True colours of ancient sculptures

When we think of statues and buildings of the classical period, we tend to imagine white marble; scientists in recent years have discovered that it is, in fact, most likely that many of the buildings and statues were painted and, probably, adorned with jewelry.



White marble has been the norm ever since the Renaissance, when classical antiquities first began to emerge from the earth. The sculpture of Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons struggling with serpents sent, it is said, by the sea god Poseidon (discovered in 1506 in Rome and now at the Vatican Museums) is one of the greatest early finds. Knowing no better, artists in the 16th century took the bare stone at face value. Michelangelo and others emulated what they believed to be the ancient aesthetic, leaving the stone of most of their statues its natural color. Thus they helped pave the way for neo-Classicism, the lily-white style that to this day remains our paradigm for Greek art. left: Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century AD

By the early 19th century, the systematic excavation of ancient Greek and Roman sites was bringing forth great numbers of statues, and there were scholars on hand to document the scattered traces of their multicolored surfaces. Some of these traces are still visible to the naked eye even today, though much of the remaining color faded, or disappeared entirely, once the statues were again exposed to light and air. Some of the pigment was scrubbed off by restorers whose acts, while well intentioned, were tantamount to vandalism.

Ancient texts provide detailed information about the pigments used in antiquity. Actual pigment remains may be identified by various techniques, including polarized light microscopy, X-ray fluorescence and defraction analysis, and infrared spectroscopy. Most pigments were of mineral origin, such as red and yellow ocher, the bright red mercury sulfide cinnabar, the copper carbonates azurite (blue) and malachite (green), and the synthetic Egyptian blue, a copper calcium silicate. White was derived from lead or lime, black from carbonized bone or other materials. The use of organic pigments, such as red madder and murex shell purple, is also attested. Binding media were

organic and tend to be harder to identify; there is evidence for egg, casein, and wax.

left: “Cuirass Torso” (reconstruction), Acropolis, 460 BC

The example of the Cycladic statuettes shows that sculpture in the ancient Mediterranean received colorful decoration from very early on. In Egypt, wall reliefs and statues of stone and wood were painted in a range of colors similar to that of the tomb paintings. In Mesopotamia, the palaces of the Assyrian kings were decorated with extensive wall reliefs, whose colors are by now almost entirely faded. Wall paintings and decoration executed in glazed terracotta, as on Babylon’s famous Ishtar Gate, give us some idea of the original effect. Following the Assyrian example, painted reliefs were an integral part of palace architecture in the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BC). A fragment of a relief from Persepolis, one of the empire’s capital cities, preserves visible traces of red, green, and blue pigments.

Most ancient sculpture, whether depicting human or divine subjects, is incomplete without color. Only with the Renaissance did white or monochrome sculpture become a paradigmatic form of artistic expression. As we now know, this phenomenon would have startled ancient sculptors such as Praxiteles—just as the color reconstructions of ancient statues startle us today.

“Young Roman,” 3rd century CE

So-called “Peplos Kore,” original alongside reconstruction, Athens (540 BC

“Lion from Loutraki” (reconstruction), Greece, c. 570–560 BC

Archer from the western pediment of the Temple of Aphaia on Aigina; 

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The zweihänder sword that belonged to Grutte Pier (1480-1520), Friesian pirate and warlord.

In the early sixteenth century, Friesland was under the authority of George, Duke of Saxony. However, Charles, Duke of Egmond or Guelders, was also keen on possessing the Frisian region, resulting in a battle between their supporters. After George, Duke of Saxony, had given the territory to Charles of Egmond, yet another war broke out, this time between the Frisians and Holland. This war formed the backdrop for the rise of Pier Gerlofs Donia (circa 1480–1520), better known asGrutte Pier (Great Pier’). Grutte Pier and his sword have become an inseparable duo, symbols of the Frisian struggle for independence.

Pier Gerlofs is believed to have been born around 1480 in Kimswerd, near the city of Harlingen, Wonseradeel (located in modern Friesland, the Netherlands). His father was a man by the name of Gerlofs Pier, whilst his mother was Fokel Sybrants Bonga, who was the daughter of a Schieringer nobleman. Pier had at least three other siblings.

According to legend, Pier was around 7 feet (around 2.13 m) tall, and was so strong that he could bend a coin using just his thumb and forefinger. Another legend attesting to his great strength is that he was able to pick up a plough with just one hand.

