Ancient and modern man lived side by side - study

Did Neanderthals and the first ancestors of modern man ever meet? The argument has raged among archaeologists and palaeontologists for decades.

Now a group of scientists claim to have proof -- based on radiocarbon dating of artefact finds in France -- that the two distinct groups did indeed share the same space at the same time some 38,000 years ago.

"These data strongly support the chronological coexistence -- and therefore potential demographic and cultural interactions -- between the last Neanderthal and the earliest anatomically and behaviourally modern human populations in western Europe," they wrote in the latest edition of the science journal Nature.

Some scientists have argued that Neanderthals and the first ancestors of modern man existed at the same time -- at least for a while -- but in different places, while others have argued that Neanderthals died out before modern man came along.

Others still have suggested that they not only met but may even have interbred.

The arguments have ebbed and flowed for generations -- fuelled from time to time by new artefact finds, mainly from Kenya's Rift Valley.

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Bronze Age dig's finds revealed

Archaeologists who have been working on one of the UK's largest Bronze Age digs of the summer are set to reveal their discoveries on Thursday.

Up to 100 people have been busy working the Allen Valley site in Dorset with archaeologists from Bournemouth University since early August.

They are uncovering a series of ancient barrow cemeteries.

The area has one of the densest concentrations of prehistoric monuments in north-west Europe.

"Parts of the Cranborne Chase remain little understood, and the Allen Valley is potentially one of the most interesting of them," said Professor John Gale, of the university.

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Roman army on show at Segedunum

THE Roman army will once more be on guard in Segedunum this weekend.
Visitors to the fort will be able to see spectacular displays of military drill and equipment and meet a centurion when one of Britain’s premier Roman re-enactment troops go on show.

The Ermine Street Guard will be at the Wallsend fort on Saturday and Sunday bringing to life the Roman legions – the cream of the Roman army – who would have built Hadrian’s Wall and forts like Segedunum.

The legionary group will be providing a display that includes various aspects of the Roman soldier’s rigorous training.
Drill exercises and battle manoeuvres such as the famous testudo shield-wall will be performed as well as an impressive charge at the enemy.

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Amulets Discovered in Ancient Bulgarian Capital

Two ancient amulets were discovered in Bulgaria's old capital Pliska, archeologists announced.

One of the amulets was made from the tooth of a big bear, while the second one was made from a wolf's tooth. The two findings are dated back to the 9-10th Century.

Archaeologists explained that the bear's tooth was some 9cm long.

The amulet's owner, who was most probably a hunter, has divided it in two pieces and the second piece has been given to someone close to him, archaeologists believe.

The two amulets were found in a mound in the inner city.

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Balloons help spot ancient sites

Archaeologists are to take to the skies above north Wales in hot air balloons in an attempt to spot long-lost ancient sites.

Balloonists preparing for the weekend's Llangollen Balloon Festival will take archaeologists up in their craft to allow them to take aerial photographs.

Many ancient sites can only be spotted from the air with slow-flying balloons ideal for landscape photography.

The balloon festival is due to be held in the town on 3 and 4 September.

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For sale: one megalithic tomb (if buyer passes muster)

BAGNEUX, France (AFP) - Pascal Normand has decided to sell his 5,000-year-old megalithic tomb, but he is being very choosy about who gets it.

"Ive got to feel that the buyer has a real passion for the monument, even if he decides not to open it to the public," Normand said about his dolmen -- a Neolithic tomb consisting of two or more upright stones with a capstone -- in Bagneux, western France.

No passion, no sale, he says.

To sweeten the deal, Normand is throwing in a bar and two apartments on the 2,300-square-metre (half-acre) plot, asking 1.5 million euros (1.8 million dollars) for the lot.

The dolmen, at 23 metres (75 feet), is the longest in France, Normand says, adding that it was classified as a historic monument in the 19th century by Prosper Merimee, the playwright and author who was also state archaeologist.

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IXth Century Monastery Remains Unearthed in Bulgaria

Well-preserved monastery vault arches dated back to the IXth century were found during excavation works in the Karaach Tepe area near Varna.

The arches are the only ones that have remained from the monastery constructions of the Middle Ages, experts claim. The new findings prove that in the early stages of the Middle Ages the Bulgarians were able to compete the Byzantines in that kind of construction works.

Archaeologists say that the monastery in Karaach Tepe is the biggest spiritual center North eastern Bulgaria. For nearly 3 century it has witnessed the translation of many clerical books. The 40 hasps and the seals discovered have proved that.

The scientists believe that some of the students of the brothers Cyrill and Methodius might have worked in that monastery.

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Grave reveals medieval Caesareans

The medieval remains of a mother and daughter found in North Yorkshire shows signs of an attempted Caesarean operation, scientists have revealed.
The 900-year-old grave at Wharram Percy held the remains of a woman aged between 25 and 30 with a baby.

