Friday, November 19, 2004
Photos of the Kokino megalithic observatory in Macedonia
As presented to the recent "Archaeology of World Megalithic Cultures" conference in Greece, the Portal caught up with the researchers to give us an exclusive look at this unique archeostronomical site. In 2001, on the foot path of a mountain pick, near the village Kokino, archeologist Jovica Stankovski, discovered an archeological site from The Bronze Age. The site has a stately dimension and is scaled on two levels. Several stone seats (thrones) are dominant on the site and they are pointing towards the east horizon.
Megalithic Portal
Archaeology: Exotic Life of Ancient Thrace
A series of spectacular discoveries at three sites in central and eastern Bulgaria has highlighted the exotic lifestyle of the ancient Thracians as never before.
Georgi Kitov, a veteran Thrakologist who has excavated more than 30 tombs built for the ancient warrior elite, says that the Thracians were known for drinking undiluted strong red wine and were famous for their martial skills. They were the most successful gladiators in ancient Rome.
As a result of the latest finds, the Thracians, who excelled at constructing elaborate tombs and rock-cut shrines, have seized the popular imagination.
Novonite
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Site gives an insight into life of abbey
Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a medieval lodge linked with the abbey at Bury St Edmunds.
The team of archaeologists from Suffolk County Council has discovered the foundations of a historic building at a site off Eastern Way, Bury, which is thought to date from the 13th or 14th centuries.
The site is on land belonging to Proflat Roofing, of Station Road, which is due to be re-developed. However, the company agreed to the archaeological dig prior to development and has contributed towards the cost of the excavation and given the team extra time to complete the work.
Bury St Edmunds Today
3,000-year-old Embryo-Like Skeletons Found in Bulgaria
Bulgarian archeologists have discovered 3,000-year-old human skeletons, just weeks after Europe's oldest skeleton was unearthed in the country.
The skeletons, discovered near the village of Moguila in the district of Yambol, are about two meters tall, which is unusual for the people who inhabited the region in the Early Bronze era.
The skeletons are balled up in an embryo position, which, ancient peoples believed, immortalized the soul, archeologists explained.
Novinite
PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME ESSEX: THE HUNT FOR ANGLO SAXONS
At 11am on November 27 ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman is due at Colchester Castle Museum to launch a ‘Finds Roadshow’ for the Essex Portable Antiquities Scheme.
What may at first seem an incongruous choice is in fact an apt one. Bill is a keen metal detectorist and amateur archaeologist making him just the type of person the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is seeking to attract.
He will be joined by an array of archaeology experts and ‘Romans’ from the Colchester Roman Society who will be on hand to remind visitors of the county’s Roman archaeological heritage.
24 Hours Museum News
Ireland’s Forgotten Shipwrecks Uncovered in Unique UU Book
The first ever study of the shipwrecks that lie off the coasts of Ireland has been published by University of Ulster researchers.
Boats and Shipwrecks of Ireland, highlights some of the thousands of sunken vessels that lie beneath the coastal waters of the island.
Many of these important underwater sites have been neglected by scientists for years but now new projects, undertaken by researchers from the Centre for Maritime Archaeology at UU, are beginning to reveal an exciting part of Ireland’s past.
University of Ulster
Rare prehistoric wood church uncovered
An archaeologist is believed to have uncovered the remains of a wooden church dating from 1050-1150 in the town of Aidt, in Hvorslev Council
Archaeologist Mikael Holgaard Nielsen believes the wooden church in Aidt is a rare, significant anthropological discovery.
According to regional newspaper De Bergske Blade, the church measures twelve meters in length and is six meters wide. Mikael Holgaard Nielsen has dated the ruin to about 1050-1150 A.D. The church is situated about 50 meters from the cemetery ruin near the present-day Aidt Church.
Copenhagen Post
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Museums 'at risk of robberies'
A covert security review of some of London's top museums has revealed priceless collections are at risk of theft, BBC News has learned.
Security expert Will Geddes visited the British Museum, the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery and Wallace Collection last week.
He found weaknesses in areas like building access and use of technology.
BBC News
THE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME HITS THE ROAD ROUND BRITAIN
Searching for treasure and metal detecting seems to be one of those quintessentially English obsessions. Sometimes solitary, sometimes carried out in groups it has become one of those signifiers of our eccentricity.
TV Programmes like Time Team and Treasure Hunters have only added to a surge in interest. After all, who can now deny the thrill involved when finding an ancient artefact or the excitement in discovering something that affords an instant connection to someone or some time in the distant past?
Now the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), the voluntary recording scheme for many of these archaeological objects and finds, has organised a series of ‘finds roadshows’ with the aim of enticing more members of the public into bringing their discoveries in for appraisal by the scheme's Finds Liaison Officers.
24 Hour Museum News
Monday, November 15, 2004
Theban dig yields rich finds
Archaeologists in Thebes have uncovered important building remains and artifacts from the ancient city that lies under the center of the modern town, including nearly 400 intact vases, the Culture Ministry said yesterday.
Excavations that started in February on a private plot close to the ancient Electran Gate revealed finds dating from the third millennium BC to late Byzantine times. Here and there, the eras mingled, as was the case with late medieval walls into which sixth-century BC architectural fragments, sculpture, ceramics and even bronze vessels had been built.