Pier, a farmer from Kimswerd, had managed to elude the war until Saxon soldiers burnt down his farm in 1515. Pier and his companions in adversity decided to take up arms against first, the Saxon oppressors and later, against Holland, forming an armed band called ‘Arumer Zwarte Hoop’ (‘Black Gang from Arum’). Pier became leader of the ‘seinschipsluyden’ and fought as a pirate in battles on the Zuiderzee, capturing many English and Dutch ships. Frisians regard him as a freedom fighter, but to the Dutch he is an outlaw.

As Pier was aware that his army was no match against the Saxon mercenaries on land, he decided to take to the waters, and became a pirate. Pier was a successful pirate, and captured many ships belonging to his enemies that sailed on the Zuiderzee (Zuyder Sea). Pier held a personal grudge against the town of Medemblik, where the Schieringers first met the Duke of Saxony in secret to request his aid. It is recorded that Pier raided this coastal town in 1517, and then again in 1518/9 to avenge the capture and public execution of his lieutenant, Grutte Wyerd. In battle, Pier supposedly brandished a Biedenhänder, a sword that was wielded with two hands. ‘Grutte Pier’s Sword’ is today kept in the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden. This weapon is as tall as the legendary warrior himself, and weighs 6.6 kg (14.6 lbs).

In just two years of this hardcore scurvy pirate action, Pier sunk 132 enemy ship – including one battle where he destroyed 28 Dutch ships in a single day, a deed that earned him the badass nickname "The Cross of the Dutchmen".

When he wasn't making up insane tongue-twisters about fries and buter, Pier also attacked and plunder land targets as well as naval ones. In 1516, he attacked Medemblik, a stronghold of Saxon sympathizers. The city was sacked, razed to the ground, and its inhabitants massacred. Two enemy castles fell to him soon after. In 1517 the town of Asperen was also annihilated in a similar manner – the Dutch responded by sending a punitive fleet to bombard him with cannons. Pier's pirate armada captured 11 of their ships and drove the rest from the harbor.


Pier's countless battle wounds and injuries finally caught up with him, and in 1519 he retired as a rebel leader, went back to his new home, and died peacefully in his bed in 1520. His buddy Wijerd carried on the fight against the Saxons for a while, but that guy was no Giant of Kimswerd. He suffered a number of defeats and was decapitated in 1523. Charles V wasn't able to fully assume control over Friesland until 1524.

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2000 years old die from Egypt (with 20 sides)

Nothing specific about the use of these polyhedra is preserved, so theories are built on clues provided by some variant examples. One unusual example uses Greek words, a few of which resemble those associated with throws of the astragals (knucklebones), and this has led to suggestions they were used for games. Another remarkable example discovered in Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt in the 1980s records an Egyptian god’s name in Demotic (the Egyptian script of these late periods) on each face. Divination – seeking advice about the unknown from the supernatural – seems to be the most likely purpose for the Dakhleh die: the polyhedron might have been thrown in order to determine a god who might assist the practitioner.

Indeed, even the dice with simple letters might relate to divination: a Greek oracle book composed in in the 2nd or 3rd century AD refers to throwing lots to obtain a number that would, through certain algorithms, lead to ready-prepared oracle questions and responses.

For most of the world, the d20 probably didn’t become a household term until the 1970s when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson unleashed their epic fantasy RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, on the world. Since then, the d20 System, as it came to be known, has been used in everything from Star Wars RPGs to Gamma World. Since then, the d20 has become a staple of the geek world, a must-have in anyone self-respecting nerd’s utility belt.

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Unfinished obelisk in Aswan (Egypt) - largest known ancient obelisk, 1500 years old.

The largest known Egyptian obelisk is called the “unfinished obelisk”, which today can be found exactly where it was once semi-carved from the solid bedrock. This stone block was intended to be a 120ft / 36m tall obelisk. It is estimated that a block of granite this size would easily weigh more than a 1000 tons, some geologists have suggested a figure in the region of 1100 tons – 1150 tons.

The obelisk's creators began to carve it directly out of bedrock, but cracks appeared in the granite and the project was abandoned. Originally it was thought that the stone had an undetected flaw but it is also possible that the quarrying process allowed the cracking to develop by releasing the stress. The bottom side of the obelisk is still attached to the bedrock. The unfinished obelisk offers unusual insights into ancient Egyptian stone-working techniques, with marks from workers' tools still clearly visible as well as ochre-coloured lines marking where they were working.

