Prehistoric vessel found in Black Sea

An intact dugout wooden canoe, datable to prehistoric times, has been found at the bottom of the Black Sea by Bulgarian fishermen. According to head of the Archaeological Museum in the port city of Sozopol, Dimitar Nedkov, the vessel was found some 15 miles off the coast. "The dugout is 8.5 feet long and 27.5 inches wide, and it is made most probably of oak," AP quoted Nedkov as saying.[...]
Source

Ancient tomb found near Machu Picchu

A group of Peruvian archaeologist at Torontoy Archaeological Complex dug up an amazing discovery located in the historic sanctuary of Machu Picchu. A tomb of a person of unidentified gender and age was found accompanied by funerary trappings, pots, plates, an aryballos, a pitcher and a pair of garment pins or tupus.[...]
Source

Hoaxes from the Holy Land

Israeli authorities called it "the fraud of the century": fakes passed off as archaeological finds with biblical ties. The most notorious object was the James ossuary, a limestone box inscribed in Aramaic with the words "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Five men were charged, and the trial has been dragging on for three years.[...]
Source

Farm boys’ 70-year-old stone-tool find etches out image of area’s earliest visitors

In the late 1930s, Adolph Schumann was plowing a corn field on his family’s Olmsted County farm when he hit a rock.
Riding on the moldboard plow behind his team of horses, the teenager was close enough to the soil to see what he had unearthed. It looked like an arrowhead. And there were more. Adolph came back with his younger brother, Alfred, and they filled a gunny sack.
It was a cache of stone tools left behind 12,000 years earlier by the land’s first inhabitants, one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in the region. The boys would be old men before anyone knew the significance of their find.[...]
Source

Remains of the slave ship Trouvadore found

The ship hit a reef off the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, freeing the 193 Africans aboard, researchers say.
Texas researchers have discovered the wreck of the slave ship Trouvadore, which slammed into a reef off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, freeing the 193 Africans who were being brought to the U.S. South for a life of servitude.
It is the only known wreck of a ship involved in the illegal slave trade, said marine archaeologist Don Keith, president of the underwater archaeology institute Ships of Discovery in Corpus Christi, Texas.[...]
Source

Scanners avoid destructive tests on ancient manuscripts

A portable scanner could raise the alarm when ancient manuscripts deteriorate and need to be restored. Normally, chemical tests are used to estimate the quality of paper and determine what treatment it needs. But this process destroys up to half a page of the work - and the tests are time-consuming.[...]
Source

Remnants of Buddha Found in 1,000-year-old Asoka Pagoda

A one thousand year-old miniature pagoda, recently unearthed in the Changgan Temple ruins in Nanjing in China, is believed to contain a part of Buddha’s skull.
According to a China Daily report, in the afternoon of November 22, a pagoda-shaped shrine was removed from an iron case found at a secret underground chamber in the ruins.[...]
Source

Dugout probably dating to prehistoric age discovered at Black Sea bottom

A dugout probably dating back to the prehistoric age has been discovered the bottom of the Black Sea, National History Museum Director professor Bozhidar Dimitrov told Focus News Agency.
On Friday evening at some 15 miles in the sea, east of Maslen Cape, between the seaside cities of Sozopol and Primorsko, a fishing ship found an enormous dugout, he added.[...]
Source

Inka-Mumie bei Machu Picchu gefunden

Nahe der weltberühmten Ruinenstadt Machu Picchu in Peru haben Forscher eine Inka-Mumie gefunden. Alter und Geschlecht sind nach Angaben des staatlichen Archäologenteams noch nicht bekannt. Die Mumie, die in rund 20 Kilometern Entfernung der Touristenattraktion noch auf dem Gelände der Inka-Stätte entdeckt wurde, soll nun in Cuzco untersucht werden. Neben der Mumie habe der Fundort am ehemaligen Handelsposten Torontoy 25 Beigaben wie Goldbroschen und Keramik enthalten, teilte der leitende Archäologe Homar Gallegos am Freitag mit.[...]
Quelle

Alt, älter, schnurkeramisch

Archäologen finden bei Unterwellenborn Relikte aus drei Epochen der Menschheit
Von OTZ-Redakteurin Sabine Bujack-Biedermann Unterwellenborn. "Damit hatten wir hier nicht gerechnet." Dr. Ines Spazier, Gebietsreferentin des Thüringer Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie, und Diplomarchäologe Uwe Petzold stehen vor einer ovalen Vertiefung in einer fast ebenen Zechsteinplatte. Der aufgeweichte Boden und die Erdhügel ringsum versinken langsam im Schneetreiben, doch die beiden Fachleute - vom Wetter unbeeindruckt - erklären Marcel Michele-Naussed und Reinhard Möbius, die Bauabteilungen in der Stahlwerk Thüringen GmbH leiten, den Fund als ein "schnurkeramisches Grab".[...]
Quelle

Ancient Macedonian Language

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems defines a writing system as "a set of visible or tactile signs used to represent units of language in a systematic way". This simple explanation encompasses a large spectrum of writing systems, with vastly different stylistic and structural characteristics spanning across the many regions of the globe. Therefore the inscription or the script was, is and will be the major definition source of a language. There is no defined line between a language and a dialect, but it is often said that a language is a dialect with an army and a navy, a statement credited to Max Weinreich.[...]
Source

Medieval Bishop's palace discovered in Ross

A centuries-old search for a lost palace has ended at one of Herefordshire’s best-known beauty spots, where a time team unearthed its second stunning find in nearly as many months.
The remains of what was the medieval Bishop’s Palace that once dominated Ross-on-Wye were revealed by archaeologists digging at the site of a Roman temple uncovered there earlier this year.[...]
Source

Researchers find oldest-ever stash of marijuana

Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.
The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly "cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.
The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.[...]
Source

Excavations uncover 15th century coins

Excavations in the Netherlands have uncovered 30 coins that date back to the 15th century, archaeologists say. Radio Netherlands said Thursday that archaeologists suspect a traveling salesman may have left the silver coins in the Dutch town of Coevorden at one point in history.
The coins were minted between 1380 and 1425, archaeologists say. The coins were minted in various Dutch cities, along with the German city of Aachen and the Belgian city of Ghent. Since the coins were found in Coevorden, they are expected to go on display at Coevorden Castle before becoming the property of the Drenthe province where the city is located.[...]
Source

A temple discovered below Romuliana

German experts from the Archeological Institute of Frankfurt in collaboration with our experts have come to an incredible discovery- they have found monumental buildings below Romuliana covering 300 square meters. A temple and 25 objects have been hidden under the surface.
“It was generally believed that Romuliana, the place where Roman emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus (297-311) was born, was a village. This discovery casts a completely new light on historical data about Romuliana, proving that it was a Roman settlement with all characteristics of Roman cities of the time,” says Bora Dimitrijevic, the director from the museum in Zajecar.[...]
Source

Schiffswrack zeugt von afrikanischer Geschichte

Unweit der karibischen Turks- und Caicosinseln haben Unterwasserarchäologen nach langen Untersuchungen das Wrack der Trouvadore identifiziert. Das Schiff ist so bedeutsam, weil es die Geschichte vieler Insulaner erzählt.
An Bord befanden sich hunderte afrikanischer Sklaven. Das Ziel der aus Spanien stammenden Trouvadore: Kuba.[...]
Quelle

Museen: Schub für Antikenforschung

Die Berliner Museen wollen sich stärker bei der Erforschung der Antike engagieren. Zusammen mit der Freien und der Humboldt-Universität sollen in den nächsten fünf Jahren Archäologie, Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Philosophie in einer neuen Forschungsstelle gebündelt werden, sagte der Präsident der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Hermann Parzinger, gestern. Das sogenannte Exzellenzcluster "Topoi" wird vom Senat jährlich mit fünf Millionen Euro gefördert.[...]
Quelle

Ausstellung: "Freizeit im Faschismus"

Die Wanderausstellung "Freizeit im Faschismus" dokumentiert die staatliche Freizeitpolitik im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland und im faschistischen Italien. Bis zum 25. Februar 2009 ist die Gegenüberstellung der staatlichen Freizeitorganisationen „Kraft durch Freude“ und „Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro“ in der Dokumentation Obersalzberg zu sehen.[...]
Quelle

Scientists end dig, move indoors with findings of Winnipeg archeological site

A major archeological dig at the Forks in downtown Winnipeg has come to a close, and the project moved indoors as archeologists analyze their findings.
The dig was necessary to clear the area at the Forks, where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet in central Winnipeg. The end of the dig clears the way for construction of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
The next stage of the archeological research will be carbon-dating objects that were found.[...]
Source

The Saint Louis Art Museum Ka-Nefer-Nefer Egyptian Mask Saga Continues

A recent Associated Press article reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is now looking into the provenance of the Ka-Nefer-Nefer mask, a 3,000-year-old Egyptian relic acquired in the late 1990s by the Saint Louis Art Museum.
The mask, said to date back to the Nineteenth Dynasty (1293-1185 B.C.), was unearthed early in 1952 by an up-and-coming Egyptian archaeologist named Mohammed Zakaria Goneim. It is at the center of a long-running ownership dispute between the art museum and the Egyptian government. The set-to was the topic of an in-depth Riverfront Times story by Malcolm Gay, "Out of Egypt," published in February 2006.[...]
Source

Scientists puzzle over Hanoi’s Royal Citadel

Scientists from all around the world gathered in Hanoi this week to discuss the best way to preserve the Thang Long Royal Citadel, the political, cultural and trade center of Vietnam for 1,300 years.
Archeologists have been excavating the citadel, in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh District, for around six years. They have uncovered structures and artifacts dating back to between the seventh and 18th centuries.[...]
Source

Mystery of stone 'note' is solved

The mystery of a 90-year-old note inscribed in stone has been solved thanks to a trans-Atlantic e-mail. Archaeologists appealed for information after finding the rock with the signature: "Carlyle D Chamberlain, Canadian Army" in Denbighshire.[...]
Source

Primitive man roamed Persian Plateau

Archeological discoveries on the Iranian Plateau prove that primitive man once passed through the region millions of years ago.
Artifacts dating back to the Stone Age have been found on these plateaus, helping experts retrace the steps of a tribe of primitive men that lived in the prehistoric period more than 2 million years ago and passed through the region on their way to other countries.[...]
Source

An Embalmed Corpse of a King was discovered in Kurdistan-Iran

On November 19, 2008, six corpses were discovered in Kurdistan-Iran. Archeologists believe the corpses were buried some 3000 years ago. The corpses belonged to a king and five of his bodyguards, who were buried around him. According to a myth, they were buried around him to protect their king even in death. As the picture shows, the king was buried with jewelry and his crown. A fish plaque with ancient writings placed on his chest requires a scientific study by unbiased archeologists to come up with an authentic and undistorted translation of the historic message.[...]
Source

Auf der Straße ins Jenseits

Hat ein Archäologe die Unterwelt der Maya entdeckt? Mit einem Tauchteam stieß er auf ein gruseliges Höhlensystem, das teilweise unter Wasser liegt.
Finstere Gestalten hausten in der Unterwelt der Maya. Ihre Namen waren Programm: "Eins-Tod" trieb dort ebenso sein Unwesen wie sein grimmiger Kollege "Sieben-Tod". Zu den zwölf dunklen Herren gehörten laut dem "Popol Vuh", dem heiligen Buch, auch "Hervorbringer des Eiters", "Knochenstab" und "Blut ist seine Klaue".[...]
Quelle

Red color ruled fashion world 15,000 years ago

The color red, which represents luck, happiness and passion in China, could have been used in clothing 15,000 years ago.
Li Zhanyang, a researcher with Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said in an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday.
Li has been leading an eight-member archaeological team doing excavation and related research on lake-based ruins in Xuchang, central China's Henan Province, in recent years.[...]
Source

216 ancient sites found in Chaharmahal-Ba khtiari prov

Some 216 ancient sites were discovered in Naghan and Mashayekh, suburbs of Kiyar in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari province.
Announcing this, head of the provincial Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department, Esfandiar Heidaripour said that the most ancient among them were the caves from Paleolithic and Neolithic eras.
Edifices from Achaemenid, Ashkanid, Sassanid and Qajar periods were also found during the explorations, he noted.[...]
Source

