An ancient Roman sarcophagus has been excavated from a building site in central London. The 1,600-year-old coffin found near Borough Market is thought to contain the remains of a member of the nobility.
Archaeologists have been unable to identify the body as the stone coffin has been left filled with soil after being robbed, experts believe.
The sarcophagus will now be taken to the Museum of London’s archive for analysis. The coffin was found several metres underground with its lid slid open, which indicates it was plundered by 18th-century thieves.
Experts discovered the coffin six months into the dig as they were due to finish their search
The coffin was found on Swan Street last month
Gillian King, senior planner for archaeology at Southwark Council, said she hoped the grave robbers “have left the things that were of small value to them but great value to us as archaeologists”.
The grave owner must have been “very wealthy and have had a lot of social statuses to be honoured with not just a sarcophagus, but one that was built into the walls of a mausoleum” Ms King said.
She added: “We always knew this site had the potential for a Roman cemetery, but we never knew there would be a sarcophagus.”
The location is a prime spot for historical finds
The sarcophagus will now be taken to the Museum of London’s archive for analysis
The coffin was found on Swan Street last month after the council told developers building new flats on the site to fund an archaeological dig.
Researchers discovered the coffin six months into the dig as they were due to finish their search.
Experts at the Museum of London will now test and date the bones and soil inside.
Not far off the coast of the village of Atlit in the Mediterranean Sea, near Haifa in Israel, lies the submerged ruins of the ancient Neolithic site of Atlit Yam.
The prehistoric settlement, which dates back to the 7th millennium BC, has been so well preserved by the sandy seabed that a mysterious stone circle still stands as it was first erected, and dozens of human skeletons lay undisturbed in their graves.
Atlit Yam is one of the oldest and largest sunken settlements ever found and sheds new light on the daily lives of its ancient inhabitants.
Today, Atlit Yam lies between 8 – 12 metres beneath sea level and covered an area of 40,000 square metres. The site was first discovered in 1984 by marine archaeologist Ehud Galili, and since then underwater excavations have unearthed numerous houses, stone-built water wells, a series of long unconnected walls, ritual installations, stone-paved areas, a megalithic structure, thousands of flora and faunal remains, dozens of human remains, and numerous artefacts made of stone, bone, wood and flint.
A diver explores a well at the site of Atlit Yam, an ancient submerged Neolithic village off the coast of Atlit, Israel.
At the centre of the settlement, seven megaliths (1.0 to 2.1 metres high) weighing up to 600 kilograms are arranged in a stone semicircle.
The stones have cup marks carved into them and were once arranged around a freshwater spring, which suggests that they may have been used for a water ritual. Another installation consists of three oval stones (1.6 – 1.8 metres), two of which are circumscribed by grooves forming schematic anthropomorphic figures.
Another significant structural feature of the site is the stone-built well, which was excavated down to a depth of 5.5. metres. At the base of the well, archaeologists found sediment fill containing animal bones, stone, flint, wood, and bone artefacts. This suggests that in its final stage, it ceased to function as a water-well and was used instead as a disposal pit. The change in function was probably related to salinization of the water due to a rise in sea-level.
The wells from Atlit-Yam had probably been dug and constructed in the earliest stages of occupation (the end of the 9th millennium BC) and were essential for the maintenance of a permanent settlement in the area.
The ancient artifacts unearthed at Atlit Yam offer clues into how the prehistoric inhabitants once lived.
Researchers have found traces of more than 100 species of plants that grew at the site or were collected from the wild, and animal remains consisted of bones of both wild and domesticated animals, including sheep, goat, pig, dog, and cattle, suggesting that the residents raised and hunted animals for subsistence. In addition, more than 6,000 fish bones were found. Combined with other clues, such as an ear condition found in some of the human remains caused by regular exposure to cold water, it seems that fishing also played a big role in their society.
The archaeological material indicates that Atlit-Yam provides the earliest known evidence for an agro-pastoral-marine subsistence system on the Levantine coast.
The inhabitants were some of the first to make the transition from being hunter-gatherers to being more settled farmers, and the settlement is one of the earliest with evidence of domesticated cattle.
Human Remains Reveal Oldest Known Case of Tuberculosis
A human skeleton was found at the site of Atlit Yam, an ancient submerged Neolithic village off the coast of Atlit, Israel.
Ten flexed burials encased in clay and covered by thick layers of sand were discovered, both inside the houses and in the vicinity of Atlit Yam, and in total archaeologists have uncovered 65 sets of human remains.
One of the most significant discoveries of this ancient site is the presence of tuberculosis (TB) within the village. The skeletons of a woman and child, found in 2008, have revealed the earliest known cases of tuberculosis in the world. The size of the infant’s bones, and the extent of TB damage, suggest the mother passed the disease to her baby shortly after birth.
