Technological innovation may have driven first human migration

Technological innovation is more likely to have spurred the first modern humans to migrate out of Africa than climate change, according to a study that has accurately dated sophisticated stone tools made by our ancestors.

Scientists have long argued about the forces that drove the transition to modern human behaviour after our species evolved in Africa up to 280,000 years ago.

Most scholars agree that Homo sapiens passed a threshold between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, with evidence for more complex technology, ornaments and symbolic art turning up in the archaeological record. Human genetics research also suggests that the population expanded markedly during this time.

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'Time teams' hit by housing woes

Archaeologists in Lincolnshire are suffering redundancies as a result of the credit crunch.

Firms in the Lincoln area are having to lay off staff and think of contingency plans because of the effects of the recession.

The problems have arisen because many archaeology companies are heavily dependent on construction work, which has declined dramatically this year.

Naomi Field, director of Lindsey Archaeological Services, said archaeology is 'a very sensitive barometer of the economic climate'.

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'Floating ramp' to preserve North East Wales hillfort

VITAL work has been carried out to prevent erosion damage to a historic hillfort.

As part of a lottery-funded project, footpath improvement and erosion control work has been completed at the Moel Arthur hillfort on the Clwydian Range.

A "floating ramp" is being built over the large earth banks to help protect them from damage.

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Ancient iceman probably has no modern relatives

"Otzi," Italy's prehistoric iceman, probably does not have any modern day descendants, according to a study published Thursday.

A team of Italian and British scientists who sequenced his mitochondrial DNA -- which is passed down through the mother's line -- found that Otzi belonged to a genetic lineage that is either extremely rare or has died out.

Otzi's 5,300-year-old corpse was found frozen in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991.

"Our research suggests that Otzi's lineage may indeed have become extinct," Martin Richards of Leeds University in Britain, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

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Neue Forschungsallianz zur Erhaltung des kulturellen Erbes

Zur Gründung der "Forschungsallianz Kulturerbe" haben die Präsidenten der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft und der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) am Dienstag, den 28.10.2008 im Alten Museum (Museumsinsel Berlin) ein "Memorandum of Understanding" unterzeichnet.

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Candy Facts: Halloween Treats Stem From Ancient Recipes

Trick-or-treaters reaching for individually wrapped candy bars this Halloween probably won't stop to wonder about the origins of their sugary treats.

But for anyone with a taste for adventure, the holiday could be an ideal time for a sweet history lesson, as a remarkable number of bygone confections can still be bought or made.

For instance, "most medieval sweets are still around in some form or another," said Tim Richardson, author of Sweets: A History of Candy.

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'Exceptional' Roman coins hoard

One of the largest deposits of Roman coins ever recorded in Wales, has been declared treasure trove.

Nearly 6,000 copper alloy coins were found buried in two pots in a field at Sully, Vale of Glamorgan by a local metal detector enthusiast in April.

After the ruling by the Cardiff coroner, a reward is likely to be paid to the finder and landowner.

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Temple of Artemis to revived once more in Selçuk

The Temple of Artemis was built in the seventh century BC. But according to myth a madman set it on fire 400 years later. But as Christianity began to spread throughout Anatolia, a Christian ecclesiast outlawed the cult of Artemis in the fifth century. The temple was destroyed during the early period of Christianity in Anatolia. Artemis, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World, will be rebuilt in Selçuk in present day Turkey

The Temple of Artemis, or Artemision in Greek, recalled in both Greek and Byzantine anthologies for its magnificence, was once one of the Seven Wonders of the World. After decades of vandalism, religious conflict and decay it is finally to be rebuilt.

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Thousands of Roman coins found in field at Sully

THOUSANDS of Roman coins discovered in a South Wales field have been declared “treasure”.

The 5,913 pieces make up the biggest haul of its kind ever recorded in Wales and it is hoped they will now go on display at the National Museum Wales, Cardiff.

The 1,700-year-old coins were found on land near Sully – a coastal village better known for the dinosaur footprints on its beach.

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Flag Fen: Family Day celebration

On Saturday, 1st November 2008 Flag Fen Archaeology Park and Bronze Age Centre is holding a Family Day in celebration of words and storytelling.

The 1st of November, known as Samhain, was an important date in ancient times that marked Summer's End.

Also celebrate the last day open of the season, The Chief Bard of the Fens, Robin Herne will be telling some gory tales and there will also be storytelling for the under fives and children's activities.

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BODIES FOUND

NEARLY 30 bodies including a baby believed to be 1,000-years-old were discovered in unmarked graves during renovation works at a church.

The last of 29 bodies, unearthed at St Peter and St Paul's Church, Swanscombe during digging work to drain the earth, was discovered on Monday.

Archaeologist Guy Seddon said the church dates back to Saxon times and that a baby found in an unmarked grave by the church tower could date back 1,000 years.

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The Vikings' burning question: some decent graveside theatre

The average Viking lived a life in which spirituality and thoughts of immortality played a far more important part than the rape and pillage more usually associated with his violent race, according to new research. A study of thousands of excavated Viking graves suggests that rituals were performed at the graveside in which stories about life and death were presented as theatre, with live performances designed to help the passage of the deceased from this world into the next.

