Fish Sauce Used to Date Pompeii Eruption

Remains of rotten fish entrails have helped establish the precise dating of Pompeii's destruction, according to Italian researchers who have analyzed the town's last batch of garum, a pungent, fish-based seasoning.
Frozen in time by the catastrophic eruption that covered Pompeii and nearby towns nearly 2,000 years ago with nine to 20 feet of hot ash and pumice, the desiccated remains were found at the bottom of seven jars.[...]
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2300 year old pot of paddy grain found in Sri Lanka

A pot of paddy grain has been recovered from a soil layer believed to belong to the 3rd century BC from the archeological site in Akurugodawaththa, Tissamaharamaya. The excavation of this paddy stock is remarkable since this is the first time such a store of paddy grains has been found in Sri Lanka. The soil layer is 4.5 meters below the surface. Ruins of a residential complex of noblemen were also excavated from this layer recently.[...]
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Ancient Saxons could hold up supermarket

REMAINS of a Saxon settlement could hold up the construction of a budget supermarket on land at Kingsteignton. German supermarket chain Lidl, submitted pans to Teignbridge Council to build a 1,000 square metre supermarket on the old Wilcocks agricultural site at Newton Road.
Officers have recommended outline planning permission for the store, which could provide up to 30 jobs, be turned down.
Planners say the store would have a 'detrimental impact on the street scene' and to number 2 St Michael's Road, which Lidl owns and plans to sell on completion of the development. And according to Devon County Archaeology, the proposed development site could mask Saxon settlement remains.[...]
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"Heiliger Gral" entdeckt?

Frank Goddio ist immer für eine Überraschung gut. Die Liste seiner spektakulären Entdeckungen ist lang, mit dem aktuellen Fund könnte er sich allerdings selbst übertroffen haben. Im Hafen von Alexandria fand er eine Tontasse mit der Aufschrift: "Chrestou". Das eigentlich Sensationelle daran ist allerdings das Alter des Stücks: Es stammt vermutlich aus der ersten Hälfte des 1. Jahrhunderts.[...]
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Schätze aus einer fernen Zeit

Ein rund 2800 Jahre altes vollständiges Zaumzeug haben Spezialisten in Nordvorpommern entdeckt. Der Fund wird als archäologisch äußerst wertvoll eingestuft. Ähnliche Entdeckungen gab es bisher in der französischen Schweiz und auf der Insel Usedom.
Auf einem ausgetrockneten Acker bei Stormsdorf in Nordvorpommern haben Archäologen ein nahezu komplettes Pferdegeschirr aus der späten Bronzezeit freigelegt. Mit einem Metalldetektor orteten sie im August dieses Jahres auf einer 20 mal 15 Meter großen Fläche in 35 Zentimetern Bodentiefe insgesamt 33 mit Pattina überzogene Teile eines prächtigen Zaumzeugs, darunter Schmuckscheiben des Riemenwerks, Trensenknebel und mehrere Ringe.[...]
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Ancient buckle may unlock mystery

An ancient belt buckle with a design of a sleeping two-hump camel has been unearthed in a 3,000-year-old cemetery in northern Iran.
Archeologists began a detailed study of the ancient buckle and its two-hump camel design soon after its discovery in the country's northern province of Mazandaran.[...]
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1000-year-old quake-proof architecture Science seal on ancient houses

People in one of India’s most earthquake-prone zones had mastered the art of building multi-level buildings resistant to seismic movement about a thousand years ago, an engineering study of the structures has revealed.
Researchers have found that ancient four-storey and five-storey buildings in Rajgarhi district of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand reflect a distinct and elaborate style of architecture that allowed them to survive devastating quakes.[...]
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The degradation of wood in the Vasa is caused by iron

During its time in the sea bottom of Stockholm harbour, huge amounts of iron and sulfurous compounds accumulated in the wood of the royal warship Vasa. Since 2000 it has been noticed that changes are taking place in the wood, changes that threaten the stability of the ship.[...]
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Riace riddle thickens

The riddle of an alleged theft from Italy's famed Riace bronzes has resurfaced 35 years after they were lifted from the Calabrian seabed.
A photo of the 1972 find has reignited speculation that the two figures were stripped of a shield and possibly other objects - and even a companion who has never been seen. The photo was put on display recently by a Riace cultural association and spotted by Riace bronze sleuth Giuseppe Bragho', an amateur archaeologist who has long been arguing that the site was raided by art thieves.[...]
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'The Odyssey' and 'The Iliad' are giving up new secrets about the ancient world

Nearly 3,000 years after the death of the Greek poet Homer, his epic tales of the war for Troy and its aftermath remain deeply woven into the fabric of our culture. These stories of pride and rage, massacre and homecoming have been translated and republished over millennia. Even people who have never read a word of "The Iliad" or "The Odyssey" know the phrases they have bequeathed to us - the Trojan horse, the Achilles heel, the face that launched a thousand ships.
Today we still turn to Homer's epics not only as sources of ancient wisdom and wrenchingly powerful poetry, but also as genuinely popular entertainments. Recent translations of "The Iliad" and "Odyssey" have shared the best-seller lists with Grisham and King.[...]
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Port of 'second Carthage' found

Ancient Phoenician harbour discovered off Sardinian coast
Archaeologists in Sardinia said Thursday they have found the port of the Phoenician city of Tharros, held by some to be the ancient people's most important colony in the Mediterranean after Carthage.
Researchers from the University of Cagliari and Sassari found the submerged port in the Mistras Lagoon, several kilometres from the city ruins.
Excavations have long been going on at the site of the city itself, on a peninsula overlooking the Bay of Oristano in western Sardinia, but this is the first time its waterfront has been located despite almost two centuries of hunting.[...]
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Goldschatz aus Schiffswrack geborgen

Goldmünzen, Schwerter, Elfenbein - in einer Diamantenmine in Namibia ist das Wrack eines alten portugiesischen Handelsfrachters mit allerlei Schätzen an Bord aufgespürt worden. Forscher jubilieren über den guten Zustand des Fundes und sprechen bereits von einem "Weltkulturerbe".[...]
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Scholars hunt missing pages of ancient Bible

A quest is under way on four continents to find the missing pages of one of the world's most important holy texts, the 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible known as the Crown of Aleppo.
Crusaders held it for ransom, fire almost destroyed it and it was reputedly smuggled across Mideast borders hidden in a washing machine. But in 1958, when it finally reached Israel, 196 pages were missing — about 40 percent of the total — and for some Old Testament scholars they have become a kind of holy grail.[...]
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Sacred ground? Dig to determine

Crews earlier this week began boring holes in the ground at the former oak grove next to UC Berkeley's football stadium in an effort to prove that the 1.5-acre site is not a sacred Native American burial ground — as former tree sitters and their supporters have claimed, university officials said.
Workers from Orinda-based William Self Associates will spend the next two weeks digging 50 holes — each 35 to 50 feet deep — to check the site for Native American remains and artifacts, said Jim Allan, the company's vice president and archeologist. Soil samples will be analyzed and findings should be available in mid-November, he said.[...]
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Iron Age jawbone foun on the Hebridean

A cremation pit containing a human jaw bone mixed with animal bones is one of a treasure trove of finds currently coming to light in an archaeological dig in the Isles.
Other finds include a perfectly preserved hearth, with a clay foundation scratched with a cross, and a plethora of worked bone, shell and pottery artefacts. Archaeologists say the finds promise a breakthrough in understanding the mysterious ways of the pre-historic Hebridean.[...]
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150.000 Euro für Ötzi-Entdecker

Im Streit um einen Finderlohn für den Ötzi-Entdecker Helmut Simon ist die italienische Provinz Bozen zur Zahlung von 150.000 Euro bereit. Dies sehe eine Einigung mit dem Nürnberger Anwalt Georg J. Rudolph vor, der die Familie Simon vertrete, sagte der Bozener Landeshauptmann Alois Durnwalder. Außerdem werde sich Bozen in gewissem Umfang an den Verfahrenskosten beteiligen. Bisher hatte die Provinz der Simon-Witwe lediglich 50.000 Euro zahlen wollen, was diese als zu niedrig ablehnte. Helmut Simon hatte die Gletschermumie Ötzi vor 17 Jahren in den Ötztaler Alpen entdeckt.[...]
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Spiegel stellt Finanzierung der Schloss-Ausgrabung in Kaliningrad ein

Die Ausgrabungsarbeiten in den Kellern des Königsberger Schlosses stehen offenbar vor dem Aus. Das Nachrichtenmagazin DER SPIEGEL stellt die Finanzierung ein. Ein Rückschlag auch für den Schlosswiederaufbau.
In einem Offenen Brief stellte SPIEGEL-Redakteur Christian Neef, langjähriger Moskau-Korrespondent des Magazins und Koordinator für das Kaliningrader Schloss-Projekt, die Gründe für den sofortigen Ausstieg dar. Adressiert ist der Brief an Michail Andrejew, Kulturminister in der Kaliningrader Gebietsregierung. Doch auch alle großen regionalen Zeitungen erhielten ihn – viele druckten ihn ab.[...]
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Überraschungen im Pfahlbaufeld

Es sei die fundreichste Pfahlbaustation Süddeutschlands, sagt der Archäologe Joachim Köninger. Die Rede ist von den Uferrandsiedlungen oder "Pfahlbauten", durch die der Bodenseeraum als Siedlungsgebiet der Steinzeit zu einem Begriff geworden ist. Bei seinen letzten Tauchgängen in der Bodmaner Bucht ist der Archäologe auf überraschende Funde gestoßen.[...]
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Rare knife uncovered from ancient Swedish tomb

Swedish archaeologists have been captivated by a Bronze Age knife which was uncovered along with other artifacts from an excavation site near Falbygden in central Sweden.
The knife was discovered at the Firse Sten tomb in Falköping and is in remarkably good condition, despite having been buried for thousands of years.
“It’s a knife blade which ends in a handle that looks like the throat and head of a horse,” said antiques expert Peter Jankavs from Falbygdens museum to Sveriges Radio.[...]
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Iranian, German archaeologists return to Haft-Tappeh

A team of Iranian archaeologists and some experts from Mainz University in Germany have recently begun the fourth season of excavations at the ancient site of Haft-Tappeh in Khuzestan Province.
The team is scheduled to conduct a number of geophysical studies and also to continue excavations started during previous seasons, Iranian team director Behzad Mofidi told the Persian service of CHN on Thursday.[...]
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New contender for Earth's oldest rocks

Scientists may have found the world’s oldest intact rocks in a 10-square-kilometer patch of bedrock on the eastern shore of Canada’s Hudson Bay. Geochemical analyses suggest the rocks are around 4.28 billion years old, which would mean they solidified less than 300 million years after Earth formed.[...]
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Uncovering Namibia's sunken treasure

A team of international archaeologists is working round the clock to rescue the wreck of what is thought to be a 16th Century Portuguese trading ship that lay undisturbed for hundreds of years off Namibia's Atlantic coast.[...]
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Iraqis plan dig at possible Sumerian site

Archaeologists will soon begin a dig at a site in the southern Iraqi province of Muthanna that may date back to the Sumerian period, local heritage chief Tawfiq Mohammed said on Thursday. The excavation will take place in hills near Rumetha, just north of the provincial capital Samawa, Mohammed said, referring to an area on the banks of the Euphrates River.[...]
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Probe finds signs of doomed Franklin expedition

Explorers trying to trace two ships from the doomed 1845 Franklin expedition in Canada's Arctic found fragments of copper sheeting likely to have come from the vessels, one of the explorers said on Friday.
Sir John Franklin, his 128 crew and the British ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were seeking the fabled Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans when they became stuck in ice. The men all died and the ships vanished.
"The archeological discoveries exceeded our expectations. We found copper fragments which could well have come from one of the ships we're looking for," said Robert Grenier, chief of underwater archeology at Parks Canada.[...]
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'Virtual archaeologist' reconnects fragments of an ancient civilization

For several decades, archaeologists in Greece have been painstakingly attempting to reconstruct wall paintings that hold valuable clues to the ancient culture of Thera, an island civilization that was buried under volcanic ash more than 3,500 years ago.
This Herculean task -- more than a century of further work at the current rate -- soon may get much easier, thanks to an automated system developed by a team of Princeton University computer scientists working in collaboration with archaeologists in Greece.[...]
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Ancient metal workshop found in Bam

Archeological studies in the city of Bam have led to the discovery of a metal production center in Iran's southeastern Kerman Province. Excavations in the Darestan region, located some 22 kilometers to the east of the city of Bam showed that the area was once a rich metal production center.[...]
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Die Erforschung des Grafenlochs