WWII Marines entombed on atoll

A Florida man's quest to find hundreds of U.S. Marines buried anonymously after one of World War II's bloodiest battles could lead to the largest identification of American war dead in history.
Researchers used ground-penetrating radar, tediously reviewed thousands of military documents and interviewed hundreds of others to find 139 graves. There, they say, lie the remains of men who died 65 years ago out in the Pacific Ocean on Tarawa Atoll.[...]
Source

Climate change wiped out cave bears 13 millennia earlier than thought

Enormous cave bears, Ursus spelaeus, that once inhabited a large swathe of Europe, from Spain to the Urals, died out 27,800 years ago, around 13 millennia earlier than was previously believed, scientists have reported.
The new date coincides with a period of significant climate change, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, when a marked cooling in temperature resulted in the reduction or loss of vegetation forming the main component of the cave bears' diet.[...]
Source

Thracian funeral mould found near Pravets

An archaeological discovery of a great importance has been during an anti-treasure hunting action. During an inspection damages on the mould have been noticed and that provoked a further investigation of the site. At the level of the antique terrain a funeral ritual had been performed.[...]
Source

Ancient road found in cave

Traces of a road used by ancient people 21,000 years ago have just been discovered at the Xom Trai Cave in the northwestern province of Hoa Binh’s Lac Son District.
Scientists from the Centre for Southeast Asian Prehistory recently made the discovery during an on-going preservation project at the site. This is the first discovery of such an ancient road in the Southeast Asian region and a rare discovery in the world," Nguyen Viet, PhD, centre director told Viet Nam News.[...]
Source

Sie warfen den ersten Stein

Niemand weiß, ob diese beiden sich je begegnet sind - aber wenn, dann muss dieser Kampf auf Leben und Tod vor etwa 28 000 Jahren im Rheinland zwischen Düsseldorf und dem Bergischen Land stattgefunden haben: eine existenzielle Auseinandersetzung zwischen dem Neandertaler und unseren menschlichen Vorfahren. Bis heute ist ungeklärt, warum die Neandertaler plötzlich ausstarben. Vielleicht könnten unsere Vorfahren sie ausgerottet haben. Das jedenfalls sagt die Theorie, für die Forscher jetzt Belege gefunden haben könnten.[...]
Quelle

Sie entscheiden, wie das Stadtschloss aussieht

Das Stadtschloss in Berlin wird wieder aufgebaut. Noch ist unklar, wie es genau aussehen wird. Diese Woche entscheidet eine Jury. Wer ist sie ?
Die Arbeit der Jury für den Architekturwettbewerb des Humboldt-Forums geht in die Endrunde. Ab morgen tagen die acht Fachleute und sieben Politiker, um am Freitagnachmittag den Siegerentwurf des Wettbewerbverfahrens vorzustellen. 30 Entwürfe waren in der Endrunde.[...]
Quelle

Der Ort, wo David Goliath besiegte

Ein antikes Tor deutet laut einem renommierten Archäologen auf die Lage der biblischen Stadt Sha’arayim hin, wo David der Legende nach den Riesen Goliath mit einer Steinschleuder tötete und dann köpfte.[...]
Quelle

Marine archaeologists find remains of slave ship

Marine archaeologists have found the remains of a slave ship wrecked off the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, an accident that set free the ancestors of many current residents of those islands. Some 192 Africans survived the sinking of the Spanish ship Trouvadore off the British-ruled islands, where the slave trade was banned.
Over the years the ship had been forgotten, said researcher Don Keith, so when the discovery connected the ship to current residents the first response "was a kind of shock, a lack of comprehension," he explained in a briefing organized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.[...]
Source

Viet Nam calls for recognition of Thang Long Royal Citadel

Viet Nam hopes UNESCO and international friends will recognise the Thang Long Royal Citadel Site as a World Heritage Site before Ha Noi’s 1,000th anniversary, said the chairman of the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences Do Hoai Nam.
After five years of excavation, Vietnamese archaeologists and historians have found evidence that the site was the centre of Thang Long Forbidden City, Nam told representatives at an international conference on the site, held in Ha Noi yesterday.[...]
Source

First century jars recovered by the Guardia Civil in Alicante

Two men have been arrested and the amphoras are thought to have come from a shipwreck off Villajoyosa.
Agents from the environment protection section of the Guardia Civil, Seprona, in Santa Pola, have arrested two people and recovered 19 amphoras dating from the first and second centuries, thought to have been plundered from a shipwreck.
The two men face charges of committing a crime against the historical heritage and one has been identified as 60 year old R.B.M.[...]
Source

Photos reveal Hadrian's history

Archaeologists have uncovered 2,700 previously unrecorded historic features along the length of Hadrian's Wall by studying thousands of aerial pictures. The English Heritage experts found ancient burial mounds, medieval sheep farms and 19th Century lead mines.[...]
Source

US funding boost for web-based archaeology journal

Funding from a New York-based foundation will help York University make academic research material available online. The Andrew W Mellon Foundation has awarded 250,000 US dollars to the study led by Julian Richards, head of the university's department of archaeology and co-director of online journal Internet Archaeology.
Prof Richards is looking at ways of using online publication to allow researchers to link their work to databases, video, audio and other information as well as stimulating academic debate.[...]
Source

NOAA-Supported Mission Discovers Historic Shipwreck Off Turks and Caicos Islands

Maritime archaeologists today announced they have recently identified the wreck of the historic slave ship Trouvadore off the coast of East Caicos in the Turks and Caicos Islands. NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research significantly funded several years of archaeological research leading to the discovery by Don Keith and Toni Carrell, from Ships of Discovery, an underwater archaeology research institute.[...]
Source

Kaufhaus Schocken in Chemnitz wird Haus der Archäologie

2011/12 soll im ehemaligen Kaufhaus Schocken in Chemnitz das Haus der Archäologie eröffnet werden. Dafür Mendelsohn-Bau mit seiner markanten Fassade restauriert und an die Bedürfnisse eines Museums angepasst werden.[...]
Quelle

Berlin soll Zentrum für Antikenforschung werden

Die Berliner Museen wollen sich stärker bei der Erforschung der Antike engagieren. Zusammen mit der Freien Universität Berlin und der Humboldt-Universität sollen in den kommenden fünf Jahren Archäologie, Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Philosophie in einer neuen Forschungsstelle gebündelt werden, sagte der Präsident der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Hermann Parzinger, am Dienstag in Berlin. Das Projekt verbinde erstmals die Altertumswissenschaften mit der Berliner Museumslandschaft. Das sogenannte Exzellenzcluster «Topoi» wird vom Senat in den kommenden fünf Jahren mit jährlich fünf Millionen Euro gefördert.[...]
Quelle

1600 Wandmalereien online zu sehen

Lübeck ist ein in Stein gehauenes Kunstmuseum. Nicht nur äußerlich lenken die Backsteingebäude auf der Altstadtinsel die Blicke auf sich – auch innen drin bergen sie Kunstschätze: die Wand- und Deckenmalereien. Allerdings sind die meisten davon dem Blick der Lübecker entzogen, denn sie befinden sich in Privathäusern. Damit aber dieser „außergewöhnliche Schatz“, wie die Kulturbeauftragte des Landes, Caroline Schwarz sagt, ans Licht der Öffentlichkeit kommt, sollen die lübschen Malereien jetzt im Internet veröffentlicht werden.[...]
Quelle

Verborgene Pyramide

Die Nasca-Kultur in Peru, die auf die Zeit zwischen 200 v. Chr. und 650 n.Chr. datiert wird, ist bisher vor allem durch ihre mysteriösen Geoglyphen (riesige Scharrbilder aus Linien oder Figuren) bekannt. Durch ihre enorme Größe sind diese nur aus größerer Höhe zu erkennen. 1994 wurden sie zum Weltkulturerbe erklärt. Benannt wurde die Kultur nach der bei den Fundorten gelegenen Stadt Nazca. Neben den Wüstenlinien sind auch Siedlungsreste, Textilien- und Keramikfunde überliefert.[...]
Quelle

Radar unearths secrets of a buried treasure

Engineers are using archaeological techniques to unearth the secrets of Thirlmere Aqueduct. Sophisticated radar technology, used to find buried treasures, is being used to inspect the 84-mile underground tunnel which brings water from the Lake District to Manchester.
Work on the tunnel, built to serve the water needs of Manchester's cotton industry, began in 1885. Parts of the aqueduct were hewn from solid rock, while others were constructed by Victorian builders.[...]
Source

Egypt faces obstacles in recovering antiquities

More than half a century ago, a prominent Egyptian archaeologist unearthed a stunning ancient mummy mask at the Saqqara pyramids near Cairo — the golden image of a noblewoman's face.
Mohammed Zakaria Ghoneim deposited the 3,200-year-old relic in a warehouse at Saqqara, where he meticulously documented his discovery. Seven years later, in 1959, Egyptian records show it was still in the same storeroom.
What happened to the burial mask of Ka Nefer Nefer in the four decades that followed is a mystery.[...]
Source

Earliest settlers in the Caribbean preferred to live on smaller islands

The assumption that large islands are more important than small ones in the history of human expansion and settlement has been challenged by new evidence from the Caribbean.
Better access to marine resources and fewer disadvantages seem to have made even tiny islets preferable locations, according to Professor William Keegan and his colleagues.[...]
Source

Finds that made Basques proud are fake, say experts

It was hailed as an archeological discovery of global importance showing, among other things, the oldest representation of Christ on the cross and proof that ancient Egyptian influences had survived deep in Roman Spain.
For traditional Basques the pictures, symbols and words found scraped onto pieces of third century pottery dug up near the town of Nanclares, in northern Spain, included miraculous evidence that their unique language of Euskara was far older than ever thought. Eighteen months ago the dig's director, Eliseo Gil, claimed that some finds at the Roman town known as Veleia were on par with those at Pompeii or Rome itself.[...]
Source

'Buddha's skull' found in Nanjing

Chinese archaeologists have claimed that a 1,000-year-old miniature pagoda, unearthed in Nanjing, holds a piece of skull belonging to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.
The pagoda was wedged tightly inside an iron case that was discovered at the site of a former temple in the city in August.
The four-storey pagoda, which is almost four feet high and one-and-a-half feet wide, is thought by archaeologists to be one of the 84,000 pagodas commissioned by Ashoka the Great in the second century BC to house the remains of the Buddha.[...]
Source

Remains of 5,500-year-old Human Settlement Found in Peru

A team of Peruvian and German archaeologists has discovered the remains of a human settlement 5,500 years old near the southern town of Nazca, south of Lima, the capital daily El Comercio reported Sunday.
The archaeologists, who are members of the Nazca-Palpa project, said that the discovery was made in a sector known as Pernil Alto, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Palpa.
The project is headed by Peruvian archaeologists Johny Isla Cuadrado and Elsa Tomasto, and by Germany's Markus Reindel.[...]
Source

Schiffswrack mit Kunstschätzen für Katharina II. wird 2010 geborgen

Der Schoner "Frau Maria" mit Kunstschätzen für die Eremitage an Bord, der im Jahr 1771 bei einem Sturm vor der finnischen Küste unterging, wird 2010 geborgen.
Das teilte der Präsident des Wohltätigkeitsfonds "Rettung der nationalen kulturhistorischen Wertgegenstände", Artjom Tarassow, am Dienstag bei einer Pressekonferenz. Die "Frau Maria" transportierte im Auftrag von Katharina II. Wertgegenstände für die Sammlungen des Winterpalastes.[...]
Quelle

Brite findet Halsreif aus der Eisenzeit

Ein Amateur-Schatzsucher hat auf einem Acker in der Nähe von Newark in Mittelengland einen 2200 Jahre alten goldenen Halsreif aus der Eisenzeit gefunden. Maurice Richardson hatte nach dem ersten Piepsen seines Spürgeräts zunächst ein Wrackteil eines im Zweiten Weltkrieg abgestürzten Flugzeugs entdeckt. Als er das Schrottstück wegwerfen wollte, gab sein Detektor erneut Laut - Grund war diesmal der goldene Halsreif.[...]
Quelle

1800 Jahre alter Streitwagen begeistert Archäologen

Rund 1.800 Jahre alt und reich verziert: Bulgarischen Archäologen ist ein Glücksfund gelungen. Sie gruben einen gut erhaltenen thrakischen Streitwagen aus - und beklagen, dass sie immer schlechtere Karten im Kampf gegen Grabräuber haben.[...]
Quelle

Piraten: Schon in der Antike eine Plage!

