The History Blog

An Iron Age metal hoard containing one complete carnyx and a unique boar’s head flag standard has been discovered in Thetford, West Norfolk. It is one of only three carnyces known to be found in Britain, and none of the others are even close to complete. In fact, with the mouthpiece, tube/pipe and bell all intact, it is one of the most complete examples, if not the most complete, ever found in Europe. The boar’s head standard is the first ever found in Britain.

A carnyx was a vertical trumpet with a bell in the shape of an animal head with an open maw that was used by Celtic peoples in battle to rally their soldiers and terrify their enemies. Up to six feet high, they towered above the heads of infantry and produced a sound that carried far. Ancient chroniclers recorded their unsettling sound. They are pictured on ancient coins as Gallic icons and displayed in use on the Gundestrup Cauldron (a silver cauldron found in a peat bog in Denmark in 1891).

The Thetford hoard was discovered last year by a team from Pre-Construct Archaeology surveying a building site. It was removed in a soil block and excavated in laboratory conditions to preserve the fragile sheet bronze. The block was CT scanned and its contents carefully removed by conservators at Norfolk Museums Service. They unearthed a complete carnyx, parts of another, the boar’s head standard, five shield bosses, and one mystery iron object that has so far stumped archaeologists. The hoard dates to between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D.

The newly discovered carnyx shows signs of repair, said [Mark Hinman, chief executive of Pre-Construct Archaeology], indicating it was in use over a long period. While it was partially dismantled before being buried, with the shield bosses placed carefully on top, “the whole of the bell and the head are relatively complete – and it’s the only one that’s ever been found where they haven’t taken the ears off. It’s got these great big flappy ears which are wonderful, and they’re still in place.

“Objects like this remind us how little we know about so many different aspects of our past. These objects had names, people thought they were imbued by power. They may even have thought that they were alive at certain times in their existence – and all of the stories that go with them are lost.”

Having such a complete example will give musicologists a very rare opportunity to learn more about how carnyces were played and the sounds they produced. The first carnyx found almost complete with the tube and mouthpiece was discovered in a hoard with six other partial carnyces in Tintignac, south central France, in 2004. It had been deliberately broken into 40 pieces and when conservators pieced it back together, they realized it was missing only one section of the tube, giving researchers the first opportunity to reconstruct a full carnyx to figure out how it was played. Previous theoretical reconstructions had only had surviving bells to replicate, with the tube and mouthpiece recreated based on imagery found on coins and artifacts like the Gundestrup Cauldron. Eight years after the find, a replica of the Tintignac carnyx was completed and its beautiful and chilling sound recreated.

The Thetford carnyx is less fragmented but still very fragile, so the conservation and stabilization process will be just as deliberate and painstaking as it was for the Tintignac carnyx. The hoard has been reported as a potential treasure find. A coroner’s court will decide if it qualifies as official Treasure (it does) later this year.

A Byzantine-era monastic complex has been discovered at the site of Al-Qarya bi-Al-Duweir in Upper Egypt. The foundations of several buildings made of mudbrick were unearthed, evidence of a self-sustaining residential community that sheds new light on early Christian monastic life in the region.

Details of the architectural remains point to a well-planned complex. Mohamed Abdel-Badei, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, said the mission uncovered rectangular mudbrick buildings oriented west to east, with dimensions ranging from about 8 by 7 metres to 14 by 8 metres.

The structures include rectangular halls, some featuring apses or niches likely designated for worship, alongside small vaulted rooms believed to have served as monks’ cells and spaces for devotion.

The walls still preserve traces of plaster, with niches and wall recesses clearly visible, while the floors were finished with plaster layers. Some buildings also include southern courtyards with entrances, as well as the remains of small circular structures thought to have functioned as communal dining tables for the monks.

The largest building, also made of mudbrick, Is 14 by 10 meters and is believed to have been the monastery’s church. The space is divided into a nave, choir and sanctuary. The remains of mudbrick pillars in the center of the nave indicate the roof had a central dome. The sanctuary is semi-circular in design with two side chambers.

Archaeologists from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) also discovered buildings that appear to have been used to support the practical needs of the community. Red brick and limestone basins coated with red plaster were found. These may have been water reservoirs or used for other industrial purposes.

Artifacts unearthed in the excavation are also connected to the quotidian practices of a fully-integrated community. There are a number of storage amphorae in excellent condition. Some of them have Coptic inscriptions written on the shoulders that haven’t been translated, but are probably labels — letters, numbers, or names — identifying the contents, maker or seller. The SCA archaeologists also found a collection of ostraca (broken potsherds with writing engraves/painted on them) inscribed in Coptic.

Additional discoveries include domestic tools, stone fragments from architectural elements, and pieces of limestone panels carved with Coptic inscriptions.

Together, the architectural remains and artefacts offer a rare and detailed glimpse into a Byzantine-era monastic settlement in Upper Egypt, underscoring Sohag’s growing importance as a centre for archaeological discoveries beyond Egypt’s more traditional tourist sites.

A Late Roman mosaic floor has been discovered in the ancient city of Smyrna, modern-day downtown Izmir, Turkey. This is the first mosaic floor found at the site in 70 years. It dates to the 4th-6th centuries A.D.

It is approximately 10 by 13 feet in dimension and features two main sections consisting of a central hexagonal panel bordered on each side with five square panels and one rectangle. The space between the squares is filled with triangular panels. Each panel contains different geometric and abstract botanical designs.

The hexagonal panel in the center contains a Solomon’s Knot (two interlocked ovals). The square panels contain flowers with four pointed petals. The triangular panels contain small solid triangles. The rectangle contains a smaller rectangle that ends up looking like a bold line. This same network of six panels around a central hexagon is repeated in mirror image, separated by a column with a hexagon containing an eight-petaled flower on top, another four-petaled flower in a square, and a double-headed axe design inside a trapezoid panel on the panel.

The central hexagonal panel on the other side of the room is damaged, but the curved end of the shape is extant and it looks like it too is a Solomon’s Knot. Borders in a simple guilloche pattern run down the outside perimeters of the mosaic on the long and short side.

The excavation team interprets the Solomon’s Knot as a protective symbol. In antiquity, such motifs were believed to ward off envy, jealousy, and harmful gazes, often referred to today as the “evil eye.” Ersoy explained that protective symbols were commonly placed at entrances or on floors to safeguard both the space and its users.

Around the central knot, small cross figures were also identified. These elements reflect a decorative tradition that later became associated with monotheistic religions, while still carrying earlier symbolic meanings. Taken together, the motifs suggest a layered belief system aimed at spiritual protection rather than pure decoration.

I’m not sure about this interpretation. The four-petal flowers aren’t really crosses and the Solomon’s Knot was a very common motif in the geometric-intensive mosaics of Late Antiquity, and they’re mostly all over the place, not concentrated at entrances. See the jaw-dropping explosion of color and pattern in the largest mosaic floor in Anatolia, for example. There are hundreds of Solomon’s Knots literally covering the floor wall to wall in one of the rooms alone, and more to be found in the other floors.

The newly-unearthed floor emerged in an the excavation of the North Street area of the city’s Agora. This was one of the most important streets in ancient Smyrna and was lined with private and public buildings. Archaeologists have not yet determined what type of structure housed the mosaic.

Remains of later wall plaster indicates the floor was reused in the 19th century either by a hospital that was known to be in the area or by private residences. The mosaic was uncovered and then incorporated into the new building.

The entire floor has not yet been uncovered. From the photographs, it looks like there’s a wall interrupting on one long side. Excavations will continue this year, and archaeologists are hoping to uncover more of the ancient structure and of the mosaic.