Neil Price, Chair of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, who will be presenting his findings at a lecture at the university tonight, believes that these rituals may have been the early beginnings of the Norse sagas, which told stories about men and gods in the pagan world. He said that close study of the graves and the artefacts they contained, as well as contemporary accounts of Viking funerals, presented a far more complex picture of their lives than the simple myth of the Viking raider.

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THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM: DECODING AN ANCIENT GREEK MYSTERY

Location: Greece Length: 14 min.

In 1901, sponge divers found an extraordinary mechanism on the sea bottom near the island of Antikythera. It astonished the whole international community, stumping scientists for decades. Was it an astrolabe, an astronomical clock, or something else? More recent research is revealing its secrets. Dating from around the 1st century B.C., it is the most sophisticated mechanism known from the ancient world. The Antikythera Mechanism operated as a complex mechanical "computer" to track the cycles of the Solar System.

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Warning London could face problems with Olympic flame if Parthenon Marbles not handed over to Greece

A GREEK academic has claimed that London 2012 could face problems when it comes to the lightening of the Olympic flame if the British Museum does not hand over the Parthenon Marbles (pictured) to Greece by then.

The Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marables, are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures, inscriptions and architectural members that originally belonged to the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens.

Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803, claimed to have obtained permission from the local authorities to remove pieces from the Acropolis.

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29 bodies found in unmarked graves at Swanscombe church

TWENTY-NINE bodies have been discovered in unmarked graves during renovation work at a church.

St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Swanscombe Street, Swanscombe, has been undergoing a £275,000 transformation since August.

Drainage work meant its cemetery had to be dug-up and in the process the bodies in unmarked graves were found, with the first discovered at the end of August and the 29th on Monday (October 27).

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Wales protects its Iron Age hill forts

Six spectacular Welsh Iron Age hill forts are being protected as part of a scheme costing 1.5 million pounds.

As part of a Heritage Lottery funded project, footpath improvement and erosion control work has been carried out at Moel Arthur hillfort on the Clwydian Range.

A floating ramp is being built over the large earth banks to help protect them from damage.

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Balkan Heritage Field School

Projects in 2009:

A BYZANTINE COLD CASE FILE - EARLY CHRISTIAN MONASTERY-STRONGHOLD EXCAVATIONS IN VARNA
Country: Bulgaria
July 4 - 18, 2009 (field school session dates). Excavation of an early Christian monastery-stronghold next to Varna on Black sea.

AVGUSTA TRAIANA-BEROIA-BORUI RESCUE EXCAVATIONS PROJECT
Country: Bulgaria
July 19 - August 16, 2009 (season dates). 2 field school sessions available. Rescue excavation of the multi-period (Roman, Late Antique and Medieval) site underneath contemporary town of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

"FRESCOES-HUNTING" PHOTO EXPEDITION TO MEDIEVAL CHURCHES OF WEST BULGARIA
9-23 May, 2009 and 3-17 October, 2009. 2 field school session available. An expediition to some abandoned West Bulgarian medieval churches and chapels (in bed condition) to document frescoes preserved inside.

HERACLEA LYNCESTIS EXCAVATION PROJECT
Country: Macedonia
July 4 - August 2, 2009 (season dates). 2 field school sessions available. Excavation of the ancient (Hellenistic, Roman, Late Antique) town Heraclea Lyncestis in Bitola, Macedonia.

MEZEK HERITAGE VOLUNTEER WORKCAMP
Country: Bulgaria
June 7-20, 2009. This workcamp is to support the maintenance of Mezek village archaeological sites (a Thracian tombs and medieval fortress) in the three borders area (Bulgaria-Greece-Turkey).

Find more details on the Balkan Heritage Field School Website...

Why did Neanderthals have such big noses?

The Neanderthal's huge nose is a fluke of evolution, not some grand adaptation, research suggests.

The Neanderthal nose has been a matter of befuddlement for anthropologists, who point out that modern cold-adapted humans have narrow noses to moisten and warm air as it enters the lung, and reduce water and heat loss during exhalation.

Big noses tend to be found in people whose ancestor's evolved in tropical climates, where a large nasal opening helps cool the body.

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Sensational Stone Age discovery

A young couple walking along Horsens Fjord in August this year made a sensational discovery – a 5-7,000 year old stone with a scratched motif.

The 13x10x4 cm. limestone shows a man with an erect phallus and two fish. Archaeologists at Horsens museum were taken aback, and immediately passed the stone on the National Museum to determine whether the motif was indeed from the Stone Age or simply a later work of art using an ancient style.

Ertebølle Culture
“But now we’re sure. We believe the stone to be from the Ertebølle Culture between 5,400 and 3,900 BC. It’s the sort of discovery that is only made once a decade,” says Horsens Museum Archaeologist Per Borup.

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Fire out of Africa: a key to the migration of prehistoric man

The ability to make fire millennia ago was likely a key factor in the migration of prehistoric hominids from Africa into Eurasia, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology believes on the basis of findings at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov archaeological site in Israel.

Earlier excavations there, carried out under the direction of Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar of the Institute of Archaeology, showed that the occupants of the site – who are identified as being part of the Acheulian culture that arose in Africa about 1.6 million years ago -- had mastered fire-making ability as long as 790,000 years ago. This revelation pushed back previously accepted dates for man’s fire-making ability by a half-million years.

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