Iraq Accuses U.S. of Damaging Ancient City

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - American forces are damaging the ancient city of Kish and must withdraw from the 5,000-year-old archaeological site, an Iraqi ministry said Thursday.

The Ministry of State for Tourism and Antiquities Affairs said U.S. forces had set up a camp in Kish, near Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.

In a statement, the ministry said the U.S. military was preventing anyone from entering this important archaeological site to assess the damage, which was not specified.

The U.S. military had no immediate comment.

Last year, the British Museum said that U.S.-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base had damaged and contaminated artifacts dating back thousands of years in one of the world's most important ancient sites.

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Archaeologist Links Ancient Palace, Ajax

ATHENS, Greece - Among the ruins of a 3,200-year-old palace near Athens, researchers are piecing together the story of legendary Greek warrior-king Ajax, hero of the Trojan War.

Archaeologist Yiannis Lolos found remains of the palace while hiking on the island of Salamis in 1999, and has led excavations there for the past six years.

Now, he's confident he's found the site where Ajax ruled, which has also provided evidence to support a theory that residents of the Mycenean island kingdom fled to Cyprus after the king's death.

"This was Ajax' capital," excavation leader Lolos, professor of archaeology at Ioannina University, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

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Elfenbein in Kunst und Wissenschaft: Jahrestagung zur Elfenbeinforschung an der Uni Mainz

Mit internationaler Beteiligung findet am 11. und 12. April die 3. Jahrestagung des Internationalen Zentrums für Elfenbeinforschung (INCENTIVS) an der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz statt. Zu der Veranstaltung werden Teilnehmer von Universitäten und Museen aus Italien und Spanien, Schweden und den Niederlanden, Großbritannien und den USA erwartet. Die Teilnahme ist frei und steht allen Interessierten offen.

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Archaeologist links ancient palace with Ajax

ATHENS — Among the ruins of a 3,200-year-old palace near Athens, researchers are piecing together the story of legendary Greek warrior-king Ajax, hero of the Trojan War.

Archaeologist Yiannis Lolos found remains of the palace while hiking on the island of Salamis in 1999, and has led excavations there for the past six years.

Now, he's confident he's found the site where Ajax ruled, which has also provided evidence to support a theory that residents of the Mycenean island kingdom fled to Cyprus after the king's death.

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Thousands Gather in Temple for Eclipse

SIDE, Turkey - Thousands of skygazers gathered in an ancient temple of Apollo and let out cheers Wednesday as a total solar eclipse turned day into twilight, casting an eerie blue glow across the sky and the Mediterranean Sea.

NASA astronomers handed out protective glasses to hundreds of Turkish children before the eclipse cut a dark swath across the sky — a band that stretched from Brazil, across West Africa, Turkey and Central Asia, then disappeared at sunset in Mongolia.

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1,000-year-old church plagued by vandals enlists hi-tech help

ALL Saints' Parish Church has survived intact through all the rigours of the last millennium.

But today its problems have become so bad that even the latest electronic security device put up to protect it has been vandalised by yobs.
The thieves and vandals have left church officials with bills totalling many thousands of pounds.

The 1,000 year old church, in the village of Aston between Rotherham and Sheffield, has now been fitted with a new Mosquito device in an attempt to keep away the youths blamed for many of the problems there.

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All hail to York's very own Roman emperor

HIS statue sits outside the south transept of York Minster – and the Roman emperor Constantine's links to Christianity were no less close.

A major new exhibition, officially opened in York today by the Princess Royal, celebrates the city's links with the man credited with the acceptance of Christianity as a mainstream religion and the subsequent effects on the religious and political make-up of the West.

Constantine was in York in 306AD on a military campaign led by his father, the co-emperor Constantius, and on his death the fortress's legions proclaimed his son emperor.

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as geheimnisvolle Reich der Etrusker

Vom 1. April bis 17. September 2006 zeigt das "Museum Schloss Hohentübingen" die Sonderausstellung "Die Etrusker - Jenseitsvorstellungen und Ahnenkult". Die Ausstellung präsentiert neben etruskischen Urnen, Grabausstattungen sowie Grabbeigaben aus verschiedenen Jahrhunderten auch zwei Rekonstruktionen aufwendiger Grabkammern, die einen Einblick in die Vorstellungen der Etrusker von Tod und Jenseits bieten.

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"Cave Art"

Press release concerning a new book

"A Permanent History in Stone" The book consists of reflective essays on cultural events that have been indelliby inprinted on rock. The sequence of topics such as "A culture favored by the environment", "An open air museum", "Brasilian pre-history", "The primitive imagination", and others, help to show that no artist, whether poet, cave artist, or any other type, is complete in himself or herlself. This entire work is carefully written in apreciation of the process we call Cave Art.

This book will guide the reader to connect past and present, to see through the wonder of color, photography, the images of dreams recorded long ago in caves and shelters. this work trully impresses us by showing how our ancestors, by their way of living and production created a rich souvenier for the future.

contact:

Josina Mello = josinamelo@terra.com.br

The Magic Flutes

Nine thousand years ago, Neolithic villagers in China played
melodies on instruments fashioned from the hollow bones of birds.


Long ago in Jiahu village, an acclaimed musician passed away at the mature age of thirty-five. People who had appreciated his music flocked to the funeral ceremony. The musician’s body was dressed in his finest clothing, and a turtle shell was tied to his right shoulder. In life he had often worn the shell: with a few pebbles placed inside, it rattled as he danced to his own music. One of the musician’s two surviving sons, young men in their late teens, directed several helpers as they lowered the body into the rectangular earthen pit dug the day before. Then, kneeling in the grave, he separated the head from the torso with a stone ax, and carefully turned the head to face northwest—a customary treatment for special people of the time.

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Lucca's Roman past revealed

Lucca, March 28 - The Roman past of Lucca has been revealed by a striking new discovery in the heart of the Tuscan walled city .

Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of a Roman presence long before the traditonal date of Roman settlement in 180 BCE - corroborating Roman historian Livy's account of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal passing through Lucca in 217 BCE .

"We've found pieces of wall that are certainly datable to a period before 200 BCE," said lead archaeologist Michelangelo Zecchini .

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Intaglio Ring

Copper alloy ring with an intaglio (a carved or engraved gem) in the form of a human figure, made from translucent, dark blue glass. It probably dates from the early 1st or 2nd century AD.

Wessex Archaeology have posted a photo here...

Mary Rose museum plans unveiled

Plans for a £23m purpose-built museum to house Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose have been unveiled.

The main part of her hull was raised from the bottom of the Solent, off Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 1982.

The new museum, at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, will house the ship as well as some of the 19,000 artefacts found during other dives on the wreck.

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Dragon Hall history comes alive

It's one of the most unique buildings in western Europe and from next week it is hoped it will draw thousands of visitors to Norwich after a £1.8 million restoration project.

Dragon Hall in King Street, a Grade I listed building built about 1430, will open its doors again to the public on Wednesday, April 5.

It is believed to be the only known surviving hall of its type in western Europe that was built by one man for his own use, which is why it has been restored to transform it into a major heritage visitor attraction. The Great Hall boasts a crown post roof which is said to be the secular equivalent of those found in East Anglia's great medieval churches. One of the roof carvings is of a dragon which gives the building its name.

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Greece facing ‘explosive’ situation with illegal digs

A country of amazing archaeological wealth that is both a blessing and a curse, Greece has sought for decades to keep its antiquities out of the hands of smugglers.

But even as pressure grows on museums in Europe and the United States to return disputed objects to their countries of origin, police in Greece warn that the looting of ancient sites shows no sign of abating.

“It’s a complete free-for-all, the situation is very hard to control,” says George Gligoris, head of the Greek police force’s special department against antiquity smuggling.

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British Museum returns aboriginal ashes to Tasmania

The British Museum says it will repatriate two bundles of aboriginal human remains back to Australia after they were taken more than 160 years ago.

"It will be a very joyous occasion when we've got two stolen remains back to Tasmania,” said Trudy Maluga of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. "These two bundles are the only two known to exist today so it's very special to us."

Maluga said aboriginal representatives will travel to Britain soon to arrange for the return of the remains. She wasn't sure exactly when that would be.

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Egypt threatens to sue US museum over ancient mask

Cairo - Egypt threatened Tuesday to take legal action against a US museum unless it returns an ancient mask in its collection that the authorities claim was stolen from a warehouse years ago.

The St Louis Art Museum has a week to turn over the 19th dynasty (1307-1196 BC) mask of Ka-nefer-nefer or face legal action, according to Zahi Hawas, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

"I have informed the American side in a letter that if they do no respond to our request we will take the necessary legal measures and file a case in a US court and inform Interpol," the antiquities chief said in a statement.

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Sächsische Staatsregierung beschließt »Haus der Archäologie« in Chemnitz

Mit der gestern im sächsischen Landeskabinett gefassten Entscheidung steht der Einrichtung des »Hauses der Archäologie« im ehemaligen Kaufhaus Schocken in Chemnitz nichts mehr im Wege.

