31 März 2006

A Lost City hides in the sands of Guadalupe

Archaeologists are set to display Hollywood treasures unearthed from the set of Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Ten Commandments' buried in the dunes since the 1920s
Big-budget production DeMille's set included a 10-story pharoah's temple adorned with 21 sphinxes. For more than 80 years, the shifting sands of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes have hidden a secret. Pharaohs, sphinxes and chariots. An ancient Egyptian city spanning two football fields buried mere feet beneath the surface. They're the remnants of Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent film epic, "
The Ten Commandments." And after lying forgotten for decades, the so-called "Lost City of DeMille" is no longer a mystery.[...]
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Iraq accuses U.S. of damaging ancient city

American forces are damaging the ancient city of Kish and must withdraw from the 5,000-year-old archaeological site, an Iraqi ministry said Thursday.The Ministry of State for Tourism and Antiquities Affairs said U.S. forces had set up a camp in Kish, near Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
In a statement, the ministry said the U.S. military was preventing anyone from entering this important archaeological site to assess the damage, which was not specified. The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
Last year, the British Museum said that U.S.-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base had damaged and contaminated artifacts dating back thousands of years in one of the world's most important ancient sites. The U.S. military then said all earth moving had been halted and that all engineering work were discussed with the head of the Babylon museum.
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Men plead guilty to looting artifacts from gorge

Two Estill County men have pleaded guilty today to looting an archaeological site in the Red River Gorge, the Forest Service said. Michael Scott Johnson, 42, and William Walter Blaisdell, 43, both of Ravenna, entered guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Lexington. They face sentences of up to a year in prison and $100,000 fines.[...]
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8-million-year old elephant fossils found in Abu Dhabi

An important new site for fossil bones of ancient elephants has been discovered near Bida al Mutawa, in Abu Dhabi's western region, by a team from the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADIAS, part of the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority, ADCHA. Their work has been supported by Takreer, the Abu Dhabi refining company, a part of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The bones date back to the late Miocene Period, around 6 to 8 million years ago.[...]
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Antikes Amphitheater von Dodona droht zu zerfallen

Archäologie-Behörde: "Die Steine lösen sich praktisch wegen der Feuchtigkeit auf"
Das antike Amphitheater beim Orakel von Dodona in der nordwestgriechischen Provinz Epirus droht zu verfallen. Das aus Stein gebaute, rund 15.000 Menschen umfassende Amphitheater müsse dringend restauriert werden. Dafür gebe es aber bisher kein Geld. "Es gibt kaum eine Stufe, die nicht beschädigt ist. Die Steine lösen sich praktisch wegen der Feuchtigkeit auf. Etwas muss dringend unternommen werden", sagte der Vorsitzende der örtlichen Archäologie-Behörde, Konstantinos Zachos, der griechischen Presse am Donnerstag.
Das Amphitheater von Dodona war zwischen 297 und 272 v. Chr. gebaut worden. Es steht in unmittelbarer Nähe zum Orakel von Dodona am Fuße eines Gebirges in der Nähe der nordwestgriechischen Stadt Ioannina. Dodona war neben Delphi eine der angesehensten Orakel-Stätten im antiken Griechenland.
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30 März 2006

Mönchsmumien bei Luxor ausgegraben

Mit Blick auf die monumentalen Zeugnisse der Kultur der Pharaonen führten Mönche ab dem frühen 6. Jahrhundert in Deir al-Bachit ein relativ bescheidenes Leben.
Die Zellen der koptischen Christen, von denen damals bis zu 72 auf einmal in dem ägyptischen Kloster auf einem Hügel am Westufer der heutigen Stadt Luxor lebten, waren so eng, dass sie fast wie Puppenstuben wirken. Wo die Kirche stand, die einst zu dem 75 mal 75 Meter großen koptischen Kloster gehörte, kann das deutsche Archäologenteam um Ina Eichner aus München bisher nur vermuten. Genauer wissen die Forscher dagegen im dritten Jahr ihrer Grabung, wie die frommen Männer damals den Weg ins Jenseits antraten.[...]
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Skull of human ancestor found

Ethiopian find at least 250,000 years old
Scientists in northeastern Ethiopia said Saturday that they have discovered the skull of a small human ancestor that could be a missing link between the extinct Homo erectus and modern man. The hominid cranium, found in two pieces and believed to be between 500,000 and 250,000 years old, "comes from a very significant period and is very close to the appearance of the anatomically modern human," said Sileshi Semaw, director of the Gona Paleoanthropological Research Project in Ethiopia. Archaeologists found the early human cranium five weeks ago at Gawis in Ethiopia's northeastern Afar region, Semaw said.[...]
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Italy celebrates "Culture Week" with free access to museums, archaeological sites

Access to over 1,500 state museums, monuments and archaeological sites across Italy will be free to visitors next week as the country celebrates "Culture Week," the Culture Ministry announced Wednesday.The event, which begins Sunday and ends the following Sunday, promotes Italy's cultural heritage. During that time many sites that are generally closed will be open to the public, the ministry said on its Web site, which lists the openings. "Culture Week is an extraordinary opportunity to admire the marvelous artistic wealth that we have in Italy and that the whole world acknowledges," Vice-Minister of Culture Antonio Martusciello said in a statement, reports AP.
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Archaeologist links ancient palace, Ajax

Among the ruins of a 3,200-year-old palace near Athens, researchers are piecing together the story of legendary Greek warrior-king Ajax, hero of the Trojan War. Archaeologist Yiannis Lolos found remains of the palace while hiking on the island of Salamis in 1999, and has led excavations there for the past six years. Now, he's confident he's found the site where Ajax ruled, which has also provided evidence to support a theory that residents of the Mycenean island kingdom fled to Cyprus after the king's death.[...]
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Elephant Fossils found in Western Abu Dhabi

An important new site for fossil bones of ancient elephants has been discovered near Bida Al Mutawa, in Abu Dhabi's Western Region, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), by a team from the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS), part of the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority (ADCHA)
The bones date back to the Late Miocene period, around 6 to 8 million years ago. The fossil site was first discovered by Hamed Majid al-Mansouri and other personnel from Abu Dhabi's Animal Welfare Unit, part of the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, and was reported to President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan late last year.[...]
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Archäologie mit spitzem Bleistift

Kornelia Brüning ist Fundzeichnerin in Salzmünde
Dicke Stiefel und eine warme wattierte Jacke braucht Kornelia Brüning, wenn sie von Halle nach Salzmünde zur Arbeit fährt. Dort oben, auf dem freien Feld am ehemaligen Kieswerk, da pfeift der Wind tüchtig, auch wenn die Sonne einen blauen Himmel zaubert.
Die 46-jährige Grafikdesignerin und Werbegestalterin ist Grabungszeichnerin bei den Archäologen, die die künftige Baustelle für den Autobahnbau bei Schiepzig / Salzmünde untersuchen. Bleistift und Block hat sie immer dabei, "und schon wieder einen neuen Posten Stifte bestellt", wie sie lachend erzählt.[...]
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Unravelled: the mystery of Egypt's lady-in-waiting

Good news, Australia: after 30 years of doubt, experts have established that your mummy is a woman after all.
The prize specimen in the Australian Museum's small Egyptology collection was donated a century ago, with little information on what lay beneath the bandages. The paintings on its willow sarcophagus depicted the death of a woman - but X-rays in the 1970s seemed to reveal a man's skeleton. After the mummy was taken in for routine maintenance last year, the museum decided it needed a thorough going-over.
Heather Bleechmore, a conservator, said: "We were fairly confident the body was in reasonable condition, but the linen was extremely fragile … it was unravelling."
Work on repairs offered the chance of doing CT scans, which put an end to any ideas of ancient cross-dressing. She might be shrivelled, with just five teeth, but she was all woman - and 300 years older than expected. Patched up and dressed in a nylon bodystocking, the mummy was yesterday returned to her coffin.
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29 März 2006

Himmelsscheibe: 400 Jahre benutzt, fünfmal umgearbeitet

Die 3.600 Jahre alte "Himmelsscheibe von Nebra" ist fünf Mal umgearbeitet worden. Das ist das Ergebnis einer Spezialanalyse in einem Labor der Universität in Magdeburg. "Mit einem speziellen Diamantabtastverfahren und Lasertechnik ist die Oberfläche der Scheibe vermessen und untersucht worden", sagte Archäologie-Chemiker Christian-Heinrich Wunderlich vom Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte in Halle am Mittwoch.[...]
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Archaeologist shares the dirt on Virginia City

Kelly Dixon believes there's a lot more to western archaeology than digging up coins and old bones. Dixon, an assistant anthropology professor at the University of Montana, and author of "Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology and History in Virginia City, Nevada," is excited about "discoveries that deepen the understanding of saloon diversity to include women and African Americans." "African-American women are a double minority historically, so when you can find the DNA of a woman on a tobacco pipe stem from an African-American saloon, you're able to insert tidbits of the past back into history books," Dixon said.[...]
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Egypt threatens to sue US museum over ancient mask

Egypt threatened on Tuesday to take legal action against a US museum unless it returns an ancient mask in its collection that the authorities claim was stolen from a warehouse years ago. The St. Louis Art Museum has a week to turn over the 19th dynasty (1307-1196 BC) mask of Ka-nefer-nefer or face legal action, according to Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). "I have informed the American side in a letter that if they do no respond to our request we will take the necessary legal measures and file a case in a US court and inform Interpol," the antiquities chief said in a statement.[...]
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Two Men Plead Guilty To Looting Historic Site In Daniel Boone Forest