What Caused Atlit Yam to Sink?
One of the greatest archaeological mysteries of Atlit Yam is how it came to be submerged, a question that has led to heated debate in academic circles. An Italian study led by Maria Pareschi of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Pisa indicates that a volcanic collapse of the Eastern flank of Mount Etna 8,500 years ago would likely have caused a 40-metre-high tsunami to engulf some Mediterranean coastal cities within hours.
Some scientists point to the apparent abandonment of Atlit Yam around the same time, and the thousands of fish remains, as further evidence that such a tsunami did indeed occur.
However, other researchers have suggested that there is no solid evidence to suggest a tsunami wiped out the settlement. After all, the megalithic stone circle still remained standing in the place in which it had been constructed. One alternative is that climate change caused glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise and the settlement became flooded by a slow rise in the level of the Mediterranean that led to a gradual abandonment of the village.
Whatever the cause of the submerging of the settlement, it was the unique conditions of clay and sandy sediment under salty water that enabled this ancient village to remain so well preserved over thousands of years.
Archaeologists in Egypt have made a new tomb discovery — the final resting place of a high priest, untouched for 4,400 years, decorated with hieroglyphics. The secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, described the find as “one of a kind in the last decades.”
The tomb was found buried in a ridge at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara.
It was untouched and unlooted. Officials say they expect more discoveries when archaeologists further excavate the site in the months to come.
The well-preserved tomb is decorated with scenes showing the royal priest alongside his mother, wife and other members of his family, the ministry said in a statement.
The high priest was devoted to his mother, evidence shows. “He mentions the name of his mother almost everywhere here,” said Waziri in an interview, pointing to the dozens of hieroglyphics, statues, and drawings.
“The colour is almost intact even though the tomb is almost 4,400 years old,” he added.
The high priest “Wahtye” served during the Fifth Dynasty reign of King Neferirkare (between 2500-2300 BC), at the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt. In addition to the name of the deceased, hieroglyphs carved into the stone above the tomb’s door reveal his multiple titles.
Saqqara pyramid of Djoser in Egypt.
The grave’s rectangular gallery is said to be covered in painted reliefs, sculptures, and inscriptions, all in excellent shape considering how much time has passed.
The reliefs depict Wahtye himself, his wife Weret Ptah, and his mother Merit Meen, as well as everyday activities that include hunting and sailing and manufacturing goods such as pottery, according to National Geographic.
The team of Egyptian archaeologists found five shafts in the tombs. They had removed a last layer of debris from the tomb on December 13, 2018, and found five shafts inside, Waziri said.
Pyramid of Djoser (Stepped pyramid), an archaeological remaining in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt.
One of the shafts was unsealed with nothing inside, but the other four were sealed. They are expecting to make discoveries when they excavate those shafts. He was hopeful about one shaft in particular.
“I can imagine that all of the objects can be found in this area,” he said in an interview, pointing at one of the sealed shafts. “This shaft should lead to a coffin or a sarcophagus of the owner of the tomb.”
The tomb is 33 feet long, 9 feet wide, and just under 10 feet high, Waziri said.
This picture taken on December 15, 2018, shows a general view of a newly-discovered tomb belonging to the high priest ‘Wahtye’ who served during the 5th dynasty reign of King Neferirkare (between 2500-2300 BC), at the Saqqara necropolis, 30 kilometres south of the Egyptian capital Cairo.
Various drawings depict “the manufacturing of pottery and wine, making the religious offerings, musical performances, boats sailing, the manufacturing of the funerary furniture, and hunting,” according to the site Egypt Today. Also, NPR is reporting that the Saqqara site is part of a larger complex where archaeologists have discovered art and architecture that yield insight into daily life in ancient Egypt.
The Fifth Dynasty ruled Egypt from about 2500 BC to 2350 BC, not long after the great pyramid of Giza was constructed.
Giza pyramids.
Saqqara served as the necropolis for Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt for over 2 millennia.
Ancient Egyptians mummified humans to preserve their bodies for the afterlife, and animal mummies were used as religious offerings.
The rate of discoveries seems to be increasing. In November 2018, archaeologists unearthed eight new limestone sarcophagi containing mummies at a site that is 25 miles south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry said the mummies were dated to the Late Period (664-332 BC) and have an outer layer of cartonnage — papyrus or linen which is covered in plaster — decorated with a painted human form. Three of the mummies are well-preserved.
Images show the sarcophagus painted with the colours deep ochre and blue. Moreover, days before the eight mummies were found, the perfectly-preserved mummy of a woman was found inside a coffin in Egypt dating back more than 3,000 years.
