Saturday May 29th 2004, 9.30-5.00
Archaeological Research in Progress 2004: North East Scotland
Organised by the Council for Scottish Archaeology, and staged jointly with the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, this day long conference in Aberdeen will focus on the many exciting projects that are currently taking place in the north east of Scotland.
Further details can be found on the Archaeological Events Diary
Friday, April 30, 2004
Nones at Merton Priory
Sunday 2nd May 3.00pm
Nones will be held in Merton Priory Chapter House, under Merantun Way, behind the Savacentre, Colliers Wood. Tube - Colliers Wood
Arranged by the Friends of Merton Priory
Further Information
Roman dig
VOLUNTEERS are invited to take part in a dig on the site of the largest known stone bridge in Roman Britain.
Work will take place near Corbridge, Northumberland, with the help of a £303,500 Heritage Lottery Fund grant, this summer. Keeper of field archaeology Margaret Snape will give a lecture on the project at 12.30pm on Wednesday, at Segedunum Roman fort, Wallsend, North Tyneside
This is Tyneside
Atlantis “discovered” – near Cyprus
Explorers are reportedly claiming to have found the lost and fabled city of Atlantis – somewhere off the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
According to reports in many of today’s newspapers, an American team has found an archaeological site in the sea between Cyprus and the north coast of Africa, about a mile below sea level.
Travel Mole
Saxon remains unearthed
ARCHAEOLOGISTS busy digging at a churchyard in Cricklade have unearthed some Saxon artefacts.
The team of three, from Border Archaeology in Herefordshire, have spent the last couple of weeks creating a 750mm deep trench in St Sampson's Churchyard.
This is Cirencester
Computer helps map ancient Rome
Progress has been made in piecing together the Forma Urbis Romae, a map of Rome carved into stone slabs about AD 210 but later broken into fragments.
BBC News
Earliest fire sheds light on hominids
Ancient hearths unveiled as nearly 800 millennia old.
You could travel back 790,000 years and still find someone to light your fire: archaeologists have collected evidence that early humans mastered fire much earlier than previously thought.
Nature
Charred remains may be earliest human fires
Archaeologists in Israel may have unearthed the oldest evidence of fire use by our ancestors.
The site, on the banks of the Jordan River, dates to about 790,000 years ago. There are older sites in Africa, but the evidence from these is much more hotly contested.
New Scientist
Early human fire mastery revealed
Human-like species migrating out of their African homeland had mastered the use of fire up to 790,000 years ago, the journal Science reports.
The evidence, from northern Israel, suggests species such as Homo erectus may have been surprisingly sophisticated in their behaviour.
BBC News
Man's First Fire in 790,000BC
Humans lit their first fire half a million years earlier than scientists thought, new research claims. Archaeologists say they have found the world's oldest fireplace in Israel. They have dated burnt seeds, wood and flint to around 790,000 years ago. That was around the time humans first appeared in Europe.
Megalithic Portal
Charred remains may be earliest human fires
Archaeologists in Israel may have unearthed the oldest evidence of fire use by our ancestors.
The site, on the banks of the Jordan River, dates to about 790,000 years ago. There are older sites in Africa, but the evidence from these is much more hotly contested.
Mirabilis
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Neanderthals reached full adulthood at the age of 15
Neanderthal man grew up faster than his modern-day cousins and probably reached full adulthood at 15 years of age, scientists have found.
An extensive study of Neanderthal teeth dating back from about 130,000 to 28,000 years ago has found that these early humans developed more quickly than previously realised.
Independent
Study: Neanderthals matured faster than humans
ROANOKE, Virginia (AP) -- If you think your kids grow up fast, consider this: A new study suggests that Neanderthal children blazed through adolescence and on average reached adulthood at age 15.
CNN.com
Neanderthals were 'adults by 15'
The Neanderthals reached adulthood at the tender age of 15 according to a report in the journal Nature.
French and Spanish researchers analysed growth records preserved in the teeth of Neanderthals, modern humans and two other human species.
BBC News
How humans put the bite on Neanderthals
Evidence that the life of Neanderthal man was short and probably nasty, is published today. The research also provides evidence that our ancestors were responsible for their demise writes Roger Highfield, Science Editor of The Telegraph.
Megalithic Portal
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Festival of Beltain
With the burning of a wicker man
Saturday 1st May 2004
starting at 6.30pm
Butser Ancient Farm
Further information
'Noah's Ark is found'
SCIENTISTS believe they have spotted the wreckage of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararak where The Bible says it landed after the Great Flood.
Satellite photos taken last year show the remains of a manmade structure close to the summit of the peak in Eastern Turkey.
Daniel P McGivern of Shamrock - The Trinity Corporation, which took the pictures, said: "These new photos unequivocally show a man-made object.
The Sun
Noah's Ark quest heads for Turkey
American and Turkish explorers are hoping to discover traces of Noah's Ark on the slopes of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey.
A joint expedition of 10 explorers from both countries intends to trek up the 5,346m (17,820ft) mountain in July.
BBC News
LOTTERY CASH TO HELP SECURE FUTURE OF 'AGINCOURT' CHURCH
Crusaders worshipped there, soldiers bound for Agincourt prayed there and the crew of the Titanic is commemorated there, but since it was devastated by a second world war bomb, Holyrood Church in Southampton has been a ruin.