Die Mannschaften reich beladener Handelsschiffe mussten immer schon mehr als Wind und Wetter fürchten. Gefahr drohte ihnen auch von gut organisierten Seeräuberbanden. Vor 2000 Jahren war ihr größter Widersacher der römische Befehlshaber Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.
Lesen Sie kostenlos: "Fluch der Meere" von Wiebke Friese.(pdf)
Quelle

The enigma of Lake Ontario's 11,000-year-old footprints

The area's first evidence of human habitation – or the impressions of 'a lobster-like animal'. In the fall of 1908, while building a waterworks tunnel east of Hanlan's Point in Toronto Bay, a work crew came across 100 footprints in a layer of blue clay. The prints appeared to have been left by people wearing moccasins – 11,000 years ago. It was an astounding discovery, perhaps the first evidence of human habitation on Lake Ontario, but few recognized its significance.[...]
Source

Rewriting History in Great Britain

Recently uncovered documents in the British archives reveal dark secrets from World War II. One problem: they are forgeries.
Nothing is as central to the way the British view themselves as the telling and retelling of their gallant fight against the Nazis. Perhaps the colossal figure of Winston Churchill is taken for granted now, his boozy final years remembered with an indulgent chuckle, his elitist views and nostalgia for Empire taken as a slight embarrassment. But no one pokes fun at the underlying tale: the bull's-eye accuracy of his ignored early warnings about Hitler's intent, the real-time impact of his oratory once he became prime minister, the nation's banding together during the Blitz, the bravery of the pilots who fought the Battle of Britain and the core belief that Britain's stout heart turned the tide against fascism for decades to come.[...]
Source

Hadrian's wall boosted economy for ancient Britons, archaeologists discover

Far from being a hated symbol of military occupation, Hadrian's Wall was the business opportunity of a lifetime for ancient Britons, archaeologists have discovered.
The 73-mile long Roman wall, built in AD 122 to defend the Roman Empire from hostile Celtic tribes, created a thriving economy to serve the occupying army, according to aerial surveys. Farmers, traders, craftsmen, labourers and prostitutes seized the occasion to make money from the presence of hundreds of Roman troops.[...]
Source

Ancient Chariot Found in Bulgaria

Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov said in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.[...]
Source

Defending Byzantium

Lasting some 11 centuries from the foundation of the city of Constantinople, today's Istanbul, on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium by the Roman emperor Constantine in 330 CE to its final defeat at the hands of the Ottomans in 1453, at its height the Byzantine Empire took in the whole of the eastern Mediterranean and stretched from Anatolia and the Balkans to Egypt and north Africa. It always styled itself the heir of the Roman Empire and of classical civilisation as a whole.[...]
Source

Iraq willing to return stolen Iraqi antiquities

Iraq says it is ready to return any stolen Iraqi antiquities in its possession, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement. The statement was issued following a visit Tourism and Antiquities Minister Qahtan al-Jibouri made to Tehran early this month during which he met Iranian President Ahmadi-Najad. The statement quoted Ahmadi-Najad telling the minister that Iran “is prepared to support Iraq in all spheres including retrieving the stolen antiquities which have been smuggled abroad.”[...]
Source

"Screaming Mummy" Is Murderous Son of Ramses III?

An Egyptian mummy who died wearing a pained facial expression could be Prince Pentewere, suspected of plotting the murder of his father, Pharaoh Ramses III, according to a new analysis.
Recent examinations of the mummy, found in 1886 and now located in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, have helped archaeologists piece together a story of attempted murder, suicide, and conspiracy.
"Two forces were acting upon this mummy: one to get rid of him and the other to try to preserve him," said Bob Brier, an archaeologist at the University of Long Island in New York who examined the body this year.[...]
Source

New pyramid found at Saqqara

The newly discovered subsidiary pyramid of queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti I, the founder of the Sixth Dynasty, is another clue to understand more such an enigmatic dynasty as Nevine El-Aref writes.
Last week the announcement of the discovery at the Saqqara necropolis of the 4,300-year-old subsidiary pyramid of Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti I, the founder of the Sixth Dynasty, caught the headlines. Not only does it bring the number of pyramids discovered in Egypt to 118, but it enriches our knowledge of the Sixth Dynasty and its royal family members.[...]
Source

3,500-year-old weapon found in burn

A Bronze Age spearhead which lay submerged in a burn for 3,500 years has been discovered and handed to a museum. The spearhead was found wedged in a rock crevice in a burn at Mennock Water in Dumfriesshire. It is now on display in Dumfries Museum. "It is in a remarkable condition having survived in the water for around 3,500 years," said the annual report of the Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer.[...]
Source

Greek pipeline workers discover stone age homes

Archaeologists in central Greece have unearthed the remains of a Neolithic settlement discovered by workers laying a gas pipeline, the Greek Culture Ministry said Thursday.
Ovens and pottery, rare decorated vases and bone tools found at the site near the city of Larissa show that its inhabitants were already skilled artisans nearly 7,000 years ago, the ministry said. "The site was unknown until works for the installation of a natural gas pipeline started," the ministry said in a statement.[...]
Source

Scots unearth ancient 'treasures'

The first Roman tombstone found in Scotland for more than 170 years is among the rare artefacts unearthed by treasure hunters this year. It forms part of Scotland's annual Treasure Trove, items found by archaeologists or enthusiasts which have been handed to the Crown Office. Other pieces include a 5,000-year-old axe head, a Bronze Age sword and mysterious carved stone balls.[...]
Source

Bulgarian archaeologists discover ancient chariot

Archaeologists have unearthed a well-preserved 1,800-year-old bronze chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday.
"The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.
He said it was found in a funerary mound that archaeologists believe was the grave of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat, as he was buried with his belongings.[...]
Source

Massive Prehistoric Fort Emerges From Welsh Woods

Cloaked by time's leafy shroud, the prehistoric settlement of Gaer Fawr lies all but invisible beneath a forest in the lush Welsh countryside. Commanded by warrior chiefs who loomed over the everyday lives of their people, the massive Iron Age fortress once dominated the landscape.
Now the 2,900-year-old structure lives again, thanks to a digital recreation following a painstaking survey by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. The Iron Age hill fort in central Wales was a major feat of civil engineering, researchers say.[...]
Source

Der „Rote Franz“ – Ein Toter auf Reisen

Gestorben mit durchschnittener Kehle zwischen 252 und 388 n. Chr., anschließend im Bourtanger Moor bei Meppen versenkt und im Jahr 1900 von Torfstechern wieder entdeckt, ordnungsgemäß begraben und wenig später exhumiert – das ist der „Rote Franz“, der derzeit in einer Ausstellung des Landesmuseums Hannover zu sehen ist.[...]
Quelle

Deckenmalereien aus 400 Lübecker Häusern erfasst

Der Bereich Archäologie und Denkmalpflege der Hansestadt Lübeck und das Kunsthistorische Institut der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel stellten am Freitag zum Abschluss des DFG-Forschungsprojektes "Wand- und Deckenmalerei in Lübecker Häusern 1300 bis 1800" ihre Ergebnisse im Willy-Brandt-Haus vor.[...]
Quelle

Grabmal von Herodes? Archäologen sind sicher

Wie der leitende Archäologe Ehud Netzer von der Hebrew University in Jerusalem gegenüber Medienvertretern nun berichtete, zeigen die jüngsten Funde an der Grabstelle in der Wüste im israelische kontrollierten Teil des Westjordanlands, dass die Anlage königlichen Verhältnissen entspricht. Die Fragmente eines Mausoleums um den 2007 gefundenen Sarkophag herum, so der Archäologe, liessen Rückschlüsse auf eine echtes Monument zu: 25 Meter hoch, elegant – ganz nach dem Geschmack und Status von Herodes, der von den Römern ab dem Jahr 37 vor Christus als Herrscher von Judea eingesetzt worden war.[...]
Quelle

Zeitsprung: Ausgraber entdecken Siedlungen aus zwei Epochen

Vom Haus für die Großfamilie zu einer Frühform des Eigenheims: Diese sich über mehrere Jahrtausende vollziehende Entwicklung kann man jetzt auf einem archäologischen Grabungsfeld auf der Flur des Ortsteils Schleinitz der Gemeinde Unterkaka im Gewerbegebiet Sachsen-Anhalt Süd sehen. Auf dem Gelände will die Firma Offergeld ihr Logistik-Zentrum um weitere Lager- und Warenumschlagshallen vergrößern und ein rund 6 000 Kubikmeter Regenwasser fassendes Rückhaltebecken errichten.[...]
Quelle

Fundstücke von 1938 werden erst jetzt wissenschaftlich untersucht

Mit einem Pappkarton kam Kreisarchäologe Steffen Pratsch gestern zur Pressekonferenz. Er nahm die Scherben heraus und erzählte deren Geschichte. Schon 1938 sind sie bei Schachtarbeiten im Kurparkring Rangsdorf gefunden worden. Das Areal ist Archäologen seit 1922 bekannt.
„Es sind Reste von sieben Gefäßen; zwei davon waren sehr hochwertig. Sie haben nur eine zwei bis vier Millimeter dünne Wandungsstärke“, sagt der Archäologe. Wärmeleitfähiges Material wie Glimmer wurde darin verarbeitet. Es ist sozusagen Porzellan aus der Bronzezeit. Es hat keine Glasur. „Glasierte Tonfunde sind um 300 Jahre alt. Die hat jedes Heimatmuseum“, weiß der Experte.[...]
Quelle

Wann regierte Echnaton?

Drei Jahrtausende lang herrschten Pharaonen über Ägypten, angefangen vom mythischen König Menes bis hin zur griechischen Ptolemäer-Dynastie. Ihre Abfolge als Grundgerüst einer Chronologie des Nilstaats zu ermitteln erfordert jedoch detektivischen Spürsinn und Geduld. Antike Königslisten, Briefwechsel, astro nomische Beobachtungen und anderes mehr, sorgfältig miteinander verknüpft, liefern Hinweise auf Regenten und Regierungszeiten.[...]
Quelle

Crude Restoration Spoils Authenticity of the Mausoleum of Cyrus the Great

Recently, the authentic character of the Cyrus the Great’ mausoleum has been seriously compromised during an inept restoration project.
A portion of the stone in the ceiling of the mausoleum have been cut and replaced with a new piece during the project, an expert of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO), who wished to remain anonymous for his safety.
“Even natural factors such as wind and storms were not able to cause this kind of damage,” he added.[...]
Source

Discovery of King David-era fort stirs debate on size of kingdom

Under a sky of darkening clouds on a hill above the valley where tradition says David and Goliath battled, archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel triumphantly rests his hands on a 10-ton limestone rock, part of a newly discovered second gate to an ancient fortified city he is unearthing.
Garfinkel sees the massive gate, the largest ever found from the period, as potentially further evidence that the first kingdom of the Israelites was as grand as the Bible describes.[...]
Source

New Research Commitment To Save Sweden's Famous Royal Warship, The Vasa

How should the humidity, temperature, and light be set to preserve Sweden's famous royal warship Vasa for posterity? How much and how quickly are the ship's wood and preservative breaking down, and how is the ship's stability being affected by this?
Researchers are now going to study the degradation processes and test new methods for determine their speed, including the monitoring of how much oxygen is consumed. They will also trying out new methods for removing iron and neutralizing acids to stop the degradation. A major co-financed project will provide SEK 18 million.[...]
Source

Gold collar found in field 'best Iron Age loot in 50 years'

An amateur treasure hunter hit gold when he found an Iron Age collar worth more than 350,000 pounds (414,000 euros, 520,000 dollars) in a field, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Maurice Richardson, who unearthed the 2,200-year-old gold collar near Newark will not get to keep it but has received an undisclosed reward and his lucky find has been acquired by his local museum.
"I was only in the field because a customer kept me late," Richardson, a tree surgeon, told the Guardian newspaper.[...]
Source

Were Neanderthals stoned to death by modern humans?