That sarcophagus was opened on November 24th, which was one of two coffins discovered in El-Assasif, Luxor, on the bank of the Nile.
The homo floresienis were ancient humans that lived between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Adults stood just three-and-a-half feet tall and their brains were roughly one-third the size of our own, about the size of a chimpanzee’s.
Because of their miniature size, researchers nicknamed the unusual findings Hobbits.
The discovery consists of just six tiny teeth and a fragment of a small lower jawbone, but researchers say it is enough to suggest the fossils belonged to a direct ancestor of the Hobbits.
One theory states the Hobbits may have arrived on the island from Java after being washed out to sea by a tsunami.
The fossils included some tiny teeth.
As well as a piece of the lower jawbone
Over time, they could have shrunk on their new island home – a strange yet common phenomenon known as island dwarfism.
This relies on a variety of factors, from limited food sources to a lack of predators to defend themselves against.
Other researchers believe the fossils belonged to anatomically modern humans who suffered from some type of disorder that led to extreme disorder.
Microcephaly and Down syndrome have both been proposed.
However, the new discovery suggests otherwise – hobbits who wound up on the island seemed to defy traditional evolution and growth.
Construction workers employed in road building near the Onon River in the Khentii province of Mongolia, have discovered a mass ԍʀᴀvᴇ containing the remains of many ᴅozᴇɴs of human coʀᴘsᴇs lying upon a large rudimentary stone structure.
Forensic experts and archaeologists were called to the site, which was revealed to be a Mongolian royal tomb from the 13th century that the scientists believe to be Genghis Khan’s.
The team of scientists affiliated with the University of Beijing has concluded that the numerous skeletons ʙuʀιᴇᴅ on top of the structure were most likely the slaves who built it and who were then мᴀssᴀcʀᴇᴅ to keep the secret of the location.
The remains of twelve horses were also found on the site, certainly sᴀcʀιғιcᴇᴅ to accompany the Great Khan in death.
A total of 68 skeletons were found ʙuʀιᴇᴅ together, almost directly over the top of a rather crude stone structure
The content of the tomb was scattered and badly deteriorated, presumably due to the fact that the site was located beneath the river bed for hundreds of years until the course of the Onon river changed in the 18th century. The ʀᴇмᴀιɴs of a tall male and sixteen female skeletons were identified among hundreds of gold and silver artefacts and thousands of coins.
The women are presumed to have been wives and concubines of the leader, who were κιʟʟᴇᴅ to accompany the warlord in the afterlife. The amount of treasure and the number of sᴀcʀιғιcᴇᴅ animals and people immediately led the archaeologists to consider that the site was certainly the ʙuʀιᴇᴅ site of a really powerful Mongol warlord.
After realizing an extensive set of tests and analysis, they were able to confirm that the ʙoᴅʏ belonged to a man aged between 60 and 75, who ᴅιᴇᴅ between 1215 and 1235 AD. Both the age, the date, the location, and the opulence of the site seem to confirm that the tomb does indeed belong to Genghis Khan
The simple rock dome discovered by the archaeologists was presumably ʙuʀιᴇᴅ beneath the Onon river for centuries.
The incontestable historical importance of Genghis Khan makes this new discovery one of the most important in the history of archaeology. Born Temüjin (which means “of iron”), he was the founder and ԍʀᴇᴀтκнᴀɴ (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his demise.
He is known for uniting the tribes of Mongolia and merging them into one before launching a series of military campaigns in cнιɴᴀ, Central Asia, the Middle East and even Eastern Europe.
He conquered more than 31 million square kilometres of land during his lifetime. His legacy has taken many forms besides his conquest and can still be found today, making him one of the most influential men in the history of mankind.
He connected the East and the West through the creation of the Silk Route, a trade route that would become and remain for centuries, the main network of trade and cultural transmission in Eurasia, opening long-distance, political and economic interactions between the civilizations.
Genghis Khan also has an incredible number of descendants, as some genetic studies have shown that he could be the direct ancestor of 1 human out of every 200 who are alive today. In Mongolia alone, as many as 200,000 of the country’s 2 million people could be Genghis Khan descendants.
In 1957, Homer H. Dubs, the author of A Roman City in China, made a controversial proposal about the lost Roman legion of Marcus Crassus. He believed that around 50 BCE, the soldiers ended up as prisoners of war. Eventually, they became mercenary soldiers for the Han Chinese who gave the Romans land in the Gansu province. There, the Romans founded a city called Lijien (also Liqian or Lijian), the word that the Chinese used for legion. Some of the people who live in Lijien — today, “Zhelaizhai” — have Caucasian features. Consequently, Dubs believed that the residents of Zhelaizhai may be the descendants of the lost Roman legion in China.