"Jetzt sind endgültig die Weichen dafür gestellt, dass das 'Haus der Archäologie' künftig in Chemnitz im Kaufhaus Schocken zuhause sein wird. Damit erhält der Freistaat ein ambitioniertes Landesmuseum, das eine umfassende archäologische und kulturgeschichtliche Darstellung Sachsens bietet.

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Palace of Trojan War hero found in Athens

Athens - Greek archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient palace associated with Ajax the Great, a legendary warrior-king cited by Homer as a key participant in the Trojan War, the senior archaeologist supervising the project said Monday.

Dating from the 13th century BC, the Mycenaean-era palace found on the small island of Salamis, west of Athens, is part of a four-level complex extending over 750 square metres, supervising archaeologist Yiannos Lolos said in a statement.

"Travellers and archaeologists have been seeking this city from the early 19th century," Lolos said.

"This is one of the few cases where a Mycenaean-era palace can be attributed to a famed Homeric hero...with every possible certainty," he added.

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Palace of Homer's hero rises out of the myths

ARCHAEOLOGISTS claim to have unearthed the remains of the 3,500-year-old palace of Ajax, the warrior-king who according to Homer’s Iliad was one of the most revered fighters in the Trojan War.

Classicists hailed the discovery, made on a small Greek island, as evidence that the myths recounted by Homer in his epic poem were based on historical fact.

The ruins include a large palace, measuring about 750sq m (8,000sq ft), and believed to have been at least four storeys high with more than thirty rooms.

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Treasure fans invited to museum

Archaeologists are holding an open day in Somerset for anyone who may have found hidden treasure.

People who want to learn more about their discoveries can take them to Taunton's County Museum.

Any artefacts of particular interest will be photographed and recorded on the Somerset county records.

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Archivist finds Henry I charter

A long-lost royal charter has been discovered by historians at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.

The document grants the manor of Maisemore from King Henry I to St Peter's Abbey in Gloucester.

Although not dated, experts know the charter was made on 3 September 1101, more than 900 years ago, and have confirmed that it is original.

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Archaeologists hail important fossil find

Addis Ababa - Archaeologists studying human origins in eastern Ethiopia have discovered 12 fossils that appear to be older than the famous fossil "Lucy", the team leader said on Saturday.

"The discovery of 12 early hominid fossil specimens estimated to be between 3.8 to 4 million years old will be important in terms of understanding the early phases of human evolution before Lucy," Ethiopian archeologist Yohannes Haile Selassie told a news conference.

"It is hoped that the new discoveries will allow scientists to connect the dots, furthering our knowledge of the time period in human evolution," he added.

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Clues to African archaeology found in lead isotopes

Microscopic specs of lead are offering clues about the enormous cultural changes that swept across northern Africa a thousand years ago.

At The University of Arizona in Tucson, a young archaeologist is analyzing lead traces in artifacts to shed light on the relatively little-understood archaeology of Africa, especially the period marked by the spread of the new religion of Islam.

Thomas R. Fenn, a doctoral student in the UA anthropology department, is unraveling evidence of centuries-old trade patterns across the Sahara Desert by identifying smelted metal artifacts, mainly copper, found in the continent's sub-Saharan regions.

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Spotlight on conservation

DURHAM'S conservation areas will be under the spotlight in a review carried out by heritage chiefs.

The City of Durham Council's heritage and design section has begun a process to appraise the 14 conservation areas in the district.

The areas vary in size and character from Holywell Conservation Area, by Brancepeth, to the large Durham City Conservation Area, centred around the castle and cathedral World Heritage Site.

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Ethiopian Skull Could Be Missing Link

"A good fossil provides anatomical evidence that allows us to refine our understanding of evolution. A great fossil forces us to re-examine our views of human origins. I believe the Gawis cranium is a great fossil," said Scott Simpson, a project paleontologist from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine at Cleveland, Ohio.

Scientists in northeastern Ethiopia said Saturday that they have discovered the skull of a small human ancestor that could be a missing link between the extinct Homo erectus and modern man.

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A cemetery of secrets

A Roman graveyard has been dug up in York. The skeletons all belonged to tall, strong men — and most are headless. Were they gladiators killed in the arena or victims of a deranged dictator? Richard Girling reports

Like nobody else before or since, Caracalla had it coming. On April 8, AD217, four days after his 29th birthday, appropriately on his way to a Moon Temple in modern-day Turkey, this irredeemable lunatic dismounted from his horse, pulled down his breeches and surrendered to the demands of diarrhoea. It was one of his own bodyguards who stepped forward and stabbed him to death.

Even for an emperor of Rome, it took some doing to inspire that kind of loyalty. The sculptors of his portrait busts found him as difficult to idealise as historians have done since, his face fixed in a stony scowl, prematurely aged by a lifetime of hate.

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OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGY UNEARTHS SAXON SETTLEMENT IN SOUTHAMPTON

An archaeological dig in Southampton’s medieval city centre has unearthed Saxon structural remains and a WWII pharmacy.

Archaeologists were called in last November to investigate the 0.5-hectare site in the centre of bustling Southampton after an evaluation by the City Council.

The plot, between the city’s High Street and French Street has been earmarked for redevelopment, but the discovery of medieval vaults and structural remains dating from the late Saxon period prompted developers, Linden Homes, to delay building work while investigations take place.

A previous evaluation by Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit found infilled medieval vaults along the High Street and the historic route of French Street on the east and west boundaries of the plot.

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Red tape slashed for Gloag's castle

THEY are seen by some as hard-nosed bureaucrats who will readily order a wall ripped down if it is inches out of place. But a different side to Scotland's planning officials emerged when they came face-to-face with the country's second-richest woman.

Remarkable documents obtained by Scotland on Sunday suggest officials were prepared to relax their normal procedures when confronted with Stagecoach tycoon Ann Gloag.

An e-mail from Perth and Kinross Council shows how one senior member of staff urged colleagues involved in a planning application at Gloag's home to visit together to minimise the intrusion on her privacy.

But the council's handling of the affair, which culminated in Gloag receiving planning permission for a 'prison camp' fence around her home, is now under investigation by Historic Scotland.

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Celtic gene 'behind Irish blood disorder'

People around the world talk with pride of their Irish blood but for some it may include a dangerous gene.

They are much more likely than any other group to suffer from a potentially fatal blood disorder. James Helm reports from Dublin.

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A prehistoric temple model from Malta

One of the most interesting features of the prehistory of the Maltese Islands is the large amount of interesting finds, whether they are the large and impressive temples, or else the various figures of the human body represented in all shapes and sizes. At the National Museum of archaeology there is an item which is given its due importance. This is the so-called small temple, discovered at ta' Hagrat Temples, Mgarr (Malta).

The small temple is very small, and it is made up of a small piece of globigerina limestone. This is carved to resemble the facade of a small building, with the difference that there are the details showing the roof slabs. The inclusion of roof slabs, and very clearly indicated gives the impression that these people had known the technique of roofing such-like structures, even though the ruins of the prehistoric temples do not have any roofs left intact. Thus, it is also possible to understand the technique of these people in roofing their buildings.

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Greece facing “explosive” situation in illegal antiquity digs

A country of amazing archaeological wealth that is both a blessing and a curse, Greece has for decades sought to keep its antiquities out of the hands of smugglers.

But even as pressure grows on museums in Europe and the United States to return disputed objects to their countries of origin, police in Greece warn that the looting of ancient sites shows no sign of abating.

“It’s a complete free-for-all, the situation is very hard to control,” says George Gligoris, head of the Greek police force’s special department against antiquity smuggling.

“And in some parts of the country, the spread of illegal digs is simply explosive,” he told AFP.

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Scientists Find Skull of Human Ancestor

Scientists in northeastern Ethiopia said Saturday that they have discovered the skull of a small human ancestor that could be a missing link between the extinct Homo erectus and modern man.

The hominid cranium - found in two pieces and believed to be between 500,000 and 250,000 years old - ``comes from a very significant period and is very close to the appearance of the anatomically modern human,'' said Sileshi Semaw, director of the Gona Paleoanthropological Research Project in Ethiopia.

Archaeologists found the early human cranium five weeks ago at Gawis in Ethiopia's northeastern Afar region, Sileshi said.

Several stone tools and fossilized animals including two types of pigs, zebras, elephants, antelopes, cats, and rodents were also found at the site.

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Scientists say fossilised skull from Ethiopia could be missing link

Scientists in Ethiopia have discovered a hominid skull that could be a missing link between Homo erectus and modern man.

The hominid cranium was found in two pieces and is believed to be between 500,000 and 250,000 years old. Sileshi Semaw, the director of the Gona Paleoanthropological Research Project in Ethiopia, said it came "from a significant period and is close to the appearance of the anatomically modern human".

Archaeologists found the cranium at Gawis, in Ethiopia's north-eastern Afar region, five weeks ago, Dr Semaw said.