Now, thanks to a £670,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, essential repairs and improvements in interpretation will help secure the future of this historic building.
24 Hour Museum News
Shedding light on Romans in Sussex
Artefacts dating back to 900BC could be dug up when archaeologists start exploring farmland in East Sussex.
Up to 15 people will excavate a small plot of land in Eastbourne in September looking for evidence of Roman or medieval occupation.
Permission has been given by the farmer landowner to hand-dig the two-trench site off King's Drive, near Eastbourne District General Hospital.
This is Brighton & Hove
NOVGOROD ANTIQUITIES ARE TO BE EXHIBITED IN OSLO
VELIKI NOVGOROD, April 26 (RIA Novosti) - The archaeology rarities from the Novrogod museum-preserve have been sent to an exhibition in Norway.
As was reported in the museum of the ancient city in the north-west of Russia, the experts selected 7 rarities for the exhibition "Russia-Norway: Through Centuries and Borders". Most of them were discovered by Russian scientists during the archaeological dig in Veliki Novgorod in the the 10th to the 12th century layers.
Russian Information Agency Novosti
Historians uncover Roman tileworks
HISTORIANS in Reigate have been entrenched in a major dig in the town after uncovering a Roman tileworks.
The discovery has been made in Doods Way and is thought to date from the second or third centuries.
But the archaeologists have been battling against the clock, for they had only until last weekend to complete their excavation before demolition gangs move in and demolish the house, Rosehill, on the site.
ic Surrey online
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Human Remains Objects to study or ancestors to bury?
Venue: Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1
Date: May 18, 2004 Time: 7-8.30pm
Tickets: Tickets cost £8, £5 for Ri Members and concessions.
Go to the Web site here
or call the automated booking line on 020 7670 2985.
From the Friends of Thornborough Henges web site
Northallerton Today newspaper is conducting an online poll about our favourite henge complex currently 97% in favour of protecting Thornborough Henges and 3% saying no.
To add your vote go to
http://www.northallertontoday.co.uk/frontpage.aspx
Experts set to study Roman site again
ENGLISH Heritage has applied for planning permission to build another temporary compound on Groundwell Ridge Roman site.
In the plans, which will be discussed at this evening's planning meeting at Swindon Council, the site off Pennine Way will feature presentation compounds, a mock excavation area and a viewing platform, as well as allowing excavation to take place in two trenches when experts return in June.
This is Wiltshire
ROTARY PLANS RAMSEY MUSEUM
RAMSEY Rotary Club has announced ambitious plans to create a heritage centre.
The Rotary movement worldwide is 100 years ago next year and the Ramsey club plans to celebrate the landmark with the Ramsey Heritage Centre Project with the aim of providing a permanent museum/heritage centre in the town. A building has been earmarked, but not confirmed officially.
I o M online
Tombstones stolen from church path
Police are investigating after more than 70 tomb stones were stolen from a church in south Wales.
The "irreplaceable" 3ft square stones - many dating back to Roman times - formed the path leading to St Catwgs Church in Gelligaer, near Caerphilly.
BBC News
Ancient, Buried Roman Villas Resurrected
It was an idyllic life for the Roman rich and famous, who basked in the sun in villas overlooking the sea until a volcanic eruption in A.D. 79 buried their homes in ash. Four of those grand villas are recalled, and partly resurrected, at a new Smithsonian exhibit.
"In Stabiano" opens Tuesday at the National Museum of Natural History, inviting visitors to peer into the daily life of the Roman wealthy.
Silicon Valley
Archeologia: scoperte oltre 180 tombe di tribu' dei Galli
Una necropoli gallo-romana e' stata scoperta vicino a Laneuvelotte, nei pressi della citta' francese di Nancy. L'area sacra per sepolture fu utilizzata dai Galli e dai Romani tra il I secolo a.C. e il VI secolo d.C. ed e' stata rinvenuta dagli archeologi dell'Istituto nazionale di ricerche archeologiche pressoche' intatta. Si tratta anche della necropoli piu' grande mai ritrovata in Francia (quasi 7mila metri quadrati), che inizialmente fu usata solo dalle tribu' dei Galli.
adnkronos.com
Monday, April 26, 2004
All that Glitters...?
Friday 18th and Saturday 19th June 2004
Hosted by the National Museums & Galleries of Wales in collaboration with the Council for British Archaeology
Venue:
National Museum & Gallery, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP
This two-day event coincides with the showing at the National Museum & Gallery Cardiff of the exhibition 'Buried Treasure: finding our past'. Some of the most spectacular finds from England and Wales can be seen in the exhibition. The role of the general public in making these discoveries is also celebrated. This exhibition is a British Museum UK Partnership project undertaken in collaboration with the National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service, The Manchester Museum and Tyne and Wear Museums.
Further details
Austrian Settlements as Centres of Trade
Austrian settlements in the Region of the Danube were prosperous and cosmopolitan in the Bronze Age. That's what new studies undertaken by researchers in the Prehistoric Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences show in a project supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. It is centred around analysing the findings from excavations on the Oberleiserberg Mountain in Lower Austria where scientists discovered traces of a major trade and relics of a once-flourishing culture of crafts.
