KUMAMOTO, JAPAN—According to a statement released by Kumamoto University, researchers have found a document in the Eisei Bunko Library that indicates supplies for a batch of wine were ordered by Taroemon Ueda, a Hosokawa clan vassal with ties to Westerners, in September 1632, after the beverage was prohibited by the shogunate in 1631 because of its association with Christianity. The Hosokawa clan ruled the Kokura Domain, which was located on the northern end of the island of Kyushu. The wine is thought to have been completed by mid-October, based upon other records of wine-making from wild grapes and black soybeans for medicinal use by Tadatoshi Hosokawa, the lord of the clan, from 1627 to 1630. A few months later, the shogunate ordered the Hosokawa clan to move south to the Higo Domain. No records have been found to suggest that the Hosokawa clan continued to produce the forbidden beverage in their new territory.

According to a statement released by Washington State University , researchers led by Mario Zimmermann have detected Mexican marigold, Tagetes lucida, and two types of tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustia, in 14 miniature Maya ceramic vessels
recovered from the Yucatán Peninsula. The researchers employed a new technique to
identify additional plant compounds beyond caffeine, nicotine, and other compounds found in tobacco in residues collected from vessels associated with drug use. Zimmermann suggests adding the marigold to the tobacco mixture may have made
smoking more enjoyable. The team members hope to investigate a wide range of
Mexico’s vessels and the dental plaque on human remains for a better understanding of
psychoactive plant use.

The Guardian reports that a 2,000-year-old grave containing the remains of a one-year-
old child and a dog were unearthed at a construction site in central France by researchers from France’s National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research. The child’s coffin had been made of wood held together with nails and marked with a decorative iron tag. An ornamental copper pin had been used to fasten the child’s burial shroud. An iron ring attached to a bent metal rod may have been used as a toy. It was found between the legs of the young dog placed at the child’s feet. The pup was wearing a collar with bronze decorations and a small bell. Pottery, glass vessels, and the remains of a large feast, including half a pig, three hams, two headless chickens, and other pieces of pork had been placed around the coffin. An older child’s baby tooth was found on a fragment of a broken shell. Roman adults were usually cremated, the researchers explained, while toddlers were sometimes buried near the family home, which suggests a large villa may be located in the area.

According to a Hurriyet Daily News report, a team of researchers led by Elif Koparal of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University identified the sites of hundreds of Neolithic
settlements and a 2,500-year-old temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite during a survey of the Urla-Çeşme peninsula, which is located on Turkey’s western coastline.
Koparal said it is unusual to discover a temple during such a survey of the surface of the ground. “We found a statue piece of a woman on the floor, and then a terracotta female head figure,” Koparal said. The artifacts had been damaged through prolonged exposure to wind and rain. “There is also an inscription around the temple,” she said. The researchers were able to pinpoint the temple’s walls with remote sensing equipment, she added.

The Times of India reports that a Mahayana Buddhist monastery dated to about the eleventh or twelfth centuries A.D. has been discovered on a hilltop in eastern India. Anil Kumar of Visva Bharati University said the structure featured interconnected cells, wooden doorframes, and lime-plastered floors decorated with red, green, yellow, white, and black paint. The lintel at the entrance to the monastery’s main sacred area depicts two Bodhisattvas known as Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara. Wooden votive tablets recovered at the site each bear the figure of a person that may represent the Buddha. Kumar said some 500 sculptures have also been documented at the site. The name of the monastery, Srimaddharmaviharik aryabhiksusanghasya, was found written in script dated to about
the eighth or ninth centuries A.D. on two burnt clay seals, he added. The large number of metal bangles, and the presence of doors on the cells, suggest that women monks may have lived in the monastery. A woman named Vijayashree Bhadra, who received
donations from Mallika Devi, a queen of the Pala Empire, is known to have served as
chief monk.

China Daily reports that a tomb dated to the Sui Dynasty (A.D. 581–618) has been unearthed in central China’s Henan Province. The tomb, which contains a coffin bed and screen made of white marble carved with patterns resembling those found in Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, belonged to a previously unknown couple named Qu Qing. An epigraph found in the tomb records events in the couple’s lives and offers new
information about the development of calligraphy during the Sui Dynasty. “The Qu
family lived in the Longxi area, which occupied the main part of the Silk Road for a long
time, so they were deeply influenced by European, West Asian, and Central Asian
cultures,” explained Kong Deming of the Anyang Institute of Cultural Relics and
Archaeology. White porcelain tomb figures produced at the Xiangzhou kiln in Anyang
were also recovered from the tomb. Kong said the figures will help researchers
understand the development of such porcelain

Yesterday, several news agencies, quoting non-governmental Iraqi sources, reported that another part of the roof of the Taq Kasra arch monument has collapsed. The Iraqi government has not yet responded to this news, but some supporters of the historical heritage of Iraq and Iran have protested against this apathy.
The Taq Kasra is the only remaining building from the magnificent city of Ctesiphon and its palace, a site which held celebrations and public events during the Sassanid dynasty. Ctesiphon’s palace itself was destroyed in the Arab invasion of Persia, during which its valuables were looted.
The Taq Kasra, which is still known as one of the architectural masterpieces of antiquity, was built in 550 AD and is located to the south of Baghdad, which was a part of the Persian Empire at the time. The archway is considered an important milestone in historical architecture, and is the largest known single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork.
In recent years, parts of the Taq Kasra has collapsed, and despite repeated warnings from archeologists and experts of Persian historical monuments, government officials in both Iran and Iraq have not paid the slightest attention to these urgent calls.
The Pasargad Heritage Foundation has contacted UNESCO several times since March 2019 and has asked UNESCO officials to contact the government officials and bring attention to the dire condition of the Taq Kasra monument. In a last call in 2020, UNESCO promised the foundation’s representative that they would do so immediately. However, no action has yet been taken by UNESCO as far as the Pasargad
Heritage Foundation knows and the condition of the structure is unfortunately still deteriorating.

German archaeologist Wolfram Kleiss, who directed plenty of accomplished archaeological explorations in Iran during the 1970s and 1980s, has recently died aged 90.
Kleiss was an Urartu specialist who also researched and studied various types of buildings and architectural works of different prehistoric and historical periods of Iran.
Kleiss studied and documented everything from Iron Age Urartian fortresses to Qajar bridges and mosques. From 1967 to 79, Kleiss conducted archaeological surveys in northwestern Iran and published the results in a series of articles, according to the National Museum of Iran.
Jebrael Nokandeh, director of the museum, on Tuesday, expressed his condolences on the death of this prolific German researcher and added that his name and memory are undoubtedly alive in the cultural heritage and archaeology community.
Nokandeh also voiced hope that the Tehran branch of the German Archaeological Institute would be able to make Kleiss unpublished documents and notes available to researchers.