Dass sie irgendwann einmal festungsartig ausgebaut worden war, wusste man in Oberaudorf schon länger und auch die dramatische Sage um den vom Blitz erschlagenen Grafen war den Einheimischen bekannt. Seit letztem Monat aber ist die Region nun wissenschaftlich erwiesenermaßen um eine seltene und uralte Sehenswürdigkeit reicher. Ein Archäologie-Team der Universität Jena konnte nachweisen, dass das Grafenloch eine im Mittelalter genützte Höhlenburg war, deren Anfänge bis ins 9. Jahrhundert zurückreichen.[...]
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Sarg aus alemannischer Zeit geborgen

Die Gebeine eines weiblichen und zweier männlicher Skelette, entdeckt in einem alemannischen Gräberfeld aus der Merowingerzeit bei Stühlingen, wurden bereits im vergangenen Jahr geborgen. Am vergangenen Mittwoch wurden nun auch ein großer Steinsarg und Steinfragmente eines Flachgrabes gehoben und dem Zentralen Fundarchiv des Landes Baden-Württemberg in Rastatt anvertraut.[...]
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Fürstenberger „Goldschatz“ gestern in Brandenburg präsentiert

Die Neugierde ist riesengroß. „Wo ist der Schatz hingekommen, warum ist der nicht hier geblieben, wann können wir ihn endlich sehen?“ Mit diesen Fragen bestürmt wurde in den vergangenen drei Wochen Fürstenbergs Bürgermeister Robert Philipp.
Am 4. September hatte der freie Archäologe Tobias Poremba 18 goldene Münzen und sechs Ringe beziehungsweise Gehänge 50 Zentimeter unter der Oberfläche des Marktes aus dem 16./17. Jahrhundert und zehn Zentimeter neben der Baugrube eines unterkellerten Stadthauses aus dem 17. Jahrhundert zutage befördert. „ Alle Funde lagen an einem Ort, daneben haben wir Reste eines Stoff- oder Lederbeutels gefunden“, erzählt der Archäologe.[...]
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Hochkultur in den bulgarischen Bergen

Das Volk der Thraker, das vom dritten Jahrtausend vor Christus an im heutigen Bulgarien lebte, galt lange Zeit als Volk von Räubern und Barbaren. Weit gefehlt, sagen Archäologen nun: Neue Funde belegen, dass die Thraker ihrem viel berühmteren Nachbarn Troja als Goldschmiede weit überlegen waren. Und ihr Bergheiligtum war sogar größer als die Akropolis in Athen.
Die Geschichte einer der spannendsten archäologischen Entdeckungen der vergangenen Jahre begann in einem Lebensmittelladen: Zwei bulgarische Archäologen betraten an jenem Tag im Frühjahr 2004 ein Geschäft in Sopot am Südhang des Balkangebirges, als ihnen am Hals einer jungen Verkäuferin eine Kette aus kleinen Goldperlen ins Auge stach.[...]
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Waren die Schweizer Kannibalen?

Nach dem Fund von mehr als 2000 Jahre alten sterblichen Überresten gehen Wissenschaftler davon aus, dass die Vorfahren der Schweizer Menschenfleisch gegessen haben. Archäologen fanden an er Ausgrabungsstätte Mormont in der Nähe von Lausanne zwei Leichen von Erwachsenen, die Anzeichen von Kannibalismus aufwiesen, wie Schweizer Zeitungen berichten. Die Leichen seien verstümmelt gewesen, die Knochen angebrannt. "Wir nehmen an, dass sie gebraten und gegessen wurden", sagte ein Archäologe. "Auf jeden Fall wurden sie wie Tiere behandelt."[...]
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Mysteriöses Frauengrab entdeckt

Archäologen fanden in der Nähe von Innsbruck ein sonderbares Grab aus dem 17. Jahrhundert. Mitten im Wald stießen sie auf die sterblichen Überreste einer Frau, die eine Vielzahl von Gegenständen, darunter auch medizinische Geräte, bei sich trug.[...]
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Remains of prehistoric men unearthed

A press conference was held in Gia Lai province on September 22, to announce the results of an excavation at the Ia Mor archeological site in Chu Prong District.
The site was discovered by the Gia Lai Provincial Museum in 2005. A group of archaeologists led by Associate Professor Nguyen Khac Su, from the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, excavated a 1,100sq.m plot in Klah village, bordering Cambodia.[...]
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Skulls and bones found during dig

Two 300-year-old skulls and several bones have been found during a dig in an Edinburgh street. The discovery was made during a special dig in Constitution Street, where bodies were discovered earlier this year during tram works.
That find sparked the efforts to discover if any more bodies were buried in the area, where tram tracks are due to be laid next year.[...]
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Iraqis plan dig at possible Sumerian site

Archaeologists will soon begin a dig at a site in the southern Iraqi province of Muthanna that may date back to the Sumerian period, local heritage chief Tawfiq Mohammed said on Thursday.
The excavation will take place in hills near Rumetha, just north of the provincial capital Samawa, Mohammed said, referring to an area on the banks of the Euphrates River.[...]
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Land Sachsen zahlt Finderlohn für Silberschatz

Vor dem Verwaltungsgericht Dresden endete am Mittwoch ein jahrelanger Rechtsstreit mit einem Vergleich. Danach zahlt das Land Sachsen den beiden Spürnasen 2.250 Euro und muss obendrein die Prozesskosten tragen. Die Finder hatten 16.000 Euro gefordert. Der Freistaat wollte zunächst überhaupt nichts zahlen. Die Kläger hatten 2005 mit einem Metalldetektor auf einem Feld nahe der Stadt Bautzen einige Metall- und Silberstücke entdeckt und den Fund umgehend gemeldet.[...]
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Platzeck eröffnet Archäologisches Landesmuseum

Das Landesmuseum für Archäologie wird heute im Paulikloster von Brandenburg/Havel eingeweiht. Zu der Zeremonie wird auch Ministerpräsident Platzeck erwartet. Auf über 2000 Quadratmetern Ausstellungsfläche werden mehr als 6000 Fundstücke gezeigt. Sie veranschaulichen 50 000 Jahre Brandenburger Kulturgeschichte. Dazu zählen das mit 8000 Jahren älteste Netz der Welt, Jagdgegenstände aus der Steinzeit sowie ein Silberschwert aus dem Mittelalter.[...]
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Long lost Pelagonian Kindgom Discovered!?

Archeologists are certain the locality of Bonce is the long lost fourth Macedonian kingdom, the city of Pelagonia. The latest discoveries led by Professor Viktor Lilcic showed a massive royal grave site, one of a kind in the Balkans. The only other similar site is Pella in Aegean Macedonia.
“According to the way this was built, the brilliance behind it, and just from the sheer size of the grave site, we believe the king of Pelagonia had been buried here. Unfortunately, we still don’t know who.” says Dr. Antonio Jakimovski, coordinator of Archeological Research.[...]
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„Tsellis“-Grabung wird fortgesetzt

Die jetzt fast abgeschlossene archäologische Grabungskampagne in der 1292 im Schatten der Altenceller Gertrudenkirche versunkenen Stadt „Tsellis“ sei erst der Anfang, sagte gestern Celles Oberbürgermeister Martin Biermann: „Das war der erste Etappe von mehreren. Das war erst der Prolog der Tour d’Altencelle.“ Was am Ziel warte, sei noch nicht abzusehen. Klar hingegen gestern das Signal aus dem Rathaus: Die Erforschung der Wüstung soll weiter gehen.[...]
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Ancient petroglyph chiseled from No. Arizona cliff

The federal Bureau of Land Management says an ancient petroglyph has been chiseled from the face of a sandstone cliff in northern Arizona. BLM officials announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the culprit's arrest and conviction on Wednesday. Agency spokeswoman Carrie Templin says the theft happened in the Cottonwood Point Wilderness Area near Colorado City between April and Sept. 7.[...]
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Stonehenge – ein 4300 Jahre altes Pilgerzentrum?

Seit dem frühen 19. Jahrhundert untersuchen Wissenschaftler die eindrucksvollen Steinkreise im Süden Englands. Nun stellten Archäologen fest, dass sie 200 Jahre jünger sind, als bislang angenommen. Daraus ergeben sich auch neue Hinweise auf die Bedeutung der prähistorischen Anlage: Wahrscheinlich war sie ein Wallfahrtsort für Kranke.[...]
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Rare Viking ingot found

An ancient solid silver ingot found in Stagsden is stealing the limelight at Bedford Museum. The Viking coin is the first of its kind discovered in the county and dates from AD 850-1000.
It was found by treasure hunters in the north Bedfordshire village last year, but has only just been bought by the museum following lengthy examination and valuation at the British Museum in London.[...]
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New Life Found In Ancient Tombs

Life has been discovered in the barren depths of Rome's ancient tombs, proving catacombs are not just a resting place for the dead. The two new species of bacteria found growing on the walls of the Roman tombs may help protect our cultural heritage monuments, according to research published in the September issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.[...]
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Ancient Whaling Station Has International Value

Archeologist Ragnar Edvardsson, project leader of the excavation of a Basque whaling station from the 17th century in the Strandir region on the coastline of the eastern West Fjords peninsula, says the remains are of international significance.
Edvarsson has been working on the project for the past four years and in summer the burial ground of the whale hunters was discovered, Morgunbladid reports. The three main buildings of the whaling station have been excavated on the seashore of Steingrímsfjördur fjord: a station for melting whale fat, a workshop for building barrels for the whale oil and a building with a hearth where the whale hunters ate and slept.[...]
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World heritage status for Iraq's bombed shrine city

The central Iraqi Sunni city of Samarra which houses a revered Shiite mosque that was bombed by Al-Qaeda has been selected as a world heritage site, the government said on Tuesday. "The Universal Heritage Committee of UNESCO has agreed to add the city of Samarra to its list of world heritage sites," a statement said.[...]
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Fire burns ancient sites near Peru's Machu Picchu

A forest fire has damaged two archeological sites in the valley between the Peruvian city of Cuzco and the ancient Incan fortress of Machu Picchu, Peru's national institute of culture said on Wednesday.
At least 600 firefighters are battling the blaze high in the Andes mountains. They have brought the fire under control at times, only to see it whipped up again by winds.[...]
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Ancient statue of Ramses II found near Cairo

Egyptian archaeologists located the pink, granite monument at a site in Tell Basta, once the capital of the ancient state 50 miles north of Cairo. The great king's nose had been broken and his beard was missing, said Zahi Hawass, the head of the country's supreme council of antiquities.
Ramses, also known by his Greek name Ozymandias, commanded a mighty empire during Egypt's new kingdom from 1279-1213 BC. He built luxurious palaces, lavish temples and other huge monuments across the kingdom.[...]
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Ancient axe heads donated to Manx Museum collection

Artefacts believed to be 4,000-years-old discovered at Isle of Man Transport Minister David Anderson's farm in Patrick have been donated to the national museum collection. The two copper axeheads and a blade were unearthed by a metal detector enthusiast Rob Middleton in a field at Ballamoar earlier this year.[...]
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Unknown Burial Style during the Early Islamic Era Revealed

An anthropologist said that the nails around the ancient Pahluj skeletons imply an unknown style of burial carried out for females during the early Islamic era.
“We face an unknown style of burial, in which nails have been located upside down on the earth, maybe in order to hold a sheet of wood above the bodies in the graves,” Farzad Foruzanfar told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
“The bodies have not been buried in coffins because no remains of wood have been found under the skeletons. However we have found a brown powder of wood on some of the nails’ points,” he added.[...]
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Library to share 14th-century royal cookbook online

A rare medieval cookbook is to be digitally photographed page by page and the results uploaded to the internet for gourmands around the globe to study.
Forme of Cury, a recipe book compiled by King Richard II's master cooks in 1390, details around 205 dishes cooked in the royal household and sheds light on a little-studied element of life in the Dark Ages.
Written in Middle English, it contains the instructions for creating long-forgotten dishes such as blank mang (a sweet dish of meat, milk, sugar and almonds), mortrews (ground and spiced pork), and the original quiche, known in 14th century kitchens as custard.[...]
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Archaeologist sets to unearth Stone Age Fair pottery secrets

Bonnie Gibson has made a career out of re-creating Colorado’s ancient past — one pottery piece at time. As an archaeologist with Centennial Archaeology, Gibson studies and reconstructs pottery that was originally made as early as 100 AD. Sunday, during weekend-long Loveland Stone Age Fair going on at the Pulliam Building, Gibson will discuss how this pottery was made by the area’s ancient residents.[...]
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Shard find in Philippines shows an ancient form of writing

An archaeological team has dug up a pot shard with an inscription around its shoulder, at the San Ignacio archeological site in Intramuros, Philippines, which shows an ancient form of writing. According to a report in the Malaya News, the shard was found lying 140 centimeters below the surface at the ruins of the San Ignacio church. Most of the writing systems in the Southeast Asian region are derived from an ancient script used in India.[...]
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Turkey's archaeological assets go online