Human aerial bombardments might have pushed Neanderthals to extinction, suggests new research. Changes in bone shape left by a life of overhand throwing hint that Stone Age humans regularly threw heavy objects, such as stones or spears, while Neanderthals did not.
"The anatomically modern humans would have this more effective and efficient form of hunting," says Jill Rhodes, a biological anthropologist at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, who led the new study. A warmer Europe would have opened up forests, enabling longer range hunting, she says.[...]
Source

Greek archaeologists find 6,500-year-old village

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a 6,500-year-old farming settlement in an antiquities-rich area of central Greece.
The finds include remains of houses built of wood and unbaked clay bricks, together with pottery vases, ovens and stone tools, the Culture Ministry announced Thursday.
The Neolithic-era remains were discovered during work to lay a gas pipe near the village of Vassili in Thessaly, some 170 miles (280 kilometers) north of Athens.[...]
Source

Hair in book helps identify Copernicus's remains

Researchers said Thursday they had identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books.
The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the solar system.[...]
Source

Remains confirmed as Copernicus

Scientists say they have identified remains found in 2005 as those of Nicolas Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy who was born in the 15th century. Polish and Swedish scientists used DNA testing on two strands of hair and a tooth to identify the remains of the man who theorised that the sun, rather than the Earth, is at the centre of the universe.
The remains had been discovered in Poland three years ago. "We are certain that the skull discovered in the cathedral in Frombork (northern Poland) in 2005 belongs to Nicolas Copernicus," Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski said.[...]
Source

D'Artagnan starb in Holland

"Einer für alle und Alle für einen", diesen Wahlspruch der Figuren aus Alexandre Dumas Roman "Die drei Musketiere" kennt jeder. Nur wenige wissen jedoch, dass die legendären Charaktere reale Vorbilder hatten. Eine französische Historikerin folgt seit Jahren den Spuren der Degenhelden Athos, Porthos, Aramis und deren Gefährten D'Artagnan. Jetzt ist sie offenbar auf die letzte Ruhestätte von Charles de Batz de Castelmore, comte d'Artagnan gestoßen, der Dumas zu seinem Musketierkapitän inspirierte.[...]
Quelle

Temple inscriptions point to early Chola inroads into Pallava region

Six important inscriptions have come to light in a 1,200-year-old Siva temple in Tamil Nadu. One each belongs to Aditya Chola I and Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya and three belong to Rajendra Chola I. The sixth one is from the late Vijayanagara period. The Kailasanatha temple is situated at Uttaramerur in Kanchipuram district.
Ongoing restoration work on this dilapidated temple has yielded a relief with the sculptures of Tamil Saivite saints Sundarar, Tirugnana Sambandar and Appar.[...]
Source

Real life large bronze horse unearthed in Hubei

An excavation of a tomb has unearthed the largest bronze horse ever discovered in an ancient ruin. The discovery was made in Xiangfan, in Central China's Hubei province.
The bronze horse was found recently in a tomb from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The dynasty dates back around 16-hundred years. The life-sized horse wears a spirited expression.
Experts say the piece is beautifully cast. It is a work of primitive simplicity, characterizing the style of the Han dynasty. Although the hind quarters of the statue have been damaged, the work is expected to make an important contribution to the study of the art of its era. The horse, reportedly is even larger than those unearthed in the tomb where the Terra Cotta warriors were discovered.[...]
Source

Gyeongbok Palace Ruins Unearthed

Ruins of part of Gyeongbok Palace dating back 600 years ago have been unearthed under a road near Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the palace. The ruins are so well preserved that they are reminiscent of those of Pompeii.
The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage under the Cultural Heritage Administration, which has been excavating ruins in this area, gave a briefing on the excavation site on Tuesday afternoon. The institute said it unearthed ruins of a wall that stood between Gwanghwamun and Dongsipjagak tower, of Yongseongmun and Hyeopsaengmun gates inside the palace walls between Gwanghwamun and Heungryemun gates, and of a building burned down during the Japanese invasion in the late 16th century.[...]
Source

Ausstellung: "Revolution in Bayern"

Der Ausbruch der Revolution in Bayern jährt sich im Jahr 2008 zum 90. Mal. Dies haben das Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte (HdBG)und das Institut für Bayerische Geschichte in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Bayerischen Hauptstaatsarchiv und der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek zum Anlass genommen, das in der Öffentlichkeit wenig präsente Thema in einer Ausstellung im Literaturhaus München aufzugreifen.[...]
Quelle

Early engraving of English meeting aboriginals traced to N.L.

A famous 17th-century illustration showing English explorers meeting New World natives on the Atlantic shore - identified for decades by American scholars as an early depiction of contact-era New England - has been reclaimed as a piece of this country's history after a sleuthing Canadian researcher traced the origins of the image to a well-documented 1612 encounter in Newfoundland.
The 380-year-old engraving shows two members of an English exploration party - their ship anchored in a quiet bay in the background - trading goods on a beach with a group of feather-dressed aboriginals who had arrived by canoe.[...]
Source

US has Sun King's stolen gem, say French experts

French experts said on Tuesday they had proof that the Hope Diamond, a star exhibit in Washington's Smithsonian Institution, is a legendary gem once owned by King Louis XIV that was looted in the French Revolution.
New evidence unearthed in France's National Museum of Natural History shows beyond reasonable doubt that the Hope Diamond is the same steely-blue stone once sported by the Sun King, they said.
Mineralogist Francois Farges, heading an investigation published in a peer-reviewed French journal, told AFP he was now "99 percent sure" that the Hope and the mythical Blue Diamond of the Crown were one and the same.[...]
Source

Israeli archaeologists unearth Herod family tombs

An Israeli archaeologist said on Wednesday he had unearthed what he believed were the 2,000-year-old remains of two tombs which had held a wife and daughter-in-law of the biblical King Herod.
Other findings announced by Ehud Netzer of Jerusalem's Hebrew University provided new evidence of the lavish lifestyle of the Roman-era monarch also known as the "King of the Jews."[...]
Source

Mammoth genome approaching completion

Sequencing of the extinct creature's nuclear DNA about 70 percent done.
Even though scientists haven’t yet cobbled together the full genome of the woolly mammoth, the information they’ve gathered so far — enough to assemble about 70 percent of the extinct creature’s nuclear DNA — reveals that the tundra-strolling behemoths were very closely related to modern elephants.[...]
Source

US museum head says Mexico should get Mayan jade

The director of Harvard's Peabody Museum said Tuesday he wants to return about 50 ancient carved Mayan jade pieces to Mexico, almost a century after a U.S. consul dredged the artifacts from the sacred lake at the ruins of Chichen Itza.
The artifacts were among hundreds of pieces taken to the United States by American consul Edward Herbert Thompson, who dredged up the bottom of the sacred lake between 1904 and 1910 to recover offerings deposited there by the Mayas.[...]
Source

Dead tell a tale China doesn't care to listen to

An exhibit on the first floor of the museum here gives the government's unambiguous take on the history of this border region: "Xinjiang has been an inalienable part of the territory of China," says one prominent sign.
But walk upstairs to the second floor, and the ancient corpses on display seem to tell a different story.
One called the Loulan Beauty lies on her back with her shoulder-length hair matted down, her lips pursed in death, her high cheekbones and long nose the most obvious signs that she is not what one thinks of as Chinese.[...]
Source

New Hebrew University excavations strengthen identification of Herod's grave at Herodium

Analysis of newly revealed items found at the site of the mausoleum of King Herod at Herodium (Herodion in Greek) have provided Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeological researchers with further assurances that this was indeed the site of the famed ruler's 1st century B.C.E. grave.
Herod was the Roman-appointed king of Judea from 37 to 4 B.C.E., who was renowned for his many monumental building projects, including the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the palace at Masada, the harbor and city of Caesarea, as well as the palatial complex at Herodium, 15 kilometers south of Jerusalem.[...]
Pictures
Source

Rätselhafter Fund aus der Jungsteinzeit

Kreisarchäologe Dr. Karl Schmotz entdeckt in Uttenhofener Baugebiet eine Kreisgrabenanlage -Kultische Stätte?
Die künftigen Bewohner des Baugebiets »Marterläcker« leben auf historisch bedeutsamem Boden. Bereits im Sommer haben Kreisarchäologe Dr. Karl Schmotz und sein Grabungsteam mehrere Skelette aus der Jungsteinzeit in dem Baugebiet im Stephansposchinger Ortsteil Uttenhofen entdeckt. Jetzt ist der Archäologe erneut fündig geworden.[...]
Quelle

Der Mann aus dem Eis im Emsland

5300 Jahre nach seinem Tod ist der Gletschermann Ötzi auf Reisen gegangen – jedenfalls eine täuschend echt wirkende Nachbildung des Mannes. Seit Sonntag ist sie in der Ausstellung „Frisch aufgetaut – die Fundsache Ötzi“ im Ausstellungszentrum Archäologie in Meppen zu sehen.[...]
Quelle

Found: An Ancient Monument to the Soul

In a mountainous kingdom in what is now southeastern Turkey, there lived in the eighth century B.C. a royal official, Kuttamuwa, who oversaw the completion of an inscribed stone monument, or stele, to be erected upon his death. The words instructed mourners to commemorate his life and afterlife with feasts “for my soul that is in this stele.”
University of Chicago archaeologists who made the discovery last summer in ruins of a walled city near the Syrian border said the stele provided the first written evidence that the people in this region held to the religious concept of the soul apart from the body.[...]
Source

Unity revives Lampang archaeological treasure

It is known that unity within a society can make a change. The residents of Pongsanuk village in the Northern province of Lampang are a good example. Their spirit shown in conserving an ancient temple hall was recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
These patterns gilded by gold leaves in an over-a-century old temple hall are once again mirroring the unique northern Lanna art style, after a five-year restoration project. Previously, this wooden temple hall known as Viharn Pra Chao Pan Ong, in Pongsanuk temple in Lampang, was neglected and overlooked.[...]
Source

First Islamic Inscription May Solve Qur'an Question

An Arabic traveler who engraved his name on a block of red sandstone over 1,300 years ago may help solve a question about the Qur'an that has vexed historians for hundreds of years: Why was the text seemingly written without diacritical marks?
Diacritical marks, which include accent marks, tildes, umlauts and other notations, help to distinguish one letter from another and aid in pronunciation. When added or removed, they can completely change the meaning of a word or sentence.[...]
Source

Long-isolated Libya plans new archaeology drive

Libya plans to invite the world's top archaeologists to unearth its ancient past as it tries to lure more tourists after decades in isolation, the head of the government's archaeology department said.
With a central role in early human migration, the desert country on the Mediterranean is home to a multitude of ancient and prehistoric sites. Many are thought to remain undiscovered.
But years of western sanctions tarnished Libya's image and only a few hundred thousand people visit the north African country each year, compared to over 8 million for neighbouring Egypt.[...]
Source

Archaeologists begin Cathedral Square excavation

An archaeological dig has begun in Peterborough's historic Cathedral Square.
An area of the square has been cordoned off while a mechanical digger is used to excavate the site.
The dig is being carried out before work starts to install a series of water features in the square. A spokeswoman for urban regeneration company Opportunity Peterborough said: "The work will take five days to complete."[...]
Source

Oldest nuclear family 'murdered'

The oldest genetically identifiable nuclear family met a violent death, according to analysis of remains from 4,600-year-old burials in Germany.
Writing in the journal PNAS, researchers say the broken bones of these stone age people show they were killed in a struggle.[...]
Source

Ancient Group Believed Departed Souls Lived in Stone Monuments

Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have discovered an Iron Age chiseled stone slab that provides the first written evidence in the region that people believed the soul was separate from the body.
University of Chicago researchers will describe the discovery, a testimony created by an Iron Age official that includes an incised image of the man, on Nov. 22-23 at conferences of biblical and Middle Eastern archaeological scholars in Boston.[...]
Source

Forscher finden Kleinfamilie aus der Steinzeit

Vater, Mutter und zwei Kinder, die sich im Grab an den Händen halten: Bei der Untersuchung von Steinzeitgräbern in Sachsen-Anhalt haben Forscher den ältesten Hinweis auf eine Kleinfamilie gefunden. Neue Analysen bestätigen die Verwandtschaft - und eine brutale Mordserie.
Sie lebten vor 4600 Jahren auf dem Gebiet des heutigen Sachsen-Anhalt: Nun hat ein DNA-Test bei vier gemeinsam bestatteten Steinzeitmenschen "die weltweit älteste Kernfamilie naturwissenschaftlich nachgewiesen" - davon ist jedenfalls Sachsen-Anhalts Landesarchäologe Harald Meller überzeugt.[...]
Quelle

Funde aus der Klosterfrühzeit

Abwasserkanäle, Reste eines Brunnens oder aus einem Stück gehauene Sandsteinbecken – was Archäologen in der Erde neben dem Ephorat im Kloster Maulbronn alles gefunden haben, hat sie selbst überrascht.
Im Zuge des Ausbaus des evangelischen Seminars innerhalb des Klosters Maulbronn sind sie ans Licht gekommen: Überreste, teilweise so alt, dass Mittelalter-Archäologe Folke Damminger sie in die Frühzeit des Klosters im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert einordnet.[...]
Quelle

Buried in each other's arms

For more than four thousand years since their violent deaths they have lain together - a mother, father and their two boys.
They are, say archaeologists, the earliest known example of the nuclear family, carefully buried side by side, perhaps by grieving relatives or friends.
The find sheds tantalising light on the life of our prehistoric ancestors living at the dawn of civilisation in Europe. It also suggests that family values have been thriving since before the time of Stonehenge.[...]
Source

Was the Aksa Mosque built over the remains of a Byzantine church?