These Uyghur girls are genetically similar to a few residents of Liqian, today’s ZhelaiZhai. Public domain.
Marcus Crassus and His Legion of Roman Soldiers
In 53 BCE, a humiliating defeat for a Roman army set off a chain of events. Consequently, this may have led to the furthest eastward expansion of the Roman Empire’s military and cultural influence. The defeat took place at the Battle of Carrhae, located in eastern Turkey, where the Roman fought against 10,000 Parthian archers against seven Roman legions led by Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Prior to this battle, Crassus had amassed a degree of fame after he defeated Spartacus’ rebellion in 71 BCE. However, his success would not last. Despite his prior conquests, many people questioned his military leadership. The leader’s inexperience became apparent the day he led 45,000 soldiers into battle against the very prepared and mobile Parthian cavalry in Carrhae, now known today as Harran, Turkey.
By nightfall, the battle was all but over. The Parthians beheaded Crassus’ son and killed 20,000 Roman soldiers. While the two sides were negotiating an end to the fight, the Parthians captured Crassus and also beheaded him. Approximately 15,000 Roman soldiers managed to escape, but 10,000 others became prisoners.
What Happened to the Lost Roman Legion?
The fate of the 10,000 captured Legionnaires remained a mystery. They became known as the Lost Roman Legion. In 20 BCE, under Caesar Augustus, negotiations regarding the return of these soldiers only compounded the mystery.
The Parthians stated there were no prisoners to repatriate. However, Paul Brummell, the author of Turkmenistan, says that the Parthians moved many prisoners from the Battle of Carrhae eastward to Merv, Turkmenistan, where they used the fighters against invasions.
Lijian — Legion?
Chinese records indicate that in 36 BCE at the Battle of Zhizhi, the Han captured the Xiongnu, led by Zhizhi Changyu in Central Asia, in a place known today as Dzhambul, Uzbekistan, in 36 BCE.
Chen Tang, one of the Han generals who fought the Xiongnu, recorded fighting soldiers who used the yu lin zhen, fish scale, formation. This tactic of tightly squared units utilized shields for the first row to cover their body. The following rows covered their heads. However, the Roman legions used this strategy throughout the empire and called it the testudo (tortoise shell).
Roman Testudo tortoise shell formation. CC 2.0 Neil Carey.
Charles Hucker proposed that the Roman legionaries may have been amongst the Xiongnu soldiers. Following the Battle of Zhizhi, the Han possibly captured over a thousand prisoners. Emperor Yuandi established a new county called Lijian (Liqian) or Li-jien, which, according to Hucker, is a name that reflects the Roman legion.
The Theory of Liqian
As the story goes, the Han victors were highly impressed by the skills of the soldiers. Therefore, they moved them further east to the new outpost of Liqian (Li-Chien) in the Gansu province. From there, the mercenary soldiers helped the Han Chinese defend against Tibetan raids.
A map of China’s Han Empire available during this same period showed a county named Liqian. According to Fan Ye’s 5th century “Hou Han Shu”, Liqian was what the Chinese called the Roman Empire.
Zhelaizhai residents with European characteristics.
Archaeological Findings
Archaeologists now believe Liqian became present-day Zhelaizhai, China. Excavations in Zhelaizhai unearthed a trunk with stakes, which the Romans commonly used to build fortifications. Additionally, they found Roman coins and pottery.
Evidence shows that the people of Zhelaizhai had lined the ancient streets with tree trunks. This was a uniquely Roman practice. Also, at least one Roman helmet with Chinese lettering puzzled researchers, and a strange passion exists for bulls. However, neighboring cities do not.
Arguments Against the Lost Roman Legion in Liqian Theory
The fish-scale formation was known to China, which had been using the strategy during the first millennium BCE. (Yuan: 2018).
Indo-Europeans had spread out into Central Asia well before the Imperial Roman period. The Tarim mummies of Xinjiang, China, are just one example of this.
Celtic mercenary soldiers fought in Central Asia and Asia in Turkey, Judea, Syria, and against the Seleucid Empire pre-imperial Rome. (Listverse).
DNA Tests in Zhelaizhai
A 2005 DNA analysis of residents in Zhelaizhai indicates that approximately 56 percent have genetic sequences similar to Europeans. However, the analysis did not determine that they derived from Southern Europe, as experts would expect if they originated in Italy. On the contrary, their DNA was similar to that of the Uygurs of the Xinjiang Province of Western China, who possess Northern European ancestry (Khan).
Another study from 2007 determined that according to paternal (Y) lineage DNA, the people of Zhelaizhai are not descendants of Romans. Instead, they are very similar, genetically, to Han Chinese with a small amount of Mongolian aspect. Scientists indicated that a complete study of mtDNA (maternal lineage) is necessary to complete the assessment.
