medieval

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'Witches Marks,' Curses Cover This Historic Manor

20 eerie carvings, 100 burn marks discovered at England's Gainsborough Old Hall

(Newser) - A "staggering array" of markings said to ward off evil spirits and witches have been discovered lining the walls of a historic English manor, along with a curse against a former owner. William Hickman was an "astute and ruthless businessman" who, beginning in 1596, manipulated his authority as...

In Mountains Along Silk Road, 'an Amazing Treasure Trove'

Lost high-altitude cities suggest medieval trade routes were more complicated than we knew

(Newser) - An archaeologist says "the history of Central Asia is now changing" with the discovery of two lost medieval cities, some three miles apart, in the mountains along the Silk Road, per the BBC . The Silk Road was a series of trade networks stretching from China to Venice, through which...

Our Narrative About Leprosy Just Changed
Our Narrative
About Leprosy
Just Changed
new study
May 6, 2024 9:25 AM CDT

Our Narrative About Leprosy Just Changed

Medieval squirrels had it, suggesting a possible new origin

(Newser) - Scientists have long believed that leprosy originated with humans, but a medieval squirrel suggests a different possibility. Researchers examined the bones of red squirrels from an ancient furrier, along with the bones of leprosy victims who lived at about the same time in the UK roughly 900 years ago, reports...

Medieval Cemetery Points to Mysterious, Wealthy Group

Excavation in Wales uncovers imported goods, evidence of feasting, dozens of burials

(Newser) - A medieval cemetery unearthed a stone's throw from airport runways in Cardiff, Wales, points to a mysterious, high-status community that may have obtained items from another continent an estimated 1,500 years ago. Artifacts including a tiny vessel of fine glass thought to have been imported from France's...

French Medieval Castle Has a Quirk: It's Only 26

Guédelon Castle is being built using only tools and materials found in the Middle Ages

(Newser) - Construction is underway at a medieval castle in France's Burgundy region, but not to restore or repair the building. Instead, it's being newly constructed, a project that broke ground just 26 years ago using only tools and materials found in the 13th century. NPR visited Guédelon...

15th-Century Minstrel Served Up a 'Comedy Feast'
Ancient Manuscript Offers Rare
Glimpse of Minstrel Show
in case you missed it
Jun 11, 2023 10:45 AM CDT

Ancient Manuscript Offers Rare Glimpse of Minstrel Show

15th-century document might be the first known look at the entertainment

(Newser) - A preacher gives a sermon on the virtues of heavy drinking. A group of kings feast until their stomachs burst and out come two dozen murderous oxen. Such is the stuff of medieval comedy shows, revealed through the pages of a rare, 15th-century manuscript held in the National Library of...

Shipwreck in Norwegian Lake Could Be From Middle Ages

More vessels likely to be discovered during sonar scan of Lake Mjosa

(Newser) - A survey of the biggest lake in Norway has revealed an almost perfectly preserved shipwreck, possibly from the Middle Ages. The 33-foot-long wooden ship is believed to have sunk between the 1300s and 1850 based on signs of a central rudder at what appears to be the ship's stern,...

Dig Unearths Find That 'Has Nudged the Course of History'

Medieval grave held gold, jewels, and perhaps one of the first female early Christian leaders in Britain

(Newser) - On one of the last days of an otherwise unexciting 10-week dig in Britain's Northamptonshire in April, Levente-Bence Balazs spotted teeth. Then the dig leader saw gold. What Balazs, of the Museum of London Archaeology, suspected to be a rubbish pit was, in fact, a grave dating back 1,...

Hundreds of Skeletons Emerge Beneath Century-Old Store

They date to medieval period when Wales' Haverfordwest hosted a priory

(Newser) - Archaeologists have disturbed a medieval graveyard holding the remains of hundreds of people beneath a former department store in Wales. Old records and street names point to a medieval priory in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, but no one knew for sure where it was when builders began digging new foundations beneath the...

Looking for Cake Mixer, He Got Medieval Relic Instead

13th-century document bought at Maine estate sale was part of Beauvais Missal in France

(Newser) - A bargain hunter who went to an estate sale in Maine to find a KitchenAid mixer, a bookshelf, or vintage clothing walked away with a 700-year-old treasure. Instead of a kitchen appliance, Will Sideri stumbled upon a framed document hanging on a wall. It had elaborate script in Latin, along...

17 Bodies Thrown in Well Point to Medieval Hate Crime

Researchers say individuals were Jewish, perhaps killed during antisemitic riot

(Newser) - Almost 20 years after the jumbled bodies of 17 men, women, and children were found at the bottom of a medieval well in Norwich, England, researchers believe they know why they were thrown in there, many of them headfirst: It was an antisemitic hate crime. In sequencing DNA preserved in...

