From sexy frescoes rising from the ashes to hidden cities surfacing thanks to Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scans, archaeologists continue to make discoveries that change our understanding of the past and find the best way to preserve it for the future . This year in particular, archaeologists stood behind their work and spoke about the threats to Lebanon’s cultural heritage and a video of Israeli soldiers handling antiquities in Gaza, to name just a few examples of researchers refusing to remain complacent in the face of repressive regimes . Just as we’ve covered everything from ancient dye to the earliest evidence of tea in the past, we present some of the archaeological stories and ancient finds that came to light in a rather dark year.
Oldest known church in Armenia
In October, Rhea Nayyar reported on a team of German and Armenian archaeological researchers who had excavated the remains of “what is said to be the oldest known Christian church in Armenia,” found in the ancient city of Armenia. Artaxatadated to the 4th century AD by the project leaders. Its co-director, Achim Lichtenberger, called it “sensational evidence for early Christianity in Armenia.” Between this and the newly scanned one early Christian silver amulet In Germany, our understanding of early Christian religion within the late Roman Empire and beyond is still evolving. The Artaxata Church was also uncovered in the wake of reports of the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage by the Azerbaijani army in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
8,600 year old bread in Turkey
In March, Stephanie Wong and I addressed the curious claim that the earliest bread had been discovered at the ancient Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in southern Turkey, which naturally gave rise to a wealth of bread puns. The remains of unbaked, leavened bread dating to about 6600 B.C. were published, but we upset Turkish archaeologists and bakers by interrogating the That of the Turkish state claim that the remains constituted ‘the oldest bread in the world’. As we wrote, “found researchers working in Jordan that the invention of bread probably predated agriculture by about 4,000 years in 2018. This was due to the discovery of flatbread (unleavened bread made from wild grains) at the Natufian hunter-gatherer site of Shubayqa in the Black Desert. The Jordanian finds cast doubt on Çatalhöyük’s unfounded bread title in the first place. We also learned something about the nature of these discoveries themselves: When government-sponsored press releases refer to an archaeological find as “the first” or “the oldest,” there is often a hint of nationalism involved.
Cats for the win
Museums and archaeologists finally figured out that cats are where it’s at in 2024 — and we hope this trend continues into 2025. In July, Maya Pontone reported that China’s Shanghai Museum in People’s Square announced that owners could bring their cats to a series of organized events. around a new exhibition on Egyptian antiquities. Then the Cats: predators to pets exhibition opened at the Field Museum in Chicago in November. Mental floss also published an incredible essay about “a colony of feral cats numbering in the dozens [that] caused extensive damage to the British Museum after the Second World War.” This cat astrophe lives rent-free in the litter box of my mind.
The ‘Lion of Venice’ has roots in China
In another feline story published in September, I discussed an investigation into whether the famous “Lion of Venice” actually came from China. The new research, led by scientists from the University of Padua and the International Association of Mediterranean and Eastern Studies, found that the main isotopes of the winged lion artwork revealed that much of the statue was made of bronze from 8th century China. The findings point to the global nature of trade during the Middle Ages and the impressive reach of art from China Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). But they also revealed the increasingly important of isotope analysis within art history and archaeology.
Restoration of Giza canceled
First, there was news of an ill-conceived ‘restoration project’ in Giza, revealed on Facebook in January video posted by the then Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziry. Elaine Velie reported about this in early February. Before the end of the month, the outrage the project stopped.
Black archaeologists are transforming the ocean
I look forward to Lakshmi Rivera Amin’s Required Reading column every week to stay informed, and loved her comment in August that “several black artists, archaeologists and divers are transforming the ocean by approaching it as a graveyard, a place of the Middle Passage, and a possible space for healing,” by linking to a great story about black divers in Atmos by Omnia Saed.
Repatriation and protection of cultural heritage
Archeology as a field emerged from violent regimeswith scholars often deployed as agents of colonialism and erasure. This year, small but important steps have been taken to pressure institutions to repatriate cultural heritage, including remains in museums. In September, Rhea Nayyar reported that the “National Park Service has awarded just over $3 million in grants to 13 Native American tribes and 21 U.S. agencies to support the repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural artifacts currently held in collections and archives across the country , to facilitate.” Maya Pontone also reported on the American Natural History Museum’s repatriation of the remains of 124 indigenous peoples in July. These returns are long overdue, as is the fact that the only one UNESCO site in Ohio, the Hopewell ceremonial earthworkswill reopen on January 1 for the first time in almost a century. In August, UNESCO also added a monastery in central Gaza to the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Psychedelic cocktail in ancient Egypt
Just this month, Rhea Nayyar described “traces of psychotropic plant material, human body fluids, honey, wheat, yeast and licorice” that researchers found in a vessel with the likeness of Bes, the deity of childbirth and music. The ancient Egyptians appear to have enjoyed a number of mind-expanding journeys. And how could we forget that in February, Elaine Velie reported that archaeologists found evidence of a hallucinogenic poisonous plant in ancient Rome? The more researchers begin to study the microscopic residue left on things like ceramics, the more we discover that people in the ancient world enjoyed a number of psychoactive drugs.
Ancient Mayan city in Mexico
A number of previously unknown Mayan cities were uncovered using aerial LiDAR technology, originally conducted as “part of a forest monitoring study measuring CO2 emissions,” Maya Pontone reported in October. The study recovered 6,674 “completely unstudied structures in the state of Campeche” in southern Mexico. The arrival of new archaeological technology has meant enormous leaps in the field, both on the ground and from space.
Pompeii is still brutal
We discussed the new docuseries from PBS Pompeii: the new digin which everything was discussed, from a new fullery to the beautiful Egyptian blue room. Archaeologists also found one Ancient Roman workshop of reed mat maker covered during the eruption of 79 CE. And although it is no secret that Pompeians loved eroticism and walked countless brothelsthe discovery of a satyr copulating with a nymph, as Isa Farfan wrote in October, caused some pearl clutching. Some things never change.