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Can you dig it? Glasgow's oldest building found

A TIME team have made a breakthrough discovery after unearthing a medieval bishop's palace dating back to the 14th century.

The archaeologists claim they have uncovered Glasgow's oldest building after finding the ruins. The palace, which sits in Easterhouse in the east end of the city, is believed to date back to 1323 and knocks the current title holder off the historical top spot.

Until now it was thought that Provan Hall, built between 1460 and 1480, was the oldest building in the city.

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MOLES HELP OUT

MOLES are helping archaeologists in South Wales by digging up items thought to be from a 13th Century weapons site.

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Southampton French Quarter

Oxford Archaeology has been appointed by CgMs Consulting acting on behalf of Linden Homes to carry out excavations ahead of development of a c 0.5 ha site in the medieval centre of Southampton.

The site had been previously subject to desktop assessment and then evaluated by Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit. The evaluation revealed infilled medieval vaults fronting the High Street and historic line of French Street which bound the site to the east and west. Dense intercutting pits and structural features, dating from the late Saxon period to the 19th century were recorded in the back.

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OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGY UNEARTHS SAXON SETTLEMENT IN SOUTHAMPTON

An archaeological dig in Southampton’s medieval city centre has unearthed Saxon structural remains and a WWII pharmacy.

Archaeologists were called in last November to investigate the 0.5-hectare site in the centre of bustling Southampton after an evaluation by the City Council.

The plot, between the city’s High Street and French Street has been earmarked for redevelopment, but the discovery of medieval vaults and structural remains dating from the late Saxon period prompted developers, Linden Homes, to delay building work while investigations take place.

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Skull discovery could fill origins gap

A hominid skull discovered in Ethiopia could fill the gap in the search for the origins of the human race, a scientist said on Friday.

The cranium, found near the city of Gawis, 500 km (300 miles) southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, is estimated to be 200,000 to 500,000 years old.

The skull appeared "to be intermediate between the earlier Homo erectus and the later Homo sapiens," Sileshi Semaw, an Ethiopian research scientist at the Stone Age Institute at Indiana University, told a news conference in Addis Ababa.

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Human skull find excites experts

A skull discovered in Ethiopia could fill the gap in the search for the origins of the human race, a scientist said.

The hominid cranium was found near the city of Gawis - 300 miles southeast of the capital Addis Ababa - and is estimated to be 200,000 to 500,000 years old. (Pic: www.stoneageinstitute.org)

The skull appeared "to be intermediate between the earlier Homo erectus and the later Homo sapiens," said Sileshi Semaw, an Ethiopian research scientist at the Stone Age Institute at Indiana University.

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Statue reveals Roman lady with her make-up still on

BRITISH and Italian archaeologists have recovered for the first time a painted Roman statue with its colours preserved.

The head of a female Amazon warrior, shown exclusively to The Times, was retrieved this week from the debris of a collapsed escarpment at Herculaneum, the seaside resort for the rich and powerful of ancient Rome that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.

Domenico Camardo, the archaeologist who dug the head from the volcanic rock, said that when a workman first alerted him to the discovery, he “hardly dared hope” that the bust would be intact. “Only the back of the head was visible, and I was afraid the face would have crumbled,” he said.

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TRADE IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS VIA WEB CLOSED DOWN

An illegal trade in archaeological finds by way of the e-Bay site has been closed down by Palermo Carabinieri, who have concluded the first part of an operation called ARCHEOWEB. The soldiers have seized 8853 finds and reported 25 individuals to judicial authorities. The operation involved carabinieri over the last six months in a complex activity of analysis and checks over the web. The searches, coordinated by various Sicilian prosecutors, involved the entire island, and even other Italian regions, where certain buyers of archaeological material reside.

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Italy gets Horace farm find back

Rome, March 23 - Italy has recovered a precious statue from Roman poet Horace's famed Sabine farm .

The herm, or archaic head on a square block, was stolen from the farm near Rome in 1977 and turned up on the German antiquities market in the 1990s .

It was acquired by a German regional museum in 2000 for just 10,000 euros - a fraction of the price it would have fetched if its provenance had been known .

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Big Digs, Little Digs and Tiny Trial Trenches!

Chichester District Museum has opened a new exhibition of recent archaeology from the area. The display illustrates the scope of modern archaeology, ranging from research work and developer funded archaeology to chance finds and metal detecting.

A striking feature in the display is a 13th century roof finial which once decorated the roof of an imposing house in the medieval city. It was excavated by Wessex Archaeology in 2003 from the site of the Pallant House Gallery extension.

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Dorchester - Cupid hairpin

Roman hairpin made from carved bone, found during excavation at the site of the former County Hospital. The figure is of the winged cherub Cupid, the Roman god of love.

Photos on Flickr

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Mannheim Exhibits Bronze-Age Sky Disk Recovered From Thieves

With treasure hunters and crooked art dealers, the tale of the discovery of the Sky Disk of Nebra is like a crime thriller. Harald Meller was a key figure, helping police recover the disk from thieves to secure it for the Halle Museum of Prehistory, where he is the director.

``They call me the Sky Disk father,'' laughs Meller.

The 3,600-year-old, bronze disk, with gold symbols showing the moon, stars, horizons and a stylized boat, is the oldest surviving illustration of astronomical phenomena. Weighing about five pounds (2.3 kilograms) and the size of a dinner plate, it is now in an exhibition at Mannheim's Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen.

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Troubled milestones on the road to recovery

OFTEN they are found in ditches, caked in grime, hidden from view and all but unrecognisable.

But milestones, which at one time could mean the difference between life and death for disorientated travellers, are about to be restored as a newly-formed society attempts to reclaim markers from a bygone era.

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Reconstruction of Magellan’s Victoria docks in Piraeus on last leg of worldwide voyage

An exact replica of the Spanish vessel Victoria, the first ship to sail around the world in the early 16th century, arrived at Zea Marina in the port of Piraeus yesterday morning and will be open to visitors this weekend.

Piraeus is its first stop in the Mediterranean as the Victoria sails home to Spain after completing a world voyage that has taken it to Tenerife, Cartagena de Indias in Colombia, Panama, Hawaii, the Mariana Islands, Japan (where it was part of Spain’s participation in the Aichi 2005 World’s Fair), then Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, Djibouti, Sudan and Suez. The trip was organized by the Spanish Society for International Exhibitions (SEEI).

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Archaeologists reject plans for event at Olympia

Plans to construct a temporary running track at the ancient stadium of Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games, has upset Greek archaeologists.

The Central Archaeological Council (CAS) has vetoed proposals to install a modern track over the original one in the stadium for an international athletics event backed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The CAS said late on Wednesday that heavy equipment needed for television coverage of the event could also damage the spectacular site, nestled in the lush Olympia valley, where the ancient Olympics were founded in 776 BC.

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Kalkriese: Wissenschaftliche Auswertung bis 2010 gesichert

Seit knapp zwei Jahrzehnten führen Wissenschaftler in der Kalkrieser-Niewedder Senke bei Bramsche (Osnabrück) archäologische und naturwissenschaftliche Forschungen durch. Die bisherigen Funde belegen einen ungewöhnlich ausgedehnten und bedeutenden Kampfplatz zwischen Römern und Germanen. Nach dem heutigen Stand des Wissens könnte es sich dabei um einen Schauplatz der Varusschlacht des Jahres 9. n. Chr. handeln, wenngleich dies nicht unbestritten ist.

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Rare pre-Greek site to be explored

Palinuro, March 20 - A very rare example of surviving pre-Greek settlement in southern Italy is to be excavated and explored. The site, at Molpa in the hills above Palinuro south of Naples, is believed to contain the remains of a large village of the Enotrians, the earliest known inhabitants of Calabria and southern Campania. The Greeks who settled across southern Italy from 700BC to create Magna Graecia had an idealised vision of the Enotrians ("wine lovers") as coming from the Eden-like land of Arcadia .

In reality, they probably came from eastern Europe and moved down into a large swathe of southern Italy from 1000 BC .

Most histories of Italy, based on ancient Greek texts, portray southern Italy as virgin territory .

Recent discoveries about the Enotrians have exploded this myth.

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Isotope studies of Roman coins will be used to map origins

An archaeologist at the University of Liverpool is examining more than 1,000 Roman silver coins from museums around the world in order to establish their true economic value.

Dr Matthew Ponting, from the University's School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, is investigating the chemical composition of the coins to further understanding of how and where they were made. Dr Ponting believes that analysis of the coins will also shed more light on the political and economic issues of the Roman Empire.

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Institute for the Study of the Ancient World to Be Created at NYU with $200 Million Gift

New York University President John Sexton and Shelby White, trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation, today jointly announced the creation at NYU of a unique institute for multidisciplinary study of the ancient world that will be funded by the Foundation with a gift of up to $200 million. The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World will be a graduate research and Ph.D. degree-granting center with its own faculty and a roster of postdoctoral scholars and research fellows whose study of antiquity will cross traditional geographic and cultural boundaries.

