Sunday, November 28, 2004
A New Website for London Archaeology
Christian Allen, of the Hendon and District Archaeological Society, has recently created a new website for London Archaeology.
You can find the site at: http://www.londonarchaeology.org.uk/Main_Page.
A link to the site has been added to the Archaeology in Europe Weblog sidebar.
5,000-year-old settlement found
Archaeologists believe that ancient artifacts uncovered at a Cambridge village college are evidence from a 5,000-year-old settlement.
Pits containing neolithic remains of arrowheads, pottery and knives have been found at a site next to the Linton Village College south of Cambridge.
Digs took place ahead of construction of a new special school on the site.
BBC News
Italy Returns Stolen Obelisk to Ethiopia
A cyclopean task will put to an end a decades-long diplomatic dispute between Italy and Ethiopia over a looted obelisk, according to a bilateral agreement signed last week in Rome.
Signed by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin and Italian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Alfredo Mantica, the deal set up the final details over the transport of a 160-ton granite stele from Rome to the city of Axum.
Dicovery Channel
Vatican returns relics of saints to Istanbul in bid to heal rift
VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II, in a gesture of friendship with the Orthodox Church, on Saturday handed over the bones of two early Christian saints that were brought to Rome from ancient Constantinople centuries ago.
The Vatican said the return of the saints' relics was part of the pope's efforts to promote Christian unity and dismissed any suggestion that John Paul was "asking pardon" for their removal by Crusaders from the seat of the Orthodox Church.
The pope sat beside Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, in St. Peter's Basilica as the bones of the saints, resting on yellow velvet in crystal and alabaster reliquaries, were brought to the altar.
Rapid City Journal
Heritage Malta's plan for the Citadel
Pierre Cassar, manager public programmes, Heritage Malta, (November 17) opened his reply to a letter by Tony Mercieca by trying to minimise the importance of the Citadel Armoury. The Armoury, inaugurated in March 1984, was closed down by Heritage Malta last month to turn it into an office.
Heritage Malta has confirmed through this reply:
The Times (Malta)
PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES LEICESTERSHIRE: TEMPLE TREASURE
This is the last in a series of seven introductory features about the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Roadshows, happening nationally on November 27 2004.
The Romans were once in Leicestershire, and they certainly left their mark. The county bears a legacy of roads from the days of the great Empire and objects dropped by those who once travelled down them now make it an interesting place for metal detectorists and amateur archaeologists. Take our story from 2003, where some intriguing gold jewellery was found.
24 Hours Museum News
Stone me! Jak's rock is 4,000-year-old axe
When Jak MacDonald picked up a pebble on a beach, he had no idea he was holding an artefact shaped by a Stone Age craftsman 4,000 years ago. The six-year-old, from Broughton Astley, stumbled upon a neolithic axe head while on holiday in Pembrokeshire.
Jak was looking for pebbles to skim in the sea when he came across the flat stone.
He was about to try it out when his mum's partner noticed the unusual shape.
Megalithic Portal
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Viking map may rewrite US history
Danish experts will travel to the U.S. to study evidence that the Vikings landed in the New World five centuries before Columbus.
A controversial parchment said to be the oldest map of America could, if authentic, support the theory that the Vikings arrived first.
The map is said to date from 1434 and was found in 1957. Some people believe it is evidence that Vikings, who departed from Greenland around the year 1000, were the first to land in the Americas.
News in Science
FARMER FINDS SILVER LOCKET AT BATTLESITE
A tiny silver locket - discovered in a Westonzoyland field - may have fallen from the neck of a soldier fighting for the King at the Battle of Sedgemoor more than 300 years ago. The ornament, measuring little more than two centimetres, is a first for Somerset - and there are hopes it will eventually go on display at the County Museum in Taunton.
This is Somerset
Friday, November 26, 2004
Unearthed: ancient burial pit shows how Bronze Age Scots prepared for afterlife
Archaeologists have hailed the discovery of an early Bronze Age cemetery as one of the most significant in Britain after new technology enabled them to pinpoint the date of graves.
The remains of more than 35 men, women and children who lived between 1900BC and 1600BC have been uncovered at a previously unknown settlement at Skilmafilly, north-west of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
Among the cremated bones, which were buried in pottery urns, scientists found a wide range of artefacts which signify that the community had widespread trade links with other parts of Britain and probably shared a common belief in an afterlife.
The Independent
Shipworm threatens marine archeological remains in the Baltic
Shipworm has spread to the Baltic Sea. If it continues to spread, it threatens to destroy still well-preserved and irreplaceable shipwrecks and other marine archeological remains along the coast of Sweden, according to Carl Olof Cederlund, professor of marine archeology at Södertörn University College in Stockholm and the Swedish representative in the EU project that has now determined the spread of shipworm to the Baltic for the first time.