It is now known that the main tool employed for carving the granite were small balls of Dolerite which is a mineral harder than granite, as seen at the open air museum/quarry at Aswan, Egypt today. The discovery of this obelisk and several others in their unfinished states allows us to see how they were made. The means of separating the stone from the bedrock was a common technique used around the ancient world, in which small cavities were made in the stone, which were then filled with wood, which was soaked in water causing it to expand

During the earliest ages, the Ancient Egyptians knew the so-called " Pn-pn", which was a pyramidal stone with a pointed top and according to their beliefs the "Pn-pn" symbolized the primeval hill from which the world first appeared. Then, in the course of time, this Pn-pn evolved to be an obelisk usually made of granite with a pyramidal shape on top.

During the 5th Dynasty, the obelisk began to play an important role inside the temples of Ra; the obelisk being a sacred symbol of the cult of the sun. They were erected on a great base in an open court, and then as the suns rays fell on its pyramidal top, the bright light filled the Temple, giving the people a symbol of the power of the sun. One of the most important obelisks, which still stand in pride in the district of El Mataraya, was erected in front of the entrance of the vanished temple of Re at Heliopolis. King Senwosret I, to commemorate the ceremony of the "Heb-sed", dedicated it to the temple.

In the New Kingdom, especially at the time of the 18th and 19th Dynasties, the Kings used to erect obelisks in front of the different temples for religious and political reasons.

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Collection of historical artifacts

Axe of Pharaoh Ahmose, Egypt, c. 1539–1514 BCE

Details made of stone on Sidi Saiyyed Mosque,1573

Remains of a soldier killed during the Battle of Waterloo with a musket ball found inside the soldier’s ribcage

Crown of Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, circa 1042

Iron slave collar, Roman. Fourth century CE

Greek sling-shot with the inscription ΔΕΞΑΙ (DEXAI) which means "Catch!". 4thC BC

Corinthian helmet from the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) found in 1834 (with the skull inside)

Ancient Roman folding multi-tool device. The tool features a knife, a spoon, a three-tined fork, a spike, a spatula, and a small

Dental work on a Mummy from ancient Egypt dated to 2000 BC

An artificial toe from Egypt - world's first medical prosthetic

Jade Burial Suit of Princess Dou Wan, wife of prince Liu Sheng, late 11th century BC

Viking's iron helmet from Gjermundbu, c. 10th century

Gold & Ruby Seal Ring, Mesopotamia

The bloodstained coat of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (WWI)

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Walls of Saksaywaman - magnificent example of Inca masonry.

At an elevation of more than 12,000 feet in the northern outskirts of the city of Cuzco, Peru, we find the ancient fortress of Sacsayhuaman whose immense stone walls are believed to hold secrets which predate the Inca themselves. Surface collections and analysis of pottery at Sacsayhuaman indicate that the earliest occupation of the hill top dates back at least a millennium, making it one of the oldest ancient establishments on the planet.

The fortress was the largest structure built by the Incas. It was constructed on an elevated rocky promontory facing the northern marshy ground outside the Inca capital of Cuzco. Pottery finds indicate that the site had previously been occupied by Inca residents. Begun in the reign of the great Inca empire builder Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, or perhaps his son Thupa Inca Yupanqui in the mid-15th century CE, the design was credited to four architects: Huallpa Rimachi, Maricanchi, Acahuana, and Calla Cunchui. The first structures were made using only mud and clay. Subsequent rulers then replaced these with magnificent stonework which employed huge finely-cut polygonal blocks, many over 4 metres in height and weighing over 100 tons. To complete such a massive project 20,000 labourers were drafted in under the well-established Inca system of extracting both goods and labour from peoples they conquered. Working in a system of rotation 6,000 were given quarrying duties while the other 4,000 dug trenches and laid the foundations. The walls of the fortress were built in vertical sections, probably, each section being the responsibility of one ethnic labour group. According to legend, some 3000 lives were lost when one huge stone that was being dragged uphill broke free.

The Incas were master stonemasons. Huge blocks were quarried and shaped using nothing more than harder stones and bronze tools. Marks on the stone blocks indicate that they were mostly pounded into shape rather than cut. Blocks were moved using ropes, logs, poles, levers, and earthen ramps ( marks can still be seen on some blocks), and some stones still have nodes protruding from them or indentations which were used to help workers grip the stone.

