000 BCE) in the northeastern part of Crete has uncovered a male buried with a bronze short sword, and a female buried with beads of silver, jasper, crystal and carnelian. Also gold beads with pressed decoration of spirals. Another group of gold and silver beads appear to have been sewn onto her garment. I love this sort of detail. In Troy one of the finds I use to “dress” my characters comes from the burned remains of a loom where the piles of gold beads must have been in the process of being woven into the fabric. So here’s another example from this palace-associated cemetery that high status women decorated their clothes with precious metal beading. There’s some serious bling. Click here for Archaeology News Network “Two Middle Minoan grave sites discovered in Petras, Crete”
Really ancient cheese-making. Fermented dairy as yogurts and soft cheeses have been found in residues on pottery from 7,200 years ago on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, considerably earlier than previous assumptions. DNA analysis of residues allows researchers to distinguish what was stored in pottery, whether fish or dairy or whatever. The ability to store protein in this form is a big advantage to population growth and stability, especially in colder European climates with farming risks. Whole new styles of pottery developed around cheese production in this area, such as ceramic sieves for separation and footed rhyta in animal shapes and wide side-facing mouths (not sure what these odd rhyta have to do with cheese—all guesses are welcomed. Most rhyta in the contexts I write are for libations). I’m guessing similar study of pottery in Near Eastern contexts will gradually reveal early dates for fermented milk products there also. Sieves are a common feature of pottery finds in the areas I write about, although the ones I model my fictional cooking after are Bronze Age, not so early as these. Aged hard cheeses, I believe, are a much later invention and a northern alpine one. But cheese is a heavenly invention, so cheers to these creative chefs so very long ago. Click here for Archaeology News Network “Evidence of 7,200-year-old cheese making found on the Dalmatian Coast”