As part of its mission, the Institute will have an extensive program of colloquia, lectures, and exhibitions that will be open to the public; it will also acquire and maintain an extensive library dedicated to the ancient world.

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Castles could receive cash boost

CASTLES could receive a cash boost in a bid to improve accessibility to visitors.

The Welsh Assembly is investing additional funds to make Wales’ historic monuments more accessible to people.

Two of the county’s castles, in Flint and Hawarden, could be set to benefit if the funding goes ahead.

The announcement that the historic buildings could be receiving extra funding was made last week by culture minister Alun Pugh.

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Proposal for an Achievable Stonehenge

As every visitor to Stonehenge will agree, its surroundings leave much to be desired. Indeed, the site has been described in Parliament as "a national disgrace".

Many people feel a start could be made on improving things straight away and need not be left until resolution of the longer-term discussions, particularly about the A303 trunk road. Please support the following proposal, which has already gained support from a lot of other organisations. If enough people join our call then it will be heeded.

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Online Archaeology Course at Oxford

Origins of Human Behaviour: the evidence from archaeology (Online)

Online technology now makes it possible for us to offer the first of our popular archaeology courses to a much wider audience. This 10-week Level 1 course is for anyone interested in finding out more about where humans have come from, and why we behave as we do.

What makes the human species different from other primates? When did we become human? The course examines these questions by reviewing the archaeological and fossil evidence for the development of human behaviour from six million years ago to the end of the last ice age.

Further information ...

Greek long-delayed Acropolis museum to open in 2007

After years of delays, legal wrangles and cost overruns, Greece hopes to open its Acropolis Museum by the end of 2007, Culture Minister George Voulgarakis said on Tuesday.

"It is our ambition that by 2007 the museum will be open to visitors," he told journalists after touring the half-finished building near the ancient hilltop temples of the Acropolis.

Greece had hoped to open the museum before the 2004 Olympics to push its claim for the return of the 5th-century BC Parthenon marbles, widely known as the Elgin marbles, from the British Museum.

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£2m facelift for Wells cathedral

Six million pounds is to be spent upgrading facilities at Wells Cathedral including opening corners to the public for the first time.
The two-year plan includes knocking through a wall to create a doorway so that visitors will enter the cathedral the same way as pilgrims 600 years ago.

A new education centre is also part of the plans and a restaurant will be moved to an upper-floor.

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Let our High Kings sleep in peace

IN some parts of Ireland, over 60% of all national monuments have been destroyed - 30-40% in the past 150 years alone.


It remains untold what destruction took place during English rule in Ireland, especially with regard to standing stones, dolmens and stone circles.

Many monuments between 2,000 and 7,000 years old have been eradicated after becoming the target of farmers, land developers and those engaged in mindless destruction of our national heritage.

At present, there are about 150,000 known sites of archaeological importance, yet, over the past 10 years, about 15,000 of these have been laid waste.

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A CITY'S ARCHAEOLOGY REVEALED AT CHICHESTER MUSEUM

One of the fascinations of archaeology is in seeing how the present has been built over the past, with chance reminders of days gone by popping up in the most curious of places. One such find was the discovery of several Bronze Age urns in the unlikely setting of a Rolls Royce factory near Chichester.

The urns are one of the many intriguing finds on display at ‘Big Digs, Little Digs and Tiny Trial Trenches’, an exhibition at Chichester District Museum from March 10 to July 25 2006.

Exploring the scope of modern archaeology in the Chichester region; the exhibition moves from from the chance finds turned up by metal detectorists, builders and developers to the complex excavation and restoration techniques employed by professional archaeologists.

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Coffin with scenes from Homer's epics found

A 2,500-year-old stone coffin with well-preserved color illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered in western Cyprus, archaeologists said Monday.

"It is a very important find," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the island's antiquities department. "The style of the decoration is unique, not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colors used."

Only two other similar sarcophagi have ever been discovered in Cyprus before. One is housed in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other in the British Museum in London, but their color decoration is more faded, Flourentzos said.

(Contains some new pictures)

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Trajan's 'Mercati' weren't markets

Rome, March 20 - The Mercati di Traiano above the Roman Forum were not markets built by Emperor Trajan, new research shows .

"There is no way markets could have been run in such a complex with its steep steps and narrow corridors," according to Trajan Forum's archaeological chief Lucrezia Ungaro .

"The Romans would never have put a market in such an 'irrational' place, where cartloads of goods couldn't have got in," Ungaro told a conference here .

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Parthenon Once a Riot of Color

If the ancient Greeks sold kitschy postcards to tourists 2,000 years ago, they would have depicted much different views of the popular sites that visitors flock to today.

Archaeologists say many of the stony ruins looked much different in their prime. Many were brightly painted in hues that have faded with time and, in some cases, with forced removal.

The Parthenon in Athens was once covered in colorful splashes of paint, for example.

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Ancient Sarcophagus Unearthed in Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus - A 2,500-year-old sarcophagus with vivid color illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered in western Cyprus, archaeologists said Monday.

Construction workers found the limestone sarcophagus last week in a tomb near the village of Kouklia, in the coastal Paphos area. The tomb, which probably belonged to an ancient warrior, had been looted during antiquity.

"The style of the decoration is unique, not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colors used," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the island's antiquities department.

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He made bones about animals

Andrew Sherratt, a British archaeologist whose explorations of animal husbandry and other civilizing practices shed light on European prehistory, died Feb. 24 near his home in Witney, Oxfordshire. He was 59.
The cause was heart failure, said a spokeswoman for the University of Sheffield, where Sherratt became a professor of Old World prehistory last year.

A researcher of eclectic interests, he studied the use of alcohol and narcotics in prehistory and the monumental arrangements of standing stones known as megaliths, but was most widely known for his work with the origins of animal products like milk and wool.

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History hunter helps save iron age gem

An ancient settlement in Gwynedd is being saved for posterity thanks to the detective work of a solicitor turned history hunter.

Kelvin Dent, the Clerk to the North Wales Police Authority, is a passionate amateur archaeologist in his spare time,

He rekindled his love of archaeology when he embarked on a GCSE course in the subject.

And while researching a project, which helped him achieve an A grade, Kelvin re-discovered an Iron Age settlement.

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Discover history on your doorstep

Easy access trails are being launched to help people discover the fascinating stories behind seven of Kent's historic fortified towns and sites. Guests will be introduced to the trails and have the opportunity to take a short walk around the castle grounds at the start of the Tonbridge trail developed by Kent County Council's Heritage Conservation and Access Development teams with the help of Tonbridge Access Group, who will also attend.

Tonbridge used to be an important stopping point for travellers going to and from London and the heritage trail reflects this, following a circular route which takes in the 15th century Chequers Inn, the Rose and Crown Hotel, the medieval Tygers Head building and the Man of Kent inn.

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Cypriot builders dig up 2,500-year-old stone coffin

· Sarcophagus illustrated with scenes from Homer
· Accidental find thought to come from warrior's tomb

A 2,500-year-old stone coffin with well-preserved colour illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered by construction workers in western Cyprus, archaeologists said yesterday.

"It is a very important find," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the Cyprus government's antiquities department. "The style of the decoration is unique - not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colours used."

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Secrets of the Dunes

They were in the wrong place, but Steve Webb's archaeology class decided to stay anyway. A colleague had mistakenly taken them to a site they'd never visited before, a nondescript-looking claypan lost among the pale dunes in the Willandra Lakes region of far western New South Wales. Luckily, Webb thought it would still make good practice fieldwork for his Aboriginal students after a week of classes in the nearby town of Mildura. He was walking behind one of them, 26-year-old Mary Pappin Jr., when she called out that she'd seen something. What she'd spotted on the wind-blown surface looked like a footprint. "We'd all been walking over it," her mother Mary says proudly. "But that little one saw it."

What she'd chanced upon is still hard to believe - not only the first Ice Age fossilized human footprints found in Australia, but the largest collection ever found anywhere.

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Photos of painted sarcophagus uncovered on Cyprus

A very rare 2,500-year-old stone coffin with well-preserved color illustrations from Homer's epics, that show a drawings depict a figure carrying a seriously injured or dead man and a lion fighting a wild boar under a tree, has been discovered in ancient tomb in Kouklia village near the coastal town of Paphos, Cyprus, southwest of capital Nicosia about 130 kilometers (80 miles) on Friday, March 17, 2006. The white-stone sarcophagus was accidentally discovered by construction workers last week in a tomb near the village of Kouklia. The artifact dated to 500 B.C., when Greek cultural influence was gaining a firm hold on the eastern Mediterranean island.

See the photos ...

Searching for city's lost Cock's Tower

ARCHAEOLOGISTS will today begin a search for traces of Wales' long-lost medieval history.

Many of Cardiff's historic landmarks have been lost in post-war redevelopment, while archaeological evidence of the city's past is buried deep beneath the modern roads and buildings.

Specialists will begin a dig in the Hayes ahead of construction on the St David's 2 shopping centre.

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Ancient sarcophagus unearthed in Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - A 2,500-year-old sarcophagus with vivid color illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered in western Cyprus, archaeologists said Monday.