Sacsayhuaman played an important part in the final defeat of the Inca Empire by the Spanish. Pizarro's party entered Cusco unopposed in 1533 and lived there securely for more than two years before finally being caught unprepared by the rebellion of Manco Inca in 1536. Manco's troops took the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, overlooking the city, and used it as his base to attack the Spanish. After weeks under siege in the city the Spanish broke out and charged into the surrounding hills to the northwest above the city. They then doubled back to capture the rocky outcrop opposite the fortress. From this outcrop they made repeated attacks across the flat plaza against the walls of the fortress. All the Spanish reinforcements on their way from Lima to Cusco had been massacred, so if the Spanish failed to take the fort they were doomed. In the evening, against all odds, the Spanish eventually broke through the Inca defenses and scaled the walls of the fort driving the defenders into the fortified complex dominated by 3 towers (foundations only remain today). After two more days of fighting the Conquistadors finally overwhelmed the natives, putting them all to the sword. It was said that during the battle a leading Inca nobleman, armed with a Spanish sword and shield, caused havoc by repulsing every enemy who tried to scale the last tower left in Inca hands. Having sworn to fight to the death, he leapt from the top of the tower when defeat was inevitable, rather than accept humiliation and dishonour

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Garum - ancient roman's ketchup

The best thing you never heard of is called colatura di alici, or garum, its ancient name.

Garum and other similar fish-based sauces were the ketchup of the ancient world, mass produced in factories by the Romans, and sprinkled on anything savory. They usually made several versions: a dark-colored table condiment that was high in protein, a cooking sauce similar to Thai and Vietnamese fish sauces (sometimes called liquamen by historians, though often grouped together with garum), and a milder version called muria.

left: Mosaic depicting a "Flower of Garum" jug with a titulus reading "from the workshop of [the garum importer Aulus Umbricius] Scaurus

Incongruously, the earliest description of how garum was produced comes at the end of the Astronomica, a treatise on astrology written by Manilius in the first century AD. There, he relates how fishermen processed their catch of tuna, cutting up the fish, flavoring the choicest part of the blood with salt so as to impart "a relish to the palate" (garum; here it seems that the blood alone was used) and using the viscera and the other pieces of the decaying carcass to provide "a condiment of general use" (allec). Smaller fish, which usually would be discarded, were fermented in dolia, where "their inward parts melt and issue forth as a stream of decomposition" (liquamen) (V.667-681). Here, it would seem that garum and liquamen were produced differently. Pliny, however, describes garum as "consisting of the guts of fish and the other parts that would otherwise be considered refuse; these are soaked in salt, so that garum is really liquor from the putrefaction of these matters" (Natural History, XXXI.93). As can be seen, it is not always clear whether garum was made from the blood of the fish, the blood and viscera, or the flesh, itself—or even the exact process.

Left: carbonized amphora with Garum (Pompeii)

The most detailed description of garum is from the Geoponica (XX.46). The preparation involves adding a quantity of salt (two sextarii to one modius, 1:8, this is the only recipe to provide a ratio) to the entrails of small fish, such as mullets, sprats, or anchovies. The mixture then was allowed to ferment or macerate in the sun for several months, the liquamen drawn off and strained and used as a condiment or seasoning, the feculent remainder made into allec. (Frustratingly, the composition of garum begins with a description of how liquamen is made: garum is said to strain into the basket, but then the percolated liquid is also called liquamen.) A quicker means of preparation simply was to boil a fish in strong brine, add some origanum (oregano) and possibly some sapa, and strain until clear. (Galen says that oregano moderates the taste of an oily, watery fish such as the gray mullet, III.24.) The best garum, however, was made from the viscera of tuna, together with the blood, juices, and gills, salted and allowed to ferment for two months. This concoction was called haimation ("bloody"). Wine, herbs, and spices also could be added.

Here is the recipe:

Use fatty fish, for example, sardines, and a well-sealed (pitched) container with a 26-35 quart capacity. Add dried, aromatic herbs possessing a strong flavor, such as dill, coriander, fennel, celery, mint, oregano, and others, making a layer on the bottom of the container; then put down a layer of fish (if small, leave them whole, if large, use pieces) and over this, add a layer of salt two fingers high. Repeat these layers until the container is filled. Let it rest for seven days in the sun. Then mix the sauce daily for 20 days. After that, it becomes a liquid.