Although the locals of Zhelaizhai have, in their minds, accepted the idea that they originate from the lost Roman legion in China, it appears that the evidence so far indicates that they do not.
In 1968, British newspaper The Sunday Times sponsored the first ever round-the-world yacht race. Guaranteed excellent publicity from the paper, nine contestants enlisted, drawn by the glamor of winning such a race, as well as the £5,000 prize for the fastest time (as much as $120,000 today).
The race was well organized but there were several safety concerns. Yachts were to be manned by a single person only as the race was a solo one, and the race would be non-stop. Competitors could not be vetted thoroughly on the safety of their boats and their abilities as sailors, and there were no entry requirements.
Competitors could start the race at any point between 1 June and 31 October 1968. One such competitor, who set off on the very last day, was Donald Crowhurst.
An Ambitious Man
Donald Crowhurst was not a professional sailor but had some knowledge and experience about sailing. He was an inventor and electronics engineer, and hoped to use this to his advantage during the race.
To aid in his navigation, he created a radio-direction finder that he named “Navicator” and he would make the attempt in a very unusual boat design, a trimaran called the Teignmouth Electron. Trimarans could theoretically travel much faster than monohull boats, but had not been tested on such a grueling expedition.
Crowhurst hoped to stabilize his business with the publicity and money that he would get by winning this race, but the upfront costs were steep. To take part, he raised financing from some businessmen and mortgaged his home as well.
Replica of the Teignmouth Electron (Gothick / CC BY-SA 3.0)
This allowed him to finish work on the Teignmouth Electron which he had constructed specially for the voyage. The boat-builder promised Crowhurst that the boat would be speedy but warned about stability issues in heavy seas.
But on the first sea trial of the boat, a few noticeable problems came up. The deadline was rapidly approaching and it wasn’t possible for Crowhurst to equip new parts and repair the vessel properly to make it ready for the race.
He only had two ways and was faced with a dire choice: either sail and take part in the race with a doubtful boat, or give up to face bankruptcy and humiliation. Crowhurst, fatefully, took the first option, setting sail in a boat untested in either design or practice.
The Race Begins!
Just like the boat wasn’t ready, the weather wasn’t favorable for the race as well. Clare, Crowhurst’s wife, suggested to him not to take part in it, as there was a great risk. But as she saw Crowhurst sobbing with the thought of humiliation, she and their four kids tried to make Crowhurst believe he could do anything. They didn’t want him to regret the thought of giving up.
On 31st October 1968, the weather miraculously calmed and gave Crowhurst his opportunity to start the voyage. Crowhurst kissed the forehead of each of his children and asked the elder ones to take care of their mother, and launched the Teignmouth Electron.
Soon after the race began, Crowhurst observed that the boat was already leaking like a sieve. And he realized right at that moment that this boat wouldn’t be able to take the blow from 30 or 40-foot (9 – 12 m) waves in the Southern Ocean, writing in the logs that the ship would probably sink once it entered heavy seas.
Trapped and with no options left, Crowhurst started to come up with a plan! He didn’t want to give up and live with humiliation forever, he would rather cheat than lose.
The Crooked Plan of Donald Crowhurst
GPS didn’t exist back then, and so the only way of checking the position of the boats after the race was through a review of the logbooks and the charts carried on each boat. Donald Crowhurst intended to use this to his advantage, saving his boat and completing the race.
The route of the race (Unknown Author / Public Domain)
Therefore, he started sending radio messages to the organizers giving false positions. He charted a false course down into the south Atlantic, and then, fearing his transmissions might give him away, he then disconnected the radio contact completely off the coast of Brazil.
Even these waters were too much for the Teignmouth Electron. His boat was so damaged at one point that he had to stop at a fishing port in Argentina to make some necessary repairs.
Crowhurst’s plan was to maintain two logbooks, one for his real journey and one for his fictitious race experience. The pressure of keeping two logbooks would have been extreme, and was made worse when he realized that his fictitious log wouldn’t be justifiable at close scrutiny if he won the race.
The logbooks would need to contain weather conditions during the course of his voyage. Crowhurst had no idea what the weather was like where he was supposed to be, and the fictitious log reflects some of this in its hazy descriptions.
Claiming to be making good time, Crowhurst wandered in the Atlantic until, finally, his made-up voyage started to catch up to his actual position. At this point the race leader was Nigel Tetley, who was making excellent time. Crowhurst intended to let Tetley win, with himself coming second to avoid much of the log-book scrutiny.
In May 1969, Donald finally turned back for home. But again he had miscalculated, as his apparent pace panicked Tetley. Forced to race at breakneck speed to keep up with Crowhurst’s apparent pace, Tetley’s boat failed and he capsized.