Construction workers found the limestone sarcophagus last week in a tomb near the village of Kouklia, in the coastal Paphos area. The tomb, which probably belonged to an ancient warrior, had been looted during antiquity.

"The style of the decoration is unique, not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colors used," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the island's antiquities department.

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Antike Stadt Amykles entdeckt?

Italienische Archäologen vermuten das antike Amykles ca. 30 km nördlich von Neapel am Golf von Gaeta entdeckt zu haben, wie RP online berichtet.

Keramikfunde und die neuen Untersuchungen einer 2,7 km langen Umfassungsmauer lassen den Schluss zu, dass die erforschte Siedlung vom 6. - 3. Jh. v. Chr. besiedelt war. Diese Daten stimmen nach Meinung der Wissenschaftler mit den bisherigen Vermutungen über das antike Amykles überein, das durch Auswanderer der griechischen Stadt Sparta gegründet wurde.

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Roads cannot be called progress when they destroy heritage

FOR several months I have watched from across the sea as the fate of my ancestral homeland has been decided on the pages of newspapers, in public hearings, and in the High Court.

And though it pains me to write it, it pains me even more deeply to see it: the Ireland of my dreams is gripped in the blind frenzy of what the television calls “progress”, and the Hill of Tara, the heart of Ireland, is slated to suffer for it.

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Ancient Aptera, on Crete, reveals buried secrets

Two large funerary monuments, one with an underground burial chamber, have been discovered by archaeologists in the Fortress of Ancient Aptera, in the prefecture of Hania, Crete.

The final stage of the work, being carried out by the 25th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, is aimed at highlighting the site in general and, more specifically, at stabilizing the very tall architectural structures and uncovering the wall. The discovery of these graves, along with other smaller findings, is important partly insofar as they are easily accessible from the town of Hania.

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Artefacts unearthed in crannogs on display in Scotland

Iron Age artefacts unearthed in crannogs have gone on display at the Scottish Crannog Centre in Perthshire. A tiny whistle made from shrub twigs, an arrowhead, an iron knife and a woven basket are among the new items added to the Kenmore centre's collection of artefacts found in the ancient loch dwellings. The display was unveiled as the centre reopened its doors after a winter break. Footage and photos taken at the site of a Neolithic underwater forest have also been added to the exhibition rooms. The preserved remains of 5,000-year-old oak and elm trees were discovered under Loch Tay last year.

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Bronze Age jewellery found in West Sussex

A gold pendant, found near Amberley (West Sussex, England) by a treasure hunter, has turned out to be more than 3,000 years old. The piece of Bronze Age jewellery is only the second of its kind ever found; it has been dated to between 1100 BCE and 1300 BCE.

A treasure inquest, held in Chichester, heard that the pendant was found by Cowfold resident Robert Grant on September 18 last year. A landowner had given him permission to look for artefacts on the farmland near Houghton. The pendant was buried six inches underground but Mr Grant, who has been a 'detectorist' for 15 years, found it with his metal detector. He reported it to Liz Wilson, finds liaison officer for Sussex, who passed the discovery on to the British Museum. British Museum experts have classed it as a bi-conical pendant, made of between 72 and 74 per cent gold and 18 to 20 per cent silver, with the rest being copper. It weighs 1.75g and is 23mm long. The only other pendant of this type so far discovered by archaeologists was part of a large hoard found near Wrexham in 2004.

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Perthshire Archaeology Month

The fourth Archaeology Month in Perth and Kinross (Scotland) will be celebrated from 27 May to 25 June 2006.

The events within the programme are designed to give expert guidance to the best archaeological sites in the area. Possibly best known are the prehistoric monuments, such as stone circles, burial mounds and hill-forts, and the impressive legacy of the Roman occupation.

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Even the Romans had two-way city traffic

Two-way traffic is not a modern phenomenon in Chichester – the Romans had it nearly 2,000 years ago.

As a major archaeological dig continues on the former Shippam's factory site, it has emerged that a Roman road crossing the area – its existence was unknown until the excavation started – was no less than 10m wide, and two-way.

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Close encounters of Edinburgh

scotsman.com produces first video podcast

SCOTSMAN.COM are proud to raise the curtain on a new experience in online publishing. Today marks the launch of our first-ever video podcast, where readers become viewers and witness the latest technology.

We couldn't be more excited – and you should be too! – as this video podcast is believed to be the first produced by a British newspaper website exclusively for its audience. What makes this different from typical video on the web is that a video podcast captures the essence of the site – in this case the highly popular Heritage & Culture website from scotsman.com – and places the reader right in the middle of the story. Users of an iPod can view this podcast wherever, whenever they want. (See our FAQs for more on podcasting.)

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'Sad' state of our historical sites

I'm sad to say that many historical and archaeological sites in Cumbria, and I'm sure this is the same all over England, Scotland and Wales, are not as loved and looked after as they perhaps should be. Nor are they as accessible as one would possibly hope.

There are castles, stone circles, earthworks and other sites dotted around the county that no one gets to see, to visit or to photograph. Sites that are nothing but shadows of their former selves, whether through neglect, vandalism, wanton destruction or mother natures relentless attention.

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Molecules As Fossils

Mass spectrometry is helping paleontologists dig up molecular clues about prehistoric creatures

There was a time when a paleontologist's tool kit consisted of little more than a hand pick, a hammer, and a magnifying glass. But outfitting a paleontologist in the 21st century is a considerably more high-tech endeavor.

The "New Approaches to Paleontological Investigation" symposium at last month's American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in St. Louis highlighted how high-tech tools have become indispensable in paleontology. Scientists can now study fossils in greater detail than ever, thanks to state-of-the-art computers and instrumentation such as magnetic resonance imaging, computer-assisted tomography, and mass spectrometry.

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Über die Grabungen in Hattusa, der Hauptstadt der Hethiter

Vor 100 Jahren begannen deutsche Wissenschaftler in Zentralanatolien mit der Ausgrabung von Hattusa, der Hauptstadt der Hethiter. Die rund 30.000 Keilschrifttafeln, die dort seitdem gefunden wurden, haben das Geschichtsbild der Späten Bronzezeit in Vorderasien wesentlich mitbestimmt. Bei einer Tagung an der Uni Würzburg liefern nun mehrere Ausgräber aus erster Hand Informationen über aktuelle Ergebnisse.

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Google Earth: Find the Archaeology

Find the Archaeology is a game on the Google Earth community bulletin board where people post an aerial photograph of an archaeological site and users must figure out where it is. It looks like it might be fun to play, if you could find a listing of all the entries so far, so here they are (at least the ones I could find!)

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Robert the Bruce to hit tourist trail

LIKE their famous ancestor, they will keep on trying until they finally succeed. The descendants of Robert the Bruce are determined to build a lasting tribute to one of Scotland's greatest heroes by launching a heritage trail in his memory.

Other national icons such as William Wallace and Robert Burns have well-trodden tourist trails that keep their memories alive for native Scots and overseas visitors.

But the Bruce family believes a distinctive King Robert I heritage tour will both boost tourism and cement his reputation for future generations.

The Earl of Elgin, the 37th chief of the Bruce clan, will hold a special ceremony next weekend to mark the 700th anniversary of the Bruce's accession to the Scottish throne.

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Survey aims to find 'lost garden'

A survey is being carried out on an old building in Saltash on Sunday before work can start on the re-creation of an Elizabethan garden at the site.

The garden at Mary Newman's Cottage in Culver Road is set to undergo a geophysical examination.

The Tamar Protection Society, which manages the cottage, has asked the Tamarside Archaeological Survey to see if anything is buried under the land.

It hopes to detect the old garden lay out, paving or any earlier building.

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East Kirk of St Nicholas

The weekly diary has transferred to the news section for the next few weeks.

This week, Judith Stones, Keeper of Archaeology, writes…

At the end of last week a window was installed at ground floor level within the church, which gives a new perspective on the dig (pictured below), in addition to the superb high-level view from the East Kirk gallery.

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Rare ancient coffin in Kouklia

A SARCOPHAGUS of unique archaeological value came to light yesterday during excavating works in Kouklia, Paphos, identical to two others that were found in other areas of Cyprus in the early 19th century.

A sarcophagus is a coffin usually made of stone that was in ancient times decorated with carvings of the deceased or religious icons.

The Antiquities’ Department believed this one to be a rare find, like the two that were also found in Cyprus but exported by the British during colonial times. Those two sarcophaguses can be located now at the Metropolitan Museums of New York and Britain.

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Saladin und die Kreuzfahrer - Sonderausstellung im Landesmuseum Oldenburg

Die Sonderausstellung ‚Saladin und die Kreuzfahrer’, die bis zum 2. Juli 2006 im Landesmuseum für Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg zu sehen sein wird, zeigt in fünf Themenbereichen erstmals eine Gegenüberstellung der Zeugnisse der Kreuzfahrer aus den neu gegründeten Reichen mit denen der islamischen Welt. Für die Ausstellung wurden über 220 herausragende Objekte aus dem Vorderen Orient sowie zahlreiche exquisite Exponate aus europäischen Museen, Bibliotheken und Sammlungen ausgewählt.