Austrian Science Fund
GRISLY DISCOVERY
A GRIM sight confronted a man who was walking his dog last Sunday.
The walker was on private land next to Box End Farm on the A5123 close to Kempston when he stumbled across human bones including two skulls.
Serious about News
£7m funding for museum education
Museums and galleries are to receive £7 million in funding for educational work. Children and young people across the country will benefit as national and regional museums and galleries will work closely with schools and help bring the curriculum to life.
Teaching Times
ritrovata prima matrice per coniare monete romane autentica
WINDISCH (AG), 21 apr (ats) Gli archeologi hanno scoperto a Windisch (AG) la prima matrice romana per coniare monete. Il ritrovamento è avvenuto nel corso degli scavi per riportare alla luce l'accampamento di legionari di Vindonissa.
Ticin Online
Fabled Etruscan Kingdom Emerging?
The fabled kingdom of the Etruscan king Lars Porsena is coming to light in the Tuscan hills near Florence, according to an Italian University professor.
Discovery Channel
Hunt is on for ships used by Greece in Persian Wars
The Persian Wars may be famed in history, but few artifacts and material remains have emerged to shed light on how the ancient Greeks defeated the Asian invaders and saved Europe in what scholars call one of the first great victories of freedom over tyranny. ...
... Now, the first big expedition has gotten under way to look for the lost fleets of the Persian Wars, seeking to bring triremes back to life and retrieve some of the vast treasure of arms and armor believed to have gone down with the warships.
International Herald Tribune
Ding-dong dispute as Belgians lay claim to historic kirk bell
A HISTORIC church bell is at the centre of an Elgin Marbles-style ownership row between Scotland and Belgium.
For more than 300 years, parishioners of Kettins Parish Church near Dunkeld in Perthshire, have believed the 16th century bell, which proudly sits in the church graveyard within a stone turret, is their rightful property.
However, representatives from the Our Lady of Troon monastery in Grobbendonk, near Antwerp, claim the bell originally belonged to their abbey and was stolen in 1572 by mercenaries.
The Scotsman
Colonizing Cretans
Europe's oldest civilization, the Minoans of ancient Crete, were also the continent's first colonialists, according to investigations in Turkey and elsewhere. While archaeologists have long been aware of Minoan trading activity along the Anatolian coast, excavations at Miletus in southwest Turkey are revealing how 3,700 years ago they expanded to the Asian mainland to set up at least one permanent colony. The discoveries lend credence to an ancient Greek myth of a Minoan colony there.
Archaeology
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Macedonian Monuments Protection Institute Inspects Matejce Monastery
Team from the Macedonian Institute for protection of cultural monuments (MIPCM) led by architect Mitko Prendzov, program director of the institution, made an inspection September 19 of the architectural damages caused by the Albanian terrorists in the monastery complex Matejce in Kumanovo - Lipkovo region.
Reality Macedonia
Exceptionnelles mosaïques
«Alors, vous êtes venus voir les richesses du sous-sol bisontin ?» interroge Gilles Dacosta, directeur général des services du conseil général du Doubs en saluant Jean-Paul Demoule. Si le président de l’Inrap (institut national de la recherche archéologique préventive) a daigné se déplacer en province, c’est qu’il avait une bonne raison. De fabuleuses découvertes ont été faites sur le site du collège Lumière à Besançon en cours de réhabilitation.
La Terre de Chez Nous
See also:
Mosaïques gallo-romaines à Besançon (France 2)
Découverte de mosaïques gallo-romaines (France 3)
Gallo-Roman Mosaics Discovered in Besançon (Ionarts)
The style of the Besançon mosaic looks similar to that of the Leicester mosaic, aka Blackfriars pavement (Cronaca)
"The Story of Prague Castle"- new permanent exhibition presenting the history of the castle and the people who settled there
Prague Castle is one of the most visited places by tourists to the Czech Republic. Until recently, a day on the castle grounds was enough to see all there was to see - the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Golden Lane, the changing of the guards, and of course the various exhibitions on show. But the recent opening of a permanent exhibition in the Old Royal Palace now requires that you devote more than just a day to a complete tour. Dita Asiedu spoke to the curator of "the Story of Prague Castle", Milena Bravermanova, to find out what exactly the exhibition has to offer:
Radio Praha
'Forgotten' head-dresses shed light on Mesopotamian death rites
Gold and silver jewellery dating from 2,500BC has been discovered in a storeroom at the British Museum among relics first excavated in the 1920s.
The adornments were part of the elaborate head-dresses worn by female attendants who had been buried alive in a royal tomb at the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in what is now southern Iraq.
Some of the material excavated from the site more than 70 years ago had been hurriedly preserved in blocks of paraffin wax before being shipped back to London.
Independent
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Quarrying of sand on beach damages ancient burial site
AN ANCIENT burial site has been damaged after an estimated 1,000 tonnes of sand was removed from a beach in the north of Scotland without permission.
It is being claimed the action exposed human remains from the Pictish cemetery at Ackergill on the Hempriggs Estate in Caithness.
Highland Council said the sand was removed without planning permission and police have been notified along with Historic Scotland. A council spokesman said the material was taken to a contractor's yard near Watten and left a "gaping hole" in the sand, damaged a Second World War look-out post, and disturbed the Picto-Norse cemetery.