Yale: Our Viking Treasure Is 'Fake'
'The Vinland Map Is a Fake'
Sep 30, 2021 12:02 PM CDT

'The Vinland Map Is a Fake'

Analyses suggest storied map was forged in 20th century, isn't an ancient relic

(Newser) - It was once considered the oldest known map depicting North America. But the Vinland Map, credited to early Viking explorers, is not what it initially seemed, according to Yale University, which acquired it in the 1960s. For one thing, the calfskin parchment map of the North American coastline southwest of...

This Death, You Did Not Want
This Death, You Did Not Want
new study
May 16, 2020 11:30 AM CDT

This Death, You Did Not Want

Modern-day bullet, meet the medieval longbow

(Newser) - Rather be hit by an arrow than a bullet? A new study might make you think otherwise. Researchers at the University of Exeter have dug up human remains that confirm just how similar a medieval arrow was to a modern bullet, the Smithsonian reports. The study, published in Antiquaries Journal...

Academic: I've Cracked the 'World's Most Mysterious Text'
Academic: I've Cracked the
'World's Most Mysterious Text'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 19, 2019 3:10 PM CDT

Academic: I've Cracked the 'World's Most Mysterious Text'

Gerard Cheshire says he has decoded the Voynich manuscript

(Newser) - A British academic claims to have cracked "the most puzzling book on Earth." Called the Voynich manuscript, it has baffled scholars, code breakers, and even the FBI for over 100 years—but Gerard Cheshire says ingenuity and lateral thinking was all he needed to unlock the text in...

Flecks of Blue on Old Teeth Reveal a Medieval Surprise
Flecks of Blue on Old Teeth
Reveal a Medieval Surprise
in case you missed it
Jan 13, 2019 1:04 PM CST

Flecks of Blue on Old Teeth Reveal a Medieval Surprise

Discovery suggests women worked as top artists in Middle Ages more often than thought

(Newser) - They couldn't figure out the blue. Scientists studying tartar from the teeth of medieval skeletons hoped to learn a thing or two of about diets of the Middle Ages. But when they put the teeth and jaw of one woman under a microscope, they were surprised to see hundreds...

Medieval Re-Enactor Impaled in Freak Accident

Peter Barclay was speared by his own lance

(Newser) - The Society for Creative Anachronism is mourning equestrian marshal Peter Barclay—or, as they knew him, Master Terafan Greydragon. The 53-year-old Virginia resident was fatally injured by his own lance at an event in Williamstown, Kentucky, while competing in an equestrian game, NBC Washington reports. His brother, John Barclay, said...

Searching for a Foundation, They Found a Treasure Trove Instead
Searching for a Foundation,
They Found Treasure Instead
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 19, 2017 3:00 PM CST

Searching for a Foundation, They Found Treasure Instead

'I thought how I'd never again see something like it'

(Newser) - They were searching for an old infirmary. What they uncovered was an "exceptional and extremely rare treasure": 2,200 silver coins, 21 gold coins, a gold signet ring, gold foil, and a circular object also made of gold. It's a collection unlike any ever found, according to French...

Sword Found in Bog May Tell of Knight's Demise
Medieval Knight's
Sword Found in Bog
in case you missed it
Jun 25, 2017 7:33 AM CDT

Medieval Knight's Sword Found in Bog

If engraving can be found, it might identify the knight

(Newser) - The medieval sword, at just over three pounds, wouldn't have weighed down its owner. But the bog where it was found might have. That's what researchers are saying after a remarkably well-preserved sword from the 14th century was found in a bog in Poland. A worker was using...

In Medieval England, Villagers Chopped Up Their Dead
In Medieval England,
Villagers Chopped
Up Their Dead
in case you missed it
Apr 8, 2017 2:19 PM CDT

In Medieval England, Villagers Chopped Up Their Dead

Scientists think they feared a sort of zombie uprising

(Newser) - We humans can be a superstitious lot, and scientists are revealing yet another example of the extremes we'll go to in the fight to keep evil and danger at bay. In this case, experts report in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports that human bones excavated in 1963 and...

This Man Lived 700 Years Ago
This Man Lived 700 Years Ago
in case you missed it
Mar 25, 2017 2:11 PM CDT

This Man Lived 700 Years Ago

His name is Context 958, and studying him sheds light on UK's poor in medieval times

(Newser) - Gizmodo calls his face "haunting," but to UK researchers, seeing the mug of the man known as Context 958 is nothing short of astounding. His visage was revealed at the two-week-long Cambridge Science Festival this month, as were details about who he was: in short, a 13th-century...

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