Archeologists investigating the site of a former Dominican monastery in Cluj have uncovered a remarkable tale of love, preserved in the bones of a medieval grave. Two skeletons, of a young man and a woman, were found clearly buried together with their hands clasped for eternity.
Dubbed Romeo and Juliet by the archeological team, the couple are thought to have lived between 1450 and 1550, as the grave’s position and proximity to the monastery are typical of this period.
Lead archeologist Adrian Rusu said that several graves from the period had been found in what was the courtyard of the monastery, including the couple buried together. Read more.
The daily lives of medieval townsfolk have been brought to light by an extraordinary haul of graffiti found in Norwich Cathedral.
Messages have been scratched into the walls of the historic buildings over hundreds of years, but few people have ever stopped to work out what they say.
Archaeologists have now started a major project to decipher the extraordinary messages, and have found a mixture of musical pieces, pious exhortations and even supernatural curses.
While most church-goers these days would never even contemplate defacing the walls of a Norman cathedral with graffiti, medieval residents of Norfolk had a far less protective attitude to their monuments. Read more.
Pieces of a medieval board game and 1,000-year-old combs are among rare artefacts uncovered during an archaeological dig that is set to rewrite the history books.
Experts have hailed the finds in Co Fermanagh as internationally significant, claiming they shed new light on life in medieval Ireland and its connection with the wider world.
Iron, bronze and bone ornaments have been discovered at the crannog just outside Enniskillen, along with the chess-like pieces believed to have been part of the game. Parts of log boats, leather shoes, knives, decorated dress pins, wooden vessels and a bowl with a cross carved on its base were also unearthed during the six-month dig.
The style and design of the antler and bone combs suggest influences from northern Europe and indicate that the Fermanagh settlement had international links 1,000 years ago. Read more.
Fragments of an early Anglo-Saxon silver brooch found in Norfolk has given archaeologists new evidence of a cremation burial in the area.
Experts say the 6th Century brooch, found near West Acre, could possibly have originated in mainland Europe.
The brooch, along with a Medieval copper coin-like medal known as a jetton and a Middle Anglo-Saxon sword belt mount, has been declared treasure.
An expert from the British Museum said the 13th Century jetton was “unusual”.
The objects were found by metal detector enthusiasts close to West Acre, Flitcham and Great Dunham.
Erica Darch, from Norfolk Historic Environment Services, said: “The really important thing about these finds is the location. Read more.
A rushing river in Nord-Trøndelag County, near the Swedish border, is slowly giving up its secrets.
This summer, archaeologists excavated a smeltery on a little island where advanced metal production was carried out in the 1300s.
“This is the first evidence that copper was produced from copper ore in Norway during the Middle Ages,” says Associate Professor Lars F. Stenvik, at the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology in Trondheim.
He’s spent a lot of time searching for traces of Norwegian copper production from this period. The evidence is starting to fall in place.
In many ways, ore extraction and copper smelting were the starting point for a major modern Norwegian industry, with big mines operating in the 18th and 19th centuries.
But evidence of domestic copper production prior to 1500 has been scant. Read more.
A fine tooth comb is among treasures uncovered at an excavation site near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
Arrow heads, pottery and ancient human remains have been found at the crannog - a kind of artificial island - that could date back more than 1,000 years.
The site is being cleared to allow for a new road, but archaeologists have been given some time to glean all they can before the bulldozers move in.
“The Cherrymount link crannog was thought initially to date back to the 14th century but now evidence suggests it went back to early medieval times,” said archaeologist Declan Hurl.
“We’ve found human remains. This was a burial elsewhere that had been removed and for some reason brought to this site and re-buried on the crannog. Read more.
A recent Heritage Lottery funded archaeological excavation has discovered a hitherto forgotten early medieval royal stronghold in Scotland.
Trusty’s Hill, near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, is best known for the Pictish Symbols carved into a natural rock outcrop at the fort’s entrance. However, in recent years, many historians have begun to doubt whether these carvings were genuine, some even suggesting that the carvings are forgeries. The Galloway Picts Excavation, led by the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society and funded in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund, sought to find out why there are Pictish Carvings here, so far from the Pictish heartlands in the north-east of Scotland, and if the carvings are indeed genuine. Read more.
Claims that tsunami type waves may have hit the Kerry coastline in medieval times have been backed up a leading archaeologist.
Alan E Hayden, the director of more than 200 medieval excavations in Ireland, believes the grouping of islands off the Kerry coast suggests earthquake and tsunami wave style damage.
The Irish Times reports on Hayden’s views on the theory that the south Kerry coast has, over the centuries, been struck by long tsunami waves of over 50 feet.
Hayden cross-checked folk tales with archaeological and geological evidence and said the grouping of Valentia, Beginish and Church islands may ‘bear the scars of earthquakes and tsunami-type waves in medieval times’. Read more.
