Despite lock downs and many other difficulties that dominated 2021, archaeologists diligently continued to work at uncovering the past. Even though politics and health news often made the headlines, several archaeological discoveries were made in 2021. Here are just 5 of the stories you might have missed in the last year:
Dating the Norse occupation at L’Anse aux Meadows.
While this first one isn’t a new site- it was first excavated in the 1960s- it has long been thought that this Newfoundland location’s occupation by early Norse explorers was between the tenth and eleventh centuries. Thanks to a known solar storm that occurred in A.D. 992, researchers were able to identify increased levels of radioactive carbon-14 in the trees used to create the settlement. By counting the number of rings that grew between this flare and the trees being felled for construction, archaeologists were able to pinpoint that the settlement was built in A.D. 1021.
L’Anse Aux Meadows site. Newfoundlandlabrador.com
Oldest known footprints in North America Uncovered
New Mexico is now the site of the oldest known footprints in the Americas, after they were discovered in White Sands National Park. Researchers have determined that this site has had a human presence for over two millennia. Using radiocarbon dating, archaeologists were able to “read” seed layers above and below the tracks to determine that the footprints were made over 23,000 years ago! This period, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, was the apex of the last glacial period.
23,000-year-old footprints. Smithsonian.com
Mass grave of Crusaders.
In Sidon, Lebanon, the remains of 25 young men were uncovered, who were killed while defending the Christian-held region. Belt buckles worn by French crusaders and a coin dating between 1245-1250 helped archaeologists confirm the soldiers were killed during an attack in 1253. Wounds found on the back of the men’s upper bodies suggest they were killed by fighters on horseback, possibly while fleeing. While the crusades were an especially bloody period in history, this is only the second archaeologically documented mass burial from the crusades.
Maya Neighbourhood created to mimic Teotihuacan uncovered at Tikal
Using Light Detection and Ranging software (LiDAR), archaeologists working on the Maya city of Tikal documented a previously unknown area. Upon further inspection, it became apparent that the neighbourhood was designed to copy the most powerful and largest city in the Americas, Teotihuacan. Researchers have known that the two cities were in contact long before Teotihuacan conquered Tikal around 378 BCE. However, this proves a more intimate relationship between the two cities long before that. Imitation is the highest form of flattery!
Light detection images of Teohtihuacan and Tikal. Thearchaeologist.org
3000-Year-Old Shark Attack Victim
Archaeologists uncovered an adult male skeleton at the Tsukomo burial site in Japan, a known prehistoric hunter-gatherer cemetery from the Jomon period. The man sustained injuries to his arms, legs, stomach and chest, suggesting that the incident was fatal. X-ray computed tomography (CT) allowed experts to reconstruct the attack and map the man’s wounds. Researchers White and Shulting stated that “the man may well have been fishing with companions at the time, since he was recovered quickly. And based, on the character and distribution of the tooth marks, the most likely species responsible was either a tiger or white shark.”