A project that aims to create a complete list of all Turkey's archaeological treasures has been recently completed and the information has been published on the Internet for the use of researchers.
Oğuz Tanındı, project coordinator of the Turkish Archaeological Accommodations, or TAA, told the Anatolia news agency that they have provided 2,907 archaeological assets and 565 caves.
Tanındı said they traveled thousands of miles for the project, which they have been working on for the past 15 years, entering written information regarding Turkey's archaeological treasures into databases.[...]
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1,000-year-old Viking shield found in Denmark

Danish archaeologists say they have found a well-preserved Viking shield that is more than 1,000 years old. Archaeologist Kirsten Christensen says the wooden shield has a diameter of 32 inches. It was found Tuesday during excavations near Viking-age castles, 60 miles west of Copenhagen.
Christensen said Thursday it is the first time such a shield has been found in Denmark. She said the moist soil in the area is "ideal to preserve wood." The fir shield is believed to date from the late 10th century. Danish Vikings launched bloody raids along the coasts of Western Europe about 1,000 years ago and even occupied parts of England.[...]
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Stonehenge 200 Jahre jünger als gedacht

Wann wurde Stonehenge erbaut? Neueste Radiokarbondatierungen ergeben: Es ist nicht ganz so alt, wie bisher angenommen. Ungelöst bleibt aber nach wie vor, ob Stonehenge ein Heilort oder eine Totenstadt war.
Die Archäologen Tim Darvill und Geoff Wainwright haben Grabungsmaterial aus Stonehenge datieren lassen. Aus den Radiokarbonmessungen geht hervor, dass die mysteriöse Stätte nahe Salisbury im Süden Englands rund 200 Jahre jünger ist als man bislang geglaubt hatte.[...]
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Auf Robbenjagd am Mittelmeer

In zwei direkt am Meer gelegenen Höhlen nahe Gibraltar, stießen Wissenschaftler auf ein steinzeitliches Camp. Neben mehreren Schichten von Muschelschalen und Knochen, fanden die Forscher auch neandertalerzeitliche Feuerstellen und Steingeräte. Der seltene Fund zeigt, dass der Vormensch Muscheln sammelte und Meerestiere erlegte.[...]
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Archaeologists to 'shed new light' on secrets of Stonehenge

Archaeologists who carried out a historic dig at Stonehenge will "shed new light" on the World Heritage site today. Professors Timothy Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright are to reveal preliminary findings of an ambitious project which involved the first dig inside the stone circle in 44 years.
A trench was excavated in March as part of a bid to establish the precise dating of the Double Bluestone Circle, the first stone structure built there thousands of years ago. Ahead of a press conference at the Society of Antiquaries, in London, a spokesman said the pair would "shed new light" on the original date and placement of the stones.[...]
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Archaeologists fight nature, industry to protect area aboriginal structures

Take a quick look at a map of Colorado created by Richard Ott and his colleagues, and you could mistake it for a depiction of recent oil and gas development concentrated in the northwest part of the state.
But this map doesn’t show where man has erected drilling rigs in search of energy. Rather, it shows where American Indians put up primitive shelters and other structures in places where they once lived and roamed.
Ott is administrative director of the nonprofit, Grand Junction-based Dominquez Archaeological Research Group. The group is conducting what it calls the Colorado Wickiup Project, a project to document little-researched primitive shelters known as wickiups and other wooden aboriginal structures in the state.[...]
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Hurrikan "Ike" legt geheimnisvolles Schiffswrack frei

Hurrikan "Ike" hat ein geheimnisvolles Schiffswrack am Strand von Alabama freigelegt. Die Überreste des Zweimasters könnten nach Einschätzung von Experten aus der Zeit des amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs stammen, meldete der Fernsehsender CNN. Das Wrack, das rund zehn Kilometer vor Fort Morgan am Strand liegt, war bereits von einigen Tropenstürmen der vergangenen Jahre Stück für Stück unter den Sand hervorgespült worden. Soviel wie nach "Ike" war jedoch noch nie vom Rumpf zu sehen.[...]
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Discovery of a New Sasanian Burial Method in Pahlauj

An anthropologist said that the nails around the ancient Pahluj skeletons imply an unknown style of burial carried out for females during the late Sasanian or early post-Sasanian era (650-851 CE).
“We face an unknown style of burial, in which nails have been located upside down on the earth, maybe in order to hold a sheet of wood above the bodies in the graves,” Farzad Foruzanfar told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
“The bodies have not been buried in coffins because no remains of wood have been found under the skeletons. However we have found a brown powder of wood on some of the nails’ points,” he added.[...]
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Rock temple found in Sri Lankan jungle yields historical treasure

This is an ancient rock temple found in an unreachable jungle area of Deegalla, located seven kilometers from Mathugama.
There is an old statue of Lord Buddha in sleeping posture inside the rock cave. Archaeological research has not been conducted in the area and people believe that the temple belongs to the period of King Weediye Bandara, who had his kingdom in the area in the 15th century.[...]
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131 Mughul period gold coins unearthed in TN village

A treasure of ancient gold coins dating back to the Mughul period was unearthed at a village near Dharmapuri.
The coins numbering 131 and kept in a earthen pot came to light when Nadumadhu (40) and his wife Kannammal of Kalkundapatti village, 47 km from here, were digging their piece of land for constructing a house, officials said.
On being informed about the treasure, a team of revenue officials led by Palacode Thasildar T Duke Ponraj rushed to the village yesterday and took possession of the coins, each of which weighed around six grams.[...]
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DNA indicates humans in N. America 14,300 years ago

For some 85 years, homesteaders, pot hunters, and archaeologists have been digging at Paisley Caves, a string of shallow depressions washed out of an ancient lava flow by the waves of a lake that comes and goes with the changing climate.
Until now, they have found nothing conclusive - arrowheads, baskets, animal bones, and sandals made by people who lived thousands of years ago on the shores of what was then a 40-mile-long lake, but is now a sage brush desert on the northern edge of the Great Basin.[...]
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Agha Khan uses his massive wealth to protect precious sites in Syria

The majestic citadel atop Syria's ancient city of Aleppo, the Masyaf Fortress of the sinister order of the Assassins and the castle of Arab conqueror Salah al-Din (Saladdin) have all been given a new lease on life as part of a project by the Agha Khan to promote Islamic sites.
"We don't do enough to illustrate to the peoples of our world the greatness of Islamic civilizations," the 71-year-old billionaire spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Shia Ismailis told AFP in an interview.[...]
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Expert deciphers nails around ancient Pahluj skeletons

An anthropologist said that the nails around the ancient Pahluj skeletons imply an unknown style of burial carried out for females during the early Islamic era.
“We face an unknown style of burial, in which nails have been located upside down on the earth, maybe in order to hold a sheet of wood above the bodies in the graves,” Farzad Foruzanfar told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
“The bodies have not been buried in coffins because no remains of wood have been found under the skeletons. However we have found a brown powder of wood on some of the nails’ points,” he added.[...]
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Mittelalterliche Artefakte bei der Bosnischen Pyramide entdeckt

Auch im vergangenen Sommer setzte der Geschäftsmann und Selfmade-Archäologe Semir Osmanagic seine Grabungen am Visocica Berg, von der er glaubt, dass es sich in Wirklichkeit nicht um einen Berg sondern um eine Pyramide handelt, fort. Bislang wurden jedoch lediglich Hinweise auf mittelalterliche Bautätigkeiten und keine Pyramiden entdeckt.[...]
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In Iraq, a Monastery Rediscovered

A soldier scaled the fragile wall of the monastery and struck a pose. His buddies kept shouting up to him to move over some. He shifted to the left and stood the stadia rod straight to register his position for the survey laser on the tripod below.
The 94th Corps of Engineers of Fort Leonard Wood, whose members normally sprint to their data points in full body armor and Kevlar helmets, are making a topographical map of the ancient Assyrian monastery that until recently had been occupied by the Iraqi Republican Guard and then by the 101st Airborne Division in the once verdant river valley near Mosul.[...]
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Lost Tribes of the Green Sahara

On October 13, 2000, a small team of paleontologists led by Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago clambered out of three battered Land Rovers, filled their water bottles, and scattered on foot across the toffee-colored sands of the Ténéré desert in northern Niger. The Ténéré, on the southern flank of the Sahara, easily ranks among the most desolate landscapes on Earth. The Tuareg, turbaned nomads who for centuries have ruled this barren realm, refer to it as a "desert within a desert"—a California-size ocean of sand and rock, where a single massive dune might stretch a hundred miles, and the combination of 120-degree heat and inexorable winds can wick the water from a human body in less than a day. The harsh conditions, combined with intermittent conflict between the Tuareg and the Niger government, have kept the region largely unexplored.[...]
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Sunken Swedish ship the Kronan offers up historic haul

The sunken wreck of a 17th-century warship - lying undisturbed at the bottom of crystal-clear Swedish waters - has given up a trove of treasures. Nothing grows in the layer of sand on the seabed and, just below the sand, glacial and moraine clay preserves the Kronan and its contents.
The ship was pride of the fleet in the era when Sweden was a maritime superpower. It had three, full-width cannon decks, an armament of up to 128 cannons, and it was big - 53m from bow to stern.[...]
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Archaeologists hold out hope of finding lost French fleet

Four hundred Septembers past, and more, the first recorded hurricane in Northeast Florida raked the coast where we live, leaving violent death and crushed hopes of empires scattered along the sandy beaches where we play.
It's an old story of a terrible storm that some believed was the hand of God. It scattered and sank a French fleet led by Jean Ribault as it bore down on a handful of Spanish ships sheltering with Pedro Menendez in a harbor at today's St. Augustine.[...]
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Scholar claims to find medieval Jewish capital

A Russian archaeologist says he has found the lost capital of the Khazars, a powerful nation that adopted Judaism as its official religion more than 1,000 years ago, only to disappear leaving little trace of its culture.
Dmitry Vasilyev, a professor at Astrakhan State University, said his nine-year excavation near the Caspian Sea has finally unearthed the foundations of a triangular fortress of flamed brick, along with modest yurt-shaped dwellings, and he believes these are part of what was once Itil, the Khazar capital.[...]
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Spuren einer uralten Siedlung entdeckt

Im Norden Gaimersheims sind jetzt bei Bauarbeiten drei Gräber aus der Urnenfelderzeit gefunden worden. Da auch Spuren einer Siedlung auftauchten, hoffen die Archäologen auf weitere Entdeckungen bei kommenden Grabungen.
Das Ingolstädter Umland ist eine wahre Fundgrube für Relikte aus der späten Bronzezeit vor etwa 3000 Jahren. An die damals vorherrschende Urnenfelderkultur erinnern unter anderem die zahlreichen Gräber, die in Zuchering gefunden wurden. Vor wenigen Tagen wurden nun bei Arbeiten an der Umgehungsstraße im Norden von Gaimersheim drei Gräber entdeckt, die typisch für die Riten der Frühzeit sind.[...]
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Sankt Petersburger Innenstadt bedroht

Die Experten warnen: Die aktive Bebauung des Stadtzentrums von Sankt Petersburg könnte schon in den nächsten Jahren die Zerstörung des historischen Zentrums der Stadt verursachen.
Mitten in Petersburgs Innenstadt wird viel gebaut, unter anderem gleich an der imposanten Isaak-Kathedrale, einem der Wahrzeichen der Stadt. Der daneben liegende Palast der Fürsten Lobanowski-Rostowski soll in ein fünf Sterne-Hotel umgebaut werden. Und das zieht die umliegenden Gebäude in Mitleidenschaft, sagt Michail Druschinin vom Bürgerverein "Tschistyj Gorod" (Saubere Stadt).[...]
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Römisches Tuberkulose-Opfer

Bei Bauarbeiten sind Archäologen im englischen York auf das Grab eines Römers gestoßen. Die Gebeine aus dem 4. Jahrhundert verraten: Der Mann starb an Tuberkulose - und ist damit das bisher älteste Opfer dieser Krankheit auf den britischen Inseln.[...]
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Georgi Kitov, Bulgarian archaeologist died

Georgi Kitov, a Bulgarian archaeologist whose discoveries helped illuminate the culture of ancient Thrace, but whose methods - especially using bulldozers and backhoes - appalled his more meticulous colleagues, died Sunday in Starosel, Bulgaria. He was 65.
The cause was a heart attack, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences said, according to the state news agency.
Kitov gained fame for making one sensational discovery after another about the ancient people of Thrace and helping scientists develop a sharper picture of the kingdom, a confederation of tribes around the juncture of southern Europe and Asia Europe from the fifth century B.C. until A.D. 46, when it was conquered by Rome.[...]
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Ike helps uncover mystery vessel on Alabama coast

When the waves from Hurricane Ike receded, they left behind a mystery — a ragged shipwreck that archeologists say could be a two-masted Civil War schooner that ran aground in 1862 or another ship from some 70 years later.
The wreck, about six miles from Fort Morgan, had already been partially uncovered when Hurricane Camille cleared away sand in 1969.[...]
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Steinbeil in der Spitalkirche gefunden

