History First

Remains of a man buried near a rural farmstead in Roman Britain may hold the first genetic evidence for the presence of Iranian-speaking Sarmatians in the province, according to scientists.

The bones of the man, who lived sometime between 126 and 228AD and died in early adulthood, were found in 2017 during excavations for the A14 road improvement scheme near the village of Offord Cluny in Cambridgeshire.

The man, known as Offord Cluny 203645, was buried alone without any personal possessions in a trackway ditch, so little could be inferred without scientific analysis. Now, in a study published in Current Biology, researchers from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), the Francis Crick Institute and Durham University, show that he grew up over 1,000 miles away and carried ancestry related to Sarmatians and other ancient inhabitants of the Caucasus.

The nomadic Sarmatians spoke a Middle Iranian language and were renowned horse riders who​ lived around today’s southern Russia and Ukraine before some groups moved south and west. Herodotus claimed, fancifully, that they were descended from unions of Scythian men and Amazon female warriors [ . . . ]

Cambridgeshire bones may hold first DNA evidence of Sarmatians in Britain - History First Remains of a man buried near a rural farmstead in Roman Britain may be the first genetic evidence for the presence of Iranian-speaking Sarmatians in the province, according to scientists.

Pablo Picasso had his vision for his masterpiece Guernica weeks before the bombing of the Basque town and based its composition on a painting by Francisco Goya and two famous war photographs, according to a new analysis that overturns traditional assumptions.

The mural, displayed at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, was painted at the height of the Spanish Civil War and is one of the best-known antiwar artworks. However, while its title links the painting to the Nationalists’ aerial attack on Guernica on April 26, 1937, much about its genesis and meaning has remained mysterious, due partly to the artist’s reticence.

Now researchers in Canada have concluded that, earlier in 1937, Picasso had already conceived of the mural as a triptych, or three-part composition, with dimensions based on Goya’s The Second of May 1808. They argue that the artist used that 19th-century masterpiece, depicting an uprising of Spanish civilians against tyrannical French rule, as the inspiration for the central, largest section. And they believe he appropriated civil war photographs by Robert Capa and David “Chim” Seymour, showing a falling soldier and a breastfeeding mother, on the right and left-hand sides.

According to their review of the masses of relevant literature, none of these three works — each very well-known — has previously been recognised as a central inspiration for the painting. The study’s lead author, Michael Young, a retired lecturer in art theory and ceramic sculpture at Okanagan University College, said: “I could not believe that other people hadn’t looked at Goya’s The Second of May and gone, ‘There it is!" [ . . . ]

Picasso's Guernica 'inspired by Goya and Capa weeks before bombing' - History First Pablo Picasso had his vision for his masterpiece Guernica weeks before the bombing of the Basque town and based its composition on a painting by Francisco Goya and two famous war photographs, according to a new analysis that overturns traditional assumptions.

An 1820s railway pub built before the development of train stations and still serving pints is one of some 227 historic buildings and sites added to the National Heritage List for England this year. Others include a drive-in “carriage splash” likened to a 17th-century carwash, a Second World War radar station, and a Norfolk manor house that has had so many additions over the centuries that it resembles an entire village street.

Altogether, over 400,000 sites have been granted protection through addition to the list, which is managed by Historic England on behalf of the government. Here are eight of the most interesting new, upgraded or amended entries of 2023 [ . . . ]

Railway pub that predates train stations among newly listed sites - History First An 1820s railway pub built before the development of train stations and still serving pints, is one of some 227 historic buildings and sites added to the National Heritage List for England this year.

A Roman town once considered so unpromising that no one bothered to excavate it boasted a bustling river port, rare roofed theatre and fine monumental buildings — and rewrites the history of Italy, according to archaeologists.

The newly released findings of a 13-year investigation, including excavations and comprehensive geophysical surveys, show that Interamna Lirenas was a far more significant and impressive settlement than historians had realised. It was evidently part of a complex regional trading network that prospered well into the imperial period, when Italy was thought to have been in steady decline.

Archaeologist Dr Alessandro Launaro, the study’s author and Interamna Lirenas Project lead at Cambridge’s Classics Faculty, said: “There was nothing on the surface, no visible evidence of buildings, just bits of broken pottery. But what we discovered wasn’t a backwater — far from it. We found a thriving town adapting to every challenge thrown at it for 900 years [ . . . ]”

'Backwater' town was bustling trade hub that rewrites Roman history - History First A Roman town once considered so unpromising that no one bothered to excavate it boasted a bustling river port, rare roofed theatre and fine monumental buildings — and rewrites the history of Italy, according to archaeologists. The newly released findings of a 13-year investigation, including excav...