Kathimerini
Lost city of Atlantis 'found' off the coast of Cyprus
Key points
• Claims man-made structures off coast of Cyprus are lost city of Atlantis
• Archaeologist believes Cyprus island is remains of Atlantis peninsula
• Myth of Atlantis dates back to accounts by Greek philosopher Plato
Key quote
"The list of evidence is truly enormous. The people who dismiss it are people who have not done their homework. This is all based on real science." - Robert Sarmast, archaeologist
Story in full IT IS a legend which has excited the imagination of explorers and adventurers for centuries ...
Scotsman
Lost city of Atlantis found?
An American researcher claimed Sunday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea. But Cyprus' chief government archaeologist was skeptical.
Robert Sarmast said sonar scanning of the seabed between east Cyprus and Syria revealed man-made walls, one as long as 3 kilometers (2 miles), and trenches at a depth of 1,500 meters (1,640 yards).
CNN News
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Aerial Archaeology — past, present and future
by Bob Bewley
Tuesday, 16 November 5.30p.m.
at Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford
Further details from Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society
See the Archaeological Events Diary for other lectures, etc. in the UK
British farming? Thank the French
No individuals have shaped Britain's landscape more profoundly than its farmers. They turned a forested wilderness, peopled by hunter-gatherer tribes, into a land of hedges, fields and orchards.
Yet the identity of the first people to begin this land-shaping has been shrouded in mystery. Scientists once thought farming was brought by invaders. More recently, some argued it was imported as an idea that only gradually spread across the country.
But now scientists are putting together evidence that paints a surprising picture: that farming arrived as an already sophisticated set of practices imported by continental entrepreneurs.
Observer
PEMBROKESHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY DAY-SCHOOL
Saturday 27th November 2004
Pembrokeshire College, Haverfordwest
This day-school is being co-hosted by Cambria Archaeology and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority. The day aims to cover a selection of recent archaeological work in Pembrokeshire, bringing together a variety of people and projects. All are welcome to attend, but places must be reserved in advance.
Further Details
Atlantis Hunt Reveals Structures in Sea Off Cyprus
An American researcher on the trail of the lost city of Atlantis has discovered evidence of man-made structures submerged in the sea between Cyprus and Syria, a member of his team said Saturday.
Robert Sarmast, who is convinced the fabled city lurks in the watery depths off Cyprus, will give details of his findings Sunday.
"Something has been found to indicate very strongly that there are man-made structures somewhere between Cyprus and Syria," a spokesperson for the mission told Reuters.
Reuters
ARCHEOLOGISTS UNCOVER A RUSSIAN "STONEHENGE"
Russia now has a Stonehenge of its own. In the summer, a 4,000-year-old megalithic structure was uncovered at a Spasskaya Luka site, in the central Russian region of Ryazan. This structure, which, archeologists believe, was built as a sanctuary, sits on a hill overlooking the confluence of the Oka and the Pron rivers. The surrounding area has always been seen as an "archeological encyclopedia," a kaleidoscope of cultures ranging from the Upper Paleolithic to the Dark Ages.
"If we look at this archeological site as represented on a map, it will be a circle seven meters in diameter, marked with pillars, half a meter thick and the same distance apart from each other," says the expedition leader Ilya Akhmedov, who works in the Moscow Historical Museum's Archeological Monuments Department. "Here's a large rectangular hole and a pillar in the center of the circle. The wooden pillars have not survived, of course, but the large holes from which they once stuck out can be seen pretty clearly. Along the edges of the site there are two more holes. Originally, there may have been four of them, but the bank over here is being destroyed by a ravine, so the temple has caved in partially."
Novosti
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Hill dig yields treasure from 5000 years ago
ROCK art dating back 5000 years and an ancient jewellery workshop are among the treasures discovered in a Lothians excavation site ravaged by fire last year.
Details of the finds, from Traprain Law in East Lothian, were due to be unveiled at a conference in the Capital today.
Fraser Hunter, a National Museums of Scotland archaeology expert, is set to reveal the fruits of an intensive search of the area at the Edinburgh and East Lothian Archaeological Conference.
The Scotsman
Lakes history conference a virtual sell-out
AN archaeology conference is set to become a sell out exploration of thousands of years of rich Lake District history.
Only a handful of tickets remain for the Lake District National Park Authority’s conference on November 27, which sees nationally renowned experts take the platform at Lakes School, Windermere.
News and Star
Megalithic sanctuary discovered in Russia
Russia now may have a Stonehenge of its own. Last summer, a 4,000-year-old megalithic structure was uncovered at a Spasskaya Luka site, in the central Russian region of Ryazan. This structure, which, archeologists believe, was built as a sanctuary, sits on a hill overlooking the confluence of the Oka and the Pron rivers.
"If we look at this archeological site as represented on a map, it will be a circle seven meters in diameter, marked with standing stons, half a meter thick and evenly spaced one from each other," says the expedition leader Ilya Akhmedov, who works in the Moscow Historical Museum's Archeological Monuments Department. "There was a large rectangular hole and a standing stone in the center of the circle. The wooden poles have not survived, of course, but the large holes from which they once stuck out can be seen pretty clearly.
Stone Pages
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