Ernst Thomann stößt auf das erste jungsteinzeitliche Zeugnis am Nabburger Stadtberg. Es ist kaum zu glauben - mitten in der ausgeräumten Spitalkirche liegt ein Steinbeil.
Bei Ernst Thomann, Kreisheimatpfleger für Archäologie, ist die Haltung schon fast zur Routine geworden: Auf der Suche nach Schätzen der Vergangenheit ist sein Blick auf den Boden gerichtet. Dabei entdeckte er nun einen sehr schön geformten Stein, der sich beim Aufheben als Steinbeil entpuppte.[...]
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Der "Spiegel" stoppt seine Grabungen in Königsberg

In der russischen Ostsee-Exklave Königsberg (Kaliningrad) stehen die Ausgrabungsarbeiten in den verschütteten Kellern des einstigen Königsberger Schlosses vor dem Aus. Das Magazin "Der Spiegel" bestätigte, wegen bürokratischer Hindernisse von russischen Behörden die Finanzierung des Projekts eingestellt zu haben.[...]
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In Jericho wird wieder gegraben

Fünfzig Jahre nach den letzten Ausgrabungen in Jericho treibt es die Archäologen wieder in die alte Stadt. Ziel eines trinationalen und multidisziplinären Forschungsprojekts ist die Untersuchung von bis zu 10.000 Jahre alten Knochen, die in erster Linie neue Erkenntnisse über die Ursprünge der Tuberkulose bringen sollen. Beteiligt sind palästinensische, israelische und deutsche Experten.[...]
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Roman cemetery revealed in Enderby

A small Roman rural cemetery containing six skeletons has been discovered at an archaeological dig in Enderby.
The human burials were found during an excavation at the new park and ride site alongside Iron Age, Roman and medieval finds including pottery, a denarius - a type of Roman silver coin, and a number of brooches.
Analysis of the skeletons, found close to the line of the former Fosse Way Roman road, will now take place to identify the gender, age at death, health and life style of the individuals they represent.[...]
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Archaeologists in new study at Xaghra

Archaeologists from Queen’s University in Belfast and from Cambridge University are currently in Gozo carrying out archaeological work in connection with excavations carried out between 1987 and 1994 on the Xagħra Stone Circle. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Heritage Malta and the University of Malta.[...]
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Kriegergräber aus der Frühzeit Makedoniens

Im nordgriechischen Pella, der alten Hauptstadt Makedoniens, sind Forscher auf einen Friedhof aus der Frühzeit der makedonischen Könige gestoßen. Als besonders spektakulär erwiesen sich 20 Kriegergräber. In ihnen fanden die Wissenschaftler die 2.500 Jahre alten Überreste von Soldaten in kompletter Kampfmontur mit eisernen Haumessern, Schwertern und Dolchen sowie Bronzehelmen.[...]
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Archaeological Remains Found in Nablus

Ruins dating back to the Roman era were discovered today in Nablus during excavations, which had been destroyed earlier by the Israeli Occupation Forces.
Dergham Al-Fares, Chairman of the Archaeology Department in the district, announced that the discovery is a cylindrical water cistern, built of stones held together with mud. It is connected to a tunnel which extends from Ein Dafneh to the Roman city of Neapolis. In the middle of this cistern, an 8 meter deep spiral set of stairs was found.
Al-Fares added that this system of cisterns and tunnels is a water supply network, which was used in the Roman era.[...]
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11- Century Spear Excavated in Bitola, Southern Macedonia

A spear, dating to the eleventh or twelfth century was found during excavation of the Jeni Mosque in the town of Bitola in south-western Macedonia, national media reported today.
This is the first find of this kind in the region, according to the Vecher newspaper. “It is an iron spear, 27 centimetres-long, with a special trait at the top serving to drive through a shield. The spear will soon be conserved and presented to the public,” Gordana Filipovska-Lazarovska of the Bitola Bureau and Museum told the publication.[...]
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Archaeologists find medieval artefacts on Mt. Visocica

Summer excavations at Bosnia and Herzegovina's Mt. Visocica yielded results, but not the kind an entrepreneur turned amateur archaeologist was looking for. Semir Osmanagic, a US businessman of BiH origin, has invested large amounts of his own money in a personal quest to unearth what he says are Europe's first pyramids.
His claims have not yet been corroborated. Instead, an archeological team said over the summer that it has unearthed significant artefacts from a more recent era.[...]
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Defences at Troy reveal larger town

Ancient Troy was much bigger than previously thought, and may have housed as many as 10,000 people, new excavations have revealed. The lower town, in which most of the population would have lived, may have been as large as 40 hectares (100 acres), according to Professor Ernst Pernicka. The new data include two large storage pithoi found near the city’s boundary ditch. The pots, which may have been as much as 2 metres high, were kept in or near homes, suggesting that houses in the lower town stretched to its limits, another indication that Troy’s lower town was fully inhabited and the city was bigger than revealed in previous expeditions, Professor Pernicka told reporters at the opening of a new exhibition on Troy. “They were used for storing water, oil or maybe grain.”[...]
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Archäologe Pernicka wünscht sich Troja-Museum

Der Leiter des deutschen Ausgrabungsprojektes in Troja, der Tübinger Archäologe Ernst Pernicka, plädiert für den Bau eines Museums in der antiken Stadt Troja in der heutigen Türkei. Die 500000 Besucher pro Jahr kämen nicht nur wegen einiger Grundmauern, sagte Pernicka gestern im Deutschlandradio Kultur anlässlich des Endes der mehr als 20-jährigen deutschen Grabungstätigkeit in Troja.[...]
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Einzigartige römische Eisenfessel

Das zwischen Kassel und Göttingen gelegene Römerlager von Hedemünden hat sich für Archäologen in den letzten Jahren als wahre Fundgrube erwiesen. Jetzt ist ihnen ein ganz besonderer Fund gelungen: In 35 Zentimetern Tiefe stießen sie auf eine catena, eine eiserne Fessel.
Sie besteht aus zwei Eisenstangen. Die eine ist gerade, die andere so gebogen, dass sich, wenn beide zusammengesetzt sind, drei Aussparungen für Hals und Hände ergeben. Für Klaus Grote, Kreisarchäologe aus Göttingen ist das eine echte Sensation: “Etwas Vergleichbares aus römischer Zeit gibt es bisher nicht.“[...]
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Ancient settlements unearthed in eastern Turkey

A group of international archeologists have unearthed ancient settlements and building remains in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya, the head of the excavation team said on Wednesday.
A settlement dating back to Early Bronze Age, and remains of a building dating to Hittite era were recovered during excavations in Aslantepe, Malatya, professor Marcella Frangipane, the head of the excavations and a lecturer at the Italian La Spienza University, told AA correspondent.
Aslantepe was a city from 5000 BC to 712 BC, until the Assyrian invasion, and was later abandoned for a long time. It then became a Roman village from 500 to 600 AD, and later the Byzantine necropolis.[...]
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Archaeologists find Viking era shield

Danish archaeologists say they have discovered a well-preserved Viking era shield, reports said Wednesday. The wooden shield had a circumference of 0.80 metres and was believed to be from the end of the 900s. The find was described as for the first of its kind in Denmark, archaeologists told the online site Sjaellandske medier.
The shield was found Tuesday near Trelleborg, site of a so-called Viking ring castle near the town of Slagelse about 100 kilometres south-west of Copenhagen. The ring castle at Trelleborg dates from around 980. "The shield was in a moist ditch which explains why it was so well- preserved," archaeologist Kirsten Christensen said.[...]
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Enigmatic Horse Entombment Discovered in Staraya Russa

Archeologists have found a mysterious 13th century entombment of horses at excavation in Staraya Russa town of the Novgorod Region.
“In the course of the field season of 2008 we have discovered skulls and other bones of 14 horses buried in the cultural layer of the second half of the 14th century,” – Head of the excavation Elena Toropova informed. According to the archeologist so far there is no version that would explain this unusual find.[...]
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На раскопе в Старой Руссе обнаружено загадочное захоронение лошадей

Discovery of Bronze-Age `Refrigerators' Expands Homer's Troy

The remains of two outsized earthenware pots, a ditch and evidence of a gate dating back more than 3,000 years are changing scholars' perceptions about the city of Troy at the time Homer's ``Iliad'' was set.
The discoveries this year show that Troy's lower town was much bigger in the late Bronze Age than previously thought, according to Ernst Pernicka, the University of Tubingen professor leading excavations on the site in northwestern Turkey.[...]
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Archäologische Funde locken auf den Berg

Am Tag des offenen Denkmals haben rund 50 Besucher eine Ausstellung auf dem Dreifaltigkeitsberg besucht. Zudem sorgte der Hobby-Archäologe Heinz Hein für Begeisterung.
Erstmals konnte die Öffentlichkeit einen Plan des Berges mit den aktuellen Eintragungen der archäologischen Vermessung betrachten. Besonderes Interesse galt jedoch den jungsteinzeitlichen Bodenfunden, die der Spaichinger Heinz Hein seit Jahrzehnten auf dem Berg gesammelt hat.[...]
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Safavid Era Headstone Discovered in Central Iran

An exquisitely inscribed grave marker dating to the Safavid dynasty (1500 - 1725 CE) has been found in Iran’s central province of Yazd.
The well-preserved grave stone was found and reported by a history enthusiast in the Baghe Gandom district. The marker is in the shape of a box 185 cm long, 48 cm wide and 30 cm deep.[...]
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Roman skeleton may give TB clues

A newly-discovered Roman skeleton could be one of the earliest British victims of tuberculosis, experts believe.
Archaeologists hope the discovery will reveal clues about how the deadly disease spread across Britain. The man's remains - which date from the fourth century AD - were found on a construction site at York University.[...]
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Ramses temple found in eastern Cairo

An Egyptian archaeological team has unearthed a temple and parts of a statue belonging to one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs, in a rare find inside the capital, the official Mena agency reported on Monday. A temple built for 19th-dynasty King Ramses II was found in east Cairo, Mena said.[...]
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PC-Tauchgang zu geheimnisvollen Schiffswracks

Zeitzeugen auf dem Meeresgrund: Oft warten Schiffwracks Jahrhunderte darauf, ihre Geheimnisse preis zu geben. Ihre Erkundung bleibt jedoch meist Spezialisten vorbehalten. Das dürfte sich bald ändern: Eine Gratis-Software soll jedem die Chance zum Trip in die Tiefe geben.[...]
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Regalkilometer voller Exponate warten im Landesmuseum

Heute wird im Niedersächsischen Landtag in einer Aktuellen Stunde über die Museumspläne von Kulturminister Lutz Stratmann debattiert. Im Blickpunkt steht das Landesmuseum, das bald einen neuen Direktor bekommen wird. Ein Blick auf die Aufgeben des Vierspartenhauses.[...]
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Antike Kulturgüter in Palästinenser-Gebieten sind gefährdet

Antike Kulturgüter auf palästinensischem Gebiet drohen nach Einschätzung von Mainzer Archäologen unwiederbringlich verloren zu gehen, "wenn sich die politische Situation in dieser Region nicht bald ändert". Wie die Universität Mainz mitteilte, sind nach Angaben von Universitätsprofessor Wolfgang Zwickel archäologische Forschungen im Westjordanland seit fast zehn Jahren nahezu unmöglich. Seien die Arbeiten zunächst durch die zweite Intifada gestoppt worden, verhinderten nun die Barrieren des israelischen Militärs wichtige Grabungen, so Zwickel.[...]
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Ancient Pottery Kiln Discovered in Tula

In the very centre of Tula the third and the largest pottery kiln of the first half of the 16th century has been discovered in course of archeological excavations. The news has been reported to Interfax by Head of Kulikovo Field Museum Reserve Department Alexei Vorontsov. As he said, the found pottery kiln and various earthenware indicate that Tula’s first pottery settlement was once located here. The potters and brickmakers who lived here manufactured bricks that were used for building the Tula Kremlin.[...]
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Археологи нашли в центре Тулы горн XVI века

Chianti: Secret to Long Life, Says Ancient Recipe

The elixir of life may be a concoction of honey, cherries and secret herbs infused in a full Chianti wine, according to a centuries-old recipe discovered in one of Italy's oldest pharmacies. The 18th century-old recipe was discovered in an old manuscript found among the shelves of a pharmacy in Asciano near Sienna dating back to 1715.[...]
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Rare Mass Tombs Discovered Near Machu Picchu

Eighty skeletons and stockpiles of textiles found in caves near the ancient Inca site of Machu Picchu may shed light on the role that the so-called Lost City of the Inca played as a regional center of trade and power, scientists say. Researchers found the artifacts and remains at two sites within the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park in southeastern Peru, said Fernando Astete, head of the park.[...]
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Mythos Homer