The Scotsman
Idyllic Romanian mining town to be razed for gold beneath
For more than 2,000 years, strangers have invaded this place, seeking the gold that's beneath the villagers' feet.
They've come with swords and arrows, guns and tanks - Romans, Austro-Hungarians, Nazis and Soviets. But the village always survived. Until now.
The State
Friday, April 23, 2004
Ancient hilltop fort unearthed
Archaeologists believe they have unearthed an ancient fortified settlement at a hilltop paddock in Buckinghamshire.
A dig on the site of a new £30m Thames Water main near Taplow has uncovered finds thought to date to the Bronze and early Iron Ages.
BBC News
German Archaeological Institute turns 175
As the German Archaeological Institute turns 175 on Wednesday, the spotlight will be on its archaeological work as well as on its cultural diplomacy in the Arab world and the Mid East.
From Prussian times to present-day democratic Germany, the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) has weathered a variety of political and ideological systems in its pursuit of scientific research.
Deutsche Welle
Stockbroker Belt's 'A Bronze Age Settlement'
A unassuming hilltop paddock in the heart of the Home Counties’ “stockbroker belt” was once an ancient fortified settlement, archaeologists believe. A dig on the site of a new £30 million water main near Taplow in Buckinghamshire has uncovered a string of artefacts dating from the Bronze and Iron ages as well as Roman and mediaeval times as well as evidence of ancient oneupmanship.
Megalithic Portal
Heritage trails make area’s history come alive
West Dunbartonshire people can take a walk through the past thanks to the launch of two new heritage trails. The trails were launched during West Dunbartonshire Community Week and offer a fascinating insight into the area’s history.
Megalithic Portal
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Free for all at famous castles
ENTRANCE to Edinburgh Castle will be free this weekend as Historic Scotland drops admission prices to more than 70 of the country’s most famous sites.
The offer, which runs on Saturday and Sunday, covers attractions in the Capital as well as others such as Stirling Castle, Fort George and Urquhart Castle.
The Scotsman
THE REAL KING ARTHUR TO BE REVEALED
King Arthur will be centre stage when the Llangollen Museum launches a series of historical lectures on Wednesday, April 28, at 7.30pm.
Ahead of this summer’s Hollywood release of Touchstone Pictures’ King Arthur – Rule Your Fate starring Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd and Ray Winstone, an illustrated lecture on The Origins of the Arthurian Legend in Wales will be hosted by Scott Lloyd.
Scott, author of Keys to Avalon and Lost Legend of Arthur among others, is one of the most respected researchers and accomplished writers in his field and will also be appearing in a documentary on the History Channel this summer to coincide with the King Arthur release.
Denbighshire Free Press
TUNNEL VISION
Conservationists yesterday rejected plans to build a 2.3km tunnel next to Britain's greatest prehistoric moment as one of the West's longest inquiries continued. The contentious £193million plan, which will remove modern-day clutter despoiling the Stonehenge area, is now in its ninth week. Since the A303 Stonehenge Improvement Scheme inquiry began in Salisbury on February 17, scores of groups have given evidence.
This is Bristol
Divers locate pirate Morgan's lost ship
AN international dive team shivered in excitement when they spied the timbers of a wreck belonging to one of the most famous buccaneers of all time.
They discovered the remains of Welshman Captain Henry Morgan's lost frigate, HMS Oxford, off the coast of Haiti.
ic Wales
'Ten years' to clear museum backlog
It could take 10 years to clear a backlog in documenting the full collection of art treasures and artefacts at the National Museum and Galleries of Wales, says a new report.
BBC News
Ninth century bones may be those of first royal corgi: archeologists
Corgis, the little dogs with the short legs, may have a long royal history.
Archeologists from Cardiff University said Wednesday that ninth century bones unearthed in Wales may be those of the first Welsh corgi to have been kept as a royal pet. They have been analysing bones found at an ancient royal dwelling in a bog in the Brecon Beacons, a hilly area of southern Wales.
Yahoo News
Stonehenge is heading towards 1 million visitors a year
Stonehenge is heading towards the magical one million visitors a year mark, after its busiest Easter in five years. Over the bank holiday weekend, 18,000 pairs of feet tramped around the world famous prehistoric monument, an increase of 23 per cent on figures over Easter last year.
Stone Pages
Michael Long Receives Centennial Professor Award For 2004
Dr. Michael Long, associate professor of Russian and director of Slavic and East European Studies at Baylor University, has been selected to receive the Centennial Professor Award for 2004. The award will allow Long to travel to the Republic of Georgia, where he will conduct research on the restoration of cultural monuments such as churches, monasteries and municipal buildings.
“Georgia has architectural monuments dating from the fifth century,” Long said. “The needed restoration may be due to age, vandalism, conversion to other uses, natural disasters or neglect because of Communist Party policies.”
Baylor
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Bones Could Be First Royal Corgi
Ninth century bones unearthed by archaeologists may be evidence of the first royal Welsh corgi pet, it emerged today.
The Scotsman
RING TO BE RETURNED TO WARWICK
The Anglo-Saxon gold ring found near Warwick by a metal detector enthusiast may soon be on its way back to Warwickshire.
The Courier
Appeal to preserve medieval churches
PARISHIONERS face a race against the clock to raise £200,000 for vital repairs to their two medieval churches, one of which is danger of collapse.