Two men indicted in January for looting an archaeological site on the Daniel Boone National Forest pled guilty Tuesday in federal court. Michael Scott Johnson, 42, and William Walter Blaisdell, 43, both of Ravenna, Kentucky, entered the pleas in United States District Court in Lexington.[...]
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45 Jahre tschechische Ägyptologie im Tschechischen Zentrum Dresden

Am Dienstag, dem 4. April lädt das Tschechische Zentrum Dresden um 19.30 Uhr zur Vernissage der Ausstellung "Ägypten - das Land der Pharaonen" ein.
Anlässlich der Vernissage findet ein Vortrag vom Direktor des Tschechischen Archäologischen Instituts Prof.Dr.phil. Miroslav Verner, Dr.Sc. zum Thema "Abúsír – archäologische Ausgrabungen im Herzen der Pyramidenfelder" statt. Abúsír ist eine der größten und berühmtesten Lokalitäten, an denen tschechische Archäologen in den mehr als vierzig Jahren ihrer Tätigkeit vor Ort viele zuvor unbekannte Denkmäler entdeckten. Am Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts waren auch deutsche Ägyptologen in Abúsír tätig (wie z.B. Ludwig Borchardt) und deshalb sind Gegenstände aus Abúsír in Museen in Kairo, Leipzig, Berlin und in Prag ausgestellt.[...]
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Bookreview: Reclaiming a Plundered Past

Magnus T. Bernhardsson, professor of Middle Eastern history at Williams College, is the author of "Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq."
The book, published by University of Texas Press, chronicles the history of archeology in Iraq and analyzes the strong link that has developed between archaeology and Iraqi nationalism. The April 2003 looting of the Iraqi National Museum caused a world outcry at the loss of what was perceived as all of humanity's shared historical artifacts. This, however, was not the first time that Iraqi antiquities were plundered; the peoples of the Middle East have watched as time and time again Western archaeologists excavated and appropriated Iraqi antiquities, especially under the British Mandate.[...]
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28 März 2006

Ägypten fordert 3200 Jahre alte Totenmaske zurück

Die ägyptische Altertümerverwaltung hat das Saint Louis Art Museum ultimativ aufgefordert, eine 1952 in Sakkara bei Kairo ausgegrabene, mehr als 3200 Jahre alte Totenmaske zurückzugeben. Zahi Hawass, der Direktor der Behörde, sagte in Kairo, sollte das Museum nicht innerhalb einer Woche einwilligen, wolle er die Herausgabe der Maske vor einem US-Gericht einklagen.
Die ausgesprochen schöne, mit Gold dekorierte und gut erhaltene Maske der Ka-Nefer-Nefer, einer Frau vom Hofe Ramses II. (um 1279- 1213 v. Chr), war 1952 von einem ägyptischen Archäologen in Sakkara gefunden und später auf bislang ungeklärte Weise ins Ausland geschafft worden. Es gibt nach ägyptischen Medienberichten Hinweise darauf, dass ein bereits wegen Schmuggels von Altertümern verurteiltes ägyptisches Bruderpaar an der illegalen Aktion beteiligt gewesen sein könnte.
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Haus der Archäologie zieht nach Chemnitz

Es ist vollbracht. Das Kabinett (die der Landesregierung angehörenden Minister) haben entschieden. Das Haus der Archäologie oder auch Landesarchäologiemuseum genannt, zieht nach Chemnitz. Wer jetzt auf eine Eröffnung im Kaufhaus Schocken (ehemaliges Kaufhofgebäude an der Bahnhofstraße Ecke Brückestraße, das mit der markanten runden Fassade) in den kommenden Wochen hoft, muss sich noch etwas gedulden.[...]
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400-year old silk unearthed in Sichuan

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed well-preserved silk material from a 400-year old tomb in Nanchong City, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. The tomb, dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is located at the foot of Xileshan Mountain in Shunqing District. It was found during a construction project. According to the gravestone, one of the two tomb owners was the grandson of Chen Yiqin, a prime minister of the Ming Dynasty.[...]
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Rare artefacts found

Several artefacts have been unearthed from the ruins of a Muruga temple that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been excavating since July 2005 on the beach at Salavankuppam close to the Tiger Cave, near Mamallapuram.
The ASI's discoveries this year include a terracotta plaque that depicts five women performing `kuravai koothu,' a folk dance; a six-foot `vel' (spear held by Lord Muruga) hewn out of granite; three inscriptions in Tamil of the Pallava, Rashtrakuta and Chola kings; a tiny, beautiful terracota Ganesha; and the remnants of a furnace and crucibles for melting and moulding metals. The ASI has exposed the outer and inner `prakara' walls with standing pillars on all four sides of the temple. ASI officials called it "the earliest structural temple discovered in Tamil Nadu."[...]
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Discover new treasures around Qutab

With the Archaeological Survey of India's blue-board coming up near Balban's Tomb and the important ruins around it in Mehrauli Archaeological Park here recently, this bit of green has come closer to getting some legal sanctity as a first-of-its-kind park.
Increasing the number of Centrally protected monuments within the area, there is also now a serious bid by ASI to include the park in the buffer zone of the Qutab Minar World Heritage Site.
An example of rare successful synergy of different agencies working together, the Mehrauli Archaeological Park -- a sprawling 100 acres abutting Qutab Minar -- has the involvement of India National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Delhi Tourism and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).[...]
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Forscher wollen Zitadelle des Ajax gefunden haben

Griechische Archäologen haben möglicherweise gefunden, was Generationen von Altertumsforschern vergeblich gesucht hatten: die Zitadelle des Ajax. Das Hauptquartier des antiken Kriegshelden lag demnach auf der Insel Salamis.
Der Dichter Homer hat ihn in der "Ilias" unsterblich gemacht: Ajax, Sohn des Königs von Salamis und Kämpfer von gewaltigem Wuchs, hat dem Epos zufolge im Trojanischen Krieg ruhmreich auf Seiten der griechischen Belagerer gekämpft. Jetzt haben Archäologen nach eigenen Angaben die Überbleibsel von Ajax' Zitadelle entdeckt, die laut Grabungsleiter Jannos Lolos an der Wende vom 13. zum 12. vorchristlichen Jahrhundert erbaut wurde.[...]
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Site of Powhatan's Village to Be on List

The site of the village where Jamestown leader Capt. John Smith met the powerful Indian chief Powhatan and where Smith said the chief's daughter, Pocahontas, saved his life has been approved for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, officials said Monday.
Werowocomoco, on Purtan Bay along the York River in Gloucester County, was Powhatan's headquarters when Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, was founded in 1607. Powhatan ruled over a native population of about 15,000.[...]
Nomination form for Werowocomoco:
http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_G-P.htm
Werowocomoco Research Group information about the site:
http://powhatan.wm.edu
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27 März 2006

History between the cracks

Ancient pottery from Vanuatu might shed light on the last great human migration, writes Deborah Smith. Takaronga Kuautonga carefully examines the shape, colour and patterns on the ancient fragments of pottery. "It's like a big jigsaw puzzle," he says, as he patiently pieces them together.
The 3000-year-old pot he is reconstructing was unearthed, along with 25 headless human skeletons, at a burial site in Vanuatu - the oldest graveyard discovered so far in the South Pacific. Intricately decorated, it is one of four rare, well-preserved items of Lapita pottery - three pots and a dish - found at the site that have been brought to Sydney for restoration at the Australian Museum.[...]
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Iron Age relics found in central coastal province

Vietnamese archaeologists have recently unearthed several ancient stone and clay artefacts at an excavation site in Da Kai commune, Duc Linh district of central coastal Binh Thuan province. According to the archaeologists, the relics - a clay tomb, a stone musical instrument and mostly remnants of hoes, axes, and chisels - date back to the late Iron Age about 3,000 years ago. Vestiges of the province's rich history have also been uncovered in nearby Ham Thuan Bac district, where part of the Phu Truong kiln's foundation dating back around 570 years was discovered. Both relic sites were jointly excavated in late 2005 by the Viet Nam History Museum and the Binh Thuan Provincial Culture and Information Service.
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Ausstellung: "Schau mich an"

100.000 Bilder umfaßt die Porträtsammlung des Wien Museums, darunter allerhand Prominenz, aber auch Aufnahmen von gänzlich unbekannten Bewohnern der Donaumetropole. Eine Sonderausstellung in der Wiener Hermesvilla zeigt nun eine Auswahl von 300 besonders markanten Porträts, die in elf Themenbereiche gegliedert sind und anhand der Gesichter die Stadtgeschichte erzählen.[...]
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Iran’s Astonishing Achievements in Archeology Last Year

The year 1384 (Iranian calendar) which finished on March 20 this year, was full of ups and downs for Iran in archeological fields. Not only the number of archeological excavations increased during last year compared to the previous years, Bolaghi Gorge Salvation Project was also a big job on the shoulders of Iran’ Archeology Research Center.
Iran archeological sites witnessed important seasons of excavations with the presence of Iranian and foreign archeologists. The excavations in the Burnt City in Sistan va Baluchistan province, in the historical city of Gour in Fars province, in Tool Talesh cemetery in Gilan Province, Gohar Tepe historical site in Mazandaran province and many more all led to some important archeological discoveries.[...]
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Clues to African archaeology found in lead isotopes