Die Erzählungen Homers vom Trojanischen Krieg und dem Helden Odysseus sind uralt und berühmt. Doch rätseln Wissenschaftler bis heute, ob Homer tatsächlich gelebt hat.
Die Epen „Ilias“ und „Odyssee“ sind berühmt – und geben Wissenschaftlern bis heute ein Rätsel auf. Zu verschieden seien die Geschichten, als dass sie ein Mann aufgeschrieben haben könnte. Analysen der Verse weisen darauf hin, dass zwischen der Entstehung der „Ilias“ und der Entstehung der „Odyssee“ mehr als ein Menschenleben Zeit gelegen haben könnte. Die Ilias erzählt die Geschichte des Trojanischen Krieges, während die Odyssee nach dem Krieg ansetzt und die Heimreise des Helden Odysseus beschreibt.[...]
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Legionärsdolch bei Göttingen gefunden

Auf dem Gelände des ehemaligen Römerlagers nahe Hedemünden im Werratal haben Archäologen einen ungewöhnlichen Fund gemacht.
Forscher entdeckten im Waldboden einen gut erhaltenen, rund 2000 Jahre alten Legionärsdolch. Neben vielen weiteren Metallteilen wie Münzen, Zeltheringen oder Wagenteilen fanden die Archäologen auch eine komplett erhaltene Fessel aus Metall, mit der Gefangenen zugleich Kopf und Hände gefesselt werden konnten.[...]
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Buddhastatue in Afghanistan gefunden

In der Nähe der von den Taliban zerstörten Buddhas von Bamijan haben afghanische Archäologen die Reste eines weiteren riesigen Buddhas entdeckt. Neben den insgesamt rund 19 Meter langen Resten - dem Hals und der rechten Schulter eines liegenden Buddhas - hätten die Forscher zudem 89 Funde aus der Antike zu Tage gefördert, darunter vor allem Münzen, teilte der Berater des afghanischen Kulturministeriums, Mohammed Sia Afschar, in Kabul mit.[...]
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Achaemenid fort found in Bam

Archaeological studies in Bam, Kerman province, following the devastating earthquake in December 2003 have led to the discovery of a fort from the Achaemenid era, IRNA reported.
Announcing this, director of archaeological studies in Bam, Shahram Zare' said that exploratory works in 2005 have earlier confirmed that remnants of an Achaemenid fort exist at the site. Identifying several Qanats from the period or earlier was among the other important discoveries at the site, he said.[...]
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Artifacts from sunken steamship recovered

To the uninitiated, the items look like rusted junk found in a scrapyard or at the bottom of a river.
The tangled and encrusted objects on display in a Saskatoon boardroom Friday were in fact pulled from the South Saskatchewan River's sandy riverbed, but they may be much more than clutter. They may be a century-old link to this city's greatest marine disaster.[...]
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Iron Age burial site discovered

The State Department of Archaeology and Museums has stumbled upon a significant Iron Age burial site at Kethepalli near Ramoji Film City, that could push back the historicity of Hyderabad and surrounding areas to 500 BC.
P. Chenna Reddy, Director of Archaeology and Museums, who led a team of archaeologists told The Hindu that they found the site studded with cairn circles recently. When excavated, there was a possibility of recovering skeletal remains, black and red ware and iron implements typifying the Iron Age, also referred to as megalithic burials.[...]
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Pre-Islamic Necropolis Found in Northern Iran

Archeologists have discovered a burial ground and a unique burial ritual dating back to Sassanid and post-Islamic eras in northern Iran.
Recent excavations in the northern province of Mazandaran uncovered a burial ground, and brought to light a unique burial ritual.
Nails were discovered around the ancient bodies, but archeologists say that these did not come from any coffin. The nails were found in a deliberate pattern. One nail was found beside the knee, one beside the left shoulder, some on top of the head and a few others under the feet, CHN reported.[...]
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Ancient camel jawbone discovery is just deserts for archaeologists

Archaeologists have unearthed a camel jawbone in Syria that might belong to an undiscovered tiny species of the desert-cruising animal and – at a million years old – be the oldest camel remains ever found.
The jawbone was uncovered last month near the village of Khowm in the Palmyra region, about 150 miles northeast of the capital, Damascus, said Heba al-Sakhel, one of the leaders of the team of Syrian and Swiss archaeologists.[...]
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Excavations stopped at ancient city in Turkey

The archaeological site of Knidos in Turkey was once a jewel of ancient Greek civilization.
A major port that exported wine as far as India and Britain, it was also the religious center of a confederacy of Greek cities and the site of a medical school that rivaled the legendary Hippocratic clinic.
Archaeologists believe most of the city's secrets lie hidden beneath the ground. But Turkey has suspended excavations — accusing the project leader of negligence that led to the collapse of a newly restored column.[...]
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Over 19,000 objects found in Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman

An archeological search of the Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman revealed 19.329 ceremonial objects. These two golden statues were found along with another 18 metal and quartz pieces informed the National Institute of Culture.
The area where the discoveries were made is an extremely popular attraction for Cuzco tourists in which previous excavations had revealed over 6.000 different ceramic objects believed to belong to the Killke culture.[...]
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Rare idol of Kulothunga Chola found

A Research team, headed by eminent archaeologist, Dr Kudavayil Balasubramaniam, recently stumbled upon an ancient idol of Kulothunga Chola-III (1178-1218 AD) during a field study at Tiruvidaimarudur in Tiruvukkuvalai taluk in Nagapattinam district.
Speaking to Express, Balasubramaniam said the granite sculpture, about four feet, was the most aesthetic image of the Chola king ever recorded in the Rajaraja Valanadu region. The idol was found in front of the Mahalingasamy temple at Tiruvidaimarudur which was known as Sathamangalam in ancient times.[...]
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Stonehenge Partiers Came From Afar, Cattle Teeth Show

Prehistoric cattle remains found close to Stonehenge suggest that partying pilgrims brought the animals from afar, scientists report.
The remains support a theory that the megalithic monument near Salisbury, in southern England, drew ancient peoples from distant regions to celebrate important feast ceremonies. And the feasts, it seems, were movable.[...]
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Roman bones at park-and-ride site

A team of archaeologists in Leicestershire has uncovered several ancient bodies at the site of a new park-and-ride development. Excavations are continuing in Enderby after the discovery of what is thought to be a small Roman rural cemetery.
The skeletons were found close to the former Fosse Way Roman road. Archaeologists have also found bodies from the Iron Age at the same site, a silver Roman coin as well as items from the medieval period.[...]
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King Tut Had Twins, But Why?

Two mummified fetuses found in Tutankhamen's tomb back in 1922 are probably twins, despite the fact that one is much larger than the other, a team of scientists recently announced.
King Tut has always held a fascination for the public, and the idea that the young pharaoh and his presumably beautiful wife, Ankhesenamen, the daughter of Nefertiti, had twins adds even more drama to the story. The possibility of twins for Tut also underscores the fact that conceiving twins is a common human story. It's also one that begs for an explanation.[...]
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Cyprus dig finds 'very rare' ancient coffin

Cyprus' top archaeologist says a chance dig has unearthed a “very rare” 2,500-year-old marble sarcophagus in the shape of a woman. Antiquities Department director Pavlos Flourentzos says the coffin found at a construction site in the southern coastal town of Larnaca has a “strong classical Greek influence.”
Flourentzos said Friday the coffin's rarity rests on the fact that the marble used to build it was imported because none exists on the Mediterranean island. The faint traces of paint the coffin retains are also rare. Flourentzos says a second marble coffin found at the site was meticulously crafted in the “form of a temple”.[...]
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Discovery of an Achaemenid Fort in Bam

Archaeological studies in Bam, Kerman province, following the devastating earthquake in December 2003 have led to the discovery of a fort from the Achaemenid dynastic era (550-330 BCE), Persian service of IRNA reported.
Announcing this, director of archaeological studies in Bam, Shahram Zare' said that exploratory works in 2005 have earlier confirmed that remnants of an Achaemenid fort exist at the site.[...]
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New Viking grave find in central Sweden

Six grave sites dated from late in the Viking era have been uncovered in Lännäs outside of Örebro in central Sweden. The graves were discovered during an archeological examination ahead of the building of a new parish house beside the Lännäs cemetery, writes the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper.
Several artifacts were recovered from the graves, including bronze and iron objects, as well as a unique set of glass beads. “The beads are so specialized that we’re assuming the graves are from the 11th century,” said archeologist Martin Edlund to the paper.[...]
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Antiquities Database for the Mideast

The Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, the World Monuments Fund, the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage have joined forces to create a Middle East online database for antiquities. The formation of the database, which was announced by the Getty Institute on Tuesday, is intended to help inventory, monitor and manage archaeological sites and monuments in the Middle East.[...]
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Archaeologists unearth 12th century abbey

Hundreds of years of history came to light in Abbeytown after archaeologists unearthed the remains of a 12th-century abbey. A team of volunteers painstakingly pieced together some of the buried secrets of Holme Cultram Abbey last week during a 12-day dig.
The abbey was founded in 1150 by the Cistercian Monks from Melrose Abbey on the Scottish Borders. It grew to be larger than Carlisle Cathedral in the 15th century. But after the dissolution of the monasteries during the rule of Henry VIII, the abbey fell into disrepair and much of its stone was taken away to build houses. Only the abbey’s church remains above ground although this was subject of an arson attack in 2006 which gutted its interior.[...]
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Kimmirut site suggests early European contact

Vikings - or perhaps other Europeans - may have set up housekeeping and traded with Inuit 1,000 years ago near today's community of Kimmirut.
That's the picture of the past emerging from ancient artifacts found near Kimmirut, where someone collected Arctic hare fur and spun the fur into yarn and someone else carved notches into a wooden stick to record trading transactions.
Dorset Inuit probably didn't make the yarn and tally sticks because yarn and wood weren't part of Inuit culture at that time, said Patricia Sutherland, an archeologist with the Canadian Museum of Civilization.[...]
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Fishbones reveal our ancient transport secrets

Old fish bones and dead insects could be the key to the story of Ireland's transport system, 500 years before gridlock. The fish bones, insect carcasses and dead plant material are wedged in the timbers of a medieval boat recovered from the river Boyne, near Drogheda.
The boat has now been lifted from the river-bed and the Department of Environment is looking for experts who will be able to unravel the story from minute remains left in the vessel. The "Drogheda Boat" was discovered during dredging operations in the river and carbon dating of some of the timbers suggest it is at least 500 years old.[...]
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Newfoundland Viking site remarkable

More than 1,200 years ago, Vikings from Norway set out on a series of daring voyages that would eventually result in their being the first Europeans to explore the east coast of North America. In stages they established settlements in the Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and finally Newfoundland and Labrador.
Though we passed through an area around the capital of Nuuk, that would have been near the former Viking "Western Settlement," ruins or reconstructions were either not easily accessible or part of the itinerary.[...]
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Greek dig unearths secrets of Alexander the Great's golden era

It would be more than 100 years at least until Alexander the Great led the forces of Macedonia to conquer the Hellenistic world. But, even in its early days, the Greek kingdom's warriors were already an imposing sight on the battlefield.
A dig in an ancient burial ground in Alexander's birthplace of Pella, northern Greece, has unearthed the graves of 20 warriors in battle dress, a find which archaeologists say sheds fresh light on the development of Macedonian culture.[...]
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Nails Around Tahluj Ancient Skeletons Puzzle Archaeologists

The nails found around ancient skeletons at a newly discovered cemetery of Tahluj have puzzled the team of archaeologists working at the 3000-year-old site. The cemetery dating back early Islamic era was discovered during the rescue excavation, which has begun at the site near the village of Mirar-Kola in northern Iran in late August.[...]
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Greece unearths treasures at Alexander's birthplace

Archaeologists have unearthed gold jewellery, weapons and pottery at an ancient burial site near Pella in northern Greece, the birthplace of Alexander the Great, the culture ministry said on Thursday.
The excavations at the vast cemetery uncovered 43 graves dating from 650-279 BC which shed light on the early development of the Macedonian kingdom, which had an empire that stretched as far as India under Alexander's conquests.
Among the most interesting discoveries were the graves of 20 warriors dating to the late Archaic period, between 580 and 460 BC, the ministry said in a statement.[...]
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New dig at ancient site of Kaunos reveals fountain

An ancient fountain has been uncovered at the site of the ancient city of Kaunos, in the district of Köyceğiz in the Aegean province of Muğla.
The head of the archaeological work at the Kaunos site, Professor Cengiz Işık, explained that very significant, historically important findings are currently being made by his team.[...]
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Over 1,400 ancient graves found in Greek metro dig

Archaeologists in Greece have unearthed more than 1,400 ancient graves and tombs during excavation work for a new metro in the northern city of Salonika, the culture ministry said on Thursday.
The graves and tombs spanned an 800-year period from the fourth century BC to Roman times in the fourth century AD. The finds range from humble pits and altar tombs of stone to marble sarcophagi, the ministry said.[...]
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Peru archaeologists find pre-Inca sacrificial tomb