The photo archives of a British archeologist who carried out the only archeological excavation ever undertaken at the Temple Mount's Aksa Mosque show a Byzantine mosaic floor underneath the mosque that was likely the remains of a church or a monastery, an Israeli archeologist said on Sunday.
The excavation was carried out in the 1930s by R.W. Hamilton, director of the British Mandate Antiquities Department, in coordination with the Wakf Islamic Trust that administers the compound, following earthquakes that badly damaged the mosque in 1927 and 1937.[...]
Source

Remains of Iron Age fort found in Wednesbury

Archaeologists have uncovered what could be the remains of an ancient Iron Age hill fort in the Black Country.
The exciting find was made during a dig on behalf of the Black Country Housing Group and a group of eager schoolchildren were on hand to witness it. The community regeneration agency invited pupils from the nearby St Mary’s RC primary school in Wednesbury to watch the dig opposite St Mary’s Church and meet with archaeologists.[...]
Source

West Bank Looting - The stolen past

For a thousand years the ruins of Khirbet Tawas, a Byzantine jewel crowning a gentle slope planted in olive trees, stood southwest of Hebron. Graceful rows of columns stretched the length of the basilica, watching over the church's ornate mosaic floor. Then, in 2000, the second intifada struck with the force of an earthquake. As Palestinians fought Israeli troops, the West Bank became all but ungovernable. Soon the Israelis set up a web of security checkpoints, sealed off the region, and barred most Palestinians from working inside Israel. Jobless men looked for cash wherever they could find it. Armed with shovels, a small band descended on Khirbet Tawas.[...]
Source

A 7,000-year-old find awaits detailed analysis

Too often, Janet and LeRoy Peterson have heard the tell-tale sounds of screeching tires and, soon after, a rap on their door.
Another motorist has just discovered that the natural terrain around their river valley home makes a natural funnel for deer, the Petersons told members of the Indian History Hunters at a Nov. 4 meeting in Willmar.[...]
Source

Colossus of Rhodes to be rebuilt as giant light sculpture

It may not straddle the port as its predecessor once did, but in terms of sheer luminosity and eye-catching height the new Colossus of Rhodes will not disappoint. Nor will it fall short of the symbolism that once imbued the ancient monument.
Twenty-three centuries after craftsmen carved the legendary statue that has inspired legions of painters, poets, playwrights and politicians, a new world wonder, built in the spirit of the original Colossus, is about to be born on the Aegean island.
After decades of dashed hopes, the people of Rhodes will fulfil a long-held dream to revive one of the world's seven ancient wonders - thanks to the promise of international funding and the East German artist Gert Hof.[...]
Source

Ancient earrings found in Jumilla

Their grape design confirms the tradition of wine making in the area. Some earrings in the form of grapes and thought to date from 2,300 years ago have been found in Jumilla, Murcia. They are being used to confirm the wine-making tradition and activities in the area.[...]
Source

New evidence surfaces of David's kingdom

For 3,000 years, the 12-foot high walls of an ancient city have been clearly visible on a hill towering above the Valley of Elah where the Bible says David slew Goliath.
But no one has ever linked the ruins to the city mentioned in the First Book of Samuel's famous account of the legendary duel and the victory of the Israelites - until now. On Tuesday, Hebrew University archaeology Professor Yosef Garfinkel will present compelling evidence to scholars at Harvard University that he has found the 10th century biblical city of Sha'arayim, Hebrew for "Two Gates."[...]
Source

Roman Artefacts Discovered at Gabrevci Site in Macedonia

Macedonian archaeologists found over 100 new artefacts, dating to the early Roman period, at the Gabrevci site in the central part of the country.
130 ceramic vessels and deformed bronze objects were discovered during initial excavations, Trayche Nachev, head of the archaeological team, told national media on Sunday. The new findings come a month after a ritual funeral coach was discovered at the site, according to media reports.[...]
Source

Five longhouses found in latest archaeological dig

Excavation of the largest Native village in North America, dating from the 1300s to 1400s, was recently completed in Tillsonburg. The area excavated was on Quarterline Road, in front of the Tillsonburg soccer park. The property is owned by Bamford Homes and Bethel Temple. Bamford Homes' plans are to erect a 25-unit condominium building there, similar to King Richard’s Court.[...]
Source

Wenn Erdreich Geschichte(n) erzählt...

Das Archäologische Freilichtmuseum Groß Raden ist seit Anfang November seit 27 Jahren erneut eine echte Ausgrabungsstätte. Der Archäologe Dr. Frank Wietrzichowski untersucht hier, unterstützt durch etliche Helfer, den Burgwall und das ursprünglich dort vorhandene Tunneltor, welches Slawen vor 1000 Jahren anlegten, um ins Innere des Bauwerks zu gelangen.[...]
Quelle

Ancient Cemetery Discovered in Western Iran

A prehistoric burial ground was found near the Iranian city of Sanandaj, located in the country's western Kurdistan Province. The 3,000 year-old cemetery, which was found during a road construction project, is located 500 meters from the previously found ancient mound of Zagros.[...]
Source

Cynisca of Sparta

A Spartan princesss Cynisca broke the mould by winning a four horse chariot race in 396 BCE. English classicist, Paul Cartledge, introduces us to Cynisca of Sparta and offers us an insight to why she can be considered the first Greek female Olympic winner.[...]
Source

Roman emperor head discovered in a package!

The marble head of a statue of a Roman emperor was delivered in the National History Museum today from "Sofia Airport - Customs".
The head, most probably representing Octavian August, was found in a package sent from Haskovo to Western Europe.[...]
Source

More clues about life near Persepolis

Iranian and Italian archeologists have found clues about the daily life of people living near Persepolis during the Achaemenid Dynasty.
A detailed scientific study into the daily life of ordinary people living near Persepolis has been carried out for the first time, revealing that the area has been permanently occupied since the Achaemenid era.[...]
Source

Archaeologists try to date the Brogdar Megaliths on Orkney

Archaeological excavations have continued this summer within ‘The Heart of Neolithic Orkney’ World Heritage Site.
The Ring of Brodgar, the third largest standing stone circle in Britain and the Ness of Brodgar, its accompanying settlement site, have been the focus of an investigation funded by Historic Scotland and Orkney Island Council under the direction of Dr Jane Downes (Orkney College UHI) and Dr Colin Richards (Manchester University).[...]
Source

Musketeer D'Artagnan's grave in Netherlands, historian says

A five-year quest to locate the tomb of d'Artagnan -- the inspiration for Alexandre Dumas's novel The Three Musketeers -- has led to a small Dutch church where new research suggests the swashbuckling hero is buried.
Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan died during the Siege of Maastricht on June 25, 1673, and, according to a leading French historian, was laid to rest only few kilometres away at Saint Peter and Paul Church in Wolder.[...]
Source

Great Pyramid Mystery to Be Solved by Hidden Room?

A sealed space in Egypt's Great Pyramid may help solve a centuries-old mystery: How did the ancient Egyptians move two million 2.5-ton blocks to build the ancient wonder?
The little-known cavity may support the theory that the 4,500-year-old monument to Pharaoh Khufu was constructed inside out, via a spiraling, inclined interior tunnel—an idea that contradicts the prevailing wisdom that the monuments were built using an external ramp.[...]
Source

5 walled cities from 300 BC unearthed

Andhras flourished during the time of Chandragupta Maurya much before the advent of the Satavahanas, and were said to be as powerful as Mauryans. They had 30 fortified walled cities way back in 300 BC, wrote the Greek traveller Megasthenes in his Indika. In what could be an exciting discovery, the State Department of Archaeology and Museums has identified five of those 30 walled cities.
The Department has found physical evidence proving Megasthenes right and by the same token –– throwing light on the existence of Andhras and Telugu language before the Satavahana period. The study is part of a project taken up to find the 30 walled cities mentioned by the Greek traveller and historian in his travelogue.[...]
Source

Mary Rose sunk by French cannonball

For almost 500 years, the sinking of the Mary Rose has been blamed on poor seamanship and the fateful intervention of a freak gust of wind which combined to topple her over. Now, academics believe the vessel, the pride of Henry VIII's fleet, was actually sunk by a French warship – a fact covered up by the Tudors to save face.
The Mary Rose, which was raised from the seabed in 1982 and remains on public display in Portsmouth, was sunk in 1545, as Henry watched from the shore, during the Battle of The Solent, a clash between the English fleet and a French invasion force.[...]
Source

Indian hunt-and-kill site a rare find

An archaeological dig in northern Kentucky has uncovered Native American tools and bison bones from a hunt that took place hundreds of years ago.
Evidence at the site in Big Bone Creek shows that the hunters killed, and butchered the animals with stone tools, leaving the bones and tools behind.[...]
Source

2,1 Millionen für Archäologie-Museum in Graz-Eggenberg

Um 2,1 Millionen Euro errichtet das Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz eine neue Bleibe für die archäologischen Prunkstücke. Die Stars: ein Silberkelch und ein Streitwagen.
Wenn im Juni 2009 in Graz-Eggenberg das Museum für Archäologie eröffnet wird, wird man das Bauwerk kaum bemerken. Der Hintergedanke ist naheliegend: Nicht die Architektur sollte im Vordergrund stehen, sondern das, was innen zu sehen ist. Und auf den großen Moment der Eröffnung dieses Innenlebens freut sich Joanneum-Direktor Wolfgang Muchitsch schon jetzt. "Denn seit einigen Tagen steht fest: Wir werden mit einer echten Top-Sensation der Archäologie aufwarten können."[...]
Quelle

Archäologie: Keltischer Münzschatz auf Acker in Maastricht gefunden

Archäologen haben auf einem Acker in Maastricht einen in den Niederlanden einzigartigen keltischen Münzschatz aus dem 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr. gefunden. Nach Angaben der Stadt Maastricht besteht der Schatz aus insgesamt 109 Gold- und Silbermünzen. Die 39 Goldmünzen werden dem keltischen Volksstamm der Eburonen zugeordnet.[...]
Quelle

Pferdepipi macht den guten Ton

Bei der ersten internationalen Fachtagung im Xantener Römermuseum beschäftigen sich Wissenschaftler mit „Terra Sigillata“, dem Porzellan der Antike. Das neue Museum verzeichnet exzellente Besucherzahlen.[...]
Quelle

Glockenspiel am Nil

Eine archäologische Sensation: Der hannoversche Philosoph Friedrich Wilhelm Korff enträtselt den Bauplan altägyptischer Pyramiden.
Große Entdeckungen beginnen oft mit einem Zufall. Auch der Philosoph Friedrich Wilhelm Korff hätte nie das seit Jahrtausenden gesuchte Bauprinzip der ägyptischen Pyramiden wiederentdeckt, wenn er einfach das getan hätte, was von ihm erwartet wurde. Als Fellow des Berliner Wissenschaftskollegs wollte der hannoversche Professor 1985 eigentlich seine Arbeit über Platon voranbringen. Doch statt sich über altgriechische Texte zu beugen, tüftelte der heute 68-Jährige lieber an seinem Leichtmetallflugzeug.[...]
Quelle