Microscopic specs of lead are offering clues about the enormous cultural changes that swept across northern Africa a thousand years ago. At The University of Arizona in Tucson, a young archaeologist is analyzing lead traces in artifacts to shed light on the relatively little-understood archaeology of Africa, especially the period marked by the spread of the new religion of Islam. Thomas R. Fenn, a doctoral student in the UA anthropology department, is unraveling evidence of centuries-old trade patterns across the Sahara Desert by identifying smelted metal artifacts, mainly copper, found in the continent's sub-Saharan regions. Fenn will report the results of his work ("Getting to the source of the problem: Lead isotope analysis and provenance determination of ancient African copper artifacts") on Sunday, March 26, at 2 p.m., U.S. Eastern Time at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Atlanta. Fenn's presentation is in the Georgia World Congress Center, Room C-108. As Islamic forces moved across northern Africa, they set in motion trading opportunities between the arid lands bordering the Mediterranean and the dense jungles and savannahs south of the Sahara.[...]
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26 März 2006

Angola archaeology unravels rich history before prison

One legend that circulated around the Louisiana State Penitentiary was that inmates are buried in the levees. That’s just one myth that archaeological digs at Angola have dispelled, said Stephanie Perrault, an archaeologist with the LSU Museum of Natural Science. “We’ve had the opportunity to learn fact from fiction,” Perrault said Saturday afternoon during a symposium called “Angola Archaeology: 70 Years of Legend, Science and Reality.”[...]
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Researchers look to continue search for sunken Spanish ship

Researchers are trying to revive the coastal search for the 16th century vessel that carried some of the earliest Spanish setters to Georgetown County. A state archaeologist said officials hope to hire a geologist to pinpoint the exact location of the 1526 North Island shoreline.
Locating the shoreline will narrow down the possible location for the Spanish galleon, called the Capitana, said Christopher Amer, state underwater archaeologist for the maritime division of the South Carolina Department of Archaeology and Anthropology.[...]
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Can you dig it? Glasgow's oldest building found

A time team have made a breakthrough discovery after unearthing a medieval bishop's palace dating back to the 14th century. The archaeologists claim they have uncovered Glasgow's oldest building after finding the ruins. The palace, which sits in Easterhouse in the east end of the city, is believed to date back to 1323 and knocks the current title holder off the historical top spot.Until now it was thought that Provan Hall, built between 1460 and 1480, was the oldest building in the city. [...]
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State scientist helps unearth archaeological link

An ancient skull unearthed in Africa over a month ago may be the link between primitive humans and modern man and a Connecticut scientist was a member of the team that announced it's discovery this week.
"It's the most significant fossil I've seen," said Michael J. Rogers, a professor of anthropology at Southern Connecticut State University. He is one of four senior researchers on a team headed by Sileshi Semaw, director of the Gona Project in the Afar region of Ethiopia.[...]
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25 März 2006

Skull find opens window on human origins

A skull discovered in Ethiopia could fill the gap in the search for the origins of the human race, a scientist said. The cranium found in the Afar region north-east of the capital, Addis Ababa, is estimated to be 200,000 to 500,000 years old.
It appeared "to be intermediate between the earlier Homo erectus and the later Homo sapiens", Sileshi Semaw, an Ethiopian research scientist at the Stone Age Institute at Indiana University, told a news conference in Addis Ababa on Friday.[...]
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Conference on "Iran Archaeology" opens in Tokyo

Conference on "Iran Archaeology" opened at Iranian embassy in Tokyo on Saturday in presence of a number of Japanese researchers and scholars.
Three Japanese researchers presented reports on their archaeological studies in Iran. Iranian Ambassador to Tokyo Mohsen Talaie said in the inaugural ceremony of the conference that despite multitude works done in the field, there are still many grounds for archaeological studies in Iran.
"Given the potentials in the field, foreign archaeologists and researchers, including those from Japan, can cooperate with their Iranian counterparts," he added.
The Iranian diplomat hoped for further expansion of collaboration between the two states, given their common interests and culture.[...]
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Oxford archaeology unearths saxon settlement in Southhampton

An archaeological dig in Southampton’s medieval city centre has unearthed Saxon structural remains and a WWII pharmacy.
Archaeologists were called in last November to investigate the 0.5-hectare site in the centre of bustling Southampton after an evaluation by the City Council. The plot, between the city’s High Street and French Street has been earmarked for redevelopment, but the discovery of medieval vaults and structural remains dating from the late Saxon period prompted developers, Linden Homes, to delay building work while investigations take place.[...]
Work on the site is set to continue until June 2006. For more information visit the Oxford Archaeology website at
www.oxfordarch.co.uk.
Source

24 März 2006

Researchers try to revive search for sunken spanish ship

Researchers are trying to revive the search for a 16th century vessel that carried some of the earliest Spanish setters to Georgetown County. A state archaeologist says officials hope to hire a geologist to pinpoint the exact location of the 1526 North Island shoreline. Christopher Amer with the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology says locating the shoreline would narrow the possible location for the Spanish galleon Capitana.[...]
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Archäologen sprechen sich gegen Sport-Wettkämpfe im antiken Olympia aus

Griechische Archäologen warnen vor regelmäßigen Leichtathletik-Wettkämpfen im Stadion von Olympia. In diesem Jahr sollen in der antiken Stätte der Olympischen Spiele rund 170 Athleten Wettkämpfe vor rund 15 000 Zuschauer austragen.
Die Konstruktionen, die dafür im antiken Stadion von Olympia für fünf Disziplinen installiert werden müssen, sind nach Einschätzung der Archäologen "monströs" und würden erhebliche Schäden anrichten, berichtete die griechische Zeitung "To Vima". Sie berief sich auf zahlreiche Mitglieder des Verbandes der griechischen Archäologen.[...]
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Ausstellung: "Archäologie Land Niedersachsen"

Von den Fundstellen des Urmenschen Homo erectus in Schöningen mit den ältesten Holzspeeren der Welt über das Varus-Schlachtfeld bis zu mittelalterlichen Burgen: Das "Archäologie Land Niedersachsen" steht bis zum 9. Juli im Mittelpunkt einer Ausstellung des Helms-Museum in Hamburg-Harburg. Präsentiert werden zum Teil noch nie gezeigte Objekte aus 400 000 Jahren niedersächsischer Geschichte. Anlass ist das 25-jährige Jubiläum des Niedersächsischen Denkmalschutzgesetzes.[...]
Mehr Infos unter
www.helmsmuseum.de
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Cultural Heritage Leaders From Afghanistan to Offer Perspectives at Penn Museum Public Symposium

Archaeology, museum and conservation leaders from Afghanistan will come together at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology on April 22 to discuss the state of their nation cultural heritage at a day-long public symposium.
"Archaeology in Afghanistan: Museums, Antiquities, and Conservation in a War-Torn Land" is co-sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America and the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, with additional support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and Penn's Center for Ancient Studies. The cost for the Saturday program is $40 per person; $20 for Penn Museum, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia and Archaeological Institute of America members; and free for full-time students.[...]
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Goldene Ringe aus der Steinzeit

Ein Blick in das aktuelle Archäologie-Jahrbuch für Berlin und Brandenburg
Bei Bauarbeiten in Altstädten werden manchmal Hinterlassenschaften unserer Altvorderen entdeckt. Mit Spaten, Kelle und Pinsel legen Archäologen Siedlungsspuren, Gräber und Reste von Bebauungen frei. Was dabei ans Tageslicht kommt, schildert zeitnah und verständlich das Jahrbuch "Archäologie in Berlin und Brandenburg".
Herausgegeben von der Archäologischen Gesellschaft in Berlin und Brandenburg e.V. in Zusammenarbeit mit den Denkmalämtern beider Bundesländer, beschreibt es Fundstücke des Jahres 2004. Die zeitliche Spanne beginnt in der Steinzeit mit über 13 000 Jahre alten Werkzeugen, und sie endet mit grausigen Resten von Gebissen im nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen.[...]
Archäologie in Berlin und Brandenburg. Band 12
Konrad Theiss Verlag, 164 Seiten, 26,50€.
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23 März 2006

Trade in archaeological finds via web closed down

An illegal trade in archaeological finds by way of the e-Bay site has been closed down by Palermo Carabinieri, who have concluded the first part of an operation called ARCHEOWEB. The soldiers have seized 8853 finds and reported 25 individuals to judicial authorities. The operation involved carabinieri over the last six months in a complex activity of analysis and checks over the web. The searches, coordinated by various Sicilian prosecutors, involved the entire island, and even other Italian regions, where certain buyers of archaeological material reside. Thanks also to the efficient contribution and close collaboration of the Italian heads of the internet site http://www.ebay.it/, the investigation confirmed a widespread network of sales also abroad, finding contacts in the USA, Canada, Spain, France, England, Germany, Switzerland, Malta, Brazil and Australia. There were various types of objects seized: gold, silver and bronze coins, earthenware of various types, small clay objects, bronze artefacts and even an ancient parchment, all of which were from The Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Norman-Arab periods. At 10 there will be a press conference on the operation, which will take place in Palermo at the Provincial Command of the Carabinieri of Piazza Verdi.
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Überreste von 5500 Jahre alter Brauerei in Ägypten entdeckt

Dass die alten Ägypter gerne Wein und Bier tranken, ist bekannt. Im Nil-Delta haben polnische Archäologen nun nach eigenen Angaben die Überreste der größten bislang bekannte Brauerei aus dieser Zeit entdeckt.[...]
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Ancient wooden statues found near Nile Delta

Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed two 5 000-year-old wooden statues, complete with gold wrapping paper, believed to be the oldest such artifacts ever found, the team said on Wednesday. The statues, which depict two nude men with precious stones around their eyes, were found by a Polish team in the northern Nile Delta region of Daqahliya, said a statement by chief archaeologist Krzysztof Cialowicz.[...]
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Bronzezeit im Schaufenster

Statt nur mit Geschichtsbüchern setzen sich Schüler praktisch mit dem Leben ihrer Vorfahren auseinander. Das Resultat sind "archäologische Schaufenster": Die vierte Klasse aus Alterswil macht in Düdingen den Anfang.
In der Schalterhalle der Freiburger Kantonalbank in Düdingen ging es am Dienstagabend hoch her. Nach dem offiziellen Schalterschluss weihten die Schulkinder aus Alterswil mit ihrem Lehrer Charles Folly das von ihnen gestaltete Schaufenster ein. Für einen Monat wird in einer der Vitrinen zur Strasse hin nicht Werbung für Fonds und tiefe Zinssätze gemacht. Vielmehr hängen dort "Sonnenräder" und andere Bronzeteilchen.[...]
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Man cleared of Nevada petroglyph theft says "my life was trashed"

One of two men whose federal conviction for stealing American Indian artwork was overturned says the pair simply wanted to protect the ancient petroglyphs from encroaching development.
Carroll Mizell, who served 10 months in prison after being found guilty in June 2004 of stealing the rock art said "we wanted to save the property. My whole intent was to free these things so they wouldn't be destroyed," Mizell told The Associated Press on Wednesday from Redmond, Ore. "We didn't do this because we wanted to put them on e-Bay," he said.[...]
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Ancient Egypt relives in Turin

The daily pleasures and challenges of the Ancient Egyptians are brought back to life in a new show at Turin's Egyptology Museum. The exhibition centres on the lives of a wealthy couple, an 11th Dynasty (2,000 BC) King's Treasurer called Iti and his wife Neferu - but also evokes the existence of more common people. The burial chamber of Iti's tomb, excavated in 1911 by Turin archaeologists, includes alabaster and terracotta vessels and a bronze mirror belonging to Neferu.[...]
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22 März 2006

Impressions from the Pafos Archaeological Site

During my stay on cyprus I visited the Pafos Archaeological Site and took a couple of pictures there I want to share with my readers.
Picture Gallery

Awards to honour multimedia archaeology

Entries are now being sought for the Channel 4 Awards 2006, part of the prestigious British Archaeological Awards, which are made for various achievements in the field of archaeology. One category for the awards specifies information and communication technology (ICT) projects featuring interactive CD-ROMs, websites or integrated multimedia packages.[...]
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Find further information and entry forms on the British Universities Film and Video Council website

New archaeological discoveries in Ibb

Recently, a number of old architectural buildings dating back to the first century B.C. were discovered in Ibb Governorate. Antique stones, metal, bones and pottery pieces were found from the Sheba Kingdom.
A reliable source form the Antiquities, Museums and Scripts Bureau in Ibb told news agencies that a team of specialists have been conducting explorations for the last month, east of the historical Dhofar town. The results showed that the location in question was deserted by its inhabitants, perhaps due to a natural disaster.
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Let our High Kings sleep in peace

In some parts of Ireland, over 60% of all national monuments have been destroyed - 30-40% in the past 150 years alone.
It remains untold what destruction took place during English rule in Ireland, especially with regard to standing stones, dolmens and stone circles. Many monuments between 2,000 and 7,000 years old have been eradicated after becoming the target of farmers, land developers and those engaged in mindless destruction of our national heritage. At present, there are about 150,000 known sites of archaeological importance, yet, over the past 10 years, about 15,000 of these have been laid waste. This brings into question the preliminary findings of over 38 major archaeology sites along the proposed M3 motorway, which will pass through the Tara/Skryne valley and seriously impact on the scenery of Ireland’s most historical and cultural monument.[...]
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Save The Hill of Tara, the National Monument of Ireland Petition

Deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics

The Bowen Branch of the Detroit Public Library held a workshop on Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Culture on Thursday as part of Black History Month. Joan Gartland, one of the librarians at the Bowen Branch, led the workshop and discussion.In a brightly lit section of the library, residents from all across metropolitan Detroit were in attendance, including Wayne State alumni Medgar Clark-Alum.Gartland discussed the approximate date of the recently found tomb in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor and the curses of tomb raiders.[...]
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Conviction overturned in petroglyphs case

A federal appeals court overturned the conviction of two men accused of stealing American Indian artwork Tuesday even though the judges said it was clear the men stole the centuries-old petroglyphs. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Justice Department failed to prove that the rock art taken from national forest land had market value of more than $1,000. A federal court jury in Reno had convicted John Ligon, 40, Reno, and Carroll Mizell, 44, Van Nuys, Calif., in June 2004 of stealing government property.[...]
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21 März 2006

Uraltes Bauholz von ägyptische Schiffen

Wissenschaftler haben die weltweit ältesten Reste von seefahrenden Schiffen in Höhlen am Rande der ägyptischen Wüste gefunden. Außerdem entdeckten sie Frachtkisten, aus denen hervorgeht, dass die alten Ägypter mit den Schiffen weite Seereisen gemacht haben müssen.[...]
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Robot guide for museum visitors

Cicerobot to steer tourists round Agrigento museum
A flaming-red robot will soon be guiding tourists round a Sicilian archaeological collection. The 1.5-metre-high robot, named Cicerobot by his creators, is kitted out with wheels, a keyboard, a monitor, video camera and sensors, enabling him to steer visitors safely through the rooms of Agrigento's Regional Archaeological Museum.[...]
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Booklet promotes Yesemek Open-air Museum abroad

The Gaziantep Archaeology Museum and archaeologist İlhan Temizsoy have jointly released a booklet to promote the Yesemek Open-air Museum, located in Yesemek Village in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.
The 16-page booklet, published in both Turkish and English, features historical information on Yesemek and 37 recent photos featuring the landscape and surroundings of sites that include restored ancient sculptures.[...]
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Two held as "£1m Egyptian statue" is found to be a fake

A statue of an Egyptian princess, thought to be 3,300 years old and worth £1million, has been exposed as a fake. The Amarna Princess was supposed to be Tutankhamun's sister and had been hailed by the art world as of "great significance". It was bought for £440,000 three years ago, mostly with taxpayers' money.[...]
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Old coffin with scenes from Homer's poems excavated in Cyprus

A 2,500-year-old stone coffin with well-preserved color illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered in western Cyprus, archaeologists said Monday. "It is a very important find," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the island's antiquities department. "The style of the decoration is unique, not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colors used."[...]
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20 März 2006

Egyptian statue in forgery claim

Two men have been bailed by police investigating the alleged forgery of a valuable Egyptian statue.
The 3,300-year-old Amarna Princess was bought by Bolton Museum nearly three years ago for £440,000 to add to its existing Egyptology collection. The 52cm-high sculpture is believed to be one of the daughters of the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti.[...]
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Gold auf der Himmelsscheibe wird weiter erforscht

Eine Forschergruppe will das Gold auf der 3600 Jahre alten "Himmelsscheibe von Nebra" vollständig entschlüsseln. "Es hat eine völlig andere Zusammensetzung als unser modernes Gold", sagte der Leiter des Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrums für Archäometrie in Mannheim, Ernst Pernicka.
Bislang sei aber nur bekannt, dass es einen hohen Silberanteil habe, Kupfer und Zinn enthalte und aus dem heutigen Rumänien stamme.[...]
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Aphrodisias on the Web

"In her 18th year and fourth month, her soul left her body and was released with care to the holy gathering of the blessed ones. Entirely fleeting was the glimpse we had of Thea. Her descent from both Rome and Alexandria, beautiful, gentle, loveable, discreet, a bastion of prudence, her soul is living with the immortals, being ashamed to bear her mortal body..."
This funerary dedication was inscribed upon a thick piece of white marble some 1,600 years ago to stand over the grave of a young girl name Thea. The life and death of Thea would normally have been known only to the archaeologists who discovered the stone among the ruins of the ancient city of
Aphrodisias in southern Turkey, but thanks to the advances of IT, all the archaeological and historical evidence about Aphrodisias is now available for free.[...]
Source

Inscriptions of Aphrodisias Project

Archaeologist calls for protection for Ethiopian historical sites

A renowned British archaeologist said Sunday there is an urgent need to ensure that tourists can visit Ethiopian historical sites but in numbers whichthe sites can accommodate without being threatened and unreasonably damaged.
Professor David Phillipson, director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the Cambridge University, told journalists that a broadly agreed tourist management policy shouldbe put in place in Ethiopia. "We have a duty to pass on the tangible cultural heritage to future generation," said Phillipson. He stressed the overriding principle of management policies forthe tangible cultural heritage must be long-term preservation. "This applies anywhere in the world, not just to Ethiopia and not just in Africa," said Phillipson, who just wrapped up a ten-week visit to Ethiopia.[...]
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19 März 2006

Google Earth: Find the Archaeology Spot

Find the Archaeology is a game on the Google Earth community bulletin board where people post an aerial photograph of an archaeological site and users must figure out where it is.[...]
Source

