Whoops (again)! We didn't insure £100,000 vases, admits museum

It was perhaps the most catastrophic "Norman Wisdom moment" in the history of museums and fragile artworks, and it has just got worse.

Things seemed bad enough when a loose shoelace sent Nick Flynn tumbling down a staircase at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The ensuing crashlanding smashed three 300-year-old Qing Dynasty Chinese vases, (estimated value, when not in smithereens, £100,000.)

Now documents obtained by this newspaper reveal that the museum will receive nothing in compensation for the smashed vases because it failed to get them insured.

And the same papers reveal that the debacle was not the only "Norman Wisdom moment" at the museum.

Read the rest of this article...

The M3 toll-motorway test-trenching road scar

This site presents a series of pictures showing the damage already caused to the archaeological landscape by the test trenching in advance of the M3 Motorway construction.

http://www.nuigalway.ie/faculties_departments/archaeology/Tara_M3_scar.html

Hill of Tara / M3 Motorway

A discrete national monument has been discovered in the pathway of the
M3 motorway, during investigative archaeological excavations. It is
entitled Baronstown 1, by the NRA, and lies just on the other side of
the N3, between the hills of Tara and Skryne. It can be seen at:

http://www.m3motorway.ie/Archaeology/Section2/Baronstown1/

A protest involving local and national activist groups is planned for
12.00PM, March 15th, at 'Baronstown 1', a newly discovered national
monument in the pathway of the M3 motorway. Evidence regarding this
site was not allowed to be presented in the High Court case, because
Justice Smyth denied an application for cross-examination of expert
witnesses.

Maps, photographs and archaeological and historical information about
the site is available at http://www.tarawatch.org

If you haven't yet done so, please use the "SAVE TARA" button at the top of this page to sign the online petition

Viking event 'better than ever'

Organisers of the Viking festival on the Isle of Man say this year's event will be bigger and better than ever.

Peel Viking Festival will run for a week from 2 July - longer than its usual two-day stint.

Among the attractions will be a village big enough to house several people and a market with goods from the Viking home of Scandinavia.

Chairman of the Festival, Roy Baker, said it is very exciting to be involved in the event.

Read the rest of this article...

DIGGING UP A LITTLE HISTORY

The site of the 13th century building is steeped in history, and now the former monastery is to undergo another major step in its colourful history.

It is set to be transformed into the centrepiece of a new European-style public square, featuring a mix of shops, restaurants, cafes and apartments, as part of the Merchants Quarter development to be opened in 2008.

But before work on the revamp can get under way, a team of historians and archaeologists are investigating the site to unearth information about one of the oldest areas of the city.

An archeological dig at Quakers Friars is being carried out by a team from Cotswold Archaeology, who will compare their findings with evidence from historical documents and maps to build up a picture of how the area developed from marsh.

Read the rest of this article...

Delos to see restoration?

Important ancient monuments on the Aegean island of Delos are slated for restoration work following recent approval by the Central Archaeological Council.

The Lake Palaestra and the Granite Palaestra, the theater and the Portico of Philip are all badly eroded by wind, humidity and rain, not to mention human neglect and promises never fulfilled.

Another enemy was recently discovered in the form of wasps’ nests built in cracks in the ancient ruins.

The monuments are certainly in a somewhat sorry state. One of the most important and impressive archaeological sites in Greece is riddled with cracks in the walls and in other architectural elements as well as containing several areas of fallen plaster.

Read the rest of this article...

Who owns Inca treasures?

That day dawned unpromising, cold and drizzly, in the jungle foothills of Peru 95 years ago. The guides wanted to sleep in, but the explorer insisted on pressing deeper into the land of the Inca.

Which way are the ruins? demanded Hiram Bingham, a product of Yale in a battered gray fedora. The guide pointed straight up the mountain.

They climbed more than 2,000 feet along narrow paths, dodging poisonous snakes, inching across slippery logs spanning a raging river.

They rounded a promontory — and the stunned explorer beheld his future and humanity's past.

Read the rest of this article...

Dig planned for Lakes beauty spot

Archaeologists hope to unearth Bronze Age treasures after receiving £50,000 to help fund a dig in a Cumbria valley.

The three-year project in the Duddon Valley in the south west of the Lake District, will be carried out by professional archaeologists.

Much of the work will focus on the cairn at Seathwaite Tarn - a mound of landmark and burial stones.

