YORK'S VIKING GOLD ARMBAND GOES ON DISPLAY AT YORKSHIRE MUSEUM

A rare piece of Viking gold that was discovered in the possessions of a deceased builder from York has finally gone on display at the Yorkshire Museum.

The pure gold armband weighing three quarters of a Kilogram is only the third of its type ever to be found in Britain and Ireland and experts at the museum believe it would have been worn by one of the richest people living in Viking York, then called Jorvik.

Following its discovery two years ago when the relatives of the builder took it to their local finds liaison officer the armband was declared treasure by a coroners’ court. The York Museum Trust, which runs the Yorkshire Museum, was successful in applying for funding to purchase the arm ring and it will go on display in the next few weeks.

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Kids to be archaeologists as new building could uncover a Roman camp

TODAY it's home to a Leeds school with more than 1,000 students.

But backtrack 2,000 years and the site of Allerton High in Moortown could have been occupied by soldiers from one of history's largest empires.

The east end of the site may have once contained a Roman camp, it has been discovered.
The discovery was made by surveyors preparing for a new £25m school to replace the current buildings in two years.

In the meantime, a group of Allerton pupils aged 11 and 12 studying the Romans will be taking part in an official archaeology dig to investigate the site.

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Medieval finds of what could be 'lost village'

A PLOUGHED field on the outskirts of Nuneaton could be the site of the lost medieval settlement of Copston Parva.

Dozens volunteered to become archaeological sleuths for the day in a bid to unearth clues and pinpoint the exact location of the long-forgotten Warwickshire village.

About 100 people converged on farmland between Nuneaton and Hinckley - and they discovered "huge amounts" of medieval material.

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Armring found by builder's son is bought by museum

Pure gold... rare piece of Viking jewellery returns to the city of York

ONE of the rarest pieces of Viking gold jewellery to be found in Britain or Ireland has returned to the City of York.

The arm ring – weighing 325 grammes – was found among the possessions of a former builder after the 88-year-old man died in February, 2004.

It was taken to York coroner, Donald Coverdale, by Douglas Ingle who found the ring while sorting through his father's belongings and realised it had archaeological importance.

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1,600-year-old dog found in Roman well at Liss

ARCHAEOLOGISTS digging on the site of a Roman settlement in Liss have discovered the skeleton of a dog they believe was offered as a gift to the gods 1,600 years ago. Archaeozoologist Sheila Hamilton-Dyer, told The Herald it was not uncommon to find dogs at the bottom of Roman wells and “Brutus” , as the Liss volunteers have christened the remains, was probably placed in the well by Roman settlers. “Dogs are found at the bottom of Roman wells on about half of the sites excavated,” she told The Herald. “It’s probably associated with the fact that they were associated with death, and I think this dog was already dead when it was thrown or placed in the well, judging by the ‘floppy’ way it was lying.”

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Rare Iron Age settlement is about to be unearthed

ARCHAEOLOGISTS will soon be uncovering a rare Iron Age settlement in a North Somerset village.

The ancient site at Goblin Combe Environmental Centre in Cleeve is the only known Iron Age settlement in Britain not to have been dug up.

The trees and plants currently covering the site will be cleared this winter in preparation for a team of archaeologists to study the site in detail.

A group of 45 pupils from Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College in Weston started the work this week by helping clear some trees.

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Oxford archaeologists want to join studies on Iran's salt men

"A group of Oxford University archaeologists has prepared a plan, asking to participate in the study, and the Center for Archaeological Research is investigating the plan," Abolfazl Aali told the Persian service of CHN on Wednesday

"The archaeologists will be invited to the project if their plan is approved by the center. The collaboration would be a good experience for both sides," he added.

Last year, pieces of clothing and DNA samples from three of the four ancient salt men were sent to Oxford University for carbon-14 dating.