Sassanid Royal Cemetery Discovered in Gour City

Archeological excavations in city of Gour in Fars province led to the discovery of a cemetery belonging to the Sassanid princes with some unique tub-like coffins which had never been discovered anywhere else in the country. The walls of this tomb are decorated with designs of Sassanid princes and its floor is painted with white, ochre, green and yellow colors.
“In order to carry out stratigraphy works in Gour historical city, we cleaned the well which had been dug at the beginning of the Islamic period most probably to reach water. When we were descending the well, we quite accidentally observed a strange designed floor; therefore we decided to widen the trench.[...]
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Evidence of primitive human activity found in China

Chinese archaeologists have found evidence of human activity dating back at least 10,000 to 20,000 years in the country's northwestern Shaanxi Province, a report said today.
Archaeologists unearthed over 5,000 pieces of stone works and some animal skeletons from a site in Longwangchan village of Yichuan, a county in the north of the province. Evidence of soil burning was also found at the site, an expert with the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeology Research Institute said. Judjing by the processing skill seen on the stone works, the site dates back 10,000 to 20,000 years, Xinhua news agency quoted the expert as saying. The relics unearthed will assist the study of the origins of ancient agriculture in north China, the expert said.
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Das Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte in Halle wird im kommenden Jahr komplett umgebaut

Das Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte in Halle wird im kommenden Jahr komplett umgebaut
Mit den Bauplänen in der Hand begrüßte Landesarchäologe und Direktor des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Dr. Harald Meller am Donnerstag den Bauminister in seinen „heiligen Hallen“. „Im kommenden Jahr wird unser Haus komplett umgebaut“, erklärte er und zeigte Karl-Heinz Daehre, wo die 4,5 Millionen Euro vom Land investiert werden. „Wenn die Himmelsscheibe von Nebra im Frühjahr 2008 nach Halle zurück und in ihre neue Dauerausstellung kommt, dann soll sie in ansprechender Umgebung präsentiert werden.“Und ansprechend ist das 1906 geplante und 1918 für 600 000 Goldmark eröffnete Haus eigentlich. Immerhin war es Deutschlands erster Museumsneubau für vorgeschichtliche Ausstellungen und auch der erste Stahlbetonbau. Meller schwärmte dann auch von den hohen Ausstellungsräumen, die jetzt aber niemand genießen kann. Zu DDR-Zeiten wurden Betondecken eingezogen, um Platz zu schaffen für Büros, Lager und die Bibliothek. „Die Decken müssen wieder raus“, so Meller, „deshalb brauchen wir auch anderswo in der Stadt noch Platz.“[...]
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18 März 2006

Moorleiche "Mädchen von Windeby" in Wahrheit ein "Windeboy"

Späte Überraschung für Archäologen: Die bekannteste deutsche Moorleiche "Mädchen von Windeby" war in Wirklichkeit ein Junge. "Ich taufe ihn Windeboy", scherzt seine Entdeckerin, die kanadische Anthropologin und Gerichtsmedizinerin Prof. Heather Gill-Robinson (37).
Seit einem halben Jahrhundert wird "das Mädchen" zusammen mit männlichen Moorleichen im Archäologischen Landesmuseum auf Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig (Schleswig-Holstein) präsentiert. Insgesamt existieren weltweit rund 700 Leichenfunde aus Moorregionen, von denen zehn im Fundus des Schleswiger Archäologiemuseums ruhen.[...]
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7000 Jahre alte Skelett-Reste in Südtirol entdeckt

Archäologen haben in Südtirol Knochenreste eines vermutlich 6000 bis 7000 Jahre alten menschlichen Skeletts entdeckt. Die Knochen seien in einem jungsteinzeitlichen Grab bei Schloss Sigmundskron in der Nähe von Bozen gefunden worden, berichtete die Zeitung "Dolomiten" (Bozen) am Samstag.
Es handele sich um die Skelettreste einer Frau. Falls sich das Alter bei genauerer wissenschaftlicher Untersuchung bestätigen sollte, wäre das Skelett deutlich älter als die gut 5000 Jahre alte Mumie von "Ötzi".[...]
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7000-Year-Old Animal-Designed Clays Discovered in Shushtar

Archaeological excavations in Khuzestan province led to the discovery of three earthenware ovens with clays designed with exaggerated pictures of animals called “Mosabak” in 7000-year-old architectural remains of Tal-e Abouchizan in Shushtar. This is the first time such clay relics have been discovered in Khuzestan historical sites.
“Existence of four earthenware ovens in architectural remains indicate that this historical structure was not a settlement area and mot probably it is the remains of a pottery workshop. Some clays with very beautiful designs were also discovered near this workshop,” said Mehdi Moghadam, head of archaeological team in Tal-e Abouchizan in Shushtar.[...]
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Archäologie-Sensation in Dietikon: Bronze mit Peniskopf gefunden

Zwei gut erhaltene Bronzefiguren sind bei archäologischen Grabungen an einem römischen Gutshof in Dietikon ZH zum Vorschein gekommen. Eine davon zeigt einen kahlen Mann mit einem erigierten Penis auf dem Kopf. Zudem wurden 18 Gräber von Früh- und Neugeborenen und drei Nebengebäude des Gutshofes entdeckt. Die Büste des glatzköpfigen Mannes mit den mandelförmigen Augen und dem rundlichen Gesicht ist nur etwas über fünf Zentimeter gross. Kantonsarchäologe Daniel Käch wies am Dienstag vor den Medien in Dietikon darauf hin, dass auf dem Schädel ein erigierter Penis und am Hinterkopf ein Haarbüschel zu sehen ist.[...]
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Geheimnis um frühen Kirchenbau

Drei halbrunde Fundamente, aber kein Abschluss in der Ingelheimer Kaiserpfalz entdeckt
Eigentlich hatte Holger Grewe von der Kaiserpfalz-Forschungsstelle in Ingelheim erwartet, dass er auf Reste eines karolingischen Sakralbaues stoßen würde. Zu einer so durchdachten Kaiserpfalz, die wie eine Architektur vom Reißbrett wirkt, gehört einfach eine Kirche", sagt Grewe.
Dennoch war er überrascht, als bei den Grabungen im Rahmen des Straßenausbaues zur Stadtsanierung im Jahr 2004 neben einer Apsis, einem halbrunden Altarraum, zwei weitere, jeweils rechtwinklig dazu stehende Apsiden freigelegt werden konnten.[...]
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Münzen in Flussbett gefunden

Indiz für ein bekanntes Ritual
Der recht eigenartige Brauch, Münzen in ein Gewässer zu werfen, um Glück zu haben, ist auf der ganzen Welt hinreichend bekannt. In Japan könnte er die Erklärung für einen recht seltsamen Fund sein, denn japanische Archäologen haben in dem ausgetrockneten Flussbett des Yamatogawa Flusses eine große Anzahl historischer Münzen gefunden.[...]
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Egyptian archaeologist says newly-found Pharaonic site used as mummification room, not tomb

A chamber discovered last month in Egyptian old city Luxor was a room used to mummify Pharaohs instead of a Pharaonic tomb, local daily newspaper, the Egyptian Gazette, reported on Tuesday.
The chamber, found in the Valley of the Kings famous for being cemetery for ancient Egyptian Pharaohs (kings), was originally thought to be another Pharaonic tomb. It was not a bomb for nobles or relatives of a Pharaoh as had been thought upon its discovery. But rather it was a room used for mummification, Zahi Hawass, General Secretary of the Egyptian Supreme Antiquities Committee, was quoted as saying.
Hawass said in a statement that the U.S. team from the University of Memphis, which discovered the chamber, has opened five sarcophagi and 10 sealed jars and found the remnants of pottery, shrouds and materials, which were used during mummification. The chamber was discovered at the bottom of a six-meter shaft in the Valley, which lies close to the Nile river. The sarcophagi dated from the 18th Dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 1,567 BC to 1, 320 BC.
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Egyptian experts to visit the bosnian pyramid of sun

Leading pyramid experts from Egypt will visit the archaeological site in Visoko in May and August this year at the invitation by the “Archaeological Park: the Bosnian Pyramid of Sun” Foundation.
Head of the Egyptian Archaeology Department at the Ain Shems University PhD Shafia Bedir and PhD Ali Abdallah Berekat will visit BiH. They will spend four weeks working with their BiH colleagues at the site of the Bosnian Pyramid of Sun in an effort to confirm scientific results. “We are very pleased with the results of talks held with our Egyptian colleagues. Egypt is famous for its pyramids. They have acted as true gentlemen in deciding to take part in the international verification of our research”, Foundation Steering Board member Senad Hodovic said.
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Das Archäometrie-Zentrum in Mannheim

Harald Asel traf Ernst Pernicka in Mannheim und wollte zunächst wissen: Archäometrie - eine Naturwissenschaft, deren Gegenstände Artefakte der Kultur sind, oder: eine Kulturwissenschaft mit naturwissenschaftlichen Methoden, vielleicht gar historische Hilfswissenschaft?
Harald Asel: Wie versteht sich das Fachgebiet selbst?
Ernst Pernicka: Die Archäometrie kann man ja ganz einfach definieren als die Anwendung naturwissenschaftlicher Methoden zur Lösung kulturhistorischer Fragestellungen. Insofern ist sie eine Kulturwissenschaft und ich bin ja auch nicht umsonst jetzt als Chemiker in der Kulturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät und Professor am Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Das heißt, wir nutzen den großen Erfahrungsschatz und Methodenschatz der Naturwissenschaften, um explizit archäologische Fragestellungen anzugehen. Die Bezeichnung Hilfswissenschaft höre ich nicht so gerne, weil durch die besonderen Anforderungen natürlich auch eigene Entwicklungen angeregt werden und stattfinden, aber ich würde schon sagen, dass wir zu den historischen Wissenschaften, zur Archäologie gehören, diese nur mit anderen Methoden erforschen.[...]
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Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum für Archäometrie