This meant Crowhurst was now far in the lead and on course to get the £5,000 prize for being the fastest competitor. With this victory he felt sure his cheating would be exposed.
After 243 days at sea, Crowhurst made his last entry in his logbook on 1st July 1969. He wrote, “It is finished, It is finished. It is the mercy.” And that was the last anyone heard of Donald Crowhurst.
Lost at Sea
12 days after his last logbook entry, the Teignmouth Electron was found drifting in the ocean. There was no sign of Donald Crowhurst. It was believed that he had jumped off the boat with his fictitious logbook, leaving behind the actual one on the deck by way of confessing his sins.
The wreck of the Teignmouth Electron survives to this day in the Cayman Islands (Scuppersthesailordog / CC BY-SA 3.0)
Crowhurst’s wife maintained that he would never commit suicide, but the evidence of the logbook was telling. He had hoped to become a British folk hero who conquered the seas, but in the end his sin was that of pride.
And so his life ended, trapped by his lies. Here was a man who believed he could sail across the world but couldn’t even make it past the Atlantic, and who believed he could fool the world, but ultimately left nothing behind but his confessional logbook.
FORT KNOX, KY - JULY 01: A cadet wielding an M249 fires in the direction of their opposing forces near the objective while other cadets move forward in Training Area 9 during Army ROTC Cadet Summer Training on July 1, 2021 in Fort Knox, Kentucky. 3rd Regiment participated in a field training exercise (FTX) in which units scouted and moved into unknown territory to engage opposing forces and then secure the mission area. Cadet Summer Training 2020 was effectively canceled at Fort Knox due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Depending on who you ask, the meaning of “G.I.” can vary. From government issue to general issue, no one can seem to agree on one single answer. Surely, one of the most well-known designations for American troops has to have a fairly certain beginning, right? Actually, it’s a lot more complicated than you may have first thought.
There have been many different names to represent US soldiers over the decades, like Leatherneck, Grunt, Johnny Reb, Yank, and Jarhead. Some apply to specific branches or services, while others have fallen from use entirely, but the one name that has been used to describe many soldiers in the US ranks for decades now is G.I.
The G.I.
United States Marines take part in an annual KOR-USA combine military drill near Yeongil Bay in Pohang, South Korea on August 12, 2021. (Photo by Seung-il Ryu/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
It is seen stamped on equipment, the name for a US law, and even the name for an entire line of toys called G.I. Joe.
The name has been popular among troops, who have often identified themselves as G.I.s. The term is sometimes used in a satirical manner to play on the idea that troops are just a tool in the eyes of the government.
In addition, the short length of the name makes it easy to fit it into documents or titles.
The name has been extended to represent others linked to the military too, like G.I. Jane, which was the nickname for members of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), G.I. Jesus, for military chaplains, and G.I. bride, for a foreign woman married to a servicemember.
Throughout its existence though, many have used the term as an abbreviation for a few different things. Garrison issue, general issue, government issue, and general infantry are all interpretations of the name. General Douglas MacArthur went with the more common version of general issue when he scolded his surgeon for calling MacArthur’s men G.I.s; “Don’t ever do that in my presence… G.I. means ‘general issue.’ Call them soldiers.” MacArthur said.
So where did the name come from?
(Original Caption) French Coast Dead Ahead. Helmeted Yankee soldiers crouch, tightly packed, behind the bulwarks of a Coast Guard landing barge in the historic sweep across the English Channel to the shores of Normandy. (Bettmann / Getty Images)
Unfortunately, the exact origin is hard to pin down, but there is a prevailing theory.
G.I. actually originated in WWI, not WWII.
The story goes that during the Great War, G.I. was stamped on items made from galvanized iron, like buckets and trash cans. Jokingly, American soldiers began calling large incoming German shells and bombs “G.I. cans,” with the nickname branching out to more items over time, such as equipment and even the troops themselves. It is likely that troops made this link because of the notion that they were a mass-produced tool, but also because galvanized iron is strong and tough, like troops.
As the term eventually ended up being used for pretty much everything related to the US troops, it began being interpreted as meaning “general issue,” or “government issue.” Although the name and its meaning was certainly well known by the early 1920s, there isn’t any official mention of it until 1935, where it is described as slang.
G.I. was a well-established name by the time WWII came around, with cartoonist Dave Breger titling a comic strip “G.I. Joe” in 1942. In 1944 President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 into law, which became known as the G.I. Bill. This provided benefit schemes for veterans returning home from WWII.
So, you now know that the original meaning behind G.I. was not general issue or even government issue, but, perhaps underwhelmingly, galvanized iron. However, any of the common interpretations are valid today, as after all, if Douglas MacArthur believed it to mean general issue, we’re not going to argue that he was wrong.