"The Chehrabad Salt Mine is one of the world's unique ancient sites, but there are also similar sites in other countries where their archaeologists have had many experiences, which could be helpful for us," Aali said.

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Neanderthal 'butcher's shop' found near Somme

Neanderthal finds are like prehistoric buses. You wait for tens of thousands of years, and then two important revelations come along together.

French and Belgian archaeologists have found proof that Neanderthals - mankind's closest relatives - were living in near-tropical conditions, hunting rhinoceros and elephant, close to what is now France's Channel coast 125,000 years ago.

No traces of Neanderthal activity have previously been found in north-west Europe during this period - a 15,000-year interval between two ice ages.

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Archaeologists excavating a Roman settlement in Liss believe they have unearthed the remains of a dog over 1,600 years after it fell down a well.

The curious incident of the dog from the fourth century has led to a modern day investigation in a field at the village.

The ill fated mutt came to a sad end at the bottom of a well.

More than 1,600 years later, its skeleton has been recovered by amateur archaeologists carrying out excavation work on the settlement.

The remarkably well preserved remains are currently being analysed by an expert in animal bones.

Meanwhile, the dog has been given a suitably Roman name by the archaeologists – Brutus.

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Secret Death Chamber Found in Temple of Apollo

Underneath the Temple of Apollo in the Hierapolis located near Denizli, Turkey, archaeologists have made an astounding discovery. There is a tunnel underneath the temple leading from a death pit outside to a secret chamber under the main temple where priests may have secretly prepared the sacrifices made outside - and this is all related to the famed hot springs which even today bring in large numbers of tourists.

In this way, a sacrifice tossed into the pit would seem to miraculously appear, fully prepared, in the temple not long after. That doesn't sound so amazing, except for one fact: the death pit killed instantly due to large amounts of poisonous gasses from a geologic fault that the temple was built over. No one could approach or enter the pit, so no one would suspect priests being able to enter to retrieve the sacrifice, with or without an underground tunnel.

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The Croatian Apoxyomenos in Italy

The Croatian Apoxyomenos in Italy

Apoxyomenos, The Athlete of Croatia will be on view in the Medici Riccardi
Palace in Florence between 30th September 2006 and 30th July 2007. The ancient bronze statue Apoxyomenos, the figure of a young athlete, was
found in 1996 by a Belgian tourist under the sea off the little island
near Losinj in Croatia. The statue was lying on a sandy seabed, stuck
between two rocks, at a depth of approximately 45 m.

Information from Andrea Devlahovic

For more info, please visit: www.palazzo-medici.it

THE TEXARKANA ARCHAEOLOGY BLUES

Location: Arkansas Length: 6 min.

Life as a cultural resource management (CRM) field archaeologist might not be what you expect. In this sequel to our first video spinoff of the Shovel Bum zine, T-Bone tells about a freeway project near Texarkana, Arkansas. Irate landowners, scenic delights, large snakes, night-screaming roommates, and backbiting co-workers all help to portray the "shovel bum lifestyle." In this episode by the University of New Mexico's Troy Lovata, T-Bone (using Trent's real voice) and Betsy finally get fed up with the scene in Arkansas and head west to greener pastures.

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8,400-year old settlement unearthed in İzmir’s Ulucak tumulus

A team of archaeologists working at the Ulucak tumulus, located in İzmir's Kemalpaşa district, have unearthed a Neolithic settlement area dating back some 8,400 years, an archaeologist announced last week.

Archaeologist Fulya Dedeoğlu of Ege University told the Doğan News Agency that excavations had been under way in the area since 1995.

She said they believed their latest discovery could be the oldest settlement dating from the Neolithic period unearthed to date and added that further excavations on the lower levels could reveal even older remains.

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BULGARIA TRYING TO PROTECT TREASURES FROM CRIMINAL GROUPS

Bulgarian archaeologists and criminal groups were in a race to find ancient treasures first, an article in The Guardian named Bulgaria Fights to Save its Golden Past from the Curse of the Gangsters said.