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World's oldest football – fit for a Queen

A LITTLE-known fact about Mary, Queen of Scots was that she enjoyed sport. Mary would swing a golf club or tennis racket from time to time and she was a spectator at sporting competitions. But did she also play football – Scotland's national sport?

During an excavation project inside Stirling Castle in the mid-1970s, workers came upon a small round object tucked behind the thick oak-panelled walls of the bed chamber once used by Mary. What they found was a leather ball, slightly larger than a softball. But it was not just any ball.

This little grey orb has been determined to be the oldest football in the world - dating back to the mid-16th century and signifying the earliest known reference to the sport and royalty. While horse racing has long been known as the Sport of Kings, perhaps football was once the Sport of Queens.

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Cleopatra Worked Her Power Hair

Egyptian queen Cleopatra used her hairstyles in calculated ways to enhance her power and fame, according to a book published recently by a Yale art history and classics professor.

Statues, coins and other existing depictions of the queen suggest Cleopatra (69-30 B.C.) wore at least three hairstyles, according to Diana Kleiner. The first, a "traveling" do that mimicked the hair of a Macedonian Greek queen, involved sectioning the hair into curls, which were then often pulled away from the face and gathered into a bun at the back.

The next was a coiffure resembling a melon, and the third was the regal Cleopatra in her royal Egyptian headdress, complete with a rearing cobra made of precious metal.

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Experts to preserve rare swords found in region

ONE of the most important archaeological discoveries in East Yorkshire in years is to be put under the spotlight by a leading team of experts.

The hoard of Iron Age weapons found at South Cave in 2002 will eventually take a starring role at the new £5m Treasure House complex in Beverley when it opens in early 2007. But before then they need to be cleaned up.

The Museum of London Archaeology Service (Molas), which includes experts from the British Museum, has been awarded a contract by East Riding Council to preserve the finds.

The team will carry out detailed analysis of the finds – three iron swords in bronze scabbards covered in beautiful Celtic decorations, and a bundle of 2ft long socketed spearheads – and produce a report to go out in a major archaeological journal.

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Das berühmte Moor-Mädchen von Windeby war ein Junge

Schleswig/Wiesbaden (archaeologie-news) - Die bekannteste deutsche Moorleiche, das rund 2.000 Jahre alte so genannte "Mädchen von Windeby" aus der Gegend des heutigen Eckernförde in Schleswig-Holstein, war kein Mädchen, wie es bislang hieß, sondern ein Junge, den man jetzt scherzhaft als "Windeboy" bezeichnet. Seit einem halben Jahrhundert wird das vermeintliche Mädchen zusammen mit männlichen Moorleichen im Archäologischen Landesmuseum auf Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig präsentiert. Weltweit kennt man rund 700 Leichenfunde aus Moorgebieten, von denen zehn in Schleswig liegen.

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Broadmead dig finds are unveiled

Artefacts uncovered by archaeologists during the £500m revamp of Bristol's Broadmead have gone on show to the public for the first time.

Historians have been sifting through the rubble while the Quakers Friars area of the city centre is demolished to make way for a new shopping centre.

Among the foundations, they have discovered numerous artefacts, including 13th Century floor tiles.

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Leuvense opgravingen in Soedan werpen nieuw licht op Paleolithische economie

De Nijlvallei zou 200.000 jaar geleden al een complex systeem van economische specialisatie gekend hebben. Dat concluderen de Leuvense prehistorici Veerle Rots en Philip van Peer op basis van de gebruikssporen op Midden-Paleolithische werktuigen die ze vonden bij opgravingen in Soedan. Ze publiceerden hun bevindingen deze maand in het vaktijdschrift 'Journal of Archaeological Science'.

De Eenheid Prehistorische Archeologie van de K.U.Leuven voert al jaren opgravingen uit in Egypte en Soedan. In het kader van deze opgravingen concentreert post-doctoraal onderzoekster Veerle Rots zich op een functionele analyse van het lithisch materiaal van verschillende sites in Noordoost-Afrika. Een belangrijke methode om de functie van dergelijke lithische artefacten te bepalen is het microscopisch gebruikssporenonderzoek.

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HUMAN EVOLUTION: ON THE NEANDERTALS

The following points are made by Jean-Jacques Hublin (Current Biology 2006 16:R113):

1) A Neandertal (Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) is a kind of human that lived in Europe and Western Asia until around 30,000 years ago. The first Neandertal skeleton was found by quarry workers in 1856 in the Neander Valley in Germany. At first people thought the odd-looking skeleton was that of a diseased person or of a Cossack from the Napoleonic War. It was only later, when similar remains were found in Belgium, that Neandertals became fully accepted as an extinct type of human. Since then, a debate about their relationship to modern humans has raged among paleontologists and geneticists, and inspired many writers of fiction.

2) Around 400 fossils of Neandertals or their direct ancestors are known, and several almost complete skeletons have been discovered, including immature individuals. They show that Neandertals looked very different from extant humans. In fact, morphometric comparisons show that Neandertals were as different from modern humans as are closely related species of great apes from each other, such as bonobos and common chimpanzees. They had large brains in elongated braincases, receding foreheads and supraorbital buttresses. Their faces were long and very projecting in the mid-part, with large noses and no chins. They had large husky bodies weighing around 80 kg. Their bones and muscles were extremely robust, maybe partly because of their behavior and level of activity. However, some of the typical features of Neandertals, for example the shape of the inner ear, were established even before birth. To sustain their muscular bodies they required lots of calories per day. Isotopic studies show that they did this by eating a lot of meat and fat.

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Ancient carving throws more light on Roman religious beliefs

AN ANCIENT rock carving has been uncovered near Chesters Roman Fort.

The carving of a 40cm high figure, holding a shield in one hand and spear or sword in the other, was found at Carr Edge near the fort by a team of rock carving experts.

It was uncovered by a team of enthusiastic local volunteers looking for prehistoric rock art as part of the Northumberland and Durham rock art project – a scheme funded by English Heritage and run by Northumberland and Durham County Councils.

Rock art project officer Tertia Barnett said: “This is a completely unexpected discovery.

“It shows how much there is still to discover about Northumberland’s ancient past.

“It was discovered by a team out looking for prehistoric art work.

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John Wymer

JOHN WYMER was one of Britain’s foremost archaeologists. In the course of a lifetime devoted to seeking out the earliest traces of human beings, he made many significant discoveries in Britain and abroad.

John James Wymer was born in 1928 and brought up in southwest London, near Kew Gardens. He was introduced to the quest for ancient flint implements by his parents whom he accompanied on many visits to nearby gravel pits where flint implements and the bones of extinct animals were to be found.

He began his career as a teacher. However, at the age of 27, while working at Swanscombe in Kent, he found part of the skull of a fossil hominid — it turned out to be the oldest human cranium from Britain — and he soon turned to archaeology full-time. In 1956 he was appointed to the staff of Reading Museum, from where he continued his search for Palaeolithic implements in the quaternary sediments of the River Thames.

The research was described in his first monograph, Lower Palaeolithic Archaeology in Britain: as Represented by the Thames Valley (1968), which catalogued thousands of discoveries and used them as a basis for a chronology of the Lower Palaeolithic period. The monograph was illustrated by fine pen-and-ink drawings of the hand-axes and other flint tools characteristic of the period — such illustrations would be a feature of each of his reports.

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Famed Pompeii house reopens

Naples, March 16 - One of Pompeii's most famous houses is reopening after more than ten years .

The Casa degli Amorini Dorati (House of the Flying Cupids), one of the supreme examples of the refined taste of the age of the Emperor Nero, will open its doors again after long renovation on April 3 .

The house was built in the III Century BC and restyled on several occasions up to the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius that buried the city in smouldering ash .

It has a charming rural air, according to the vogue of its last incarnation, with a little temple, water-spouting statues and bas-reliefs of Maenads and Satyrs .

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Italian medieval archive to be digitised

Italy and other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea have embarked upon a project to digitise their archives.

Thousands of documents and maps, some 1,000 years old, will be made available online. David Willey reports from Rome.

BBC video report...

Archaeology Dig 2006: Briquetage de la Seille (France)

July 16 to 26 August 2006. Projet Briquetage de la Seille. The Briquetage Field School, Moselle, France, is a training school for all students with an interest in archaeology, anthropology, geology and geography and related disciplines.

Training focuses on understanding the Briquetage de la Seille - an Iron Age/Celtic landscape of salt-making workshops, settlements and cemeteries which comprise perhaps the most important centre for proto-industry in Europe.

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WORLD'S LAST CRUCIBLE STEELWORKS IN SHEFFIELD SAVED BY £7M PROJECT

The last surviving steel crucible workshop in the world is to be saved from dereliction as part of a £7 million regeneration project to help revitalise the steel industry in Sheffield.