Berliner Charité to return Aborigine skulls

Berlin's Charité hospital has agreed this week to return 18 Aborigine skulls to their native country of Australia, after having them for more than 120 years.
The remains have been part of a collection of the museum of ethnology in Berlin since the second half of the 19th century. Their exact origin and how the hospital came to own them remains unclear.
“It needs further clarification which parts of Australia the skulls come from so we know where to return them to,” Günther Schloterer, spokesperson for the Australian Embassy, told The Local on Thursday.[...]
Quelle

Borrowers heal ancient Egyptian coffin smashed in 1969 protest

A rare 2,500-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus shattered in a student protest almost four decades ago is expected to be a whole, new artifact when it returns to its home in Montreal after a sojourn in Gatineau.
The elaborately-painted Hetep-Bastet coffin and the mummy inside are on loan to the Museum of Civilization, which plans to hand the ancient wooden coffin back to its owner, the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), in far better condition than when it left.[...]
Source

Ausstellung: "Menschen am Rand des Eises"

Als die Menschen vor rund 12.000 Jahren ihre Lager am Rand des Rheingletschers aufschlugen, waren es vor allem Höhlen, die ihnen Schutz vor Schnee und eisiger Kälte boten. Sie lebten fast ausschließlich von der Jagd. Ihre bevorzugte Beute waren große Pferde- und Rentierherden. Eines dieser Jagdlager war die Höhle vom „Kesslerloch“ bei Thayngen nahe der Schweizer Grenze.[...]
Quelle
Rosengartenmuseum Konstanz

Ausstellung: "Die Ostgoten – Schutzherren der Alamannen"

Die Ostgoten in der Zeit des Königs Theoderich des Großen (493–526) stehen im Mittelpunkt dieser Präsentation. Die vom Landesmuseum Kärnten in Klagenfurt konzipierte Ausstellung zeigt wertvolle Leihgaben vom Hemmaberg, einem bedeutenden archäologischen Fundplatz im österreichisch-slowenischen Grenzgebiet, an dem sich die Entwicklung des frühen Christentums im Ostalpenraum in einzigartiger Weise studieren lässt.[...]
Quelle
Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen

Alte Kirche und keltischer Münzschatz

In der syrischen Wüstenstadt Palmyra sind Archäologen auf eine 1.200 Jahre alte Kirche gestoßen. Außerdem haben Archäologen auf einem Acker in Maastricht einen in den Niederlanden einzigartigen keltischen Münzschatz aus dem 1. Jahrhundert vor Christus gefunden.[...]
Quelle

Keltische Gold- und Silbermünzen gefunden

Davon träumt jeder Schatzsucher: In einem Getreidefeld bei Maastricht ist ein Schatz aus gut 100 keltischen Münzen gefunden worden. Archäologen datierten die 39 Gold- und 70 Silberstücke auf die Mitte des ersten Jahrhunderts vor Christus, als die Kelten gegen die nach Germanien einziehenden Römer kämpften.
Die Geldstücke wurden von einem 47-jährigen Niederländer entdeckt, der eher zufällig mit seiner Metallsonde das Feld durchkämmte, wie die städtischen Behörden am Donnerstag mitteilten.[...]
Quelle

Prehistoric pelvis offers clues to human development

Discovery of the most intact female pelvis of Homo erectus may cause scientists to reevaluate how early humans evolved to successfully birth larger-brained babies. "This is the most complete female Homo erectus pelvis ever found from this time period," said Indiana University Bloomington paleoanthropologist Sileshi Semaw. "This discovery gives us more accurate information about the Homo erectus female pelvic inlet and therefore the size of their newborns."[...]
Source

Phoenician-era cemetery found in Lebanon

A Phoenician-era cemetery has been uncovered in Lebanon's coastal town of Tyre, officials said on Wednesday, adding that the find could provide key information about the seafaring civilisation.
"This discovery represents for now the most important source of information to better understand the history of the Phoenicians in this region," said Ali Badawi, an archaeologist and head of antiquities in Tyre, which was a major Phoenician seaport from about 2000 BC onwards through the Roman period.[...]
Source

Bowl survives 300 years underground

Archaeologists have discovered a piece of crockery dating back more than 300 years on a Belfast city centre building site. The bowl fragment, dated from 1676, was discovered during a survey on a Skipper Street site owned by the Merchant Hotel which is being excavated ahead of a planned extension. Archaeologist Audrey Gahan said there was great excitement when it was unearthed on Wednesday.[...]
Source

Ancient Celtic coin cache found in Netherlands

A hobbyist with a metal detector struck both gold and silver when he uncovered an important cache of ancient Celtic coins in a cornfield in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht.
"It's exciting, like a little boy's dream," Paul Curfs, 47, said Thursday after the spectacular find was made public. Archaeologists say the trove of 39 gold and 70 silver coins was minted in the middle of the first century B.C. as the future Roman ruler Julius Caesar led a campaign against Celtic tribes in the area.[...]
Source

Phia Mun Cave reveals wealth of archaeological treasures

Archaeologists have finished the second phase of excavation at Phia Mun Cave, Na Hang District in the province of Tuyen Quang and have uncovered over 1,000 relics and 12 tombs of the Neolithic Hoa Binh culture.
Excavations began in May last year and archaeologists soon realised the importance of the site, as they quickly uncovered objects 6,000 to 7,000 years old, and concluded that the cave was inhabited during Neolithic times.[...]
Source

Archaeologists hail 'remarkable' Roman settlement uncovered during pipeline work

A Roman settlement has been unearthed by a water company laying pipelines.
The civilian settlement in Cumbria is believed to date to the first century AD and includes the remains of timber buildings and cobbled streets.
The discovery was made by United Utilities engineers during excavations for a sewage pipeline near Penrith in October.[...]
Source

Charting 9000 years of history in Falkirk

Around 9000 years ago the first humans set foot in Falkirk. Since then Bronze Age settlers and the Romans are among the many cultures to have left their mark on the area.
The clues to their existence are everywhere. They can be found beneath the ground we walk on and across the local landscape. Park your car at The Falkirk Wheel and you are actually on top of an Iron Age settlement.[...]
Source

8th century church discovered in Syria

Archaeologists in central Syria have unearthed the remnants of an 8th century church, an antiquities official said Thursday.
A Syrian-Polish archaeological team recently discovered the church in the ancient city of Palmyra, said Walid al-Assaad, the head of the Palmyra Antiquities and Museums Department. He did not say specifically when the church was discovered or the exact date the church was built.
He said the church is the fourth and largest discovered so far in Palmyra — an ancient trade center that is now an archaeological treasure trove.[...]
Source

Forscher entdecken Phönizier-Friedhof im Libanon

Forscher haben an der libanesischen Küste einen großen Friedhof aus der Zeit der Phönizier entdeckt. Der Fund könne wichtige Informationen über die Geschichte der Phönizier in der Region liefern, sagte der Archäologe Ali Badawi am Mittwoch. Der Friedhof aus der Zeit zwischen dem neunten und siebten Jahrhundert vor Christus liege am östlichen Rand der Küstenstadt Tyrus und sei nahezu intakt.[...]
Quelle

Expedition entdeckt verschollene Inkastadt

Eine Expedition unter der Leitung des Journalisten und Historikers Santiago del Valle hat jetzt im Süden Perus die Reste von Vilcabamba la Grande entdeckt, der sagenumwobenen, über Jahrhunderte verschwundenen Hauptstadt des letzten Inkareiches. Die mittlerweile elfte Expedition in einer langen Reihe von Forschungsreisen zur Wiederentdeckung der legendären Inka-Stadt stand unter der Schirmherrschaft der spanischen Organisation für internationale Zusammenarbeit AECID (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo).[...]
Quelle
Tras las huellas de Vilcabamba la Grande

Iraq: Can ancient Babylon be rescued?

It was one of the world's first, greatest cities — a place where astronomers mapped the stars millennia ago and kings created an early code of law and planted what became known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Yet little remains of the ancient capital, as seen by The Associated Press during a trip to Babylon last month on one of the few permits issued by Iraq's government since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The site has the aura of a theme park touched by the ambition of dictator Saddam Hussein and the opportunism of looters: Modern walkways run beside crumbling old walls, a reconstructed Greek theater and a palace built for Saddam atop an artificial hill.[...]
Source

Regierung stoppt Salzabbau im Mumiengebiet

In den letzten Jahren wurden in einem Salzbergwerk 250 Kilometer nordwestlich der iranischen Hauptstadt Teheran die spätantiken Mumien von insgesamt sechs Männern samt ihrer Ausrüstung gefunden. Trotz Protesten seitens Wissenschaftlern und Kulturbehörden wurde der Bergbaubetrieb nicht eingestellt. Etwaige weitere archäologische Schätze waren so der Gefahr ausgesetzt, zerstört zu werden.[...]
Quelle

Scholars, archeologists ponder whether ancient Babylon can be rescued

It was one of the world's first, greatest cities - a place where astronomers mapped the stars millennia ago and kings created an early code of law and planted what became known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Yet little remains of the ancient capital, as seen by The Associated Press during a trip to Babylon last month on one of the few permits issued by Iraq's government since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The site has the aura of a theme park touched by the ambition of dictator Saddam Hussein and the opportunism of looters: Modern walkways run beside crumbling old walls, a reconstructed Greek theatre and a palace built for Saddam atop an artificial hill.[...]
Source

How warfare shaped human evolution

It's a question at the heart of what it is to be human: why do we go to war? The cost to human society is enormous, yet for all our intellectual development, we continue to wage war well into the 21st century.
Now a new theory is emerging that challenges the prevailing view that warfare is a product of human culture and thus a relatively recent phenomenon. For the first time, anthropologists, archaeologists, primatologists, psychologists and political scientists are approaching a consensus. Not only is war as ancient as humankind, they say, but it has played an integral role in our evolution.[...]
Source

Record find of oracle bones in Shaanxi

Archaeologists in Shaanxi province have unearthed more than 1,100 oracle bone characters, shedding new light on the number of such inscriptions in existence. The find was made at a cluster of tombs in Qishan county that date back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-771 BC).
Lei Xingshan, head of the dig team, said in Xi'an yesterday: "Prior to our discovery at the Temple of Duke Zhou, less than 1,100 Chinese characters written on pieces of bone and tortoiseshell had ever been found."[...]
Source

Portal to Maya "Hell" Found in Mexico?

A labyrinth filled with stone temples and pyramids in 14 caves—some underwater—have been uncovered on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, archaeologists announced recently.
The discovery has experts wondering whether Maya legend inspired the construction of the underground complex—or vice versa.[...]
Source

Egypt Unveils Discovery of 4,300-Year-Old Pyramid

Archaeologists have discovered a new pyramid under the sands of Saqqara, an ancient burial site that has yielded a string of unearthed pyramids in recent years but remains largely unexplored.
The 4,300-year-old monument most likely belonged to the queen mother of the founder of Egypt's 6th Dynasty, and was built several hundred years after the famed Great Pyramids of Giza, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters in announcing the find Tuesday.[...]
Source

Historic site found in Sharjah

A historic site was found in Shaikh Saqr Souk in Sharjah, in the Shubihiyeen area. The site that was discovered recently is an ancient molasses making plant.
Abdul Aziz Muslim, Head of the Heritage and Cultural Affairs Department in the Culture and Information Department in Sharjah, said that excavations uncovered a whole ancient site for extracting molasses from dates with all its tools and details.[...]
Source

Huge necropolis unearthed in Sicily

Archaeologists working at the ancient Greek city of Himera in northern Sicily have uncovered what they now believe to be the largest Greek necropolis on the island.
Although experts have long known about the burial ground, they have only recently understood its importance because of building work to extend a local railway track. Hundreds of graves have already been uncovered but archaeologists believe there are thousands more waiting to be found in the burial ground of the city, which rose to prominence more than 2,500 years ago.[...]
Source

Archaeologists shed new light on old Sri Ksetra

The Pyu settlement of Sri Ksetra could be centuries older than previously thought, according to a research paper published earlier this year.
The scholarly consensus is that the Pyu settlement arose in the fifth century CE, based largely on a stone relief now in Yangon’s National Museum. But “this dating might be revised backward”, according to the paper’s authors, as similar artwork found in India has been dated to the second century BCE.[...]
Source