They were offered £100,000 by English Heritage to help fund the repairs to the two churches -- St Wilfrid's in Ribchester and St Saviour's in nearby Stydd -- earlier this year.
This is Clitheroe
First 'royal' corgi bones found
Ninth Century bones found in mid Wales are believed to be evidence of the first royal Welsh corgi.
Archaeologists from Cardiff University working at a Dark Ages site have found the bones of a corgi-type dog.
BBC News
Bones could be first royal corgi
More information and a colour photo can be found in the Cardiff University newsletter. You will need Acrobat Reader to view this.
Bones could be first royal corgi
Ninth century bones unearthed by archaeologists may be evidence of the first royal Welsh corgi pet, it emerged today.
Archaeologists from Cardiff University have been analysing bones found at an ancient crannog in the Brecon Beacons to determine if they are the earliest example of the royal breed.
ic Wales
Archaeologists puzzle over skull mystery
Nobody knows how he got there or how he died.
But the human skull of an elderly man unearthed under a block of flats has given archaeologists a tantalising mystery to puzzle over.
EDP 24
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS DROPPED
A LESLIE man who refused to hand over a 6,000-year-old axe head has spoken of his relief after criminal proceedings against him were dropped.
The procurator fiscal service in Kirkcaldy wrote to Michael Kelly recently to inform him that he wouldn't be prosecuted following the recovery of the ancient piece last month.
A spokeswoman for the Crown Office in Edinburgh confirmed that Michael would not be charged after voluntarily giving up the axe head to police.
The 45-year-old former stuntman offered his find to detectives three weeks ago when they turned up at his Greenside home.
Michael, who claims he found the piece while scouting film locations in the Lomond Hills last year, had been told by the Crown office that a charge would be brought against him unless he gave it up by March 9.
Fife Now
Amateur treasure-hunter unearths missing piece from 'Boudicca's necklace'
In East Anglian metal-detecting terms, it is the equivalent of finding Venus de Milo's missing arms.
A lost piece of an elaborate gold torc necklace that may have belonged to Boudicca has been unearthed on Norfolk farmland by an amateur archaeologist.
Independent
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Water main dig uncovers Bronze Age
A 3,000-year-old hill-top settlement has been discovered during water mains digging.
Pottery and flint have been found alongside burnt bones and storage pits at a site near Taplow. The remains are thought to date back to 850 BC, and are from the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age.
Slough Observer
Stanford researchers use today's technology to understand yesterday's treasures
Nearly every leading Italian archaeologist interested in ancient Rome sat in the chandeliered room of the German Archaeological Institute on March 18 to hear Marc Levoy, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Stanford, describe efforts to build an online archive of what remains of the Severan Marble Plan, or Forma Urbis Romae -- a massive marble map of third-century Rome.
Stanford Report
Golden Boadicea necklet found
The final link of what is believed to be a necklet owned by Queen Boadicea has been discovered in Norfolk.
The 2,000-year-old treasure is part of a gold torc, a type of Iron Age necklet, and was found by archaeologists in a field in Sedgeford.
BBC News
EMAS Study Tour to Orkney
Pictures from the EMAS Easter Study Tour to the Orkney Islands can be found at:
http://www.archaeology.eu.com/tours/previous/2004_ork/index.html
ART, ARCHAEOLOGY & LANDSCAPE
Sat 24th April 10.00-5.00pm
FCE 32 Tavistock Square, London
Art Archaeology Landscape Fay Stevens
Development in rock art studies throughout Britain Stan Beckensall
Ad majoram Dei gloriam: ecclesiastical architecture and the Medieval
landscape Stuart Brookes
Art and the re-presentation of the past Sue Hamilton
Excavate overlay: a project linking art, archaeology and landscape Sara Bowler
Fee: 30 pounds (15 pounds concessions) To enrol call: 020 7631 6627
Gold torc whole again after 2,000 years
A 2,000 YEAR-OLD mystery has been solved after the missing piece of the Sedgeford torc was found by amateur archaeologists last week.
The complete torc has now been revealed for the first time since being hidden by its owner two millennia ago – the main part of it having been found in 1965.
The 120-gram gold alloy terminal of the Iron Age torc was dug up on Wednesday, April 14, by retired chemist Steve Hammond (65), of Folgate Road, Heacham, during a field walk organised by Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP).
Lynn News
WHAT WE'RE DOING FOR THE ROMANS
VERULAMIUM TO GO HI-TECH
An EU grant of around £96,850 is to enable a St Albans museum to bring visitors an enhanced view of the past.
Verulamium Museum is set to benefit from the introduction of wireless technology, thanks to the Information Society Technology (IST) Programme, which is part of the European Union’s Framework Programme.
24 Hour Museum News
Monday, April 19, 2004
Hoo-ray for Suffolk's Saxon site
SUTTON Hoo is in the running to be crowned the country's best treasure.
The Anglo-Saxon burial ground will compete against nine other nominees in the channel Five series Britain's Finest Treasure, which will be broadcast this summer.
The Advertiser, Norfolk - News
Archaeology in the Isle of Skye, Scotland
23 - 28 August
The Course is based at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s award-winning Gaelic College on the Isle of Skye. The course will be in English but there will be plenty of opportunity to learn something of the language and culture as well as experience visits to little-known but fascinating local sites.
