What We’ve Learned This Month

THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH...

RECENT HISTORY HEADLINES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE

CAMBODIA CALLS FOR RETURN OF LOOTED STATUES

The Cambodian government is urging two UK museums to return artefacts it says were looted from their country several decades ago. In a letter addressed to her British counterpart Nadine Dorries, Cambodia’s culture minister, Phoeurng Sackona, claims that the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum are in possession of statues stolen during the unrest caused by the Khmer Rouge – the murderous regime that ruled Cambodia between 1975–79.

The statues hold a particularly special place in Cambodian culture, as they are believed to contain the souls of people’s dead ancestors. As reported by the BBC, both museums have since released statements saying that they intend to reply to Cambodia’s claims, and that they are transparent about the provenance of their collections.

A photograph of the historic Prasat Thom pyramid temple at Koh Ker, northern Cambodia (background), alongside images of typical statues found at such sites (right). Many Cambodian temple artefacts were looted during the turmoil caused by the Khmer Rouge, with some ending up in western museums

Scotland’s new banknote features a portrait of Dr Flora Murray, along with a pair of images depicting female stretcher-bearers during World War I

SURVEY REVEALS CATHEDRAL GRAFFITI

Around 600 separate markings have been recorded as part of a historic graffiti survey at St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney. Alongside names and initials from the Georgian period, the survey team also identified a series of ‘peck marks’ on the building’s pillars, possibly created by medieval pilgrims who believed the sandstone dust could cure their ailments. Other markings discovered at the cathedral – which was founded during the 12th century – included a palm-sized star symbol (below), which may have been a ritual protection mark designed to ward off evil.

SCOTTISH MEDICAL PIONEER FEATURES ON NEW BANKNOTETE

A banknote featuring the face of suffragette and medical pioneer Dr Flora Murray has been launched in Scotland. The new Bank of Scotland £100 note, which entered circulation on 9 May, shows a portrait of Murray on the reverse, accompanied by a quote regarding her work during World War I. Born in Dumfriesshire in 1869, Murray qualified as a doctor in 1905 and went on to found two women’s military hospitals in France, which were staffed entirely by suffragettes. Along with her partner, Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson, Murray then established the Endell Street Military Hospital in London – the first institution in the UK where men were treated by female medical professionals.

HERB WAS ‘VICTIM OF CLIMATE CHANGE’

A North African herb grown by the ancient Romans as a perfume, aphrodisiac and condiment is thought to have been one of the earliest victims of man-made climate change, say researchers. Although silphium was in widespread use during the rule of Julius Caesar (49–44 BC), experts from the University of New Hampshire claim that the herb’s extinction a few decades later was triggered by deforestation, which altered the local microclimate it needed to survive. Silphium was so beloved of the Romans that it was even depicted on coinage, as demonstrated by the example shown right.

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The number of burials discovered during recent excavations on land adjacent to Leicester Cathedral

NEW DIG CHALLENGES HILLFORT’S HISTORY

Excavations at the site of Scotland’s largest hillfort could rewrite history, claim experts. The fort at Eildon Hill North, near Melrose, was previously thought to have been deserted by native tribes around AD 73 when the

Romans first arrived in the area. However, archaeologists now believe that natives were still calling it home for many years afterwards, and that the defences may have been created during the late Roman Iron

Age rather than the late Bronze Age as traditionally assumed. The theory could be proved by carbon dating results, which are due back before the end of 2022. Eildon Hill North, which belongs to a group of three iconic hills near Melrose in southern Scotland, was once the site of the largest hillfort in northern Britain