Ancient Rome lives again on Google Earth

The glory that was Rome is to rise again. Visitors will once more be able to visit the Colosseum and the Forum of Rome as they were in 320 AD, this time on a computer screen in 3D.
The realisation of the ancient city in Google Earth lets viewers stand in the centre of the Colosseum, trace the footsteps of the gladiators in the Ludus Magnus and fly under the Arch of Constantine.[...]
Source

Findings cast light on mediaeval Georgian monastery in Cyprus

Sixteen important mediaeval graves have been uncovered during excavations at the the 12th century Georgian monastery near Gialia village in the Paphos district, the Antiquities Department said yesterday.
The graves dating from between the 14th and 16th centuries were found on all four sides of the monastery. Twelve were found in the south side. The graves contained clay ware and glass vessels with Greek and Georgian inscriptions on some of the items, the Antiquities Department said.[...]
Source

Lebanon finds 2,900 year old Phoenician remains

Lebanese and Spanish archaeologists have discovered 2,900-year-old earthenware pottery that ancient Phoenicians used to store the bones of their dead after burning the corpses.
They said more than 100 jars were discovered at a Phoenician site in the southern coastal city of Tire. Phoenicians are known to have thrived from 1500 B.C. to 300 B.C and they were also headquartered in the coastal area of present-day Syria.[...]
Source

Tunnel unterm Houthschen Garten

Auf der Großbaustelle am Houthschen Garten müssen die Archäologen Dr. Gerard Jentgens und Dr. Regina Machhaus den Bauarbeiten immer einen Schritt voraus sein. Überall, wo eines der sechs Wohnhäuser entstehen wird, lassen die Archäologen durch den Bagger ein Fenster öffnen. Am Dienstag fanden sie intakte Tunnel.[...]
Quelle

Pyramide nach 20 Jahren Suche geortet

Ägyptische Archäologen haben in der Wüste von Sakkara bei Kairo eine Pyramide ausgegraben. Die Pyramide, von der noch eine Art massiver Sockel erhalten ist, wurde ihrer Ansicht nach vor 4300 Jahren für die Mutter von Pharao Teti errichtet.[...]
Quelle

Archäologische Gesichtsrekonstruktion

Die Gemälde, die von Dante Alighieri (1265 bis 1321) existieren, zeigen den prominenten Schriftsteller mit bisweilen sehr unterschiedlichen Gesichtszügen – nur die große Nase ist auf allen zu finden. Jetzt ist es Forschern erstmals gelungen das Antlitz des berühmtesten Dichters Italiens genau zu rekonstruiert.[...]
Quelle

Traditionsreiche Forschungsgesellschaft wählt Rostocker Bibelwissenschaftler in den Vorstand

Dr. Hermann Michael Niemann, Professor für Altes Testament und Biblische Archäologie an der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Rostock wurde am Wochenende einstimmig in den Vorstand des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palästinas gewählt. Der Deutsche Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas e.V. gehört zu den ältesten Forschungsgesellschaften in Deutschland. 1877 gegründet, hat er sich der Förderung und eigenen Durchführung von archäologischen, topographischen, ethnologischen, philologisch-literarischen, religionsgeschichtlichen und naturkundlichen Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur Palästinas gewidmet.[...]
Quelle

Ein "Fenster" in die Tiefe der Geschichte

Manfred Boes vom Initiativkreis Schloss Hartenfels hockt vor einem Kreis aus Bruchsteinen im Boden des "nassen Kellers" abseits des Lapidariums im altehrwürdigen Torgauer Schloss. Was für den Laien eher weniger bedeutend erscheinen mag, weckt in ihm immer noch den Forscherdrang: Im April letzten Jahres machte er sich gemeinsam mit zwei ABM-Kräften ans Werk, das Erdreich aus einem hier befindlichem Oktagon zu schaufeln.[...]
Quelle

Ohrring aus der Römerzeit

Archäologen haben im Osten Jerusalems einen vollständig erhaltenen Ohrring aus der Römerzeit entdeckt. Das in Gold gefasste Schmuckstück bestehe aus drei Perlen sowie zwei Smaragden, teilte die israelische Altertumsbehörde gestern mit. Demnach stammt der Ohrring aus der Zeit zwischen dem ersten Jahrhundert vor Christus und dem 4. Jahrhundert nach Christus. "Der Ohrring ist wunderbar erhalten, sodass es scheint, als sei er gestern hergestellt worden", hieß es.[...]
Quelle

Egypt says has found pyramid built for ancient queen

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a pyramid buried in the desert and thought to belong to the mother of a pharaoh who ruled more than 4,000 years ago, Egypt's antiquities chief said on Tuesday.
The pyramid, found about two months ago in the sand south of Cairo, probably housed the remains of Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti, who ruled from 2323 to 2291 BC and founded Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, Zahi Hawass told reporters.
"The only queen whose pyramid is missing is Shesheshet, which is why I am sure it belonged to her," Hawass said. "This will enrich our knowledge about the Old Kingdom."[...]
Source

Egypt says has found pyramid built for ancient queen

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a pyramid buried in the desert and thought to belong to the mother of a pharaoh who ruled more than 4,000 years ago, Egypt's antiquities chief said on Tuesday.
The pyramid, found about two months ago in the sand south of Cairo, probably housed the remains of Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti, who ruled from 2323 to 2291 BC and founded Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, Zahi Hawass told reporters.
"The only queen whose pyramid is missing is Shesheshet, which is why I am sure it belonged to her," Hawass said. "This will enrich our knowledge about the Old Kingdom."[...]
Source

Valorous archaeological Roman bath discovered in Skikda

A very important archaeological Roman bath dating back to Romans Era has been discovered at Ramdane Djamel Municipality, Skikda eastern province. The precious archaeological site is still in a good state.
A rumour spread about a discovery of an archaeological site has been circulated by a citizen through internet. This has encouraged some citizens living at Ramdane Djamel municipality to dig holes by night with the aim of stealing precious artefacts. Security services chased them away and secured this archaeological discovery, which is considered as the second discovery after the mass grave discovered few months ago in Skikda.[...]
Source

Ancient village discovered in Tucson

In 2004, voters approved bonds to upgrade and expand the wastewater facility at Ina Road and Interstate 10. But before anything new can be built, the state and county require a dig for any archaeological ruins.
While digging around the wastewater facility they discovered an Ancient village. Archaeologists from Desert Archaeology say they shouted when they found an ancient village which they estimate is 3,500 years old. Fred Nials says, "On a scale of 1 to 10 this is about a 9.9."[...]
Source

Southern Wall Of Jerusalem That Dates To Time Of Hasmonean Dynasty Discovered On Mount Zion

An exciting discovery in Jerusalem constituting extraordinary remains of the wall of the city from the time of the Second Temple (second century BCE-70 CE) that was built by the Hasmonean kings and was destroyed during the Great Revolt, and also the remains of a city wall from the Byzantine period (324-640 CE) which was built on top of it, were uncovered in an extensive excavation that is currently underway on Mount Zion.[...]
Source

Chinese emperor's lavish quarters are restored

In between dispatching armies to secure the empire and building China into the richest country in the world, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned a retirement home for himself in the Forbidden City palace.
Never intended as a simple hideaway, the garden quarters built in the 1770s by the fifth emperor in the Qing Dynasty set a standard for opulence befitting an emperor renowned for his power and refinement: screens inlaid with rare hardwoods, intricate silk embroideries, delicate carvings of jade and bamboo.[...]
Source

5,000-year-old relics found in Iran

The recent discovery of 28 relics dating back to 3,000 BCE has shed light on the previous agricultural situation of southern Iran.
Archeological excavations in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan have resulted in the discovery of artifacts 2,100 to 5,000 years old.
A dish considered the smallest in the world, stone and clay cutting tools, date seeds, a clay vessel as well as glassware belonging to the Parthian Dynasty were among the discovered objects.[...]
Source

Neuerlicher Pyramidenfund bei Sakkara

Ägyptens Chefarchäologe Zahi Hawass hat in der Wüste von Sakkara bei Kairo eine Pyramide ausgegraben. Die Pyramide, von der noch eine Art massiver Sockel erhalten ist, wurde seiner Ansicht nach vor rund 4300 Jahren für die Mutter von Pharao Teti errichtet. "Seit 1988 suche ich nach dieser Pyramide, endlich habe ich sie gefunden", jubelte der ägyptische Forscher in Sakkara.[...]
Quelle

Historische Scherben im Erdreich

Unter Liebenwaldes neuem Parkplatz lagerten Gefäße aus der Bronzezeit, die Funde werden nun erforscht.
Die Asphaltschicht des alten Parkplatzes war gerade abgetragen, als die Bauarbeiter ihr Werkzeug plötzlich beiseite legen mussten. Kleine Tonscherben, Reste von Krügen lagen verstreut in der Erde. An einigen Stellen war der Boden verfärbt, Teile eines mittelalterlichen Stadtgrabens wurden sichtbar: Mehrere hundert archäologische Relikte verbargen sich im Erdreich neben der Liebenwalder Ernst-Thälmann-Straße.[...]
Quelle

CBS Reporter Investigated for Looting

Jules Crittenden reports that federal agents are investigating whether CBS correspondent Lara Logan smuggled mementoes to the U.S.
Agents found out that Logan had items in her possession which belong back in Iraq, after a video profile on the beautiful reporter was aired called “Lara Logan’s Spoils of War.”
In the video, Logan shows off mementoes from Iraq and Afghanistan which she keeps in her Washington office. She explained she found the pieces in the ruins of the Olympic committee building after it was bombed by American forces.[...]
Source

Iran bans mining at salt man necropolis

Iran has banned mining at the home of its world renowned salt mummies in a bid to protect the historical area northwest of the country.
The Ministry of Industries and Mines has cancelled the mining permit for the Chehrabad Salt Mine; industrial authorities have also informed the mine owners that any actions on their behalf are as of now prohibited in the area.
The area will become a scientific and archeological research center.[...]
Source

More of ancient Amazon civilization unearthed

A Japanese scholar leading a multiyear archaeological project in Bolivia says his team has found a small human skeleton well over 1,000 years old in this year's excavation, the first discovery of its kind in that country.
"The well-preserved skeleton was very small in size, about 70 cm tall, with a disproportionately large head, but it had characteristics of an adult," Katsuyoshi Sanematsu, a professor of anthropology at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, said in a recent interview.[...]
Source

2,000-year-old gold earring found in Jerusalem

Israeli archeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old gold earring beneath a parking lot next to the walls of Jerusalem's old city, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.
The discovery dates back to the time of Christ, during the Roman period, said Doron Ben-Ami, director of excavation at the site. The piece was found in a Byzantine structure built several centuries after the jeweled earring was made, showing it was likely passed down through generations, he said.[...]
Source

$150 million rebuild plans for Temple of Artemis

Ambitious plans have been unveiled for the rebuilding of the Temple of Artemis - one of the original seven wonders of the world at Selçuk, near Izmir. The Temple of Artemis, or Artemision in Greek, recalled in both Greek and Byzantine anthologies for its magnificence, was once one of the Seven Wonders of the World. After decades of vandalism, religious conflict and decay it is finally to be rebuilt.[...]
Source

Istanbul's burried history holds machines

Construction on the new metro tunnel, which goes under the Bosporus and will connect the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, has uncovered 8,000-year-old cremation urns from the Neolithic Age.
The urns were found in the everglade at Marmaray, before heavy machinery was due to start excavations. The urns are a first in Anatolian history, which proves human tribes lived in Istanbul before the reigns of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.[...]
Source

Did environmental disasters play role in Mayan decline?

