Flower Power

The first day of Fall for 2022 was officially on September 22nd. As the season change, flowers of summer will begin to fade. Flowers die out every season, every year, and some species are known to have even gone extinct. Flowers are fragile and rarely preserved in the archaeological record. However, biologists, archaeologists, and other researchers have been able to recover evidence of flowers, such as fossilized flowers, in the archaeological record. Researchers can also gather information from studying the iconography on ceramics and jewelry, in paintings, texts, sculptures, and other forms of artistic expression, to learn more about the flowers that were popular in the past.

Nazca Lines Flower

Flowers permeate many aspects of the ancient world. Ancient Egyptians worshiped, Nefertum, the god of perfumes who was also the god of the lotus blossom. In the Egyptian creation story, Ra, the sun god, emerged from a blue lotus. Statuettes and amulets often portrayed Nefertum with a lotus on his head or as a lotus flower with two feathers. During the Tang dynasty in ancient China, around 8-12th centuries CE, tree peonies were seen as symbols of feminine beauty, love, wealth, and status. They became common and popular in paintings during the Song dynasty. Even one of the famous Nazaca Lines, 2,000-year-old giant geoglyphs etched into the ground in Lima, Peru, includes a shape that resembles a flower.

Ancient Bouquet Found in Teotihuacán

In 2021 bouquets of flowers were discovered in the ancient city of Teotihuacán in Mexico by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico. The four bouquets date to 1,800 years ago and were found in a tunnel under a pyramid, 18 meters down. They were well-preserved and likely a gift for the deity Quetzalcoatl.

Plant Impressions In Israel

Archaeologists in Israel from the University of Haifa have also found plant impressions, including flowers, in graves. The plants appear to have been buried underneath the dead and date to around 12,000 years ago. This is one of the earliest uses of flowers in ceremonial burials.

Strychnos electri

In terms of preserving ancient flowers, amber is a fantastic means as it is essentially fossilized resin. In 1986 a cave in the Dominican Republic was discovered. It was home to hundreds of fossilized plants and insects. However, it wasn’t until 2016 when a preserved fossil flower was announced. The flowers were a new species, Strychnos electri, and are around 45-15 million years old. They were part of the asterid plant clade, which are one of the largest lineages of flowering plants, and are antecedents to over 80,000 species, such as potatoes, coffee, and even the poisonous strychnine tree.

Lijinganthus revoluta

Valviloculus pleristaminis

A flower dating to the mid-Creataceous, Lijinganthus revoluta, was discovered by a team from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018, in Myanmar amber. A new genus and species of fossil angiosperm was also found by paleontologists in 2020 from Oregon State University and the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Myanmar in their mid-Cretaceous amber deposits. This fossil flower is almost 100 million years old and is named Valviloculus pleristaminis.

Notiantha grandensis

In the Salamonca Shale Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina, fossilized flowers dating to around 66 million years ago, the early Paleocene epoch, were found in 2017. The compressions and impressions on flat-laminated gray shale are part of the Rhamnaceae, buckthorn, family, and are called Notiantha grandensis.

Montsechia vidalii

Fossilized remains of an aquatic plant from the beginning of the Cretaceous period were discovered in Spain in 2015. Montsechia vidalii dates to around 130 million years ago and looks similar to the modern-day coontail. Prior to this discovery, Archaefructus sinensis, a 125-million-year-old fossil from Liaoning Province in China, was thought to be the world’s oldest flower.

Nanjinganthus dendrostyla

However, in 2018, scientists at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology found fossilized flowers that date to 175 million years ago, the early Jurassic in the South Xiangshan Formation in China’s Nanjing Region. There were over 200 specimens of the fossilized flowers, named Nanjinganthus dendrostyla, which allowed the researchers to combine information and reconstruct a single flower, now recognized as the oldest evidence of a flower plant, an angiosperm.

Florigerminis jurassica

It was debated whether N. dendrostyla represented a true angiosperm, for it was too “primitive” to be considered a flower and too “complex” to be a gymnosperm (a plant that does not have a flower but does have unenclosed seeds). Then, Florigerminis jurassica, a fossilized flower bud dating to 164 million years ago that included a stem, flower bud, fruit, and a leafy branch, was found in China earlier this year! F. jurassica appears to be more of an angiosperm and will shift how researchers organize angiosperm evolution.

What is clear today is that as work continues and new discoveries are made, researchers will be able to continue to piece together the evolution of flowers on this planet. Flowers are small, but each uniquely made with the tiniest of beautiful details. They have and will continue to fascinate humans, as we incorporate them into ceremonies and art, at weddings and funerals, in paintings and as decorations in our homes. When we pass, how will archaeologists and anthropologists view our practices with flowers?