Once in the vanguard of a technological revolution, Darnall Works in the Lower Don Valley, stands as a relic of the city’s steel making tradition. At its core is a unique red brick crucible workshop dating from the 1870s.

In a deal that will see the steel industry use the site again, more than 200 jobs will be created, 3.8 acres of land redeveloped, and 60,000 square feet of high quality commercial space made available.

“The Darnall Works is a superb example of heritage-led regeneration in an area that made a crucial contribution to Britain’s Industrial Revolution,” said Sir Neil Cossons, Chairman of English Heritage. “The iconic crucible workshop is the world’s only known survivor of this type of steelworks.”

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Hadrian’s Wall world heritage site could include city centre

THE Hadrian’s Wall world heritage site could be extended to cover Carlisle city centre.

Carlisle and Newcastle were excluded when the 73-mile long Roman wall became a world heritage site in 1987.

Now English Heritage is consulting on extending the area to Roman Carlisle, known as Lugavalium.

City councillors are expected to back the idea when the council executive meets on Monday.

A report from Catherine Elliot, the council’s director of development services, says designation could attract more tourists, and it would put Carlisle in the company of the Taj Mahal, the Egyptian pyramids and the Great Wall of China – all world heritage sites.

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Before Scandinavia: These could be the first skiers

Move over Bode. You may have competition you don't know about - among a sturdy skiing clan in northwest China.

They are central Asians, Mongols, and Kazaks, living in the remote Altay mountains of Xinjiang province, where some claim skiing was first conceived.

Using curved planks whose design dates back 2,000 years, the Altaic peoples are formidable skiers. They might not win a medal on perfectly groomed Olympic trails. But they can break their own paths, track elk for days in deep snow, and capture them live.

They don't zig-zag through slalom courses or bump down moguls. But using a single pole, they plunge straight down mountainsides in a blaze of efficiency, and climb hills with a speed and grace that has wowed the few Western experts who have witnessed their prowess.

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Spezielle Funde bei Grabungen am römischen Gutshof in Dietikon

Bei laufenden Ausgrabungen der Kantonsarchäologie Zürich am römischen Gutshof in Dietikon sind einige besondere Funde zum Vorschein gekommen. Der Höhepunkt der Grabung bildet die Entdeckung zweier gut erhaltener Bronzefiguren: eine kleine Büste eines glatzköpfigen Mannes mit einem erigierten Penis auf dem Schädel sowie eine Statuette der Göttin Minerva. Gleichzeitig wurden 13 Gräber von Früh- und Neugeborenen sowie drei Nebengebäude des großen römischen Gutshofs freigelegt. Dank den neuen Funden kann das bisherige Bild des römischen Dietikon in verschiedenen Bereichen vervollständigt werden. Die Ausgrabung läuft noch bis Ende März, danach wird auf dem Gelände ein neues Bezirksgebäude errichtet.

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Archaeology film fest in Rome

Rome, March 15 - Europe's best ancient history documentaries are on show here this weekend at the debut edition of Rome's International Archaeology Cinema Festival .

The four-day event, which kicks off Friday at the city's posh new Auditorium Music Park, has a fascinating programme of film screenings, meetings with directors and debates .

"Paradoxically, our city has never had an archaeology cinema festival, though archaeology is an integral part of the territory," said Rome Culture Councillor Vincenzo Vita .

"This festival is bound to be a success because Rome has an enormous desire for culture" .

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Ancient Greek shipwreck surveyed

Archaeologists are reported to have examined a 4th century BC wooden merchantman in the eastern Aegean.

The wreck was discovered in 2004 during a sonar survey near the islands of Chios and Oinoussia. February's two-day survey, a joint exercise by Greek and American experts, was carried out by ROV and sonar to build up detailed photographic and computerised images.

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Archaeologists unearth 9,000-year-old settlement in Seydişedir

As a result of four years of painstaking excavation, a settlement dating back 9,000 years was discovered in central Anatolia. The tumulus is unique for the region as it is surrounded by walls

A settlement dating back 9,000 years was discovered during archaeological excavations in Seydişehir, a district of the central Anatolian province of Konya.

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Tara motorway campaigner is hit with costs for court battle

An environmentalist who lost his court challenge against the routing of the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara yesterday had legal costs of up to €600,000 (£413,000) awarded against him.

Vincent Salafia said he was facing the prospect of bankruptcy in the wake of Judge Thomas Smyth’s ruling at the High Court.

“If I don’t pay up fairly quickly, they will bring bankruptcy proceedings against me. It obviously will be a huge factor in my ability to own or direct a corporation.
“It will affect my ability to make a living, to provide for my family, so really it’s basically a very punitive judgment.”

Mr Salafia said he would appeal to the Supreme Court. He said the costs might not be awarded against him if his appeal was successful.

The environmental campaigner, from Dodder Vale, Churchtown in Dublin, said he had taken the action on public interest grounds and that there was no personal gain involved.

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Landscape’s clues about how people lived long ago

WHEN it comes to putting the random chaos of life’s misfortune and adversity into perspective, one way is to look at the landscape and remember the people who have lived and died here, going back over the centuries.

At first you could well miss the signs – the signs of past times. When you look closely you start to see clues and recognise that our edifices and ‘improvements’ are often simply cosmetic.

Even the townland names give us tantalising hints about the lives of earlier residents. It does not take a genius to wonder who, so many years ago, lived at Poll na Callighe: it means Hags Hollow and I can just picture an old lady, known for her sharp tongue, her healing hands and her skills with herbs. What about Knock Cnoc an Muclagh – meaning hill of swine droves or piggeries? Then at Ros an gCabhas, you can see the women lifting up their skirts as they made their way across the Ilen River causeway, gingerly stepping from stone to stone, which is what the townland name means.

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Ancient cesspit found in castle

An ancient cesspit has been discovered during restoration work at Mont Orgueil Castle in Jersey.

The archaeological discovery is believed to have been built sometime between the 13th and 15th Century.

Glass, clay pipes, tableware and bottles found in the pit are being cleaned before being put on display for members of the public at La Hougue Bie.

The castle is currently undergoing a £3m improvement programmed by the Jersey Heritage Trust.

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M3 objector must pay €600,000 legal costs bill

ENVIRONMENTALIST Vincent Salafia was ordered by the High Court yesterday to pay a legal costs bill, which could be over €600,000, arising from his unsuccessful challenge to the proposed routing of the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara.

However, Mr Salafia is appealing to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s rejection earlier this month of his case and his lawyers are expected to ask the Supreme Court to put a stay on payment of the costs pending the outcome of the appeal.

Mr Justice Thomas Smyth yesterday rejected arguments on behalf of Mr Salafia, of Dodder Vale, Churchtown, that he should be given the costs of his proceedings and instead directed Mr Salafia pay the costs incurred by the State, Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority in opposing his case.

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Hunt on for satyr's 'brothers'

Palermo, March 14 - The hunt is on for the 'brothers' of a 2,400-year-old bronze satyr fished out of the sea off Sicily seven years ago .

"We are sure there are similar objects down there," said Sicily's maritime culture chief Sebastiano Tusa .

The Sicilian regional government has contacted top Italian fuels group Eni to tap into its experience laying underwater cables .

"They've provided us with special equipment that should enable us to find the satyr's brothers," Tusa said .

The official said Eni's dredging probes had already enabled specialists to locate the wreck of a IV century AD Roman ship that will be raised from the sea floor in the next few weeks .

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Court defeat clears way for motorway work

THE way could be cleared for construction work to start by this time next year on the controversial M3 motorway following the failure of a High Court challenge to the road last week.

Sources have suggested that if there is no appeal to last week’s decision, that work is likely to begin in March 2007, allowing for archaeological excavations to be completed by the end of this year and site preparation work to get underway in the autumn.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) is this week meeting with its legal team to examine the judgement of High Court Justice Mr Thomas Smyth, who last week dismissed the challenge by campaigner Vincent Salafia against the route of the M3 motorway through the area between the Hill of Tara and Skryne.

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Ancient Phoenician city not destroyed

MOZIA, Italy, March 14 (UPI) -- The ancient Phoenician city Motya, believed destroyed by ancient Greeks, has been found to have been inhabited long after that supposed event.

Maria Pamela Toti, the head of an Italian archeological team, said researchers have found cooking pans, Phoenecian-style vases, small altars and numerous other items at the site.

Those artifacts "show Motya had a thriving population long after it is commonly believed to have been destroyed by the ancient Greeks," she told the Italian news agency ANSA.

Some scientists previously suspected Motya had not been destroyed, but no proof had been found. However, early this month archaeologists reported discovering rooms of a new house at a previously unexamined part of one of the city's siege walls, ANSA said.

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Environmentalist in plea over M3 challenge legal costs

An environmentalist who lost his court challenge to the routing of the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara today appealed for his costs to be granted.

Vincent Salafia is claiming that he took the action on public interest grounds and that there was no personal gain involved.