The manufacture and export of garum was an element of the prosperity of coastal Greek emporia from the Ligurian coast of Gaul to the coast of Hispania Baetica, and perhaps an impetus for Roman penetration of these coastal regions.= In the ruins of Pompeii, jars were even found containing kosher garum,= suggesting an equal popularity among Roman Jews. Each port had its own traditional recipe, but by the time of Augustus, Romans considered the best to be garum from Cartagena and Gades in Baetica. This product was called garum sociorum, "garum of the allies".= The ruins of a garum factory remain at the Baetian site of Baelo Claudia (in present-day Tarifa) and Carteia (San Roque). Garum was a major export product from Hispania to Rome, and gained the towns a certain amount of prestige. The garum of Lusitania (in present-day Portugal) was also highly prized in Rome, and was shipped directly from the harbour of Lacobriga (Lagos). A former Roman garum factory can be visited in the Baixa area of central Lisbon.= Fossae Marianae in southern Gaul, located on the southern tip of present-day France, served as a distribution hub for Western Europe, including Gaul, Germania, and Roman Britain.

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Meet the Romans

I highly recomend this fascinating documentary. 

Meet the Romans by Mary beard.

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Pireus Lion: ancient greek sculpture with viking runic inscriptions made in 11th century. Now in Venice.

At the Arsenale in Venice stands a white marble lion whose story stretches from the classical world to the decline of the Ottoman Empire, via the Vikings. Around three metres in height, the Piraeus Lion was one of a pair of statues that stood guard – probably as a fountain – at the Athenian port of Piraeus, having been sculpted circa 360 BC.

Originally stationed at the Piraeus harbor near Athens, the two lions were transported to Venice in 1687 by Francesco Morosini after a successful campaign against the Turks.  From the beginning it was noticed that one of them had strange markings carved into its shoulders, apparently some kind of writing.  Nobody knew the meaning of the writing, however, or even what language it was.  Only much later did scholars recognize the markings as runes.  It was a puzzling discovery.  What were Scandinavian runes doing on a marble lion taken from a Greek port?  The inscribed words themselves would answer the question.

It is only a hundred years later that the inscriptions were identified as runic by Johan David Åkerblad, Swedish diplomatist. However, already by that time several fragments of the carvings were destroyed by erosion, so that deciphering and translation were barely feasible. Attempts to read the texts abound, but hardly any one of the interpretations might be relied upon.

The conclusion reached was that at some point in the 11th century travelling Vikings had carved the runes as a form of graffiti, not unlike the Viking inscriptions at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Several attempts to decipher the inscription – no easy task – followed, the most accurate of which is considered to be Erik Brate’s interpretation of 1914, which contains an explanation of the inscriptions thus:

hiuku þir hilfninks milum hna en i hafn þesi þir min eoku runar at haursa bunta kuþan a uah riþu suiar þita linu fur raþum kul uan farin - tri(n)kiar ristu runar [a rikan strin]k hiuku þair isk[il-] [þu]rlifr - litu auka ui[i þir a] roþrslanti b[yku] - a sun iuk runar þisar. ufr uk - li st[intu] a[t haursa] kul] uan farn

They cut him down in the midst of his forces. But in the harbor the men cut runes by the sea in memory of Horsi, a good warrior. The Swedes set this on the lion. He went his way with good counsel, gold he won in his travels. The warriors cut runes, hewed them in an ornamental scroll. Æskell (Áskell) [and others] and Þorlæifʀ (Þorleifr) had them well cut, they who lived in Roslagen. [N. N.] son of [N. N.] cut these runes. Ulfʀ (Úlfr) and [N. N.] colored them in memory of Horsi. He won gold in his travels.

The statue, which is made of white marble and stands some 3 m (9 ft.) high, is particularly noteworthy for having been defaced some time in the second half of the 11th century by Scandinavians who carved two lengthy runic inscriptions into the shoulders and flanks of the lion.The runes are carved in the shape of an elaborate lindworm dragon-headed scroll, in much the same style as on runestones in Scandinavia. The carvers of the runes were almost certainly Varangians, Scandinavian mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor.

Hagia Sophia Viking graffiti

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An Egyptian floor mosaic depicting a dog and a knocked-over gold vessel. c. 200-100 BC

A floor mosaic using tesserae made of minute stone cubes, ranging from one to four millimetres in the opus vermiculatum technique.

