Romania 2025

Romania

Date of Issue: 29th April 2025

two stamps (5.- & 25.- RON) 

both stamps are issued in 3 types of souvenir-sheets. 2 of 3 stamps + 1 vignette & 1 of 4 stamps (2 of each)

NOTE those stamps are also issued in sheets of 32 stamps

A limited souvenir-sheet with the 2 Europa stamps has also been in issued in a limited (347 ex) philatelic folder

The postage stamps feature images of objects discovered during archaeological excavations at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa (the capital of the Roman province of Dacia) in 1973, and in the eastern necropolis of Vețel Township, Hunedoara County, in 1967. The exhibits depicted are titled Medusa the Gorgon (on the stamp with the face value of Lei 5.00) and The Abduction of Europa by Zeus transformed into a bull (on the stamp with the face value of Lei 25.00).

The Gorgon Medusa, a gilt bronze appliqué, portrays the features of a mythological creature – Gorgon (the woman with the ‘deadly gaze’) – named Medusa (‘the mistress’), who was said to possess supernatural powers thanks to her gaze, which could kill anyone who came near her. Legend has it that she was slain by the Greek hero Perseus, who kept her head as a fearsome weapon (the Gorgon’s eyes, when directed at enemies, would turn them to stone).

The artefact The Abduction of Europa (Europa, from whom the continent takes its name, was the daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor) has been classified as a decorative element that belonged to a Roman funerary structure. Carved in stone, it depicts – within the circle of a wreath woven from leafy branches – the figure of Europa being carried on the back of a bull (Zeus), who, according to mythological accounts, took her to the island of Crete.

Austria 2025

Austria

Date of Issue: 1st May 2025

one stamp (1.20 €)

The burial site is located in a high valley above the town of Hallstatt. It is because of the discoveries made there that the Early Iron Age has also been designated the Hallstatt period. Bones and weapons were already found here in around 1600. But between 1846 and 1863 980 graves were excavated. Over the decades, further excavations followed, and the site was subjected to scientific study. The stamp features a complete plan of the burial site, along with a bronze scoop decorated with animal figures that is believed to have been used for ritual purposes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croat post) 2025

Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croat post)

Date of Issue: 5th April 2025

two stamps (2x 3.50 BAM) & 1 souvenir-sheet of 2 stamps (2x 3.50 BAM)

both stamps are issued in a mini-sheet of 8 stamps (4 of each) with 2 vignettes

Motif of an archaeological find from 1880, known as Glasinačka kolica (Glasinac cart). It was found by the Austro-Hungarian lieutenant Johann Lexa and handed over to the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it is still kept today. Its replica is housed by the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

The cult bronze cart with representations of waterfowl probably had a ritual purpose connected with the cult of the Sun. Researchers date this find to the 7^th century BC. In terms of motif and style, it relies on the tradition of the Late Bronze Age, when waterfowl were the dominant symbol of the "Urnfield Culture" (the ritual of burning the deceased and storing the ashes in urns that were then buried in earthen graves).

The Glasinac cart consists of four interconnected wheels with two imaginary birds on top, which have the body of a dove, the beak of a marsh bird, the crest of a rooster and the ears of a bull. On the lower larger bird, which is hollow inside, a smaller bird sits as a lid. On each axle there is another smaller bird as decoration. The cart is 19 cm long, 10 cm wide and 15 cm high, and weighs 1055 g. It was used in rituals as a vessel for embers to burn fragrant substances, and was left in the deceased's grave.

Germany 2025

Germany

Date of Issue: 8th May 2025

one souvenir-sheet (0.95 €)

A world cultural leap 40,000 years ago on the edge of the Swabian Jura:

40,000 years ago, a huge leap in the development of modern man took place at the point where the Swabian Jura meets the foothills of the Alps. In the caves of the Ach and Lone valleys near Ulm, Ice Age man began to conceive and create figurative representations of animals, humans and hybrid creatures as well as the world's first musical instruments. Nowhere else in the world have older comparable artefacts and musical instruments been found.

 

The delicately crafted sculptures are evidence of the emergence of the modern human spirit, which was expressed in art, symbols, music, rituals and beliefs. They show us the central and universal significance that art and music have always had for mankind.

The best-known finds of Ice Age art include figures such as the ‘Lion Man’, a mysterious hybrid of cave lion and human, the ‘Venus of Hohle Fels’, the oldest depiction of a human in the world, and the ‘Mammoth of Vogelherd’. The skilfully crafted sculptures made of mammoth ivory are around 40,000 years old and measure between four and six centimetres in size. The lion man stands out from the group of figures with its exceptional size of 31 centimetres.

Numerous high-calibre originals, such as the Venus or the Lion Man, are on display in the Prehistoric Museum Blaubeuren and the Museum Ulm. In addition, the Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart and the Museum of the University of Tübingen also present Stone Age artefacts from the caves of the Swabian Alb.

The oldest figurative artworks and musical instruments known to mankind were discovered in the Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle and Sirgenstein caves in the Achtal valley and in the Bockstein, Hohlenstein-Stadel and Vogelherd caves in the Lone valley. In July 2017, UNESCO awarded these six caves and the surrounding landscapes the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Caves and Ice Age Art of the Swabian Jura’.

To this day, the two valleys of the Ach and Lone rivers remain largely unspoilt and invite you to take a journey back to the last Ice Age on a variety of hiking and cycling trails.

France 2025

France

Date of Issue: 9th May 2025

one stamp (2.10 €)

 
This stamp is issued in a sheet of 15 stamps

The stamp depicts an Attic Oenochoe (wine jug made in Greece) enhanced with gold discovered in the tomb of a Celtic prince from the fifth century BC. in Lavau (Aube) by Inrap (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research)

NOTE - France first announced the stamp below before replacing it with the new design. No official information has yet been released about this change. We can imagine that the reason is to have a design closer to the official theme of ‘National archaeological discoveries’. The first drawing, with a dinosaur skeleton, is more about a palaeontological discovery...

Switzerland 2025

Switzerland

Date of Issue: 8th May 2025

2 stamps (2x 1.20 CHF)

both stamps are issued in a sheet of 16 se-tenant stamps (8 of each)

The Swiss issue features two rare finds that symbolically bridge their age gap of around 2,700 years with a handshake: the gauntlet was discovered in early 2024 near Kyburg Castle. During a dig, staff at Zurich’s cantonal archaeology department stumbled upon the iron components of a 14th century suit of armour. The bronze hand of Prêles, discovered in 2017 in the Bernese Jura, is considerably older. At 3,500 years old, it is the oldest bronze object in the shape of a human body part in Europe. It comes from the grave of an adult man who was buried in around 1,400BC in the Jura mountains above Lake Biel.

Guernsey 2025

Guernsey

Date of Issue: 1st May 2025

two stamps (1.37 & 1.47 GBP) out of a set of six stamps, only those two bear the Europa logo

both Europa stamps are issued in mini-sheets of 10 stamps  

Ancient intaglio from the Bonded Store, St Peter Port - This red jasper intaglio measures just 15mm and portrays a quirky ‘gryllos’—a combination of overlapping human and animal heads, dating back to the late second or early third century AD.

Rouen Jug Sherd, St Peter Port Harbour - This fragment of a jug, made in Rouen in the 12th or early 13th century, was discovered by divers. The durability of pottery brings history to life, with pieces often found along the shore next to Castle Cornet or in the seabed.