DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ ‘Great enigma’: Amateur archaeologists unearth mysterious Roman object
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Emily Blumenthal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Amateur archaeologists in England have unearthed one of the largest Roman dodecahedrons ever found, but mystery surrounds what it was actually used for. The 12-sided object is one of just 33 known to exist in Roman Britain, and one of approximately 130 in the world. It is considered “one of archaeology’s great enigmas,” according to the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group, an amateur group based in the English region of Lincolnshire where it was found in June. “It is completely unique,” said Richard Parker, secretary of the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group, adding that no similar objects have ever been found. Norton Disney History and Archaeology GroupParker told CNN there are no descriptions of the dodecahedron in Roman literature, and they have not been depicted pictorially in mosaics.

Persons: “, ” Andrea Martin, ”, Richard Parker, It’s, ” Parker, Parker, we’re Organizations: CNN — Amateur, Roman, Norton Disney, Archaeology Group, Lincoln Museum, Lincolnshire County, Lincoln Festival, CNN Locations: England, Roman Britain, Lincolnshire

☆ Fungi mystery: Amphibian found with mushroom growing from its body
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But a newly described mystery involving a mushroom and a frog suggests that fungi’s role in the environment is anything but black-and-white. Once upon a planetA golden-backed frog is seen with a small mushroom (right) growing out of its body. Elsewhere in our solar system, space scientists have spotted three faint and tiny moons orbiting the outermost planets in the Milky Way: Uranus and Neptune. — A dead star that feasted on a planet once in its orbit could foretell the eventual fate of our own solar system. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Lohit, Dimorphos, ”, Dr, Sabina Raducan, it’s, Ralf Britz, Britz, Here’s, Odysseus, Odie, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, DART, University of Bern’s Physics, CNN Space, Science Locations: Indian, Karnataka, Dimorphos, Switzerland, Myanmar, Dresden, Germany, Roman Britain, United States

☆ Discovery of rare ceramic head reveals previously unknown Roman settlement in England
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000-year-old clay head that once belonged to a Roman figurine of the god Mercury. The rare artifact, discovered at an archeological site at Smallhythe Place in Kent, England, provides evidence of a previously unknown Roman settlement that was in use between the first and third centuries, according to a news release from the National Trust, a conservation charity. Portable figures and statues of Romans gods were part of daily life in Roman Britain. Mercury was the Roman god of fine arts, commerce and financial success. This newly discovered Mercury was made from pipeclay, a fine white clay used to make tobacco pipes, and examples are extremely rare, with fewer than 10 discovered so far from Roman Britain.

Persons: Mercury, Nathalie Cohen, ”, Matthew Fittock Organizations: CNN —, National Trust Locations: Kent, England, Roman Britain, pipeclay, Roman, Smallhythe

☆ Roman tweezers: Obsession with hairlessness revealed as more than 50 pairs of tweezers discovered in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Archaeologists have unearthed dozens of Roman tweezers in Britain, revealing the ancient culture’s obsession with hairlessness. The collection has now gone on display in a new museum at Wroxeter Roman City, which in its prime would have been as large a settlement as Pompeii. The simple tools would have been used not only for plucking eyebrows but for removing any unwanted hair – including in armpits. Usually associated with eyebrow shaping today, tweezers would have been used for general hair removal, including to pluck armpit hair, said English Heritage. The find was made at Wroxeter Roman City, one of the best-preserved Roman towns in Britain.

Persons: Jim Holden, Heritage Cameron Moffett, ”, Moffett, Andrew Maybury, Seneca Organizations: London CNN —, Heritage, English Heritage Locations: Britain, Roman City, armpits, Shropshire, Roman Britain

☆ Ancient Romans Dropped Their Bling Down the Drain, Too
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Franz Lidz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Down the drain is where British archaeologists recently discovered 36 artfully engraved semiprecious stones, in an ancient bathhouse at the site of a Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall in Carlisle, England. The colorful intaglios — gems with incised carvings — likely fell out of signet rings worn by wealthy third-century bathers, and ended up trapped in the stone drains. The delicate intaglios, fashioned from amethyst, jasper and carnelian, range in diameter from 5 millimeters to 16 millimeters — bigger than a pencil eraser, smaller than a dime. Some bear images of Apollo, Mars, Bonus Eventus and other Roman deities symbolizing war or good fortune. How and why these stones were lost is a subject of some debate among classicists.

Search resuls for: "Roman Britain"

5 mentions found