The project is costing £133,000 in total and is being supported by the Lake District National Park Authority.

Read the rest of this article...

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.

Mr Justice Smyth ruled that Mr Salafia was not entitled to succeed in any of his claims because of an unjustified two-year delay in bringing them. In a 60-page decision delivered over two and a half hours last Wednesday, Mr Justice Smyth considered all the arguments made by Mr Salafia, including claims that the National Monuments Amendment Act 2004 were unconstitutional, and rejected all of them.

Read the rest of this article...

If you haven't already done so, please use the SAVE TARA button at the top of the page to sign the online petition

MIT Tool May Reveal Architectural Past; Could Unlock Secrets Of Ancient Cathedrals, More

A computer design tool originally created for animation may soon unlock the secrets of the structure of ancient cathedrals, according to MIT Assistant Professor John Ochsendorf of architecture.

A structural engineer specializing in architectural and construction history, Ochsendorf recently presented to colleagues a virtual design method that has been extended in novel ways by a team of architects, computer scientists and engineers at MIT.

"This is the kind of work -- crossing the boundaries of engineering, history and architecture -- that could only happen at MIT," Ochsendorf said.

The method, known as particle-spring systems, is a three-dimensional design tool that was originally developed by computer scientists for creating graphics such as character animation and cloth simulation. For example, particle-spring systems produced the clothes "worn" by virtual characters such as Yoda in "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."

Read the rest of this article...

John Wymer

Enthusiastic hunter of skulls, stone tools and the roots of history

n the mid-1930s, a dentist found two pieces of the same ancient human skull in the quarries at Swanscombe, Kent. Twenty years later, John Wymer, who has died aged 77, unearthed a new piece of the same skull, which had, he said, the "consistency of wet soap". At 400,000 years old, it remains the only pre-Neanderthal skull from Britain. Thus began Wymer's career pursuing early human history, though he had started as a teenager with his father, a professional artist, who had been searching for palaeolithic flint handaxes in Kent for decades.

Wymer was born and brought up in Richmond, Surrey, and educated at East Sheen county school and Shoreditch Training College. After the Swanscombe find, he became curator at Reading Museum, having worked as a journalist, a British Rail clerk and a teacher. For 10 years he studied Reading's handaxe collection and directed excavations at mesolithic hunter-gatherer camps in the Kennet valley. The most important was at Thatcham, where he recovered artefacts and animal bone refuse at a site used by generations of hunters.

Read the rest of this article...

Roman coin find declared treasure

A hoard of Roman coins unearthed in Suffolk is thought to be the largest discovery of its kind in Britain.

Paul Flack, who had recently started metal detecting, discovered the find of more than 600 copper alloy coins in a field last October.

Experts say the find was of the usurper emperors Carausius (287-293 AD) and Allectus (293-296 AD).

At an inquest, the find was declared treasure. The finder will be compensated for its value.

John Newman, of Suffolk County Council's Archaeological Service, said: "This appears to be the largest hoard of legitimately-minted coins of the two usurpers from Britain to date.

Read the rest of this article...

Don’t ruin our Roman heritage

RESIDENTS in Monton have raised fears a major new development could disturb the remains of a Roman road which could be hidden underneath the site.

Those living around the land on Chorlton Fold have voiced concerns that the planned development of 23 houses could destroy any chance of unearthing Salford’s Roman history.

Resident Len Hotchkiss, 79, said: "To go against this development is like David going against Goliath.

"We believe there is an area of significant historic importance under the land to be developed and that it should not be disturbed. It should be preserved."

Read the rest of this article...

Plan for henges under fire from quarry firm

THE row over the Thornborough Henges continues after English Heritage outlined its views for a 'management zone' around the prehistoric site.

The national conservation group believes that an area about threequarters of a mile around the henges near Ripon should be included in a protected 'management zone'.

The zone would include Nosterfield Nature Reserve and village, half of Ladybridge Farm, areas which have already been quarried and down to the edge of the River Ure. The zone skirts around the edge of Thornborough village and West Tanfield.

English Heritage say that farmers whose land falls inside the zone should be entitled to subsidies if they agree not to farm the land.

Read the rest of this article...

Huge hoard of Roman coins discovered

A HOARD of Roman coins unearthed in a Suffolk field is the largest discovery of its kind ever to be made in Britain.