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Sources and Further Reading:

https://www.ancientpages.com/2021/04/17/nefertum-god-of-lotus-blossom-perfumes-aromatherapy-beauty-in-egyptian-mythology/
https://www.treepeony.com/pages/peonies-in-chinese-art
https://www.history.com/topics/south-america/nazca-lines
https://www.txtreport.com/life/2021-08-16-archaeologists-have-discovered-in-mexico-bouquets-of-flowers-of-1800-years—curious.SyPdZkdet.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1800-year-old-flower-bouquets-found-below-temple-teotihuacan-180978518/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/archaeologists-find-evidence-of-flowers-buried-in-a-12000-year-old-cemetery-4280031/#:~:text=SCIENCE%20Archaeologists%20Find%20Evidence%20of%20Flowers%20Buried%20in,were%20buried%20ceremonially%2C%20atop%20a%20bed%20of%20flowers
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-species-prehistoric-flower-discovered-preserved-amber-180958156/
https://www.nature.com/articles/nplants20165
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-35100-4
https://phys.org/news/2018-11-ancient-fossil-core-eudicot-boom.html
https://www.sci.news/paleontology/valviloculus-pleristaminis-09184.html
https://journals.brit.org/jbrit/article/view/1014
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176164
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/17/fossilised-remains-worlds-oldest-flower-discovered-cretaceous
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/17/fossilised-remains-worlds-oldest-flower-discovered-cretaceous
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/oldest-known-flowers-world-180956962/#:~:text=Excavated%20in%20Virginia%20by%20a%20former%20Smithsonian%20curator%2C,oldest%20known%20flowers%20in%20North%20America.%20Nathan%20Jud
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/science-news/earliest-fossil-flowers-found-china
https://www.livescience.com/64354-oldest-fossil-flower.html
https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP521-2021-122
https://ancient-archeology.com/charles-darwin-mystery-solved-after-140-years-as-scientists-make-stunning-ancient-find/

First Graduate Colloquium of the Semester: What We Did This Summer

This past Wednesday we had our first Graduate Colloquium of the semester! IUP graduate students travel all over the country during summer breaks to participate in various archaeological projects which is why we wanted to feature their adventures in our first colloquium. There were 5 presentations in total whose topics ranged from field schools to cultural resource management work at sites around the country and abroad! 

In a classroom a projector screen displays the words "What we did this summer" with a green logo that says SEARCH. A man in a black hoodie stands to the right near a computer.

Our first presenter Zach Meskin talks about his summer in CRM.

Zach Meskin, a member of the second-year cohort, gave the first presentation. He spent his summer working for the cultural resource management (CRM) firm SEARCH. At the beginning of the summer, he was sent to a sugar cane field in Louisiana where he conducted a phase one survey. They used 30×50-cm shovel test pits and either 10 to 50-meter intervals depending on if there was a high or low probability of finding cultural material. There ended up being 1,400 test pits placed throughout the field in total but in his shovel test pits, he did not find much cultural material.

After Louisianna, Zach traveled to Miami, Florida where he worked on phase three of a pre-contact Tequesta site. This was a completely different experience since he worked in 4×4 meter blocks and wet screened the dirt because of the thickness of the mud. They found many different artifacts throughout the units including drilled shark teeth, finger-incised pottery, faunal remains, and shell tools. There was also a historic component to the site so they found Spanish artifacts including a six-sided die made out of bone.

 

In a classroom a projector screen displays the words "Squirrel Hill Field School" with a picture of a raccoon holding a trowel. A woman in a dress stands to the right near a computer.

Our second presenter Laura Broughton talks about her experience as a GA for IUP’s summer field school.

Our next presenter was Laura Broughton, a member of the first-year cohort. She worked as a graduate assistant for both IUP-run field schools this summer and this presentation was about Squirrel Hill. She was also joined by the disembodied voice of Emma Lashley, another member of the first-year cohort, who joined us over zoom. Squirrel hill is a pre-contact Monongahela village site located on the Conemaugh river. It has been nominated to the Historical Register and has a long history of collection and looting. Therefore, many of the artifacts found were flakes and small pieces of pottery. 

The goal of the field school was to educate students on how to conduct an archaeological investigation and to get a better understanding of the organization of the site and how it fits into the larger Monongahela system in southwest PA. In one area of the site, they investigated a rectangular anomaly in the Ground Penetrating Radar data by placing four 1×1 meter test units. They did not find much but they think that it could be an Iroquois Longhouse. In another section, they investigated other geophysical anomalies and had much better success. Students found post molds that looked promising and more than 20 features in a singular unit which could indicate a bunch of housing structures in that area. Lastly, STPs were conducted to determine the extent of the site boundaries. 