For course details please contact
Sìm Innes
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Slèite
Isle of Skye
IV44 8RQ
Tel 01471 888 240
Fax 01471 888 002
Email sm00si@groupwise.uhi.ac.uk
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/cg
Dig at housing site sheds light on prehistoric settlers
ARCHAEOLOGISTS will have a greater understanding of the lives of the people who built great ritual monuments such as Stonehenge following excavations at one of Scotland's largest rural settlements.
The Herald
What future for a sleeping giant?
The Roman town of Venta Icenorum lies slumbering beneath the Norfolk countryside. Now the county faces a conundrum – should it awaken this "Crown jewel" of our heritage and turn it into a modern visitor attraction or let the past sleep in peace? ANGI KENNEDY investigates.
EDP 24
'Gladiators' Mark Rome's Anniversary
ROME -- Hundreds of fans of ancient Rome dressed up as gladiators and marched by the ruins of the forums Sunday to mark the birthday of the city, which legend says was founded on April 21 2,757 years ago.
The actual anniversary is Wednesday, but the "gladiators," armed with spears and sporting helmets, turned out to stroll down Via dei Fori Imperiali, which is closed to traffic on Sundays.
Newsday
Uzbekistan's best kept secret
Kampyr-Tepe, in southern Uzbekistan, was built at the time of Alexander the Great's empire and occupied for about 500 years until it fell into decline.
BBC News
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Ice Maiden triggers mother of all disputes in Siberia
High in the Altai mountains of southern Siberia, where Shamans still practise their ancient rites and most people are descended from Asiatic nomads, there is a whiff of revolt in the air.
Telegraph
Warrior's grave points to Bronze Age burial site
The discovery of the body of a warrior - thought to have died in battle more than 2,000 years ago - could help archaeologists to pinpoint the site of an ancient holy site. The young warrior, aged about 30, with his spear, a sword, his belt and scabbard, stunned archaeologists who found his stone coffin. The discovery on Marshill, Alloa, last year was hailed as one of the most significant Iron Age finds for decades in Scotland. A copper pin, which once fastened his uniform at the neck, remained, along with rings on two toes and six other rings unlike any found in Scotland before. He was gripping his sword. Experts now believe the hill may have been used for holy ceremonies and burials since the Bronze Age at least 1,500 years earlier.
Stone Pages
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Archaeology gems go on display
A MASSIVE haul of treasure discovered by a metal detector expert has gone on show.
Bronze Age and Roman "treasures" found by archaeologist James Balme will be on display at Warrington Museum throughout April.
Manchester On-Line
Warrior's grave points to Druid site
THE discovery of the body of a warrior - thought to have died in battle more than 2,000 years ago - could help archaeologists to pinpoint the site of an ancient Druid holy site, experts said yesterday.
The young warrior, aged about 30, with his spear, a sword, his belt and scabbard, stunned archaeologists who found his stone coffin.
Scotsman
What lies beneath
ARCHAEOLOGISTS will begin exploring the fire-hit Cowgate site next week in a bid to uncover the early beginnings of the historic area.
The owners of the Old Town site have hired a team of archaeologists to carry out an extensive excavation underneath the foundations of the present ruins.
Scotsman
Ireland - Ancient Tomb Found
A team of archaeologists from the Irish National Museum has completed an initial investigation at an ancient cist burial site discovered on a Co. Donegal farm. The tomb, believed to be around 3,800 years old, was discovered on Friday near Castlefin along the banks of the River Finn.
Megalithic Portal
Friday, April 16, 2004
Mammoth hunt
THE remains of an Ice Age woolly mammoth uncovered by workmen dredging a North Wales harbour 120 years ago have been "rediscovered" gathering dust in one of Britain's top museums.
Now tourism, history and heritage groups at Holyhead, are urging bosses at the Natural History Museum, in London, to "let us have our mammoth back".
i c North Wales
Documents may prove ancient runestone fake
Scholars who believe the Kensington Runestone is a 19th-century prank -- and not concrete evidence that Norsemen beat Columbus to America by 100-plus years -- say they have found the smoking gun to prove it.
The latest in the century-old controversy centered in Minnesota came in documents written in 1885 by an 18-year-old Swedish tailor named Edward Larsson. He sometimes wrote in runes -- an ancient Scandinavian language that differs from the English alphabet. But Larsson's runes were not the usual runes used over the centuries.
Seattle P I
Archaeology, moms to be Kids Day focus
SAN PASQUAL – Children can learn a little history and make a gift for Mom, too, next month at Kids Day at the San Diego Archaeological Center.
The center is planning a free event for families from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 8, the day before Mother's Day. Children can learn about archaeology and will be able to create bracelets and brooches.
San Diego.com
Here, Kitty, heard 5,000 years earlier than believed
If it can truly be said that people train cats, rather than the other way around, then human-feline bonding apparently had its start at least 9,500 years ago - about 5,000 years earlier than previously thought.
French archaeologists, excavating a grave in Cyprus, have found the remains of a person, some buried offerings and the curled-up skeleton of a cat.