German Dreadnoughts of the Air', (1919). Scene from the First World War, 1914-1919: 'The "Zeppelins" were an important factor in the German principle of "frightfulness". Their evolution and development was marked by an long series of disasters which practically ruined the inventor, Count Zeppelin, and their further improvement as a practical war machine was largely due to private enterprise and capital subscribed by private means.' From "The History of the Great European War: its causes and effects", Vol. III, by W. Stanley Macbean Knight. [Caxton Pulishing Company, Limited, London, 1919]. Artist Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/The Print Collector/Getty Images)
A rain of German bombs falling onto London may sound like a scene from the Blitz, but the city was also attacked by Germany during WWI, not by sleek metal-skinned aircraft, but by Zeppelins. Described by Winston Churchill as “enormous bladders of combustible gas,” these ominous lighter-than-air crafts caused 500 deaths in Britain. They also caused chaos on their own people, by denying them of their beloved sausages.
Although there was little evidence that airships were suited to military environments (they weren’t, by the way), there was a great demand for them among the German top brass. The ships could carry far more bombs over a further distance than aircraft, all while mounting defensive machine guns and they were actually quite hard to bring down.
However, unsurprisingly, the airships were still vulnerable to a prepared enemy and proved to be unwieldy, struggling to effectively navigate precisely over targets and lacking accurate bombing techniques.
Even when moored up the airships were thrown around by strong winds, and a few were lost because of poor weather conditions.
The airships had a powerful psychological effect but proved to be a rather lackluster weapon of war, and their use was eventually abandoned.
Beefy machines
‘Command area onboard a Zeppelin’, German air fleet, First World War, 1917. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
These gigantic machines could measure up to 240 meters in length and required immense resources to construct. One of the most important was cow guts. The cow guts were used to make the bags that contained the airship’s gas. The gas is what makes the airships lighter than air.
Because the airships were huge, the number of resources they used was huge too, with each German Zeppelin using around 250,000 cows.
The same material used for the gasbags is also used to make sausages, albeit in a much more precise process. The German authorities were forced to choose between sausages or their airships. As we now know, airships won this logistical tug of war, with the resources once used to make sausages instead being diverted to Zeppelin construction.
An airship could use up to 30 million potential sausages.
During this drive for airship construction, the production of sausages was outlawed in Germany and other occupied territories.
Goldbeater’s skin
German Zeppelin L49 brought down and captured intact by the French, 20 October 1917. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
The intestinal skin, also known as goldbeater’s skin, is incredibly resistant to tearing yet very thin and light. It has been used for many different things over the centuries but got its name from its use in the production of gold leaf. The skin is placed between layers of gold during gold beating, a process that can thin out many layers of gold separately.
A 1922 report on balloon fabrics for the US National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics highlights how valuable these guts were.
“The collection of the goldbeater’s skins was very systematic in Germany during the war,” the document reads. “Each butcher was required to deliver the ones from the animals he killed. Agents exercised strict control in Austria, Poland and northern France, where it was forbidden to make sausages.”
The intestines normally used to make sausages were wetted, separated, and had the outer membrane peeled away. It was then washed in an alkaline solution and stretched dry. The resulting material is goldbeater’s skin; exceptionally thing, yet strong.
The Germans experimented with other materials to build the gas bags, like rubber, but they were unable to find a way of sealing the bags enough to stop hydrogen, the lightest element in the universe, from escaping.
However, they realized that if layers of goldbeater’s skin were laid on top of each other when wet, they fuse together as they dry. This creates a material that, according to the 1922 report, “for a weight of 130 to 150 g per sq. m, a tightness permitting the loss of only a few liters of hydrogen per sq. m in 24 hours, under a pressure of 30 mm of water.”
As a result, Germany went without sausages in the name of strategic bombing.
(Original Caption) Billy Mitchell and General Pershing. Undated photograph, ca 1910s.
From spiked German helmets to steampunk-looking body armor, WWI certainly saw its fair share of strange uniform choices. WWI is a fascinating war as it was a meeting point of new and old, with horses charging into machine-gun fire, and pilots in cutting-edge aircraft throwing objects at each other. Similarly, the way soldiers were dressed was more appropriate for this new era of unromantic devastation, but still incorporated principles from the past.
The First World War popularized the trench coat
(Original Caption) The arrival of the 369th Black infantry regiment in New York after World War I. Undated photograph.
The trench coat was a useful and practical piece of clothing optionally worn by officers during the Great War. It was adapted from the greatcoat, which was found to be too heavy and impractical in the wet conditions of the trenches.