Archaeologists in Peru say they have discovered the jawbone of a fetus among the remains of a sacrificed woman in a pre-Inca tomb, suggesting the Lambayeque culture practiced the atypical sacrifice of pregnant women and their children.
The remains of the woman and unborn child were found in a tomb with three other sacrificed women and several sacrificial llamas, lead archaeologist Carlos Wester La Torre told The Associated Press.
In all, Wester La Torre's team reported finding the remains of seven women in two tombs at the Chotuna Chornancap archaeological site, each showing signs of having been cut at the throat.[...]
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Scientist Uncovers Miscalculation In Geological Undersea Record

The precise timing of the origin of life on Earth and the changes in life during the past 4.5 billion years has been a subject of great controversy for the past century.
The principal indicator of the amount of organic carbon produced by biological activity traditionally used is the ratio of the less abundant isotope of carbon, 13C, to the more abundant isotope, 12C. As plants preferentially incorporate 12C, during periods of high production of organic material the 13C/12C ratio of carbonate material becomes elevated. Using this principle, the history of organic material has been interpreted by geologists using the 13C/12C ratio of carbonates and organics, wherever these materials can be sampled and dated.[...]
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Gräberfund bei Geburtsort Alexander des Großen

Griechische Archäologen haben auf einem Friedhof in der Nähe des Geburtsortes von Alexander dem Großen einen sensationellen Fund mit Goldschmuck sowie Waffen und Tontöpfen gemacht. Das teilte das Griechische Kultusministerium in Athen mit.
Bei Ausgrabungen auf dem alten Friedhof in Pella, der in Nordgriechenland gelegenen alten Hauptstadt Mazedoniens, seien 43 Gräber aus der Zeit zwischen 650 und 279 vor Christus entdeckt worden, heißt es weiter in der Mitteilung des Ministeriums.[...]
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2500-Year-Old Tomb in Henan being slowly revealed

As the faces of old buildings are restored at Mount Lushan, the original structure of an ancient mausoleum located in Henan Province is being slowly revealed. Excavations are nearly complete. Archaeologists already know it is an ancient site. Relics taken from the complex reveal it dates to the Period of Warring States, about 2500 years ago.[...]
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Ruins Of Temple Of Athena Found In Bodrum

Ruins of the Temple of Athena have been found in the popular resort town of Bodrum in western Turkey.
In an interview with the A.A, Profesor Adnan Diler, who leads the archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Pedasa, said, "we found the Temple of Athena, one of the most important works of arts in Anatolia, in Konacik hamlet in Bodrum. The findings we have unearthed so far showed that we finally found ruins of the temple belonged to the civilization of the Leleges around the 6th century B.C."
"We found walls of the temple and an inscription. Our excavations will continue to bring the temple into daylight," Diler added. Athena, was the shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour in Greek mythology.[...]
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Remains of teenage girl from about 2500BC found in Burren

the partial remains of a young person, probably female, which could date back to between 2500-2000 BC, have been uncovered during an archaeological dig in the Burren, Co Clare.
The prehistoric remains were found in the passageway to the central burial chamber of Caherconnell Cashel, a well-preserved stone fort, during the dig which began a fortnight ago.
A significant factor of the discovery is that the body had been allowed to decompose elsewhere before some of the skeleton was placed where it was found, according to archaeologist, Graham Hull.[...]
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History of the Mongolian Ger

The Ger with lattice walls which had been used by Mongolian ethnic groups have experienced many stages of evolution from simple wigwag to modern Mongol Ger. People have never used completely new kinds of Ger. Shapes an structures of Mongol ger have always developed from previous generations to advanced new generation. An the shape, design, decoration and size of Mongol Ger express the difference between social classes.
This was the main condition to develop special type of Ger that has its own features such as special architecture and design. One of cultural inheritances created by nomadic people is a residence spread among herder tribes. Ancient people (In particular 40 thousand years ago) used to use Eruken at the time when they didn't even begin to herd livestock.[...]
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Gut 2000 Jahre alte Kanalisation entdeckt

Archäologen haben in Vallon FR eine ausserordentliche Entdeckung gemacht. Sie sind auf eine sehr gut erhaltene römisch Kanalisationsleitungen gestossen.
Im freiburgischen Vallon ist eine römische Kanalisation aus dem Winter 32/33 nach Christus entdeckt worden. Archäologen haben die in Lehm konservierten Holzleitungen bei Ausgrabungen in den Gärten des Römischen Museums gefunden, wie der Freiburger Kantonsarchäologe Claus Wolf am Mittwoch bekannt gab.[...]
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Klosterreste bei Ausgrabungen auf Petersberg bei Halle entdeckt

Bei Ausgrabungen auf dem Petersberg bei Halle sind Teile der ehemaligen Klosteranlage entdeckt worden. Dabei handele es sich um Fundamente und Mauerwerk vom südöstlichen Teil der Klosterklausur sowie einen bisher unbekannten östlich anschließenden Anbau, teilte das Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie am Dienstag mit.
Die Ausgrabungen stehen in Zusammenhang mit dem Neubau eines Klostergebäudes. Die Reste des ehemaligen Augustiner-Chorherren-Stifts würden deshalb «nicht dauerhaft freigelegt, sondern wieder zugeschüttet», sagte der Sprecher des Landesamtes, Alfred Reichenberger, auf ddp-Anfrage.[...]
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Alte Gemäuer sind neu zu entdecken

Unter dem Motto "Vergangenheit aufgedeckt" stehen am Tag des offenen Denkmals Archäologie und Bauforschung im Mittelpunkt. Dazu gibt's am Sonntag, 14. September, auch in Langenargen, Eriskirch und Kressbronn verschiedene Angebote.
Im Langenargener Teilort Oberdorf öffnet der Gasthof "Adler" seine Türen. Das jetzige Gebäude stammt vermutlich aus dem Jahr 1815, ein rechtwinkliger Flügel wurde 1840 angebaut. Bei Führungen um 10, 12, 14 und 16 Uhr durch das Gebäude erfahren die Besucher Näheres über die Haus-, Bau- und Familiengeschichte des "Adlers". Zudem bietet Familie Kugel am Tag des offenen Denkmals historische Gerichte an, die nach traditionellen Familienrezepten zubereitet werden. Außerdem gibt's Rundfahrten mit Pferdekutschen.[...]
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Antike Stadtmauer freigelegt

Andernach am Rhein hatte nach Einschätzung von Archäologen zur Zeit der Römer eine größere Bedeutung als bisher angenommen. Neueste Funde beweisen, dass die Römer Limes-Truppen und die Rheinflotte belieferten.
Neue Funde ließen darauf schließen, dass die Stadt für die logistische Versorgung der Truppen am Grenzwall Limes und wohl auch der Rheinflotte bedeutsam gewesen sei, sagte der Archäologe Axel von Berg gestern in Koblenz. Auf dem rund 2500 Quadratmeter großen Gelände einer abgerissenen Mälzerei hatten die Archäologen unter anderem eine antike Stadtmauer auf 60 Metern freigelegt. Sie sei fast vollständig erhalten.[...]
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Neanderthal Brains Grew Like Ours

A new study has found that Neanderthal brains grew at much the same rate as modern human brains do, knocking down the idea that they grew faster in a style considered more primitive.
The recent discoveries of two very young Neanderthal skeletons, as well analysis of a little-studied infant Neanderthal skeleton, allowed the researchers to trace how quickly the species' skulls grew.[...]
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Down Canyons and Up Cliffs, Pursuing Southwest’s Ancient Art

In his mid-60s, Ekkehart Malotki, a retired linguistics professor, willingly dangled from a rope tied to a car that was backed to the edge of a cliff. A half-dozen times, he descended with his rope, photographed the cliff face and climbed back up.
He was documenting a rock art panel a quarter-mile long in northern Arizona. These adventures are commonplace for Dr. Malotki, a German-born American who is now 69.[...]
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Bones reveal final moments of ancient man

That is how Sydney's oldest known ex-resident - Narrabeen Man - died at the hands of his own tribeScientists have revealed that bones found under a beachside bus shelter three years ago have now been carbon dated at more than 4000 years old.
The bones give a rare insight into the punishment rituals of Aborigines before the arrival of Europeans.
Since the skeleton was found during excavation work in Narrabeen on the Northern Beaches in January, 2005, Sydney pathologist Denise Donlon and Canberra archaeologist Jo McDonald have pieced together the how, where and, possibly, why he was killed.[...]
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Geraubter Obelisk steht wieder

Der von den Soldaten Mussolinis aus Äthiopien geraubte “Obelisk von Aksum“ steht nach 70 Jahre wieder an seinem ursprünglichen Standort. Am 4. September stellten Ingenieure der Vereinten Nationen ihn wieder auf.
Nach einem mehrjährigen Streit hatte Italien den 24 Meter hohen und 160 Tonnen schweren Stein 2005 an das ostafrikanische Land zurückgegeben. 1937 war der Monolith auf Befehl des Diktators als Kriegsbeute in die italienische Hauptstadt gebracht worden. Dort stand er viele Jahre vor dem Kolonialministerium, da Äthiopien bis 1941 unter italienischer Kolonialverwaltung war.[...]
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Archaeological discovery in western Qatar sheds new light on early man

A team of Qatari and Danish scientists working in the western region of Qatar have discovered evidence of early man which challenges the existing history of the country and the Southern Arabian region.
Exploring under the patronage of the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), the scientists found basic hunting tools which they believe date back 700,000 to 800,000 years. If accurate, the discovery means early man lived in Qatar far earlier than was previously believed.
QMA CEO Abdullah al-Najjar said this provided a remarkable picture of prehistoric migration.[...]
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UN threatens to act against Britain for failure to protect heritage sites

The UN is threatening to put the Tower of London on its list of world heritage sites in danger after its experts accused the UK of damaging globally significant sites such as Stonehenge, the old town of Edinburgh and the Georgian centre of Bath, the Guardian has learned.
Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, has told ministers in London and Edinburgh that it wants urgent action to protect seven world heritage sites which it claims are in danger from building developments, and said in some cases the UK is ignoring its legal obligations to protect them.[...]
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1,500-year-old necropolis found in Iran

Archeologists have discovered a burial ground and a unique burial ritual dating back to Sassanid and post-Islamic eras in northern Iran. Recent excavations in the northern province of Mazandaran uncovered a burial ground, and brought to light a unique burial ritual.
Nails were discovered around the ancient bodies, but archeologists say that these did not come from any coffin. The nails were found in a deliberate pattern. One nail was found beside the knee, one beside the left shoulder, some on top of the head and a few others under the feet.[...]
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Afghans unearth 19-metre Buddha statue

Archaeologists have discovered a 19-metre (62-foot) Buddha statue along with scores of other historical relics in central Afghanistan near the ruins of giant statues destroyed by the Islamist Taliban seven years ago.
The team was searching for a giant sleeping Buddha believed to have been seen by a Chinese pilgrim centuries ago when it came upon the relics in the central province of Bamiyan, an official said on Monday.[...]
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Schmuck und Münzen bei Ausgrabungen gefunden

Bei Ausgrabungen sind Archäologen in Fürstenberg/Havel (Landkreis Oberhavel) auf einen kleinen Schatz gestoßen. In der Nähe der alten Burg wurden nach Angaben des Landesamtes für Denkmalschutz vom Montag Schmuck und Münzen entdeckt. Sie werden jetzt in Wünsdorf genau untersucht.[...]
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Goddess statue found in western Iran

The first phase of archeological excavations at Sheikhi Abad mound in Iran's Kermanshah Province has yielded the statue of a goddess. The statute, which resembles a figurine previously found in Kermanshah's Sarab-Mort, is believed by experts to be a valuable source of information.
Iranian and British archeologists, who studied the site for the first time in the past fifty years, also discovered nearly 50 botanical samples that can shed light on some of the mysteries of the Neolithic Age.[...]
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All hands on deck to save sunken historic galleon, the HMS London

When Charles Trollope, an internationally renowned expert on historic ordnance, arrived at the Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson, Hampshire, to view five cannon salvaged from the sea, he came to a stark conclusion. An historic site had apparently been stripped of valuable artefacts by an independent diving team and an important piece of Britain’s heritage was soon to be put up for sale. So began a fight to save one of the bronze cannon, whose provenance is still in dispute, and to protect the remains of HMS London, a 17th-century warship, from the expeditions of profiteering salvage companies.[...]
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Roman villa may be buried in Northampton

Experts believe the remains of a Roman villa could be unearthed if a housing development in Northampton is allowed to be built. The London-based Paddington Churches Housing Association has applied to build 108 new homes on wasteland in Booth Rise, Boothville.
In documents submitted with the group's plans for the land, experts from the Museum of London Archaeology service have said further evidence of a villa originally found during the 1930s could be unearthed. The group's report said: "A Roman villa has been identified directly to the south of the site along with a potentially related settlement to the north.[...]
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Oldest Skeleton in Americas Found in Underwater Cave?