Herald Tribune
New sewage works has Bronze Age past
Archaeologists have reached the next crucial stage in uncovering the historic past of East Sussex's ancestors. They will begin digging a series of shallow excavations on land at Lower Hoddern Farm in Peacehaven in a bid to find evidence of previous human occupation in the valley, which could include artefacts dating back to the Bronze Age.
Megalithic Portal
Stonehenge Solstice: contingency plans
Traffic chaos on the night of the Summer Solstice should be avoided, thanks to a raft of contingency plans announced this week. Last year's highly successful celebration was marred for many visitors by long tailbacks on the A303 near Stonehenge, which took several hours to clear.
Megalithic Portal
Dancing girls and the merry Magdalenian
The people who created the first surviving art in Britain were committed Europeans, belonging to a common culture spanning France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, according to the man who discovered the cave art in Creswell Crags, Nottinghamshire.
And the essential preoccupations of this single market in ice-age art, it seems, were hunting and naked dancing girls.
Guardian
Microchips Guard Dartmoor's Historic Crosses
Ancient granite crosses which have stood on Dartmoor for centuries are being microchipped in a pioneering move to beat thieves, it emerged today.
Dartmoor National Park Authority archaeologists are attaching tiny chips to about 200 crosses and other granite artefacts across the 365 square mile wilderness in Devon.
Scotsman
Turin Shroud Back Side Shows Face
The ghostly image of a man's face has emerged on the back side of the Turin Shroud, the piece of linen long believed to have been wrapped around Jesus's body after the crucifixion, according to new digital imaging processing techniques.
Discovery.com
Rollrights stone circle vandalised (updated)
On March 31 vandals splattered bright yellow gloss paint over the entire ring of stones at The Rollrights in Oxfordshire. The damage was discovered by a member of a geo-physics team arriving for work on the site. Every single stone is splattered both sides, paint splodges vary from 2"-4" and in long lines. Paint is also deep inside the holes in the stones.
Stone Pages
Stone Age finds are unearthed in garden
An archaeological dig in the gardens of Coombe End House nursing home in London Road, Marlborough (England), has revealed exciting Stone Age finds that could cause the plans for the site to be modified. Experts unearthed a bucket full of flint chippings showing that Stone Age tools were fashioned on the site.
Stone Pages
Committee to consider Hill of Tara motorway
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Heritage and Local Government is to consider the controversial proposed motorway through the Hill of Tara and Hill of Skyrne in County Meath (Ireland), Deputy Eamon Gilmore has said. The committee agreed to a proposal from Labour's Deputy Eamon Gilmore that the group opposing the motorway plans and also the National Roads Authority should be invited to attend a meeting of the committee on April 28th.
Stone Pages
Monday, April 05, 2004
Britons in Anglo-Saxon England
14.4.04-16.4.04
The annual conference of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies (Mancass) will be held at the University of Manchester. Speakers will take a multi-disciplinary approach to include papers from the perspective of archaeology, history, place-name studies, language, ethnicity, genetics and palynology. Contact Dr N J Higham, School of History and Classics, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, tel 0161 275 3114, fax 0161 275 3098, email nick.j.higham@man.ac.uk
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Ulster's Iron Age forest
Once upon a time Ted Loughran was a farmer. Today he is the custodian of a unique forest. And a leisurely walk through it is like taking a ramble into the past. Twenty-seven acres of former lime rich farmland have been devoted to the growing of trees - some 25,000 of them. But there is nothing arborally mundane about the set-up, a stone's throw from the historic Navan Fort in Armagh.
For the trees are as representative, as can be guaged, of those which grew in the area almost 3000 years ago.
Ted calls it his 'Iron Age' forest, and shares his affection for it with the visiting public.
"It was all made possible because of a study carried out by Dr Dave Weir of Queen's University," he says.
Megalithic Portal
Castle ruins may fetch £1m
Auctioneers are hoping to fetch £1 million for the ruins of a 13th Century castle in the town made famous by poet Dylan Thomas, it emerged today.
Laugharne Castle, which has breathtaking views of the Taf estuary in West Wales, will be advertised as far afield as America, according to estate agent Nicolas Rees.
i c Wales
Rescuing the dead
Time Team Sunday, 4 April 5.00 - 6.05 pm (Channel 4 - Repeat)
Back in 2001, Douglas Speirs, Fife Council's archaeologist, received an application from a local developer to build houses on some farmland on the outskirts of Leven. While doing his research into whether the site contained anything of archaeological interest that should be investigated prior to any development, Douglas found that a cist burial had been discovered on the site in the mid-1940s. A cist is a Bronze-Age stone-lined pit, like a small chamber, into which dead people were interred.
Time Team
Motorway to impact on neolithic site
The proposed construction of the €260 million motorway between Limerick and Nenagh will impact on a neolithic site, claimed to be a location for the production of stone axes.
Eircomnet
3,000 year-old mirror discovered in Scotland?
Experts from the national museum are rushing to the Borders after a rare piece of treasure was unearthed near Yetholm. Local historians are already describing the find as one of the most important ever in the south of Scotland. And if their early calculations are right – the object may be a 3,000 year-old mirror.
Stone Pages
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Digs Reunited Returns
After a long absence caused by severe disruption from ant-war hackers, Digs Reunited is back with us.
At present, only UK digs are catered for, but we hope that Cole Henley will soon add a database of digs outside the UK.