17 März 2006

Ancient Cypriots fed olive oil to furnaces-study

It is praised for its culinary and health properties by any cook worth his salt, but long before olive oil made it into the Mediterranean diet Cypriots used it as fuel to melt copper, archaeologists say.
Italian researchers have discovered that environmentally friendly olive oil was used in furnaces at a site in southern Cyprus up to 4,000 years ago, instead of the fume-belching charcoal used in industry for hundreds of years since.
Described as "liquid gold" by the ancient Greek poet Homer, olive oil has long been associated with grooming, pampering and the religious rites of the ancients, but not - at least in the Mediterranean - with heavy industry.[...]
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"Ich wünsche mir, weiter an Tutanchamun zu forschen"

Vor ca. einem Jahr hat der Bozner Pathologe Eduard Egarter mit Paul Gostner, Radiologe in Bozen, und Frank Rühli, Anatom aus Zürich, im Archäologiemuseum in Kairo und mit ägyptischen Experten Computer-Tomographien des Tutanchamun ausgewertet. Dabei machten die drei Wissenschaftler eine bahnbrechende Entdeckung: Die wohl berühmteste Mumie der Welt ist nicht erschlagen worden, wie bisher vermutet.
Am Donnerstag Abend hielt Dr. Egarter mit Dr. Gostner am Bozner Krankenhaus einen Vortag über die Geheimnisse Tutenchamuns. Südtirol Online sprach mit dem Paläopathologen und wollte wissen, ob es neue Erkenntnisse über die Mumie gibt, und woran der Pathologe noch forscht.[...]
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Archaeology film fest in Rome

Europe's best ancient history documentaries are on show here this weekend at the debut edition of Rome's International Archaeology Cinema Festival.
The four-day event, which kicks off Friday at the city's posh new Auditorium Music Park, has a fascinating programme of film screenings, meetings with directors and debates. "Paradoxically, our city has never had an archaeology cinema festival, though archaeology is an integral part of the territory," said Rome Culture Councillor Vincenzo Vita. "This festival is bound to be a success because Rome has an enormous desire for culture".[...]
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Tripura Police recover two precious idols

Police in West Tripura have recovered two precious idols from the village of Tuichama in Bishramganj. Police said that the idols were first discovered by a group of labourers while they were digging a pond. On discovering the idols, people from the village rushed to the spot and some even offered prayers. "While digging a pond, we heard the sound of some metal. We checked and then found an idol and everyone was surprised. On continuing we found another idol. Meantime, people also came to know about it and flocked to see them and many even started worshipping the idols," said Anjan Bhowmik, a labour.[...]
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08 März 2006

Tarxien Temples: past, present and future

Although the Tarxien Temples may not be the most photogenic archaeological site of the Maltese Islands, they nonetheless offer a stimulating experience for visitors. The temples in fact hold the largest number of exceptional examples of prehistoric art and attest to an extraordinary society that produced astounding advances in art, technology and architecture, some 5,000 years ago.
Unlike the other extensive prehistoric sites such as Ggantija, Mnajdra or Hagar Qim Temples, Tarxien Temples do not have a monumental bearing on their surrounding landscape; on the contrary, they have been rather dwarfed by the urban development which has, over time, encroached within metres from the site.[...]
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Website will open up city's historic past to the public

A global audience will be able to access details of York's rich archaeological heritage under a project to reveal details of historic finds to the public.York's history through the centuries with important finds dating back to the Roman times has given the city a worldwide reputation, but archaeologists are hoping to provide the public with a far greater analysis of finds.A website is to go online later this year, providing details of 2,400 archaeological records dating from the late 1800s and including information of major excavations, including the Coppergate dig and the under-pinning work beneath York Minster in the 1960s and 1970s.[...]
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Discovery of Achaemenid Settlement Areas in MarvDasht

Second season of excavations in MarvDasht foothills in Fars province resulted in the discovery of some settlement areas belonging to the Achaemenid era in this historical plain. Due to the existence of Persepolis in MarvDasht, this region is regarded one of the most important Achaemenid residential areas during ancient Persia.
For the first time archeological excavations in MarvDasht plain were started some 40 years ago. Now a joint Iranian-French team is carrying out reviving works in this historical plain.[...]
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Portugal did not discover Australia

The tantalising and thriving theory that the Portuguese may have discovered Australia in the 16th century finds no fertile ground with historian Michael Pearson.In his government-commissioned book on the maritime exploration of Terra Australis – Great Southern Land – Dr Pearson says there is simply no evidence.
If the Portuguese mariner Cristovao de Mendonca reached what we now know as Australia, it was kept so quiet that the discovery played no part in the story of the continent's discovery, Dr Pearson said. "I'm an archaeologist so I'm a sceptic by profession," Dr Pearson said at the book's launch today. "I say, show me the evidence."[...]
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Archaeologist speaks tonight on alphabet

The oldest written alphabet, from the 10th century B.C., was found last year by two Bible archaeologists working in the Holy Land, and tonight, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History will hold a free talk about the find by one of its discoverers.
Ron E. Tappy, professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and G. Albert Shoemaker, professor of Bible and archaeology and director and principal investigator, found the alphabet written on a stone at Tel Zayit, Israel.
Tappy will detail the discovery in The Age of the Alphabet: Writing at Tel Zayit in the Time of King Solomon at 7:30 p.m. at the museum.[...]
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Sydney history wins award

A book that charts Sydney’s Indigenous history has been awarded the inaugural John Mulvaney Book Award by the Australian Archaeological Association.
Sydney’s Aboriginal Past: Investigating the archaeological and historical record was written by Dr Val Attenbrow, a senior research scientist at the Australian Museum.The easy-to-read book presents a fascinating insight into the Aboriginal groups that lived in Sydney and how they interacted with their environment around the time of British colonisation and in the distant past.[...]
Sydney’s Aboriginal Past is available at the Australian Museum Shop and selected book stores ($95 hardcover, $49.95 paperback).
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Bones and Blonds

Kennewick Man serves as a reminder to separate fantasy and science.
It's been a bad couple of weeks for Aryans. The news from their favorite obsessions—archaeology and genetics—hasn't been good. First there is the conclusion of researchers that Kennewick Man was not a white man. Scientists examining K-Man's 9,000-year-old remains at Seattle's Burke Museum put that notion to bed. The racial identity of Kennewick Man has been central to his celebrity and controversy. When K-Man was found by the bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick in 1996, he was claimed by local Native Americans, who believed him to be a sacred ancestor.[...]
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Kosakendrama von Osttirol erschüttert im Fernsehen

1945 sollten gefangene Kosaken von Lienz an Stalin ausgeliefert werden. Tausende brachten sich lieber um oder starben auf der Flucht.
"Lieber tot als zurück in die Sowjetunion." Diesen Wahlspruch trugen die russisch-stämmigen Kosaken nicht nur auf Plakaten vor sich her. Sie handelten auch danach, und das mit erschütternder Konsequenz.Als ursprünglich mit Hitler verbündete Kämpfer waren die "wilden Reiter" während des Zweiten Weltkriegs aus Russland geflüchtet und mit Pferdewagen und Haushalt durch halb Europa gezogen. In Lienz war für 25.000 Männer, Frauen und Kinder Endstation. Als die britischen Besatzer sie 1945 an Stalin ausliefern wollten, wählten die Kosaken Flucht oder Freitod. "Die Drau war rot vom Blut" heißt es in Augenzeugenberichten von damals.
Am 12. März um 19.30 Uhr zeigt das ZDF "Der Todesritt der Kosaken" in der Reihe "Expeditionen".
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07 März 2006

Neighbourly trade shaped Pitcairn's past

The original Polynesian community on the Pitcairn Islands died out because it lost touch with its neighbours who provided crucial resources, an Australian archaeologist says. Dr Marshall Weisler of the University of Queensland will discuss his research on the reliance of Pitcairn Islanders on the neighbouring Mangareva or Gambier islanders at a conference in Mexico later this year.
"[Pitcairn is] the kind of island that can only have people on it in the long run if it's being resourced from outside periodically," Dr Weisler, who has been studying Pitcairn since 1990, said. "It wasn't sustainable in the long run because the trading connections between the Pitcairn group and Mangareva stopped."
The UK-governed Pitcairn Islands are a group of four small rugged and relatively barren islands in a remote part of the western Pacific. Today, they are home to a handful of descendants of Fletcher Christian, who led the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. The two main islands in the group are Pitcairn and Henderson, which were originally settled in around 800 to 900 AD, Dr Weisler says, by "a couple of dozen" Polynesians from the neighbouring island of Mangareva. By the time the Spanish explorer Ferdinand Queros sailed by in 1606, the islands had been abandoned.[...]
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150 guards for 1,200 archaeological sites