Deep inside an underwater cave in Mexico, archaeologists may have discovered the oldest human skeleton ever found in the Americas.
Dubbed Eva de Naharon, or Eve of Naharon, the female skeleton has been dated at 13,600 years old. If that age is accurate, the skeleton—along with three others found in underwater caves along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula—could provide new clues to how the Americas were first populated.
The remains have been excavated over the past four years near the town of Tulum, about 80 miles southwest of Cancún, by a team of scientists led by Arturo González, director of the Desert Museum in Saltillo, Mexico.[...]
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Russische Archäologen wollen am Kaspischen Meer Itil entdeckt haben, die Hauptstadt des legendären Chasaren-Reiches

Das Eldorado der Archäologie des 21. Jahrhunderts liegt in Asien. In Sibirien, China oder im Steppengürtel im Herzen des Kontinents kommen mit den Entdeckungen der letzten Jahre die Konturen uralter Kulturen ans Licht. Dass die Zivilisation der Skythen mehr war als eine Chiffre für schaurige Fremdheit und Gewalt, hat die große, ihnen gewidmete Ausstellung in Berlin, München und Hamburg gezeigt. Und soeben wurde ein Kooperationsabkommen zwischen der Mongolischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, der Nationaluniversität der Mongolei und der Gerda Henkel Stiftung zur Förderung weiterer Grabungen unterzeichnet.[...]
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Gerda Henkel Stiftung fördert Archäologie in der Mongolei

Anlässlich der Reise von Bundespräsident Köhler in die Mongolei wurde heute in Ulan Bator ein Kooperationsabkommen zwischen der Mongolischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, der Nationaluniversität der Mongolei und der Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Düsseldorf, unterzeichnet. Darin sichert die Stiftung den mongolischen Institutionen Fördermittel in Höhe von 330.000 Euro für archäologische und historische Projekte in der Mongolei zu. Bundespräsident Horst Köhler und der mongolische Staatspräsident Nambaryn Enkhbayar wohnten der Unterzeichnung bei.[...]
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Melting Swiss glacier yields Neolithic trove, climate secrets

Some 5,000 years ago, on a day with weather much like today's, a prehistoric person tread high up in what is now the Swiss Alps, wearing goat leather pants, leather shoes and armed with a bow and arrows.
The unremarkable journey through the Schnidejoch pass, a lofty trail 2,756 metres (9,000 feet) above sea level, has been a boon to scientists. But it would never have emerged if climate change were not melting the nearby glacier.
So far, 300 objects dating as far back as the Neolithic or New Stone Age -- about 4,000 BC in Europe -- to the later Bronze and Iron Ages and the Medieval era have been found in the site's former icefields.[...]
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Dig uncovers possibility of tannery

A mass of animal bones found on the Kinecroft in Wallingford could indicate that the town had a hitherto unknown tannery on the site.
The dig by the universities of Oxford, Exeter and Leicester found the bones of cattle and other farm animals - and the experts said there could have been a tannery on what would have been the edge of the town, kept away from the centre because tanning is a smelly business.
The excavators worked on sites on Kinecroft, Bullcroft and Castle Meadows as part of an ongoing Burh to Borough mapping of the town's development from Norman through Saxon and medieval times.[...]
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DNA Shows That Last Woolly Mammoths Had North American Roots

In a surprising reversal of conventional wisdom, a DNA-based study has revealed that the last of the woolly mammoths—which lived between 40,000 and 4,000 years ago—had roots that were exclusively North American.
The research, which appears in the September issue of Current Biology, is expected to cause some controversy within the paleontological community.[...]
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Phallic Figurines Found in Israel Stone Age Burials

Prehistoric graves with an unusual abundance of phallic figurines and oddly arranged human remains have been found in Israel, archaeologists announced recently. Near Nazerat (Nazareth), the Stone Age site, called Kfar HaHoresh, dates to between 8,500 and 6,750 B.C.
The site was uninhabited and probably served surrounding villages as a centralized burial and cult center, said excavation leader Nigel Goring-Morris of Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology. Archaeologists have primarily found female symbolic figurines in other burials of this time period.[...]
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Discovery of a Sarmatian Woman Burial in Poltava region of Ukraine

Archaeologists Discovered a burial belonged to a Sarmatian woman in Poltava region, announced by Oleksandr Suprunenko, the director of the centre of protection and research of the archaeological monuments of the department of culture of the Poltava Regional State Administration, in Ukraine.[...]
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Ist der Heilige Gral in Island?

Ein italienischer Kryptograph glaubt, dass sich der Heilige Gral auf Island befindet. Er musste seine Suche aber abbrechen.
Viele haben ihn gesucht, aber er entzieht sich konsequent der Entdeckung. Diese Erfahrung musste auch der italienische Autor und Kryptograph Giancarlo Gianazza machen. Gianazza glaubt, Beweise gefunden zu haben, dass sich der sagenhafte Heilige Gral auf der Nordatlantikinsel Island befindet. Er und eine Gruppe weiterer Schatzjäger mussten ihre Suche in der Nähe des Kjölur-Passes in Südwest-Island wegen des zu Ende gehenden Sommers vorerst jedoch ergebnislos beenden.[...]
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Harfenklänge aus dem Computer

Römer und Griechen liebten die Musik. Welche Melodien sie spielten, bleibt wohl für immer ein Geheimnis; wie ihre Instrumente klangen hingegen nicht. Mit Hilfe von Computern können sie als virtuelle Rekonstruktion zum Klingen gebracht werden.[...]
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Czech archaeologists find unique 7000-year-old statue

Czech archaeologists have uncovered a torso of a unique female statue created about 7,000 years ago near Masovice, south of the Czech Republic, which is the second similar find in this locality, the Czech news agency CTK said on Thursday.
The woman's statue found in the area last summer was given the name "Hedvika of Masovice," while "her sister" is called Johanka, "according to the female names in the calendar on the days when the artifacts were found, head of the archaeological research Zdenek Cizmar said.[...]
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Archaeologists Return to Shoghali Tappeh

Archaeologists have recently resumed excavation at the 7000-year-old site at Shoghali Tappeh in Pishva.
This is the third season the mound, located near the city of Varamin in southeastern Tehran Province, is being excavated by an archaeological team led by Moteza Hesari, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday.
The team was scheduled to begin the season of excavation in early August, but it was postponed and Hesari declined to explain the reasons behind the delay.[...]
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Vladimir Monomakh Seal Discovered in Novgorod

A lead seal has been recently found during archeological excavation in Veliki Novgorod. It belonged to legendary Prince Vladimir Monomakh, scientists presume.
The seal bears a depiction of St. Basil of Caesarea on one side and a benevolent Greek language description on the reverse side, Head of Archeological Research Centre Sergei Troyanovsky informs.[...]
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В Великом Новгороде найдена печать Владимира Мономаха

Ethiopia unveils ancient obelisk

Ethiopia is celebrating the unveiling of the reassembled Axum obelisk, one of the country's greatest treasures. The obelisk, at least 1,700 years old, was looted by Italian troops in the 1930s and returned to Ethiopia in 2005. A giant Ethiopian flag was removed from the obelisk in front of what organisers said was a crowd of tens of thousands in the ancient northern town of Axum.[...]
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Experts suggest another Russian tsar family burial site exists

Russian archaeologists could discover another site where the remains of the children of Russia's last tsar are buried, a Russian forensic expert said.
Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, their four daughters and son, and several servants, were shot dead by the Bolsheviks in a basement in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in the early hours of July 17, 1918. The Romanovs were canonized in 2000.
The bodies of all the family, except for those of Prince Alexei and his elder sister Maria, were found in 1991 and buried in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg in 1998.[...]
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Archaeologists shed light on ancient Canaanite burial rituals

The British Museum's excavation team in Sidon on Wednesday declared the end of its mission for 2008 at the "Freres" excavation site near the southern port city's fortress.
"Sidon is a remarkable archaeological city where we have found that economics and religion are closely related," archaeology expert and field supervisor Claude Doumet Serhal told The Daily Star. "And for the first time, we have discovered ways of burying the dead during the Canaanite period i.e. 3, 0000 years B.C. and the accompanying ceremonial religious rituals."[...]
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Versteinerter Wald entdeckt

In der kanadischen Arktis stehen Reste eines fossilen Waldes heute noch genauso da wie vor 55 Millionen Jahren.
Überbleibsel eines 55 Millionen Jahre alten fossilen Waldes haben sich in der kanadischen Arktis erhalten. Deutsche Forscher der Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) und des Staatlichen Museums für Geologie und Mineralogie Dresden entdeckten die Überreste der Wälder im Rahmen ihrer Arktis-Expedition CASE 11.[...]
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New clues found to history of ancient tomb

Archaeologists have discovered new evidence regarding the physical layout of a late 3rd century tomb mound in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, that may cast new light on its long history, which includes possible connections to a mysterious ancient kingdom.
Recent excavation work indicates that the moat of the Hashihaka tomb mound, which some archaeologists believe is associated with the legendary Yamataikoku kingdom, was more than twice as far from the mound than previously thought, according to the local municipal board of education.
The new finding about the site's original topography is expected to greatly benefit understanding of its overall history, and possibly that of similar sites.[...]
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Russian archaeologists find long-lost Jewish capital

Russian archaeologists said Wednesday they had found the long-lost capital of the Khazar kingdom in southern Russia, a breakthrough for research on the ancient Jewish state.
"This is a hugely important discovery," expedition organiser Dmitry Vasilyev told AFP by telephone from Astrakhan State University after returning from excavations near the village of Samosdelka, just north of the Caspian Sea.[...]
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Jerusalem dig uncovers ancient city walls

Israeli archaeologists unveiled on Wednesday a 2,100-year-old Jerusalem perimeter wall -- along with beer bottles left behind by 19th century researchers who first discovered the stone defences.
The wall, on Mount Zion at the southern edge of Jerusalem's Old City, dates back to the Second Jewish Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.[...]
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Ancient Musical Instruments Play Again Through Astra Project

Ancient musical instruments can now be heard for the first time in hundreds of years, due to a new computer modelling project. ASTRA (Ancient instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application) has recreated the sounds of the harp-like Epigonion musical instrument from Ancient Greece and has performed one of the oldest known musical scores dating back to the Middle Ages. To achieve this it used the advanced GÉANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT research networks to link high capacity computers together, sharing information to enable the computer-intensive modelling of musical sounds.[...]
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Roman settlement unearthed in field

AN archaeologist has uncovered the foundations for a Roman settlement on the picturesque east Cleveland coast.
Steve Sherlock, whose painstaking work in a farmer's fields near Loftus uncovered evidence of Anglo-Saxon royalty last year, has returned to the site - and been able to go even further back in time in the latest dig. Mr Sherlock, who has been helped by volunteers from Teesside Archaeological Society, was thrilled and surprised by the look-out station, discovered just inches below the surface.
And his painstaking work has resulted in him discovering a 1,600 year-old site for creating jet jewellery.[...]
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Tombs and archaeological remains found in Peru's Colca canyon

A scientific expedition, made up of Polish, North American, and Peruvian specialists, discovered tombs, apparently from the Pre-Incan culture, as well as archaeological remains in a virgin zone of the Colca canyon - located in the Peruvian department of Arequipa- during an excursion along the first 20 kilometers of this place.
The travelers departed on August 21 and during ten days, they covered a zone never explored due to its inaccessibility and lack of technology.[...]
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Tomb made from porcelain bowls unearthed

Yesterday the archaeology department of China's Chongqing Municipality announced a remarkable discovery: a Qing Dynasty tomb of an almost unique style, made out of more than 2,000 qing hua ci (blue and white porcelain) bowls.
The Chongqing Economic Times quoted archaeologists as saying that this kind of tomb is very rare and had probably been constructed by migrants to the area.[...]
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Museum in Platkow vor Schließung

Das gerade erst neu eröffnete Museum für Archäologie und Paläontologie in der alten Schule von Gusow-Platkow (Märkisch-Oderland) soll wieder geschlossen werden. Grund dafür sind nach Angaben des Geschichts- und Heimatvereins vom Mittwoch Meinungsverschiedenheiten mit der Bauaufsicht. Diese fordert erhebliche Umbaumaßnahmen. Ohne ihre Verwirklichung dürfe der Verein das Museum nicht betreiben. Die Kosten für die kurzfristig geforderten Baumaßnahmen könne der Verein aber nicht aufbringen. Falls nicht rasch finanzielle Hilfe beispielsweise vom Kreis oder vom Land komme, müsse das Museum schließen.[...]
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A 20ft-high palisade hid Stonehenge 5,000 years ago

Tourists who complain about the fence put up around Stonehenge in the Seventies should spare a thought for their Neolithic ancestors... they couldn't even see the site because of a huge wooden barrier. Archaeologists have found traces of the 20ft-high timber fence that snaked almost two miles across Salisbury Plain and hid sacred ceremonies from unworthy locals more than 5,000 years ago. Now trenches have been dug along the line researchers believe the palisade took as it stretched from the east of the ancient stone circle, past the Heel Stone, to the west before heading south.[...]
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Mit dem Steinpenis ins Grab