“Up till now the Baltic has been regarded as a haven against shipworm. This is one of the reasons why it was possible to find the royal warship Wasa and other large wooden vessels in such excellent condition after centuries at the bottom of the sea,” adds Carl Olof Cederlund.
Innovations Report
24. August 79 Pompeji. Die Stunden des Untergangs
Als am 24. August 79 der glühende Ascheregen des Vesuvs über die Stadt Pompeji fiel wurden die Menschen buchstäblich "in ihren alltäglichen Verrichtungen" überrascht. Die Katastrophe, die über die Stadt hereingebrochen war hat sich für die Wissenschaft als eine reiche Quelle zur Erforschung und Beschreibung der Lebenswelt des antiken Menschen erwiesen.
Vom 28. November 2004 bis zum 17. April 2005 zeigt das Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum in Mannheim eine Ausstellung über den Untergang der Stadt. Die Ausstellung schildert mit originalen Fundstücken, Schaubildern und Rekonstruktionen anschaulich das Geschehen im August 79.
Archäologie
Stone age relics found off coast
The site of a stone age settlement, preserved under layers of silt, has been discovered off the coast of the Isle of Wight.
Included in the find is a fire pit, presumed to be an oven, which was first used about 9,000 years ago.
The settlement, now thirty feet beneath the sea and 500 yards off the coast of Bouldnor, was found by divers.
BBC News
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Relics looted by Bulgaria are on their way home to Greece
Bulgaria has paved the way for the return of priceless religious relics which were removed from monasteries in Macedonia and Thrace during World War I. The first step toward meeting the longstanding demand of the Greek authorities came unexpectedly a few days ago when Bulgaria’s President Georgi Parvanov expressed his government’s intention of returning the relics to Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios.
Kathimerini
Bronze Age Site Discovered at Gas Company Dig
Archaeologists have discovered what they believe is the most comprehensively-dated Bronze Age site in Britain, it emerged today.
The 29 cremations pits and a number of artefacts were uncovered by chance during the installation of a gas pipeline in Aberdeenshire.
The pits include 10 pottery urns containing ashes of children and adults and two golden eagle talons.
The talons are of particular archaeological importance as they have never been excavated from this period before.
The Scotsman
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Mycenaean tomb found in southern Greece
Athens - Archeologists have discovered an unraided tomb with various artifacts dating from the Mycenaean period more than 3 000 years ago in southern Greece, officials said in Athens on Monday.
The vault-shaped tomb, carved in natural rock, was found during earthworks near Peristeri, 50km south of the town of Sparta.
Two graves and the bones of eight people were brought to light, the Greek Culture Ministry said in a statement.
IOL Discovery
Moors murders scientist traces buried medieval village
A LOST medieval village has been discovered by a scientist who led a search for Moors Murder victims.
Professor John Hunter and a team of 15 have discovered what is believed to be a buried medieval crofting settlement while carrying out general field survey work in and around a harbour village in the Western Isles.
Artefacts buried under the clachan of Rodel, on south Harris, may provide evidence that the community was once an international trading centre, with vessels arriving from Scandinavia and also the Mediterranean.
The Herald
Flint find is historic first
A Forest archaeologist is still full of excitement after stumbling across a find which could re-write Forest history books. President of the Forest of Dean Archaeology Group, Dr Alf Webb got more than he bargained for while out on a mission to get a photograph for his new book.
The 80-year-old archaeological expert, who is writing a book about the archaeology of the Dean, came across what he is certain is a spearhead from the Solutrean period which dates back to 18,000 BC.
Megalithic Portal
Swiss help bring Roman Pompeii back to life
Visitors to Pompeii will now be able to see and hear life as it unfolded in Roman times, thanks to a computer project spearheaded by Geneva University.
The LifePlus programme takes real images of the ruined Italian city and adds the life that is missing, including simulated animals, plants, and humans.
Swissinfo
Eagle secret of Bronze Age burial
ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Scotland have made a "hugely significant" discovery by unearthing the best and most comprehensively-dated Bronze Age site in the UK, The Scotsman has learned.
The tightly clustered group of 29 cremation pits, one containing eagle talons, was uncovered at Skilmafilly when the gas maintenance company Transco was excavating and installing its £56 million gas pipeline from St Fergus to Aberdeen.
With no previous indications of the burial site, either from ground-level observations or aerial photographs, the pits were stumbled on by chance. Transco called in archaeological contractors to check the site while the pipeline was being installed.
The Scotsman
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