The central medallion or emblem carries the picture of a dog, the first time ever such a motif is found on a floor mosaic in Alexandria. The dog is resting on his hind legs close to an upturned Greek vessel. The naturalistic image expresses strength and vitality, which points to the fine ability of the artist in using this medium to achieve clarity of design and definition. The fell of the dog, its spots and red collar are executed very precisely. The main colours in this medallion include black, white and yellow, yet the artist was able to convey light and shade in a brilliant manner. The angle of the dog's portrait is at three quarters, and the front part reflects light, while the rest of the body is in the shade. The gradation of shading on the upturned bronze pot shows light reflected on the central part, while the sides are gradually darker. The artist has indeed been able to express great depth in a 'hard' medium and this mosaic is a testament to the sophistication of mosaic workshops and artistry in ancient Alexandria.

Perhaps the theme on this floor is a scene of a theatrical story or from a literary work of art of Alexandria during the first three centuries B.C. However, the mosaic does not provide us with a clear idea as to the place where it was housed, but we can deduct that its shape was circular and about three metres in diameter, with this medallion as its centrepiece.

he Greeks used mosaics to decorate their floors in public places and private dwellings by using tesserae in many ways. Tesserae are the small pieces of stone, limestone, marble, glass or clay, which are cut in a small cubic form, hence their name. The Greek floor coverings became a complete tableau depicting plants, animals, geometrical designs and Greek/ Hellenistic motifs.

The Romans adopted also this art to cover their floors in homes and temples, as well as in their tombs. The Romans applied the same techniques of the Greeks. They also introduced new innovations in the manufacturing process.

The most ancient piece of mosaic was discovered in the East, in Ancient Iraq. It is from the Uruk civilization which dates back to 4000 years BC. Mosaic art disappeared after that time and reappeared again at the beginning of the 5th Century BC.

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Gobekli Tepe: where the religion was born.

We used to think agriculture gave rise to cities and later to writing, art, and religion. Now the world’s oldest temple suggests the urge to worship sparked civilization. Göbekli Tepe is the oldest place of worship ever discovered, predating the Egyptian pyramids by 6,500 years. Peerless in architecture and artistry, this monument is a true wonder to behold.

Carbon dating of vegetable materials from the site shows the age of the oldest structures at Gobekli Tepe to be somewhere between 9,000 and 11,000 years old. Apparently the complex was built and used during three separate periods over about a thousand years with different kinds and styles of stone work. At the time of probable original construction the site was older than most of the factors associated with human civilizations: It is older than the wheel. It is older than agriculture and farming. It is older than animal domestication. It is older than metal tools. It is older than local pottery. It is older than any known towns or villages. 

To show the extreme age of the Gobekli Tepe site following is a list of the approximate ages of other interesting stone structures from around the world:

• Gobekli Tepe 9250 BC
• Barnenez (France) 4800 BC
• Stone Temples from Malta 3700 BC
• Sechin Bajo (first stone building in Peru) 3500 BC
• Baalbek stones (Lebanon) 3000 BC
• Pyramid of Djoser (first Egyptian pyramid) 2700 BC

Dozens of massive stone pillars arranged into a set of rings, one mashed up against the next. Known as Göbekli Tepe (pronounced Guh-behk-LEE TEH-peh), the site is vaguely reminiscent of Stonehenge, except that Göbekli Tepe was built much earlier and is made not from roughly hewn blocks but from cleanly carved limestone pillars splashed with bas-reliefs of animals—a cavalcade of gazelles, snakes, foxes, scorpions, and ferocious wild boars. The assemblage was built some 11,600 years ago, seven millennia before the Great Pyramid of Giza. It contains the oldest known temple. Indeed, Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known example of monumental architecture—the first structure human beings put together that was bigger and more complicated than a hut. When these pillars were erected, so far as we know, nothing of comparable scale existed in the world.

The pillars were big—the tallest are 18 feet in height and weigh 16 tons. Swarming over their surfaces was a menagerie of animal bas-reliefs, each in a different style, some roughly rendered, a few as refined and symbolic as Byzantine art. 

Because of the apparent maturity of the stone work at Gobekli Tepe it is possible that the true origins of the Gobekli Tepe carvings are at least 1,000 years older than the construction of the actual site. There must have been several generations of stone masons who perfected the skills used at Gobleki Tepe. The work looks like it was done by skilled stone masons and not by amateurs. Unfortunately there are no older sites yet discovered. But the sophistication of Gobleki Tepe indicates that probably older sites may have existed.