The coats were constructed from a lighter yet water-repellent material to keep officers dry and featured large pockets to store maps and documents. In addition, adjustable wrist straps kept water from running down one’s forearms while using binoculars.
The supply of the more practical trench coat was made possible by civilian tailoring firms.
More than 1 million civilian suits were given to soldiers returning home
When the war ended, the British Army gave almost 1.5 million suits to soldiers returning home. This was because, by law, a soldier was not permitted to wear their uniform for any more than 28 days after they were discharged.
Soldiers returning home were given a plainclothes form, which they used at dispersal centers to receive either a suit or a clothing allowance. In addition, the soldiers were given a pay advance, a ration book good for a fortnight, and a train ticket home.
Turbans were a common sight on the western front
1914: ‘Welcome Invaders of France’. Sikh soldiers on the march in France at the start of World War I. Original Publication: The Graphic – pub. 1914 (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
During WWI, Britain’s colonies, namely India, made huge contributions to the war, but this is often overlooked. At the end of 1914, a third of the British Army fighting on the western front was from India with the Indian Expeditionary Force. Sikh soldiers wearing turbans were a common sight during the war, but while this was a proud tradition, it often signaled their “lesser” colonial status among the troops.
Khaki was first used in India
The making of khaki – Wool blending’, 1915. From The Manchester Guardian History of the War, Vol. II. – 1914-15. [John Heywood Ltd, London, 1915] Artist Unknown. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)
WWI saw a large emphasis on remaining hidden from the enemy, rather than going toe-to-toe with them in brightly colored uniforms. Camouflage and smokeless guns were all used to help troops stay out of sight. But khaki camouflage actually originated in India, when Harry Lumsden took his Corps of Guides down to a riverbank in the late 1840s with a supply of white cloth purchased at the market in Lahore.
The cloth was soaked in mud, which enabled the troops to blend in with the dusty environment.
Britain sourced khaki dyes from Germany
Ironically, the dye used in khaki uniforms was imported from Germany in secret during WWI. Prior to the war, Germany was a leading manufacturer of synthetic dyes, and by 1913 was exporting over 20 times more dye than Britain.
The military had to contract civilian firms to make uniforms
Logistically, Britain was not prepared for a war on the scale of the Great War. In the first few months of the war, the War Office only had enough uniforms to cloth existing servicemen and frontline members of the Territorial Force. The rapid recruitment of a rapidly increasing number of soldiers quickly overloaded the military’s own factories.
This was solved by contracting civilian tailoring firms to produce uniforms on an enormous scale; an arrangement that benefited both the military and suppliers.
An allowance was given to officers who could not afford a uniform
(Original Caption) France: News From Folks Back Home. Y. W. C. A. workers behind the battle lines in France distributing the long waited for letters from the old folks in the States to our boys in khaki. (Photo Credit: Bettmann / Getty Images)
At the start of the war, officers were usually recruited from the upper class and were easily able to pay the expenses of a new uniform. However as the war dragged on, the losses of these upper-class servicemen forced the military to recruit from progressively wider social classes.
Because of this, many were unable to pay for their uniforms, so the British Army subsidized the costs for these officers to maintain sufficient recruitment. Unsurprisingly, a gap developed between the officers of different social classes.
Official knitting patterns were introduced to regulate garments sent overseas
A WWI unit of soldiers pay respects at a cemetery in the 1920s on Veteran’s Day. (Photo by Kirn Vintage Stock/Corbis via Getty Images)
The War Office’s own supply of uniforms was supplemented by civilians, who knitted items of clothing and creature comforts for the men on the frontlines. However, the well-meaning practice quickly started running out of control, with increasingly garish items arriving to the troops.
The government was understandably worried about this, so they introduced official guidelines to be followed by knitters. The variety of garments was reduced by official knitting patterns and the request to only use khaki colors.
‘Kitchener blue’ supplemented khaki
The supply issues caused by Germany’s dominance in the production of khaki dyes forced Britain to turn to some less than ideal options. The War Office began supplying troops with anything they could. 500,000 blue Post Office uniforms and 500,000 greatcoats were used to alleviate the shortage of proper uniforms. In addition, the War Office also ordered a huge amount of clothes from the US.
A few poor souls were dressed in scarlet and blue parade uniforms – not exactly inconspicuous. These filler uniforms were collectively called Kitchener blue.
Conscientious objectors were forced to wear uniforms against their will
After being conscripted into military service, conscientious objectors often refused to don a uniform. As they were regarded as enlisted men they could be punished by law and were commonly subject to violence and humiliation. While conscientious objectors used many different means to stand against the military, some refused to undress for medical examinations while others refused to wear a uniform.
In these cases, it was not uncommon for the conscientious objectors to be pinned down and forcibly checked over or dressed.