Italian police are reported to have provided special training for a 150-member contingent that will be charged with guarding ancient sites in the southern city of Nasiriya. Nasiriya is home to the Sumerian civilization which flourished in the area nearly 5,000 years ago and is home to some of the most fascinating and renowned Mesopotamian treasures.
Abdulamir al-Hamdani, head of the city’s archaeological office, said the two-week program included theoretical and practical training on how to guard and preserve ancient relics. He said there were more than 1,200 archeologically significant sites in the area of Nasiriya. He said many more guards were needed to have the ancient sites under control. Illegal digging, particularly in search of Sumerian artifacts, is reported to have damaged several sites.
Sumerian pieces, such as cylinder seals and small statues, are much in demand abroad. The country has not yet recovered from the large-scale looting of its museums which took place shortly after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. At least 13,000 museum pieces, some of them unique and priceless, are reported missing. The Antiquities Department says insecurity prevents its officials and guards from visiting important ancient sites across the country. It says many ancient mounds are being plundered by illegal diggers.
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Human Remains Found at Cinnamon Bay Will Be Reinterred in Future Ceremony

Plans are in the works for the reburial of human remains which have been washing up at Cinnamon Bay for years, according to National Park Service Archaeologist Ken Wild. The remains are washing ashore from their original burial site, which is now under water a few hundred yards away from the beach, according to Wild, the Cultural Resource Manager for the V.I. National Park. Not much is known about the lives of the people whose remains are resurfacing, added the archaeologist, who said studying the remains is difficult, because they are “disarticulated.” “They are probably of African descent, but we don’t really have a time frame on them,” Wild said. “They could be from the 1680s to the 1800s, which is basically the full time frame of when the Cinnamon Bay plantation was in operation. Over that period of time, you can have a lot of people who lived there.”[...]
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600 Jahre altes Schiffswrack entdeckt

Nur durch Zufall haben Experten in Schweden einen phantastischen Fund gemacht: Bei Arbeiten für einen S-Bahn-Tunnel entdeckten sie ein mehr als 600 Jahre altes Lastschiff: in einer Bucht in Stockholm.
Nur ein paar hundert Meter vom rettenden Ufer entfernt sank das Schiff etwa um das Jahr 1390, mit seiner gesamten Ladung. Über 600 Jahre lag es in zehn Metern Tiefe auf dem Grund des Mälarsees in der Bucht Riddarfjärden. Nicht weit von Stockholms Wahrzeichen entfernt, dem Stadshuset, in dem jährlich das feierliche Nobelpreis-Bankett stattfindet.[...]
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06 März 2006

Sonnenobservatorium Goseck hatte natürliche Entwässerung

Das älteste Sonnenobservatorium der Welt in Goseck (Sachsen-Anhalt) ist vor rund 7000 Jahren auf einer geologisch seltenen Scholle mit natürlicher Entwässerung gebaut worden. Das ist das Ergebnis aufwendiger Bohruntersuchungen. "Es handelt sich um rund 350 000 Jahre alten Schotter aus der Elster-Eiszeit. Das Besondere daran ist, dass sich diese etwa 50 Zentimeter dicke Schotterschicht in Goseck nur auf einer kleinen, nierenförmigen Fläche von 600 mal 200 Meter erhalten hat - und genau dort steht die Kreisanlage", sagte der Geo-Archäologe Gregor Borg von der Universität Halle in einem dpa-Gespräch.[...]
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Oscar Moment: Mel Gibson to Speak in Tongues

Ever idiosyncratic, Mel Gibson will appear briefly in tonight's Oscar ceremonies speaking a language not typically heard in such settings: ancient Maya.
Gibson, 50, is currently filming Apocalypto — an adventure epic set in ancient Mayan Mexico — on the edge of southern Mexico's rainforests in the state of Veracruz. All the dialogue in the film is spoken in Maya. "I wanted to shake up the stale action-adventure genre," Gibson
told Time magazine. "So I think we almost had to come up with something utterly different like this."[...]
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Apocalypto the Movie

05 März 2006

1,700-year old tombs excavated in Anhui

Chinese archaeologists have discovered five tombs dating back more than 1,700 years in east China's Anhui Province. Located in Huaibei City, the tombs were found during construction of a local project.
Archaeologists unearthed a bronze sword, some pieces of chinaware and painted earthenware from the five tombs, believed tobe built in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Among the five tombs, four are made of bricks and one is made of stone. The largest one is a stone grave, which is about 9 meters long and 9.2 meters wide. Covering an area of 80 square meters, the tomb includes a main room, a front room and two side rooms. Judging from the size of the tombs, the building materials and the funeral objects, experts conjectured the tombs belonged to a noble family in the early Eastern Han Dynasty. The tombs are of great significance in studying the social lifeduring the Eastern Han Dynasty and provide evidence for studying funerals of the era, an expert said.
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Finding Traces of Tendency to Buddhism in Ancient Iran

A joint Iranian-Japanese archeological team found out the traces of Buddhism in an area near Sabzevar city in Khorasan province. Architectural style similar to Buddhism temples, local narrations, the similarity between Sufism and Buddhism, and the historical evidence all indicate the existence of tendency toward Buddhism in Iran during ancient times.
The joint Iranian-Japanese team started excavations in this historical site in order to find traces of Buddhism in ancient Iran. They believe that they might find one of Buddhism ancient temples in this area.[...]
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Sponsored Walk For Archaeologist

A Cumbrian archaeologist is planning a 500 mile sponsored walk to raise funds for a project based on a Roman fort in the area. Steve Dickinson wants to set up a discovery centre and website for youngsters who became involved in a dig last year in Urswick. His route around the Lake District will cover about 128,000 feet above peaks.
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Exhibition: “Napoleon in Egypt”

“Napoleon in Egypt” at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon, Ga., tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt in 1798. Though the invasion failed, it opened Egypt to the western world and began the discipline of Egyptology, organizers of the show say. The exhibit includes origin documents signed by Napoleon, ancient artifacts and mummies.
The exhibit continues through March 26. The museum is at 4182 Forsyth Road, Macon. For more information, call (478) 477-3232 or go to
www.masmacon.com.
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Mechanicsville native to hold archaeological dig

Mechanicsville native Dr. Ernest L. “Chip” Helms discovered the site in 1975 and will be present for part of the 10th annual Johannes Kolb Archaeology and Education Project, today through March 17, at the Great Pee Dee Heritage Preserve in Darlington County.
The 2,725-acre preserve is owned and managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The public is invited to tour the excavations at the site from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.[...]
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Artifacts from ancient Egypt show influence of pioneering archaeologist

The 27-year-old British archeologist was making his first trip to Egypt, on a mission to uncover the truth about the Great Pyramid. When he moved into an abandoned tomb at Giza and slept on a hammock, everyone noticed the unconventional William Matthew Flinders Petrie.
Petrie became even harder to ignore after his 1880 adventure as he brought a scientific approach to excavations and, as a result, changed what the world knew about the ancient civilization. [...]
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Local dig produces the 'Holy Grail' of archaeology

One little arrowhead has caused quite a stir among local amateur archaeologists. But one arrowhead is all it took to turn Ebberts Spring Site 36FR367, two miles south of Greencastle, from a typical archaeological dig into a super site.
The artifact, which can be hidden in the palm of your hand, is a paleo point — a stone point from a spear used during the Paleo-Indianperiod from 10,000 to 8000 B.C., just after the last ice age. It's identifiable from later styles of points by the groove chipped into each side. These grooves helped in slipping the stone into a split wood shaft.[...]
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04 März 2006

Archaeologist gives up effort to salvage ship fragment

An amateur marine archaeologist said Friday he has given up his effort to save a 40-foot-long ship fragment that was uncovered by recent hurricanes, thrown by high tides and left buried under a damaged home on Dauphin Island's west end.
Two weeks ago, Glenn Forest stopped a construction crew from breaking up and removing what he said could be a portion of a 19th century shipwreck from beneath a Bienville Boulevard house. Forest said Friday that volunteers have shown up this week to help in the excavation effort, but the town and officials with the Department of Marine Resources haven't agreed to help as he'd hoped.[...]
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Grace chief to speak on archaeological digs

No, he’s not quite Indiana Jones. But you might call him Indiana Davis.
Dr. John J. Davis has helped uncover tombs in the Mideast dating back thousands of years, written a book on the mummies of Egypt and surveyed temple mounds in Central America. President and professor emeritus of Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Davis, 69, will bring decades of archeological field experience to Science Central in Fort Wayne March 11 to complement its current exhibit, Bible Times Tech.[...]
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Archäologen fanden 10 000 Jahre alte Gräber in Polen

In Polen sollen Archäologen nach einem Zeitungsbericht fünf der ältesten Gräber Europas freigelegt haben. Die etwa 10 000 Jahre alten Grabstätten lägen in nacheiszeitlichen Dünen in dem Dorf Dwreca in Zentralpolen, berichtete das Blatt "Rzeczpospolita daily" am Donnerstag.
Darin seien die Überreste von einer jungen Frau, einem Baby und von zwei Kindern gefunden worden, wurde die Archäologin Marian Marciniak zitiert. Ein männlicher Jugendlicher habe aufrecht - wie auf einem Stuhl oder Thron - daneben gesessen.[...]
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Bulgarischer Thraker-Forscher Aleksandar Fol gestorben

Der führende bulgarische Thraker-Forscher Aleksandar Fol ist im Alter von 72 Jahren gestorben. Das teilte die Bulgarische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BAN) am Donnerstag mit. Fol war auch Mitglied des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts und der Akademie Leibniz in Berlin.
Der Historiker und Professor für antike und bulgarische Kultur Fol hatte 1972 ein eigenständiges Institut für Thrakologie bei der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Sofia gegründet. Die Thraker bewohnten seit dem 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Gebiete der Balkanhalbinsel im heutigen Bulgarien, Rumänien, Griechenland und der Türkei. Ihre Zivilisation schuf Kunst und Kunsthandwerk von außerordentlicher Feinheit und Qualität.[...]
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Discovery of the Western Platform of Apadana Castle