We estimate that at least 500 people were required to hew the 10- to 50-ton stone pillars from local quarries, move them from as far as a quarter-mile away, and erect them. How did Stone Age people achieve the level of organization necessary to do this? We do speculate that an elite class of religious leaders supervised the work and later controlled the rituals that took place at the site. If so, this would be the oldest known evidence for a priestly caste--much earlier than when social distinctions became evident at other Near Eastern sites.

As important as what the researchers found was what they did not find: any sign of habitation. Hundreds of people must have been required to carve and erect the pillars, but the site had no water source—the nearest stream was about three miles away. 

Nearby the site is Mount Karaca Dag, a mountain that geneticists believe to be the birth place of many of today’s cultivated grains. It’s theorized that Gobleki Tepe could be showing us a transition period, depicting nomadic cultures’ first attempt to farm (which would later bring about permanent settlement). The one acre excavation site has raised more questions than it has answered, and astoundingly enough, the site is believed to extend some 22 additional acres.

Recent DNA analysis of modern domesticated wheat compared with wild wheat has shown that its DNA is closest in sequence to wild wheat found on Karaca Dağ 30 km (20 mi) away from the site, suggesting that this is where modern wheat was first domesticated

One curious aspect of the site is its historical progression and transformation.  Over time the stone rings were buried, with new rings erected over and beside the old, each of which was successively smaller than what came before. This gradual reduction in size might represent either a decline in the capacity to build such structures, or a declining interest in maintaining structures of such magnitude at this particular site, the importance of which might have waned. Around 8,000 B.C., the site was filled with soil and mysteriously abandoned.

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The horn of the last aurochs bull, which died in 1620

Aurochs roamed much of Asia and Europe for 250,000 years and were recorded by cave men in striking paintings at Lascaux, France, 17,000 years ago. They were a large breed of cattle, standing up to 1.8m in height, and was ancestor to modern domestic breeds. Aurochs had huge curved horns that characterised the breed – in some the horns could reach 80cm in length – and their legs were longer than modern cattle. Historical accounts suggests the beasts were fast and very aggressive. They were not afraid of humans, and if they were hunted would attack back in response.

Already in the times of Herodotus (fifth century BC), aurochs had disappeared from southern Greece, but remained common in the area north and east of Echedorus River close to modern Thessaloniki. Last reports of the species in the southern tip of the Balkans date to the first century BC when Varro reported that fierce wild oxen live in Dardania (southern Serbia) and Thrace. By the 13th century AD, the aurochs' range was restricted to Poland, Lithuania, Moldavia, Transylvania, and East Prussia. The right to hunt large animals on any land was restricted first to nobles, and then gradually, to only the royal households. As the population of aurochs declined, hunting ceased, and the royal court used gamekeepers to provide open fields for grazing for the aurochs. The gamekeepers were exempted from local taxes in exchange for their service. Poaching aurochs was punishable by death.

According to a royal survey in 1564, the gamekeepers knew of 38 animals. The last recorded live aurochs, a female, died in 1620 in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland, from natural causes. The causes of extinction were unrestricted hunting, a narrowing of habitat due to the development of farming, and diseases transmitted by domesticated cattle. Its horn was decorated with gold with the inscription: ROG. TVRZY. OSTATNIEGO. TVRV, ZPVSCZY // SOCHACZEWSKIEY. OD. WOIEWODY. RAWSSSKIE. STANISLAWA // RADZIEIOWSKIEGO. NA. TEN. CZAS. STAROSTI. SOCHA-// CHEWSKIE. ROK. 1620 (Horn of the last aurochs from the Sochaczew Forest, from Stanisław Radziejowski, voivode of Rawa, at that time starost of Sochaczew. Year 1620). Sochaczew Forest is the former name of the Kampinos Forest.

The Nazis planned to bring back wild auroch cows to hunt. The plan was part of the Nazi obsession with creating a connection to the primeval Germanic tribes of history, which they believed would give them added credibility with the German people. And it was overseen by Herman Goring - Hitler's second in command and chief huntsman of the Third Reich - who sought a larger and more challenging beast to hunt. Goring studied ancient documents and cave paintings about Aurochs, which once roamed across Europe in earlier times. And he planned to breed the animals in zoos before reinstating them in the primeval Białowieża forest in Poland, which was rapidly cleared of its Jewish inhabitants.

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