Find the friends you use to work with! Support Digs Reunited.
http://digsreunited.org.uk/
Ancient builders followed stars
Many Bronze Age monuments in Europe and Africa were erected with the Sun and other stars in mind, says Dr Michael Hoskin, a UK historian of astronomy.
BBC News
Campaign to protect henges is stepped up
A campaign to protect the setting of ancient monuments near Bedale is gathering momentum and a fighting fund has been set up. The Thornborough henges - ancient earthworks - are said to be Yorkshire's rival to Stonehenge. Following an enthusiastic open meeting last week, The Friends of Thornborough adopted new chairman Jon Lowry's strategic plan to intensify their campaign.
Megalithic Portal
Rollrights stone circle vandalised
Vandals have splattered bright yellow gloss paint over the entire ring of stones at The Rollrights in Oxfordshire. The damage was discovered by a member of a geo-physics team arriving for work on the site. Every single stone is splattered both sides, paint splodges vary from 2"-4" and in long lines. Paint is also deep inside the holes in the stones.
Stone Pages
Murder in the Cathedral
Tuesday 6th April
The play will be held in Merton Priory Chapter House, under Merantun Way, behind the Savacentre, Colliers Wood. Tube - Colliers Wood
Arranged by the Friends of Merton Priory
Further Information
Friday, April 02, 2004
Rare stone axe among 'important' local fieldwalking finds
A RARE stone axe made by Caithness farmers around 6000 years ago has been discovered in a field in Castletown.
The object was found during a fieldwalking project which was organised by the Caithness Archaeological Trust as part of a two-week programme involving experts and local volunteers.
John O' Groat Journal
School go ahead may wreck burial ground
A BRONZE age burial ground could be destroyed if plans for a new school at Gateford are given the go-ahead.
Even Notts County Council, who submitted the plans, has admitted the site is of major archeological interest.
Roman coins, Bronze Age tools and some medieval artifacts have also been found on the site, just off Eddison Road.
"There is evidence of a Roman settlement and three probable Bronze Age burial mounds, which are deemed of regional importance," said a county council spokesman.
But all this could be destroyed by plans to build a new school, complete with car park, playground, sports field and access road.
Worksop Today
LEICESTER ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND 5000-YEAR-OLD HUMAN REMAINS
Bones of a man and woman dating back to 3000BC have been found in a gravel pit in Leicestershire. The extraordinary find, including a skull, vertebrae and long bones, are the earliest human remains ever found in the county.
Not only that but a series of timber uprights for a footbridge dating back to AD500, remnants of the only early Anglo-Saxon bridge known in Britain, were uncovered at the same spot.
24 Hour Museum News
Town prepares to display its treasures
TREASURES continue to be unearthed as a town prepares to open its first museum.
The Saxmundham Museum, near the railway bridge on the town's high street, captures a history which is rich in commerce, craftsmanship and achievement.
EADT
A journey into megalithic and mystical Germany
You will find them almost everywhere in Northern Germany: megalithic stone graves, colossi weighing tons from a past time. These 4000-5000 year old structures from the Neolithic lie in a belt, which stretches from the east of the Netherlands, over Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxonia-Anhalt. According to the researchers, these 1000 stone graves are said to have served as burial or bone storage places for whole clans.
Megalithic Portal
Take a step back in time in Warburton
The prehistoric and Roman history of Warburton in Greater Manchester will be showcased at a new exhibition at Warrington Library that opens today, Thursday. The display by archaeologist James Balme gives visitors the chance to look back on what the settlement was like 2,000 years ago. James has spent many years excavating in the Warburton area and for the first time, his Bronze Age and Roman finds will be put on public display.
Megalithic Portal
MISSING MANUSCRIPT ENDS CENTURIES OF SCHOLARLY CONTROVERSY
Staff in the Vatican Library announced
today the discovery of a complete book including the
missing portion of the ancient historian Tacitus' Annals. Tacitus
lived in the first century A.D. and his work is an important
historical source for the early Roman empire.
"What we seem to have is a complete codex of the Annals,
including the missing sections dealing with the emperor Caligula
and the early reign of Claudius," said Vatican spokesman Benito
Trovato.
Rogue Classicism
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Cave visitors get chance to view Ice Age artwork
VISITORS to a Derbyshire cave complex are being offered a unique opportunity to see paintings made by prehistoric man on cave walls 12,000 years ago.
Pictures of animals and geometric patterns were painted on the walls of Creswell Crags, near Whitwell, during the Ice Age but their outlines remained invisible until last year.
Yorkshire Today
Stone age child's bones found in Norway
Norwegian archaeologists were ecstatic this week after making a rare discovery at Aukra in Romsdal, north-central Norway. They've confirmed finding bone fragments from a child who must have lived in the area around 6,000 years ago.
Mirabilis
Ancient human remains reveal a bloody end
University of Leicester archaeologists discovered the earliest human remains from Leicestershire (England). Analysis of the remains found eight years ago in a gravel quarry near Watermead Country Park, Birstallhas, established that they met with violent deaths. Experts have just completed investigations on the remains and a series of scientific tests undertaken this year have come up with some gruesome results.
Stone Pages
St Paul's shows off birthday clean-up
The restored east end of St Paul's Cathedral was unveiled yesterday after 13 months of cleaning and repairs.
Telegraph
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