Im Norden Israels sind Archäologen auf eine prähistorische Begräbnisstätte gestoßen. Der mindestens zehn mal zwanzig Meter große und von einer mächtigen Mauer umfasste Bereich stammt aus der Zeit zwischen dem 7. bis 5. Jahrtausend v. Chr., als sich im Nahen Osten die nomadisch lebenden Menschen niederließen und erste größere Siedlungen gründeten.[...]
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Archeologists found woman's burial of Sarmatian epoch

Archeologists found woman's burial of Sarmatian epoch in one of burial mounds of Chutovo district, Poltava region.
According to director of the centre of protection and research of the archeological monuments of the department of culture of the Poltava Regional State Administration Oleksandr Suprunenko, the woman was very influential.
The things found next to her prove this, namely a bronze mirror, a dagger and iron scissors as well as a unique silver brooch. Besides, an iron awl was stuck in the woman's head. Sarmatians is a general name of the people that dominated in the Ukrainian steppes after collapse of the Scythian state. According to Herodotus, the Sarmatians originated from Amazonians who married Scythian men.[...]
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Archeological dig unearths old woman in Poland

The remains of a 30-year-old woman were found today at an archeological excavation in Pinczow, in the Swietokrzyska region, southern Poland.
The body, identified as female, dates back 6,500 years.
The director of the dig, Przemyslaw Duleba, from the Institute of Archeology at the University of Warsaw, stated that this is the oldest discovery every to be found in this region. "The skeleton of the young woman is perfectly preserved and laid on her left side in an embryonic position."[...]
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Finder of key hominid fossil disputes 7-million-year dating

A fresh storm has broken out over an ancient fossil presented by its defenders as a forebear of humanity and dismissed by its critics as the remains of a vulgar chimp.
Controversy has swirled around Toumai, the name given to the nearly-complete skull, ever since it was found in the Chadian desert in 2001.
Toumai's big defender is French palaeontologist Michel Brunet, a professor at the prestigious College de France, who says Toumai walked the Earth shortly after chimpanzees and hominids diverged from a common ancestral primate. Brunet has been roundly attacked in other quarters.[...]
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Symbolic past of early Aegeans revealed at Dhaskalio Kavos site

A rocky islet and a nearby hillside have yielded evidence of one of Greece’s oldest and most enigmatic ritual sites. Imported stones and fragmented marble statuettes show that Dhaskalio and Kavos were “a symbolic central place for the Early Bronze Age” in the Aegean, according to Professor Colin Renfrew.
Kavos is a stony, scrub-covered slope on the Cycladic island of Keros. Forty-five years ago Professor Renfrew, then a PhD student at Cambridge, found extensive looting there, with fragments of marble bowls and the famous Cycladic folded-arm figurines scattered across the surface.[...]
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Hittites' holy city Nerik to emerge

Late in the second millennium B.C., as the Hittites were experimenting with bronze, they built a holy city called Nerik near the Black Sea, according to evidence being slowly gathered by archeologists.
Today, excavators at the Oymaağaç mound in the Black Sea city of Samsun's Vezirköprü district are reveling in their potential find, believing the evidence is mounting and Oymaağaç will be unveiled as the holder of Nerik.[...]
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Pharaonen an der Donau

Gleich zwei Ausstellungen über die Zeit der Pharaonen gibt es derzeit in der Region zu sehen: „Tutanchamun und die Welt der Pharaonen“ im Museum für Völkerkunde in Wien und „Renaissance im Ägypten der Pharaonen“ im Museum der Bildenden Künste in Budapest.[...]
Tutanchamun und die Welt der Pharaonen
Renaissance im Ägypten der Pharaonen
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Uralter Friedhof in Israel entdeckt

Archäologen haben in Israel einen Tausende Jahre alten Friedhof gefunden. Das 10 mal 20 Meter große und von einer Mauer umgrenzte Areal in den Bergen von Nazareth berge Gräber von mindestens 65 Männern aus der Zeit zwischen 8500 und 6750 vor der Zeitenwende, teilte die Hebräische Universität Jerusalem mit.[...]
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Reste der frühesten Salzherstellung in Westfalen gefunden

Archäologen des Landschaftsverbandes Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) haben auf dem Kerkweg'schen Grundstück in Werl (Kreis Soest) Tonobjekte der frühesten bekannten Salzherstellung in Westfalen vor 2.500 Jahren gefunden. Außerdem legten sie Reste eines Holzgrabes mit einem Kinderskelett frei, das wohl vor über tausend Jahren hier bestattet worden war.[...]
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1700 year-old Mayan Buildings to be preserved

The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, National Anthropology and History Institute) and the Instituto Tecnológico de Mérida (ITM, Mérida Technological Institute), joined into the preservation of some buildings of the Maya area built around 1,500 to 1,700 years ago and despite their age they continue to stand.
Both organisms are joined by a new project involved in processing digital models of the prehispanic architectural systems, their structural diagnose as well as a mortar (the mix used to build their foundations) as close as possible to the original materials and structures.[...]
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Pacific island claims to be the roots of Mexico

In the pre-dawn darkness, the fishermen return with nets brimming with plump shrimp and tie up their canoes behind homes of mud and wood.
It's a way of life that's hardly changed over the past 1,000 years in Mexcaltitán, an isolated Pacific coastal island that's been dubbed the Venice of Mexico because its sunken streets become canals during the rainy season.
But embedded in that humble daily ritual may lie clues to one of the hemisphere's great historical mysteries: Where did the mighty Aztec civilization come from? For local officials and some historians, Mexcaltitán is nothing less than the mythical Aztlán, birthplace of the ancient Aztecs.[...]
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Prehistoric Funerary Precinct Excavated In Northern Israel

Hebrew University excavations in the north of Israel have revealed a prehistoric funerary precinct dating back to 6,750-8,500 BCE.
The precinct, a massive walled enclosure measuring 10 meters by at least 20 meters, was discovered at excavations being undertaken at Kfar HaHoresh. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site in the Nazareth hills of the lower Galilee is interpreted as having been a regional funerary and cult center for nearby lowland villages.[...]
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Das harte Leben unserer Vorfahren in der Steinzeit

Jeden Samstag bergen die Mitglieder des Arbeitskreises für Vor- und Frühgeschichte im Heimatverein des Landkreises Augsburg archäologische und historische Funde. Mit einer Ausstellung bietet im Oktober der Landkreis allen Interessenten die Möglichkeit, sich wissenschaftlich fundiert über die steinzeitlichen Funde zu informieren, die in den letzten Jahren meist ehrenamtlich durch den Arbeitskreis geborgen wurden.[...]
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Die letzte Schlacht um Troja

Forscherstreit um die Sagen-Stätte: Stand da nur ein Kuhkaff oder eine mächtige Stadt?
"Hierum kämpften jetzt die Troer und die Achaier,/wild durcheinandergemengt und mordeten; ... und in Blut floß ringsum die Erde." Die Schlacht um Troja (wenn es sie je gab) war in den Worten Homers (den es wahrscheinlich gab) ein Gemetzel – heute streiten Wissenschaftler ähnlich erbittert um die untergegangene Stadt in der West-Türkei.
Es ist eine Schlacht, in der nicht "zwiefach schneidende Lanzen" ins Feld geführt werden, sondern Grabungsfunde, chemische Untersuchungen, Homers Schlachtenepos "Ilias", steinalte Verträge. Es kämpfen nicht Achilles gegen Hektor, Menelaos gegen Paris, sondern würdige Wissenschaftler.[...]
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Antike Siedlungslandschaft im Amazonasgebiet entdeckt

Xingu-Kultur hatte komplexes Straßen- und Siedlungsnetz entwickelt - Hinweise auf Fischteiche - bevor der erste Europäer Südamerika betreten hat.
Wissenschaftler der Universität von Florida haben im Amazonasgebiet Belege für ein komplexes Straßen- und Siedlungsnetz gefunden. "Die Funde konnten wir auf das 15. Jahrhundert datieren, also noch auf die Zeit, bevor der erste Europäer Südamerika betreten hat", erklärt Mike Heckenberger, Professor für Archäologie an der Universität von Florida.[...]
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Recreation of Islamic Edifices at Pasargadae a New Move for Destruction of Mausoleum of Cyrus the Great

The Parseh and Pasargadae Research Foundation plans to destroy the edifices at Pasargadae, under the disguise of restoration of the Islamic structures, which were added to the Achaemenid site sometime between 12th and 16th centauries CE.
The structures include a mosque dating back to the 12th century CE and a Safavid caravanserai, foundation director Mohammad-Hassan Talebian told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
The mosque was constructed from the dismantled columns and stones from the palace of Cyrus the Great and the Apadana Palace. The remains of the columns and stones were transferred by archaeologists and experts back to their original locations for restorations purposes in 1971.[...]
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Plateau could be ancient gateway to Pyla

For over a millennium, a fortified settlement with a shrine stood on a plateau near the eastern Larnaca coast ringed with a defensive wall, foreign and Cypriot archaeologists believe.
Earlier theories about the significance of the site were confirmed during this year’s fieldwork at the Pyla-Koutsopetria locality by the identification of a section of the wall, datable to the Late Bronze Age.
According to Maria Hadjicosti of the Department of Antiquities, it could have been the original gateway – pyle in Greek - to a larger habitation, which later moved further inland for fear of sea raids to where the present mixed village of Pyla is situated.[...]
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Beyond Pompeii: Places swallowed by Vesuvius

Three lesser-known sites show more clearly the volcano's destructive might.
Over several centuries, millions of tourists have visited Pompeii to acquaint themselves with the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that began on Aug. 24, 79 A.D. But while it's the most famous eruption site, the ancient Roman city 15 miles south of Naples isn't the best place to gauge the volcano's awesome destructive power.
For that, one should visit lesser-known Herculaneum, which is closer to Vesuvius, or Oplontis and Stabiae, two sites more recently uncovered and still relatively unknown to tourists. In these places, several of which are still being excavated, the eruption's consequences are more visible.[...]
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Luqa cemetery expansion finds Bronze Age remains

A cluster of five silos dating back to the Bronze Age period were recently discovered when excavation work, forming part of a project to extend the Luqa cemetery, was being carried out, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.
Nathaniel Cutajar, from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, told this newspaper that the superintendence had insisted with the Luqa parish church that an archaeologist should monitor the construction work for the enlargement of the cemetery, since various cisterns and silo pits had previously been discovered in the area known as Tal-Mejtin.
Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) chairperson Arnold Cassola, who provided photos of the silos, commented on the find, saying: “It is good to see that the Luqa Parish is collaborating with the superintendence to safeguard our national patrimony.[...]
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Bodies found in the tomb of 'boy king' Tutankhamun's tomb are twin daughters

Two foetuses found buried with Tutankhamun may have been his twin daughters, an expert has claimed.
Professor Robert Connolly, an anatomist who is working with Egyptian authorities to analyse the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh, says that preliminary tests on the mummified remains of the two still-born babies indicate that Tutankhamun may have fathered them both. He will present the new findings at the Pharmacy and Medicine in Ancient Egypt Conference at the University of Manchester today.
Professor Connolly, who first studied the remains of Tutankhamun in the Sixties, said: “The two foetuses in the tomb of Tutankhamun could be twins, despite their very different size and thus fit better as a single pregnancy for his young wife [Ankhesenamun]. This increases the likelihood of them being Tutankhamun's children.”[...]
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Stonehenge 'was hidden from lower classes'

Archeologists have uncovered the remains of what they believe to be a 20ft fence designed to screen Stonehenge from the view of unworthy Stone Age Britons. The wooden construction extended nearly two miles across Salisbury Plain more than 5,000 years ago, and would have served to shield the sacred site from the prying eyes of ordinary lower-class locals.
Trenches have been dug around the monument, tracing the course of the fence which meanders around the stone circle. The dig's co-director Dr Josh Pollard, of Bristol University, said: "The construction must have taken a lot of manpower.[...]
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Ancient royal burial chamber found

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered the burial chamber and coffin of King Senusret II who was believed to have ruled Egypt from 1897 BC to 1878 BC, it was reported today. The burial chamber was found in Al Lahun, the town built by Senusret which became Egypt's political capital during the 12th and 13th dynasties, and where the king built his pyramid.
"The coffin is made of pink granite and the burial chamber is lined with red granite," said Ahmed Abdel Aal, head of antiquities in Fayum, south of Cairo. The team also discovered "corridors and passageways inside the pyramid built to mislead thieves", Mr Abdel Aal said.
Wooden parts belonging to the king's boat were also found as well as alabaster and ceramic containers decorated with hieroglyphs. Senusret II was known for launching major irrigation projects in the Fayum area, turning vast areas of marshland into cultivable land.[...]
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