The giant western platform of Apadana Castle with a 380 square meters area has been unearthed after 12 years of archaeological excavations in this historical site.
“The reconstruction of the previous accomplishments will be carried out after finishing the excavations. With the cooperation of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Khuzestan province and Susa city, this wall would be restored. The area between the wall of the platform and Imam Street in Susa city is supposed to change into a museum. However until this wall is not reconstructed we can not establish the museum,” said Mir Abedin Kaboli, head of archeological excavation team in Apadana Castle.[...]
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03 März 2006

Archaeologists to establish true value of Roman silver coins

Dr Matthew Ponting, from the University’s School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, is investigating the chemical composition of the coins to further understanding of how and where they were made. Dr Ponting believes that analysis of the coins will also shed more light on the political and economic issues of the Roman Empire.
Dr Ponting and his colleague Professor Kevin Butcher from the American University of Beirut, are using unique analysis techniques to examine the make-up of the coins and establish their silver content. The analysis will also identify particular chemical elements which will help the archaeologists establish where and how the coins were made.[...]
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Internetauftritt der Kreisarchäologie im Landkreis Verden komplett überarbeitet

„Bewahren für die Zukunft – Archäologische Denkmalpflege im Landkreis Verden“, unter diesem Motto hat die Kreisarchäologie ihren Internetauftritt komplett überarbeitet. Auf der Internetseite des Landkreises unter http://www.landkreis-verden.de/ finden sich nun in der Rubrik Bauen, Planen und Umwelt umfangreiche Informationen und Hinweise auf die archäologische Denkmalpflege. Kreisarchäologin Dr. Jutta Precht, Erster Kreisrat Roland Butz und Fachdienstleiter Volker Lück stellten die neuen Seiten jetzt vor.[...]
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Mdina paving in final stages

Although the Mdina paving project was delayed due to several difficulties, it is now in its final stages, said Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit, while visiting the works carried out on Mdina bridge.
Worth Lm600,000, the final phase involves the paving of Mdina’s main entrance. The stone was laid after the sewer services were replaced and electricity cables were passed underground. Kilometres of electricity and telephone wiring were removed and laid underground in specifically constructed ducts. 600 manhole covers were put into place by the Manufacturing and Services Department.[...]
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Polish archaeologist unearths Europe's most ancient graves

Five of Europe's most ancient graves, dating back 10,000 years, have been unearthed in the village of Dwreca, central Poland. Archaeologist Marian Marciniak found the graves on the site of ancient post-glacial dunes, the Rzeczpospolita daily reported. In them, a young woman, believed aged 18 to 21, was put to rest with a baby, a child aged 5 to 7 and another aged 7 to 11. An adult male found at the site was buried sitting upright, as if on a throne or chair.[...]
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Egypt relics show archaeologist's influence

The 27-year-old British archaeologist was making his first trip to Egypt, on a mission to uncover the truth about the Great Pyramid. When he moved into an abandoned tomb at Giza and slept on a hammock, everyone noticed the unconventional William Matthew Flinders Petrie. Petrie became even harder to ignore after his 1880 adventure as he brought a scientific approach to excavations and, as a result, changed what the world knew about the ancient civilization.
Some of his best discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London are currently touring the United States. "Excavating Egypt" is at the Albany Institute of History & Art through June 4.[...]
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Peru, Mexico finds hint at historic role of women

Archaeological finds from Mexico and Peru show that, long before Europeans arrived, women served as warriors, governors and priestesses. An exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M Sackler Gallery includes little pottery jugs and massive stone images portraying women in a variety of roles in addition to traditional homemakers and care givers.
"Women were not only daughters, wives, mothers and grandmothers, but also healers, midwives, scribes, artists, poets, priestesses, warriors, governors and even goddesses in pre-Columbian society," said Judy L Larson, director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, in announcing the exhibit. There's Xochiquetzal, a Mexican goddess of love and beauty, modeled in clay with an elaborate headdress and flowers in both hands.[...]
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National Museum of Women in the Arts

Machteld Mellik dies at 88

Machteld Johanna Mellink, a Bryn Mawr archaeologist who was internationally known as the preeminent scholar of ancient Turkish cultures and a tireless defender of ethics in archaeology, died at the Quadrangle in Haverford, Pa., on Feb. 23. She was 88.
Professor Mellink came to Bryn Mawr in the 1946-47 academic year as a Marion Reilly Fellow and then spent the summer of 1947 at the University of Chicago on a Ryerson Grant. During this time she began excavating with Hetty Goldman, A.B. 1903, at Tarsus, in southern Turkey. She began teaching in the College's Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology in 1949 and retired in 1988; in 1972 she was appointed to the Leslie Clark Chair in the Humanities.[...]
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02 März 2006

Deal will preserve Honey Bee

As the sun set over Oro Valley last Thursday, three members of the Tohono O'odham Nation stood facing the Catalina Mountains, singing and playing instruments to bless an ancient ancestral site.
After years of work between local governments and a developer, an agreement to preserve a Hohokam Indian settlement called Honey Bee Village has been reached. Archaeological excavations of the site are expected to begin in early April. The 87-acre site in Rancho Vistoso is the location of a Hohokam village dating back to A.D. 500, said Bill Doelle, president of Desert Archeology Inc., the firm that will excavate the site.[...]
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Pit of shells may lend clues to Calusa culture

Fifteen chipped and broken 1,300-year-old lightning whelk shells lay jumbled together Tuesday like a pile of wadded paper in a shallow pit on Useppa Island. Beside them lay a fractured horse conch shell.A University of California-Los Angeles doctoral candidate thinks the shells are what remains of an early Calusa tool-making workshop and might mark a turning point in Southwest Florida’s prehistory. “The whelks are a pile of failures, rejects — these people were making whelk axes,” said John Dietler, who is investigating early Calusa tool making and politics for his doctoral dissertation. “The horse conch was used to shape the tools. We’ve got the smoking gun and the scraps.”[...]
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Expert's legendary finds tour in exhibit

The 27-year-old British archaeologist was making his first trip to Egypt, on a mission to uncover the truth about the Great Pyramid. When he moved into an abandoned tomb at Giza and slept on a hammock, everyone noticed the unconventional William Matthew Flinders Petrie.
Petrie became even harder to ignore after his 1880 adventure as he brought a scientific approach to excavations and, as a result, changed what the world knew about the ancient civilization. Some of his best discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London are currently touring the United States. "Excavating Egypt" is at the Albany Institute of History & Art through June 4.[...]
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Archaeology around Lesser Slave Lake

Ray Le Blanc spent parts of seven field seasons scouring the perimeter of Lesser Slave Lake for evidence of pre-historic human activity. He found plenty, and the results are all down on paper, in the University of Alberta professor’s 2004 book, "Archaeological Research in the Lesser Slave Lake Region; a Contribution to the Pre-Contact History of the Boreal Forest of Alberta."
Between 1979 and 1990, Le Blanc and his crews excavated numerous sites - mostly around the west end of the lake, but also north shore, south shore and east end - and found an abundance of stone implements or stone flakes associated with tool-making. Additionally, he noted several fine local collections of stone implements around the lake.[...]
[...]Le Blanc’s book on his Lesser Slave research is pretty technical - it seems to have been written with other archaeologists in mind. But there’s plenty of good information about the findings and how they relate to the known historical data about the area.The book is published by the
Canadian Museum of Civilization (e-mail publications@civilization.ca). It is also in the Northern Lakes College library.[...]
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01 März 2006

Archaeology professors say development ruins history

Tucked away in the back of an unassuming research facility on Riverbend Road is a climate-controlled room with more than 8,000 boxes of artifacts, which are hundreds, even thousands of years old.These artifacts help archaeologists piece together the cultures and lifestyles of people who lived in Georgia as far back as 12,000 years ago.[...]
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Kodiak hosts anthropology conference

More than 200 scholars are in Kodiak this week for an anthropology conference.
The Alutiiq Museum is playing host for the 33rd Alaska Anthropological Association meeting. It starts Wednesday and continues through Saturday at various sites downtown. The conference will feature more than 110 papers, posters and panel discussions by scholars from around the globe. Some papers honor the long career of Kodiak archaeologist, Donald Clark. Harvard Paleolithic archaeologist, Dr. Ofer Bar-Yosef, and museum community service director, Jim Pepper Henry, will present keynote addresses.
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Licht ins chronologische Dunkel

Die "Timelines" im öst­lichen Mittelmeer des 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr. weisen oft große Unter­schiede auf – SCIEM 2000 will dem abhelfen
In der Geschichtsforschung braucht es vor allem eines: eine solide chronologische Grundlage, auf der auch benachbarte historische Diszipline aufbauen und zurückgreifen können. Zum Leidwesen vieler Ägyptologen, Mykene-Forscher oder Experten für den levantinischen Raum ist eine solche synchrone Zeiteinteilung für das 2. vorchristliche Jahrtausend jedoch größtenteils nicht existent. Die Datierung einzelner Ereignisse oder Kulturen weisen in den verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Bereichen zum Teil Abweichungen von bis zu 150 Jahre auf. SCIEM 2000 ist ein umfangreiches Forschungs-Projekt, das sich zum Ziel gesetzt hat, genau diese asynchronen Zeitrechnungen einander anzugleichen.[...]
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