A study of the remains by English Heritage showed the woman died during her pregnancy and the foetus was cut free from the womb in a bid to save it.

Nearly 700 skeletons have been found at the 12th century site near Malton.

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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Archaeologists have uncovered 17 ancient Celtic coins in a field in the south of the Netherlands, the first hoard of such coins found in the country.

Amsterdam's Free University excavated the site in April and will display the coins, which are made of silver and mixed with copper and gold, in the Limburgs Museum in the city of Venlo on Saturday.

They are estimated to date from 20-50 B.C., shortly after Julius Caesar began the Roman conquest of the region.

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History rises from the ashes

THOUSANDS of everyday items from the 15th century homes of bishops, lords and ladies have been uncovered in a four-metre deep seam of archaeological remains discovered beneath the Cowgate.

Fragments of medieval pottery and leather and wood, thought to be the remains of shoes and kitchen barrels, are among the artifacts uncovered during a five-year excavation which has proved to be one of the most significant in the UK in decades. Experts say the discoveries on three sites in the Cowgate have put Edinburgh on a par with York and London in archaeological terms.

It will take up to three years for experts to analyse all the fragments that have been dug up. Most of the items uncovered are expected to go on show in Edinburgh museums.

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Big knight out for youngsters at the Castle

YOUNGSTERS will go back to the 13th century to take part in a special "knight school" at Edinburgh Castle.

The Historic Scotland event is aimed at teaching primary pupils the manners and chivalric values of medieval times.

The children will be taught about Scottish history and the knights' code of honour, and taken on a tour of the Castle, where they will see weapons and armoury.

The knight school visits Edinburgh on November 1.

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Medieval appetite suppressant could be new slimming aid

An 800-year-old herbal potion used by medieval monks to curb the appetite could soon find new popularity among 21st century dieters.

Archaeologists investigating an ancient hospital site founded by Augustinian monks about 845 years ago have found evidence that they used to chew on the bitter vetch plant to stave off hunger pains.

Now the component of the plant that suppresses appetite could be turned into a wonder pill for dieters.

After months of research and excavation experts have identified the remains of plant tubers belonging to lathyrus linifolius, the bitter vetch plant, in the drains of a 12th century monastery at Soutra Aisle, south of Edinburgh.

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Oldest homes were made of mammoth bone

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY archaeologists are joining Czech colleagues to study the world’s oldest-known houses, some of them built from mammoth bones, Norman Hammond writes. The houses lie beneath the vineyards of southern Moravia, along with early evidence of such craft activities as modelling in clay and weaving, all carried out around a central hearth.

Between 25,000 and 30,000 years ago, Moravia was a more hostile place than now, its climate dipping to very low temperatures. Archaeological evidence suggests that its inhabitants sheltered themselves and gathered around the hearth to share food, make small models of themselves and their animal prey, and probably tell stories about it all. Their descendants followed the mammoth and reindeer north into yet more hostile worlds, eventually into Siberia and across the Bering Strait to become the first Americans, the investigators believe.

The project is being led by Martin Jones, Professor of Archaeological Science at Cambridge, and Professor Jiri Svoboda, Director of the Palaeolithic and Palaeoethnology Research Centre at Dolni-Vestonice.

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Second rare burial unearthed at Minehowe

A second Iron Age burial has been found at the Minehowe (Orkney, Scotland) site. The latest find follows last year's discovery of a woman buried under the floor of a metalworking structure that has been the focus for the past few years. The fact that two burials have turned up on the site is particularly significant as Iron Age burials in Scotland, let alone Orkney, are rare.

Found buried into rubble outside this building, the remains may be contemporary with the 2004 skeleton. Their discovery once again hints at ritual practices surrounding the "mystical" nature of metalworking in the Iron Age. The woman buried in the floor, was found to be lying on her back, hands by her sides, with a piece of decorated antler lying on her chest. She also wore a decorative toe-ring on each foot. The body was found at the close of excavations, as one of the archaeologists recording details of a trench through the structure's wall moved a loose stone. A human skull was visible underneath.

It is hoped that additional local funding will see the excavation extended to allow the remains to be extracted. Co-director of the dig, Orkney College's Jane Downes said: "To find one formal burial was surprising, but to find two is really quite amazing."

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Prehistoric remains discovered in south Wales

Students from Lancashire discovered 5,000-year-old human remains on an archaeological dig in south Wales. The remains of seven humans were found in a large pit in the mouth of a cave on the Goldsland Wood site, near Wenvoe, in the Vale of Glamorgan. Archaeology students from the University of Central Lancashire, in Preston, had been digging there as part of their course. The pottery and flint blades found with them date the remains to about 3000 BCE.