Experts say the rare find of 621 copper alloy coins, made by a metal detector enthusiast in October, could have been buried for safe-keeping during times of political turmoil.

John Newman, from Suffolk County Council's Archaeological Service, said the treasure, which would originally have been adorned with a silver wash, was of the usurper emperors Carausius (287-293 AD) and Allectus (293-296 AD).

“This appears to be the largest hoard of legitimately minted coins of the two usurpers from Britain to date,” he said.

Read the rest of this article...

US museums face scrutiny over acquisitions

US museums have come under fire over the way they acquire antiquities after Greece, Italy and Peru have demanded the return of ancient pieces from American institutions.

European museums have usually been the ones needing to answer over their acquisitions of artifacts collected during colonial days, but American institutions have faced demands for the return of allegedly looted antiquities.

To improve the transparency of acquisitions, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) released new guidelines last month on loans of antiquities and ancient art.

The guidelines, among other things, say loans should conform to US laws, while lenders should provide evidence of a work of art's provenance history and museums must be prepared to undertake additional inquiries if appropriate.

Read the rest of this article...

Ancient Cypriots fed olive oil to furnaces-study

It is praised for its culinary and health properties by any cook worth his salt, but long before olive oil made it into the Mediterranean diet Cypriots used it as fuel to melt copper, archaeologists say.

Italian researchers have discovered that environmentally friendly olive oil was used in furnaces at a site in southern Cyprus up to 4,000 years ago, instead of the fume-belching charcoal used in industry for hundreds of years since.

Described as "liquid gold" by the ancient Greek poet Homer, olive oil has long been associated with grooming, pampering and the religious rites of the ancients, but not - at least in the Mediterranean - with heavy industry.

"We know that olive oil made it into our food around 1,000 BC, but it is the first time we have laboratory evidence that it was used in smelting as a fuel," archaeologist Maria Rosaria Belgiorno told Reuters.

Cyprus was famed in antiquity for its copper and is believed to have given its name to the Latin term for the metal, Cuprum.

Read the rest of this article...

Town's medieval bridge unearthed

Archaeologists have been revealing details about the discovery of a medieval bridge in Shropshire.

The discovery was made as contractors dug up the site of a new entertainments complex in Shrewsbury.

The bridge, known as St George's Bridge, once acted as a gateway to the town from Wales and was in existence during the 15th Century.

Talks are under way with contractors to work out the best way of giving people the chance to view the site.

The bridge is thought to be one of three medieval fortified gates in the country.

Read the rest of this article...

Clashes between museums, nations more frequent

Providing a dramatic backdrop for an exhibit of Incan artifacts here, large photos of Machu Picchu help a visitor imagine how the pottery, jewelry and tools on display fit into life some 500 years ago at the mountaintop retreat, one of the most famous ruins in the Americas.

But Peruvian officials say no imagination would be needed if the objects were back where they belong - in a museum close to the site in the Peruvian Andes.

And last week, Peru said it would sue Yale University, which exhibits many of its Machu Picchu artifacts at its Peabody Museum of Natural History, to get them back.

The increasingly fractious dispute between the Ivy League university and Peru, involving at least 250 artifacts, is one among many in a recent upsurge of ownership controversies between U.S. museums and foreign governments.

Read the rest of this article...

Tarxien Temples: past, present and future

Although the Tarxien Temples may not be the most photogenic archaeological site of the Maltese Islands, they nonetheless offer a stimulating experience for visitors. The temples in fact hold the largest number of exceptional examples of prehistoric art and attest to an extraordinary society that produced astounding advances in art, technology and architecture, some 5,000 years ago.

Unlike the other extensive prehistoric sites such as Ggantija, Mnajdra or Hagar Qim Temples, Tarxien Temples do not have a monumental bearing on their surrounding landscape; on the contrary, they have been rather dwarfed by the urban development which has, over time, encroached within metres from the site.

The site was discovered in 1913 when local farmers informed Sir Themistocles Zammit, Malta’s first Director of Museums, that they struck large blocks of stone while ploughing their field. At the time, Zammit was completing excavations at the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, and he requested the farmers to dig a trench in their field.

This led to the discovery of two large stone blocks and a quantity of pottery sherds. Consequently, Sir Temi Zammit excavated the site between 1915 and 1919, bringing to light an extensive megalithic site and putting our understanding of Maltese prehistory on a solid foundation.

Read the rest of this article...