 

In a classroom a projector screen displays the words "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" with a picture of him as Washington in the painting Washington crosses the Delaware. A man in a checkered shirt and ball cap stands to the right near a computer.

Second-year grad student Kristopher “Monty” Montgomery talks about his summer vacation.

Next up was Kris “Monty” Montgomery who worked at both the Miami site that Zach worked on and was the other graduate assistant for the Squirrell Hill field school where he “shaped the next generation of archaeologists”. His words.  After he worked at Squirrel Hill he went to work for SEARCH in Gonzales, Texas for a phase one “due diligence” survey that was paid for by the client and not required under any kind of compliance. The survey was limited to intermittent stream crossings. Interestingly, they did not collect artifacts and instead recorded and analyzed them in the field. 

Then, at the end of July/ early August, he was sent to Macomb, Illinois, and Fort Madison, Iowa where he worked with two other firms to conduct phase one for a large natural gas pipeline. Finally, at the end of August, he worked at the Miami site that was mentioned above. During his time at the site, they hit the water table meaning they were less digging through dirt and more scooping goo and placing it into buckets. 

 

In a classroom a projector screen displays the words "Longwood Archaeology Field School." A man in a grey t-shirt and ball cap stands to the right near a computer.

Our fourth presenter Luke Nicosia talks about his summer as a crew chief for a field school in Virginia.

Our fourth presenter was Luke Nicosia, a member of the second-year cohort as well. He was recruited by Longwood University to work as a field supervisor in Clover, Virginia which is in the Southernmost part of the state. He lived at a field station while he was working down there which he equated to a summer camp cabin with no internet. However, the sites that he worked at made up for it. The first part of his summer included working at the Sanders site and opening large units to search for pre-contact materials. They found many projectile point knives and flakes.

 The second site Luke worked on was a historical site at Milberry Hill where students worked on advanced research. They ground-truthed anomalies and identified a few features including a drainage system related to the main house, an outbuilding with a sub-floor pit that may have fallen apart over time, and potential pre-contact hearths. After the fieldwork, he worked with students to write a site report and submit it to the state to review.  

 

In a classroom a projector screen says " Forensic Archaeology Field School 2022" with a photo collage. A woman in a dress and a man in a button down stand to the right near a computer.

Our last presenters Laura and Arthur Townsend talk about their summer abroad in Germany!

Finally, we welcomed Laura Broughton back, this time with Arthur Townsend, to talk about their summer abroad working as GAs and crew chiefs for IUP’s forensic field school in Germany. They investigated a site around Buchen where a B-17 bomber crashed during WWII in 1944. There was already an excavation by another group in 2019 but they did not fill in their excavation causing there to be essentially a pond at the site. After this was dealt with, the IUP field school excavated in 2×2,2×4, and 4×4 meter units bordering the 2019 excavations and used ground penetrating radar to locate other places to dig around the area. Since the ground was rocky and had a lot of clay they used pickaxes and shovels to excavate. They also realized a lot of cultural material was in the leaf litter so they put it through the screen to ensure they were collecting all the artifacts. They mostly found bones, aluminum, cast iron, and glass. Both presenters said they learned a lot about how to lead a crew and improved their note-taking and photography skills. 

As you can see, we had a great turnout. Thank you to everyone that presented! 

Symbolizing Friendship

Welcome back students, the new semester and school year has begun. You’ve reconnected with friends here at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, but also some of you might have said goodbye to friends in your hometown. Friends play powerful roles in our lives, and sometimes, we wish to show that bond by giving and wearing tokens of our friendship for the world to see. As children, some of us might have even purchased beads and string to create friendship bracelets! These tiny and simple circlets showcased to whomever saw them that those wearing the matching ones were connected, firm, friends.

Modern friendship bracelets.

The origin of friendship bracelets is difficult to track down. Some credit influence to ancient China as decorative knots on bracelets trace back to 481-221 B.C., but these knots were used not solely on bracelets. Macrame is also seen as an influence and was popular in 13th century Arabia, spreading to France and Italy, and was also used by sailors at sea. It became popular in 19th-century Britain and found its way to the United States in the 1960s.

Band of lace made from human (head) hair, likely worn as a bracelet, ca. 1640-1680, in the collection of the V&A.