Apocalypto fans might be forgiven for thinking the fabled collapse of the ancient Maya, the retreat of a civilization from pyramids and ceremonial centers across Central America from 800 to 1000 A.D., involved all sorts of cataclysmic events, war, famine and devastation. Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed detailed how environmental disasters might be to blame, a popular scholarly explanation for the Maya collapse.[...]
Source

700-year-old coins found in field

Three 700-year-old coins which were found in a field have been declared treasure by a coroner at Flint. The silver pennies date back to between 1307 and 1314, to the reigns of both Edward I and his son Edward II. Archaeology enthusiast Peter Jones, from Holywell, found a coin in 2006, then returned to the same spot a year later, when the other two were found.[...]
Source

Iron Age ‘town in the sky’ is revealed

From the air, its hidden tree-covered slopes give little clue to the settlement that existed there 3,000 years ago. And its position in one of the quietest corners of the nation may seem a million miles away from the bustle of today’s towns and cities. But historians have now described an ancient Iron Age hillfort in Mid Wales as the “Millennium Stadium of its day”, after computer modelling revealed its true scale.[...]
Source

Kostbarer Ohrring aus der Römerzeit in Jerusalem entdeckt

Archäologen haben in Jerusalem einen vollständig erhaltenen Ohrring aus der Römerzeit entdeckt. Das in Gold gefasste Schmuckstück bestehe aus drei Perlen sowie zwei Smaragden, teilte die israelische Altertumsbehörde mit. Demnach stammt der Ohrring aus der Zeit zwischen dem ersten Jahrhundert vor Christus und dem vierten Jahrhundert nach Christus. Das Schmuckstück sei bei Ausgrabungen in Ruinen aus der byzantischen Epoche im Osten von Jerusalem entdeckt worden.[...]
Quelle

Ausstellung: "Raubgräber – Schatzgräber"

Raubgräber meiden das Tageslicht und arbeiten oft im Verborgenen. Man sieht sie kaum und noch viel seltener in offiziellem Arbeitsauftrag. Ihr Begehren: die »Truhe voll mit Gold« zu finden. Dabei plündern sie gezielt archäologische Stätten. Sensationell war 2002 die Sicherstellung der »Himmelsscheibe von Nebra«. Kein Einzelfall, geht die Polizei doch von einem harten Kern von bis zu Tausend kriminellen Raubgräbern aus.[...]
Quelle
Raubgräber – Schatzgräber

Die Venus von Willendorf schweigt immer noch

Willendorf in der Wachau, 80 Kilometer westlich von Wien: Im ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert war der Ort für Fundstellen aus der Altsteinzeit bekannt. 1908 begannen Josef Szombathy, der Leiter der anthropologisch-prähistorischen Sammlung des k.k. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums Wien und die Prähistoriker Josef Bayer und Hugo Obermaier mit Ausgrabungen. Wenige Tage nach Grabungsbeginn gelang ihnen am 7. August 1908 ein einzigartiger Fund, der in jede Kulturgeschichte Einzug hielt.[...]
Quelle

Irritationen über Direktorensuche

Ägyptologen aus aller Welt protestieren über die Art und Weise wie in Berlin der Posten für das renommierte Ägyptische Museum neu besetzt werden soll. Die zunächst ausgewählte Wissenschaftlerin ist in Fachkreisen umstritten.[...]
Quelle

Das Genfer Musée d'art et d'histoire beleuchtet die Zeit von Echnaton und Nofretete

Unter dem Titel «Akhénaton et Néfertiti» zeigt das Genfer Musée d'art et d'histoire sowohl die problematischen wie auch die schönen Seiten der Regierungszeit von Echnaton. Die Ausstellung ist wohltuend übersichtlich, ohne geheimnisvoll leuchtendes Gold und ohne Mumien-Schau.[...]
Quelle
Sonne und Schatten der Pharaonen

Loot! Chicago at center of battle between archeologists, collectors

On April 11, 2003, three days after American tanks rumbled into Baghdad and the day after looters swarmed the Iraq National Museum like a plague of locusts, Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon press corps enjoyed a little laugh at the expense of Iraq's catastrophe. "The images you are seeing on television you are seeing over and over and over, and it's the same picture of some person walking out of some building with a vase, and you see it 20 times and you think, 'My goodness, were there that many vases?' Is it possible that there were that many vases in the whole country?" the defense secretary asked with mock astonishment. This was vintage Rumsfeld, and the journalists chuckled appreciatively. The looting would continue for two more days.[...]
Source

König Salomos Kupferminen

In der Mine Khirbat en-Nahas im heutigen Jordanien förderten möglicherweise bereits Schürfer zu Zeiten des israelitischen König Salomo Kupfer. Das Alte Testament weist das Gebiet als Königreich von Edom aus.[...]
Quelle

Älteste hebräische Inschrift entdeckt

Archäologen der Hebräischen Universität Jerusalem haben bei Ausgrabungen in der antiken Festung Elah nahe Beit Shemesh eine Tonscherbe entdeckt, die die bisher älteste bekannte hebräische Inschrift trägt. Der Fund kann als die bedeutendste archäologische Entdeckung in Israel seit den Schriftrollen vom Toten Meer betrachtet werden und ist um 1000 Jahre älter als diese...[...]
Quelle

Iran Closes Historic Tunnel in Hormuz Island

A historic tunnel in Iran’s Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf has been filled with soft soil in order to protect it from further damage.
Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization conducted the project to protect the ancient tunnel near the remains of the Portuguese’ Fortress from environmental damage and vandalism.
The tunnel was unearthed during recent works on electrical wiring close to the old fortress. Future studies are expected to reveal more details about the tunnel.[...]
Source

Ausstellung: "Das buddhistische Erbe Pakistans"

Die buddhistische Kunst Gandharas erscheint dem westlichen Blick seltsam bekannt, ihr westliches Erbe ist offenkundig. Gandhara bezeichnet eine Region im heutigen Pakistan, deren Verbindung zur griechischen Kultur durch die weitläufigen Eroberungen Alexander des Großen (330 v. Chr.) und seine lokalen Nachfolger begründet wurde und die letztlich im Handel entlang der Seidenstraße zwischen zum römischen Reich sowie Ost- und Südasien münden sollte. Auch der aus Indien kommende Buddhismus verbreitete sich entlang der Seidenstraße.[...]
Quelle
Das buddhistische Erbe Pakistans

A Rare Hebrew Seal was Discovered

In archaeological excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out at the behest of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, in the northwestern part of the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem, a rare and impressive Hebrew seal was discovered that dates to the latter part of the First Temple period. The seal was found in a building that is currently being uncovered, which dates to the seventh century BCE – to the time when the kings Manasseh and Josiah reigned.[...]
Source

New Bamiyan Buddha find amid destruction

"We got him!" screamed Afghan archaeologist Anwar Khan Fayez as he leapt from the pit beneath the towering sandstone cliffs, where the Bamiyan Buddhas once stood.
Seven years after Taliban militants blew up the two 1,500-year-old statues in a fit of Islamist zealotry, a French-Afghan team in September uncovered a new, 19-metre (62-foot) "Sleeping Buddha" buried in the earth.
The news that a third Buddha escaped the Taliban's wrath has caused excitement in this scenic valley, where the caverns that housed the ruined statues are an eerie reminder of Afghanistan's past and present woes.[...]
Source

Scholar finds Mayans' buried highway through hell

Legend says the afterlife for ancient Mayas was a terrifying obstacle course in which the dead had to traverse rivers of blood, and chambers full of sharp knives, bats and jaguars.
Now a Mexican archaeologist using long-forgotten testimony from the Spanish Inquisition says a series of caves he has explored may be the place where the Maya actually tried to depict this highway through hell.
The network of underground chambers, roads and temples beneath farmland and jungle on the Yucatan peninsula suggests the Maya fashioned them to mimic the journey to the underworld, or Xibalba, described in ancient mythological texts such as the Popol Vuh.[...]
Source

Herrschaftspräsentation und Totenritual in der eurasischen Steppe

Zu diesem Thema spricht Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Herrmann Parzinger im Rahmen der jährlich vom Geisteswissenschaftlichen Zentrum für Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas (GWZO) ausgerichteten Oskar-Halecki-Jahresvorlesungen. Dabei präsentiert Parzinger neue Forschungen in skythenzeitlichen Großkurganen in Wort und Bild. Der Vortrag ist zugleich Auftakt für die Jahrestagung des GWZO "Ostmitteleuropa und die Steppe".[...]
Quelle
Jahrestagung des GWZO "Ostmitteleuropa und die Steppe" (pdf)

Was aß der Neandertaler?

Die „Archäologie im Rheinland 2007“ lädt auch im 21. Band zu einer spannenden Reise vom Erdaltertum bis in die jüngste Vergangenheit der Region ein. Das aktuelle Jahrbuch des beim Landschaftsverband Rheinland angesiedelten Amts für Bodendenkmalpflege präsentiert herausragende Ausgrabungen und Funde.[...]
Quelle

Sensation in der Baugrube

Das Kloster Moutier-Grandval gehörte zu den wichtigsten und ältesten Klöstern der Schweiz. Wo es genau stand, ist aber unbekannt. Neue Funde im Berner Jura machen den Forschern Hoffnung – und geben vielleicht neue Hinweise zum Ursprung des Christentums in Mitteleuropa.[...]
Quelle

Neue Funde auf der Burg Gutenberg in Balzers

Neue Funde auf der Burg Gutenberg in Balzers verraten weitere Details über die Geschichte des Burghügels. Die Archäologen sind völlig unerwartet auf unzerstörte, vormittelalterliche Erdschichten gestossen.[...]
Quelle

Heilig und heiß umkämpft

Der Mäzen drängelte: "Können Sie etwas sehen?" "Ja, wunderbare Dinge!" Dieser legendäre Wortwechsel zwischen Lord Carnarvon und seinem Ausgräber Howard Carter begleitete im November 1922 die Entdeckung der Grabkammer von Tutanchamun. Wunderbare Dinge bekommen auch moderne Archäologen zu sehen. Doch die Zeit adliger Geldgeber, die Götter, Gräber und Gelehrte nur als Zeitvertreib betrachten, ist vorbei. Länderübergreifende Kooperationen ermöglichen Ausgrabungen, die von Keramik, Königen und Kindern geprägt werden. So suchte der Lüneburger Archäologe Arne Weiser im Sommer nach den ältesten Spuren des Buddhismus auf Sri Lanka - und wurde dabei von seiner Tochter Saida begleitet. Langweilig wurde der Sechsjährigen nie, "denn ich konnte mit Emilia spielen", der Tochter von Prof. Karl Kohlmeyer, dem Chef von Arne Weiser.[...]
Quelle

Climate change "doomed ancient Argyll site"

An ancient Scots religious site predating the Pyramids and Stonehenge may have been abandoned because of climate change, according to archaeologists. Kilmartin Glen, in Argyll, has one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Europe.
The glen - a place of sacred rites from 3700BC or earlier - contains at least 350 ancient monuments, including burial cairns, rock carvings and standing stones. The most spectacular of the remains is the fortress of the Scots at Dunadd, capital of the kingdom of Dalriada.[...]
Source

Labourers unearth gold coins in Maharashtra school

Labourers digging at a school campus in Maharashtra stumbled upon a minor treasure, a cache of 847 gold coins of an unknown period, bearing inscriptions in Greek and Urdu, and worth roughly Rs.4.2m, the police said on Saturday. The labourers tried to keep secret their find but were apprehended.
The treasure trove weighs 2.47kg and is worth about Rs.4.20m, an investigating officer said. The gold coins were recovered on Friday when some labourers were digging to construct a new swimming pool on the campus of the Gadgil Municipal High School at Shaniwarpeth in Pune.[...]
Source

Aufstieg und Fall mit dem Monsun

Tropfsteine sind einzigartige Klimaarchive. Wie Bäume bilden sich bei ihrem Wachstum Jahresringe, an denen sich unter anderem die Niederschlagsmengen der Vergangenheit ablesen lässt. An einem Stalagmiten aus China konnten Forscher nun zeigen, wie der Monsun das Reich der Mitte beeinflusste und zum Aufstieg und Fall ganzer Imperien führte.[...]
Quelle

Researchers seek to identify Pequot War battlefield sites

The Pequot War, a conflict between English settlers and the Pequot tribe, is the focus of a new comprehensive study by a team of UConn researchers.
Kevin McBride, associate professor of anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), says the war, which took place from 1636 to 1638 in southern New England, remains one of the most misinterpreted and least understood events in the history of early America.
McBride is working on the project with Connecticut State Historian Walter Woodward, assistant professor of history in CLAS, State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center.[...]
Source

Cave gives clues to China's history

Scientists have found a ancient limestone stalagmite in a cave in northwest China, which offers insights into Asian monsoons and how they may have shaped China's political history.
Certain limestones are made up of plenty of oxygen and carbon traces, which provide a valuable record of past precipitation, temperature and vegetation changes.
In an article published in Science, the researchers say the stalagmite, found in Wanxiang Cave, China, told of strong and weak monsoon periods, which coincided with the rise and fall of several Chinese dynasties.[...]
Source