A number of Thracian treasures have already been found on the territory of Bulgaria, the report said. These artifacts were about to disprove claims that the Thracians were “barbarian race whose greatest contribution to history was Spartacus, the slave who rebelled against Rome.”

At the same time, criminal groups proved sometimes more skillful and faster than archaeologists and managed to unearth ancient treasures first, The Guardian said.

Some Thracian treasures could even rival findings from ancient Troy, the report said. Among the most impressive pieces were a solid gold mask and a platinum dagger found recently.

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Fragments from a sacred landscape

To the untrained eye it looks like a piece of rubble. For archaeologists however, this 4,000 year-old fragment is part of the one of the most significant discoveries in Norwich for more than 60 years.

It was unearthed at an excavation in Ber Street and is believed to come from a Bronze Age Round Barrow - also thought to be the first ever found in the heart of the city.

Giles Emery, project officer for NAU which is part of Norfolk Property Services (NPS), said: “The monument would have measured up to 20m in diameter, consisting of a central burial or cremation covered by a circular mound surrounded by a ditch and bank.

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Money runs out for excavating oldest church

The tourist development venture at a Christian altar found at the Megiddo Prison, considered the world’s oldest church dating to the third of fourth century CE, has been halted because of a lack of money. The Israel Antiquities Authority financed the excavations and preservation of the site for years, but says it can no longer bear the cost.

Since the relevant authorities have not allocated the necessary resources to dedicate the site and develop it into a global tourist attraction, the Antiquities Authority has had to cover the ruins with sand and a tarpaulin in order to preserve them. The purpose is to prevent natural or human-induced damage to the uncovered mosaic. The decision is reversible, and if and when money is found to continue development of the site, the Antiquities Authority can continue activity at the dig to prepare it for visitors.

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Archaeologist gagged by power firm

ENERGY chiefs have been accused of gagging one of Scotland's leading archaeologists after he discovered that proposed power lines would run through the site of a major "lost" battlefield.

Dr Tony Pollard has pinpointed the precise location of the 1715 Battle of Sheriffmuir, but the firm that commissioned the work, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), will not let him reveal his findings due to "legal advice".

SSE is already facing growing environmental opposition to its plans for a £320m, 137-mile string of pylons from Beauly in Inverness-shire to Denny in Stirlingshire.

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National Geographic Channel Seeks The Historical Truth In SEARCH FOR NOAH′S ARK

National Geographic Channel Investigates The Latest Clues And Competing Theories In The SEARCH FOR NOAH′S ARK

"There′s an Indiana Jones kind of quality to it - you′ve got a secret map for a priceless treasure."

It is a tale of divine punishment, human survival ...and historical truth? In one of the seminal stories of the Bible, Noah is handpicked by God to build an ark and save his family and the animals of the earth from a catastrophic worldwide flood meant to punish human beings for their wicked ways. Strikingly similar stories have been told for thousands of years in the Middle East and among North and South American Indian cultures. Is this a remarkable coincidence or a conceivable - and provable - historical fact?

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Tolbooth found in Capital's facelift

THE remains of Edinburgh's medieval tolbooth have been unearthed during road repairs on the Royal Mile.

Historians have always known the tolbooth was located somewhere between St Giles' Cathedral and the City Chambers, but until now had been unable to pinpoint its location.

The archaeological investigations, carried out as part of a £1.5 million upgrade of the Royal Mile, have discovered a large section of the lost building's northern wall which they believe dates to the late 14th century.

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That huge gap between us and the cavemen is getting smaller all the time

The remains of a neanderthal settlement have been found on the Rock of Gibraltar, carbon-dated to just 24,000 years ago. This is 10,000 years later than the last known remains and, according to the rampant neanderthal lobby, brings these lovable people almost to the present day. It proves to those who have championed their cause that every discovery about neanderthals has them surviving longer than was previously thought.

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