In the Victorian era, giving mourning jewelry with strands of a loved one’s hair incorporated into the piece was common, and leads some to believe that this also contributes to the trend of exchanging meaningful pieces of jewelry between friends. Others claim that the popular trend youngsters across world take part in today actually dates to ancient Central American times. Many friendships bracelet designs we see today mirror Native American patterns, as well. In the United States, the art of making friendship bracelets became popularized again in the 1980s when they were seen during rallies and protests about the disappearances of Mayan Indians and laborers in Guatemala.

Ringed ornaments and ornament fragments from the Finnish region.

Earlier this year though, archaeologists in modern-day Finland made an incredible discovery. They found both intact and fragmented ‘slate rings’ that date back to around the 4th millennium B.C. at several Stone Age sites. The ring-shaped artifacts were made of different slates and tuffites. After studying geochemical composition, micro details, and use-wear, and piecing fragments back together, it was suggested that many of the rings were actually broken up on purpose and as part of the prominent gift-giving system in that region. Many of the fragments appear to have been fashioned into pendants and some from the same ring were even found in two different locations with different finishes, thus showing that the fragments were used as ‘friendship ornaments’ or “tokens of social relationships.”  The few that were intact, were “likely worn as personal ornaments.”

Ringed ornaments in situ in an early 4th millennium BC hunter-gatherer burial, positioned together with amber pendants. Photo. M. Torvinen 1978/Finnish Heritage Agency

Some of the slate traces back to a region in northwest Russia near Lake Onega, supporting theories of widespread trade networks in northeastern Europe and social relationships with people hundreds of kilometers away. Some fragments were also found at settlement sites, with the matching fragment from the same ring, stone, and manufacturing process being found at a nearby burial site. This practice suggests there was a belief in a connection between the living and the dead through the use of these objects prevalent during this time period in this region.

It’s fascinating to think that by wearing a broken heart trinket around your neck or tying a woven or beaded string around your wrist, you have something in common with the person that around 5,000 years ago wore a whole or fragmented slate circle to also represent their social bonds and relationships with others.

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Sources and Further Reading

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-022-09556-8
https://ancient-archeology.com/these-5000-year-old-stone-age-rings-may-have-been-the-original-friendship-bracelets/
https://www.keyssoulcare.com/connection/the-history-of-friendship-bracelets.html#:~:text=The%20exact%20origin%20of%20the%20friendship%20bracelet%20is,recognizes%20the%20Native%20American%20tradition%20of%20exchanging%20bracelets.
https://www.braceletbook.com/history/#:~:text=A%20friendship%20bracelet%20is%20a%20handmade%20bracelet%20intended%20for%20a%20special%20person.&text=Macrame%2C%20a%20craft%20of%20tying,items%20made%20on%20a%20loom.
https://www.wristband.com/content/all_about_friendship_bracelets/
https://www.jewelslane.com/blog/the-origin-meaning-and-importance-of-friendship-bracelets
https://www.novica.com/blog/friendship-bracelets-their-origin-meaning-and-importance/
https://www.harbourukbracelets.com/blog/friendship-bracelets-their-history-and-significance-explained
https://ericaweiner.com/history-lessons/hair%20jewelry

 

 

 

An Introduction to Your Bloggers

Time for a new introduction and a reintroduction! This year the blog will be managed by Bridget Roddy and Mikala Hardie! We are both second-year graduate students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania studying Applied Archaeology, and are this year’s Public Archaeology Graduate Assistants!

Hello everyone! My name is Mikala Hardie and I will be sharing the public archaeology duties with Bridget this year which includes writing for this blog! I am a second-year grad student with interests in public/community archaeology, historical archaeology, and hidden narratives. My alma mater is Kutztown University where I received a B.A. in anthropology and minored in history, music, and Spanish. My other hobbies include taking nature walks, crocheting, and reading. This past summer I interned with the National Park Service’s Northeast Archeological Resources Program where I ran their social media, revitalized their website, and developed lesson plans for children ages 4-12. I am excited to use the writing and public outreach skills I have learned over the summer to create interesting and engaging blog posts!

Hello readers, my name is Bridget Roddy! I graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with bachelor’s degrees in both psychology and sociology/anthropology, and I minored in international studies. I also studied abroad in Ireland for a semester in undergrad at the University of College Cork. My favorite dig was at the Roman Fort of Halmyris in Romania where I volunteered for a month! Outside of archaeology, I have a passion for running, making resin earring (check out my Etsy shop at SpringDazeByBridget), reading, painting, drawing, and traveling! But the most important thing to me is my family! I love exploring other cultures and ancient traditions, so check out future blog posts to explore some fascinating topics and reflections!