"The Goldsland caves have never been excavated before," said Dr Rick Peterson, the course leader. "We went there hoping to find undisturbed evidence for whatever ritual took place 5000 years ago that led to peoples' bones being put in caves and we seem to have found it. At the moment our understanding of these rituals is that first the large pit was dug, probably to make the small cave mouth look much bigger and more impressive. Then the dead were placed in the pit with some of their possessions such as pottery and stone tools. Then once the bodies had become skeletons it seems that most of the bones were then moved to other ritual sites, like the nearby chambered tomb of St Lythans. The pit containing the ash from a cremation is evidence for a different sort of rite - although it probably took place around the same time."

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Stone Age site uncovered in the heart of Surrey

An excavation in East Surrey (England) has turned up flint tools and cooking pots from about 10,000 years ago. The area, which bears the remains of cooked meals, campfires and flints shaped into tools by people who visited the North Downs around 8,000 BCE, is believed to contain one of the most important Mesolithic excavations in Britain.

Andrew Josephs, an archaeologist and the project’s consultant, said: "The most extraordinary thing is that people gathered here for 4,000 years. It’s over a period of time that is very hard to comprehend. We think of the Romans as a long time ago, at 2,000 years. Mesolithic man was coming here for 4,000 years, which is 200 generations of people. It suggests a tradition passed down from generation to generation."

Within hours of starting to dig, archaeologists had unearthed an adze, an implement used for shaping wood. The buried land surface is littered with evidence of communities that came to the area from around 8,000 BCE to 4,300 BCE.

The site is at North Park Farm, Bletchingley, a medieval village in East Surrey. It emerged when a mineral supply company, applied for planning permission to quarry in the area and an archaeological investigation was undertaken as part of the process.

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Anatolia's largest Roman bath waiting to be excavated

ARTICLE SUMMARY

The Herodes Atticus Hamam, situated in Çanakkale’s ancient ruins of Alexandria Troas, is believed to be the largest bath from the Roman era in Anatolia and is just waiting to be unearthed.

ARTICLE


The Herodes Atticus Hamam, situated in Çanakkale's ancient ruins of Alexandria Troas, is believed to be the largest bath from the Roman era in Anatolia and is just waiting to be unearthed.

Excavation team leader and German archaeologist Professor Elmar Schwertheim told ...

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Rome's Greatest Brickmakers Identified

Two brothers are behind Rome's greatest monuments, according to Italian archaeologists who have discovered two furnaces that provided the bricks for buildings such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon.

Found in Mugnano in Teverina, a tiny village some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Rome, the furnaces belonged to Tullus and Lucanus, brothers of the Domitii family, as an inscription found on the road leading to the brickfield confirms: "iter privatum duorum Domitiorum" (private road of the two Domitii).

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Roman ruins to remain under rainwater canal

Finding themselves in a catch-22 situation, the authorities have decided to forge ahead with the construction of a "removable" canal over a significant piece of archaeology unearthed in Marsa.

The Works' Division and the heritage authorities have had to find the middle ground between building a water canal to alleviate flooding problems and exploiting one of the most important historical finds in recent years.

The area consists of a stretch of about 125 metres along the northern half of the water channel near Jetties Wharf, Marsa, which may be dated from the ceramics recovered from site to the Roman and Early Medieval periods.

"It's a significant discovery but sadly there are pragmatic realities we have to face. We opted for a practical solution," Anthony Pace, Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, told The Times.

He said the anti-flooding development in the area had now been redesigned in such a way as not to cause any long-term damage to the Roman structures. Special removable blocks will be used to cover the bottom of the trench.

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Roman road dug up after council error

A COUNCIL has been accused of vandalism after allowing a 2000-year-old stretch of Roman road to be dug up in error.

The criticism was levelled at Perth and Kinross Council after planners approved an application to improve drainage and build a shed next to Kaims Cottage, near Braco, without an archaeological survey.

The go-ahead resulted in the destruction of one of the few surviving undamaged sections of the road, which was constructed by the Romans in 70AD.
Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust had recommended that an archaeological survey be carried out to review the dangers in excavating land surrounding the Roman fort and road.

Its proposal was put to the planning department. But when the consent was issued the essential condition of an archaeological survey was forgotten.
Dr John Woolliscroft, a leading expert on the Roman occupation of Scotland, criticised the council's "carelessness''.
Dr Woolliscroft, of Liverpool University, said: "This was one of the surviving sections that seems to have been still in something like its original state, without modern rebuild-ing/resurfacing, so this bit of vandalism seems to be a sad loss of opportunity.

"It does sound as though the trouble at Kaims is the council's fault. I spoke to the trust, which advises the council on potential clashes between heritage and development, and they tell me that they strongly advised that if planning consent was granted it should be only on condition that an archaeological study should be undertaken before the work was started. They were ignored.
"Sadly, although the little Roman fort is a scheduled ancient monument, and so can't be touched without the consent of the Scottish Parliament, the Roman road is not, despite being well preserved."

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