The environmental campaigner, from Dodder Vale, Churchtown in Dublin, is facing a six-figure legal bill if costs for the seven-day hearing are awarded against him.

At the High Court, barrister Colm O’hEochaidh said Mr Salafia had been motivated by the spirit of the public interest.

“Mr Salafia is not against road building. His motivation was to protect the national heritage and the national monument,” he said.

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Thornborough Complex proclaimed "world Heritage Class" by English

Thornborough Complex proclaimed "world Heritage Class" by English
Heritage.

The newly rediscovered internationally important ancient monument
complex at Thornborough in North Yorkshire has been proclaimed to be
of "World Heritage Class" by the UK's culture watchdog English Heritage.

The comments were revealed in the minutes of the English Heritage
Advisory Committee – EHAC and they show that the organisation is as
convinced as many members of the British public that Thornborough is
an exceptional site of international importance that deserves better
protection.

From the minutes:

"Thornborough is one of the top ten prehistoric landscapes in the
country."

"The site and its wider landscape are of world heritage class, in the
top league of prehistoric landscapes."

The statements are included within the minutes for February 2006,
these are available online:

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/EHAC_Minutes_Feb06.pdf

This is Item 7 in the report - Pages 8 to 10

Top Bulgarian Archaeologist Wants Trade in Antiquities Legal

Prominent Bulgarian archaeologist Professor Nikolay Ovcharov called for legalizing trade in antiquities in a bid to remove the strong incentives for the pillage of archaeological sites.

"Trade in antiquities should be strictly regulated by the state and should take place at auctions only," Professor Nikolay Ovcharov said at a press conference on Monday. He spoke of the huge interest that the ancient sanctuary of Perperikon, in the heart of the Rhodopes, and the tomb near the village of Tatul drew at the International Tourism Bourse in Berlin.

"It is not only by legalizing private collections, listing all objects and publicly following their discovery that we can limit treasure-hunting," said Professor Ovcharov.

He expressed discontent with the sluggish pace at which the current government is moving to adopt legislation on the acquisition, trade and granting of concessions of monuments of culture.

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Dad finds skeleton as he digs garden

A VILLAGER found a human skeleton while digging in his garden.

Paul Lucas came across the remains as he carried out landscaping work on his property at Milborne St Andrew, near Dorchester.

Mr Lucas and his wife Sue called the police when they realised the bones could be human, according to the parish magazine.

Officers arrived within minutes and were able to confirm to the relief of the household that it was an ancient burial.

First a pair of crushed feet was unearthed, but the rest of the bones - which have a honeycomb appearance - were perfectly preserved in the solid chalk of the garden.

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Castles could receive cash boost

CASTLES could receive a cash boost in a bid to improve accessibility to visitors.

The Welsh Assembly is investing additional funds to make Wales’ historic monuments more accessible to people.

Two of the county’s castles, in Flint and Hawarden, could be set to benefit if the funding goes ahead.

The announcement that the historic buildings could be receiving extra funding was made last week by culture minister Alun Pugh.

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A BLOODY HISTORY AT PUCKLECHURCH

The South Gloucestershire village of Pucklechurch, about eight miles from Bristol, is best known to historians not because of its unusual name, or even from the nearby but long closed-down coal mines, but because of the brutal murder of a young Saxon king, Edmund the Magnificent. After the 18-year-old Edmund had succeeded Athelstan, Alfred the Great's grandson, as king, Vikings moved down from the north.

After rallying his troops, the young king marched on their capital at York and eventually drove them out of the country.

The murder happened in the spring of 946 AD, while the 25-year-old warrior was enjoying time at his "palace" at Pucklechurch (probably just a wooden hunting lodge). Back then, the village was deep within Kingswood Forest.

It's been claimed that the king's killer was a banished robber, Leofra, who had returned unexpectedly. Edmund, retainers said, had been trying to stop the exiled man from assaulting his steward.

But the king wasn't buried in Pucklechurch, where there was probably only a wooden chapel, but was taken by cart to Bristol and then to Glastonbury Abbey.

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Venetian coins found in Cyprus

Some 300 to 400 copper Venetian coins have been unearthed during excavations in the old city of Nicosia, local press reported on Sunday.

The coins were found near the remains of an Ottoman Bath, where new offices of the Sewage Board will be built.

The excavation site of the coins led to speculation that the bath was built during the first few years of the Ottoman period in Cyprus, when Ottoman currency may not yet have been initiated and circulating around the island.

The Venetian Period in Cyprus lasted from 1489 until 1571, when the Ottomans conquered Famagusta and brought Cyprus under the umbrella of the Ottoman Empire for the next 300 years.

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Historic church renovation plea

An historic church in Greater Manchester has launched an appeal to raise £300,000 to pay for modernisation and urgent repairs.

Bury Parish Church is a Grade I listed building near The Rock.

The building is also the Garrison Church for the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in Lancashire.

The church has called its appeal "Step Inside" as it is keen to encourage more passers-by, visitors and residents to come in for a look around.

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World's oldest football – fit for a Queen

A LITTLE-known fact about Mary, Queen of Scots was that she enjoyed sport. Mary would swing a golf club or tennis racket from time to time and she was a spectator at sporting competitions. But did she also play football – Scotland's national sport?

During an excavation project inside Stirling Castle in the mid-1970s, workers came upon a small round object tucked behind the thick oak-panelled walls of the bed chamber once used by Mary. What they found was a leather ball, slightly larger than a softball. But it was not just any ball.

This little grey orb has been determined to be the oldest football in the world - dating back to the mid-16th century and signifying the earliest known reference to the sport and royalty. While horse racing has long been known as the Sport of Kings, perhaps football was once the Sport of Queens.

Artefacts recovered from historic sites – such as Stirling Castle – often eventually end up in the nearest museum. In this case, the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum became the proud owner of this mystery ball where it sat hidden away in a storage vault for nearly 20 years. On a visit to the gallery, a member of the National Museums of Scotland noticed the ball - collecting dust in storage - and thought it might have some intrinsic value. Indeed it did.

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Venetian coins in an Ottoman Bath

REMAINS of an Ottoman Bath have been unearthed during excavations in the old city near the Paphos Gate where the new offices of the Sewage Board will be built.
The added discovery of a stash of 300-400 copper Venetian coins has led to speculation that the bath was built during the first few years of the Ottoman period in Cyprus, when Ottoman currency may not yet have been initiated and circulating around the island.

The Venetian Period in Cyprus lasted from 1489 until 1571, when the Ottomans conquered Famagusta and brought Cyprus under the umbrella of the Ottoman Empire for the next 300 years.

“The most likely scenario is that the Ottoman bath was built sometime from 1571 to 1578, when they may have still been using the Venetian coins,” said Director of the Antiquities Department Pavlos Flourentzos.

But Flourentzos told the Sunday Mail yesterday that another possibility, though less likely, was that the hammam was built in the Venetian Period.

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Looted Afghan art smuggled into UK

UP TO four tons of ancient Afghan artefacts have been seized in Britain after an unprecedented wave of looting from archeological sites in Afghanistan that has exceeded the plundering of treasures in Iraq.

“All the attention has been on Iraq but this is a far, far bigger problem,” said Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley, who heads the art and antiques unit of the Metropolitan police. “Afghanistan is the main source of unprovenanced antiquities into Britain. It’s coming in by air freight, sea freight, DHL, you name it.

“It’s so widespread that I’m getting reports of people being murdered and clubbed to death on the planes in disputes about who should have the antiquities.”

As the crossroads of Asia — criss-crossed by invaders from Alexander the Great to Babur, the first Mughal emperor — Afghanistan has acquired one of the world’s richest cultural heritages.

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The Twists and Turns of History, and of DNA

EAST ASIAN and European cultures have long been very different, Richard E. Nisbett argued in his recent book "The Geography of Thought." East Asians tend to be more interdependent than the individualists of the West, which he attributed to the social constraints and central control handed down as part of the rice-farming techniques Asians have practiced for thousands of years.

A separate explanation for such long-lasting character traits may be emerging from the human genome. Humans have continued to evolve throughout prehistory and perhaps to the present day, according to a new analysis of the genome reported last week by Jonathan Pritchard, a population geneticist at the University of Chicago. So human nature may have evolved as well.

If so, scientists and historians say, a fresh look at history may be in order. Evolutionary changes in the genome could help explain cultural traits that last over many generations as societies adapted to different local pressures.

Trying to explain cultural traits is, of course, a sensitive issue. The descriptions of national character common in the works of 19th-century historians were based on little more than prejudice. Together with unfounded notions of racial superiority they lent support to disastrous policies.

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Carving of 'northern god' found

A 2000-year-old carving of a so-called "northern god", adopted by the Romans for protection and good luck, has been uncovered in Northumberland.

The 40cm high figure, holding a shield in one hand and spear or sword in the other, was discovered near Chesters Fort on Hadrian's Wall.

Experts say the find is exciting as it helps shed light on how people used local idols for protection.

The carving is thought to be that of Cocidius, a Romano-British warrior god.

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