Hellenistic city on island in Persian Gulf

On his way back west from India, Alexander the Great’s Admiral Nearchos reached the island of Failaka, about 20 kilometers from what is now Kuwait City, and founded a town there called Icaros. Twenty-five centuries later, that Hellenistic city is slowly coming to light again on the 24-square-kilometer island that was depopulated during the Gulf War of 1991.

This coming November, Greek archaeologists are to go to the island to continue the excavations, organize the site, and restore the finds from that ancient Greek colony in the heart of the East.

An accord to that effect was signed on July 25 by Culture Ministry general secretary Christos Zachopoulos and the Kuwait National Council Secretary-General for Culture, the Arts and Letters Bader Abdulwahab Al-Rifae.

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DOES LINCOLNSHIRE ROMAN FIND OFFER CLUE TO EMPEROR'S CURSE?

Archaeologists think they may have uncovered unique curse tablets used against a Roman Emperor at a time of political unrest in Roman Britain.

Early in the year metal detectorist Tom Redmayne discovered three folded lead tablets in a field in Fulstow, Lincolnshire

After carefully unfolding one of them he took the haul to his local Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer, Adam Daubney, who helps record archaeological finds in Lincolnshire.

"He could see a faint impression of what looked like a coin, so he phoned me up,” said Adam. “He had already found a few late Roman coins and some pieces of Samian ware [Gaulish-made pottery] from the early to middle Roman period in the field, which were indicative of a high status settlement at the site.”

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MfD: Czech archaeologists uncover unique Central European ditch

Archaeologists have uncovered a unique medieval ditch in Sumperk which they say is unique in Central Europe by its structure, the regional supplement to daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) and daily Denik wróte Tuesday.

The bank of the ditch is reinforced with wood that has been preserved in the ground to date, the papers write.

"We have been taken by surprise by the important find. Such a wood-reinforced medieval ditch has not been registered anywhere in Central Europe," archaeologist Vladimir Gos is quoted as saying.

The find has interrupted work on the construction of a new house.

The archaeologists also found a part of a Lostice cup, a relic of famous ceramics made in Lostice, north Moravia, in the Middle Ages.

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Italy drops legal battle against Getty after deal

ROME (Reuters) - Italy has dropped a legal suit against the Getty Museum after the richest U.S. art institution agreed to return 40 items Rome believes were stolen and smuggled out of the country, the culture minister said Thursday.

After a 15-month battle of wills between the government and the Los Angeles-based museum, Getty will send most of the disputed items back by the end of this year under an agreement Rome said was good for both parties.
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"From the moment we closed the deal we confirmed that we were pulling out of the legal case," said Francesco Rutelli, Italy's deputy prime minister and culture minister.

In Los Angeles, Getty Museum director Michael Brand welcomed the agreement and said he was looking forward to collaborating on a new program with Rome of loans and joint exhibitions which was part of the agreement.

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SNAKE FARMER BACKS BIG DIG

The farmer who owns the land close to where archaeologists unearthed a Bronze Age snake has said he would back plans for it to be dug up completely and turned into a tourist attraction.Ever since the 200ft stretch of the 4,000 year old treasure was unearthed by archaeologists who went in ahead of a new relief road, there has been a major campaign to save the snake from being covered in tarmac.

Herefordshire Council is now covering the serpent carved into the hillside with protective layers until they get a report on its significance from English Heritage which could apply for it be classed an ancient monument.

But archeologists believe hundreds of meters of snake lie under neighbouring fields owned by farmer Tracey Goodwin and he is upset by rumours that he will not allow the council carry out further excavations on his land.

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Leben am Limes erforschen: Archäologische Grabungen zum Mitmachen

Auf Archäologie- und Geschichtsbegeisterte wartet im September 2007 im Naturpark Altmühltal eine neue Attraktion: Im Rahmen ihres Aufenthaltes können Urlauber unter wissenschaftlicher Betreuung an der Ausgrabungsstätte eines römischen Gutshofes mitarbeiten.

Bei Walting (Landkreis Eichstätt), im Hinterland des Raetischen Limes, können interessierte Laien - unter wissenschaftlicher Aufsicht - eigenhändig in geschichtsträchtigem Boden graben. Zum Programm gehören auch Exkursionen zu den bekannten römischen Sehenswürdigkeiten und Museen des Naturparks, Vorträge zu archäologischen Themen.

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Steinzeitlicher Brunnen entdeckt

Einen seltenen Fund machten Archäologen bei Niederröblingen in Sachsen-Anhalt: sie entdeckten einen über 7.000 Jahre alten Brunnen.

»Der Brunnen ist als einer der ältesten seiner Art in Mitteleuropa eine Sensation« sagte Landesarchäologe Harald Meller. Bisher sind aus der Zeit der Bandkeramik (benannt nach den charakteristischen Gefäßverzierungen) nur sechs weitere Brunnen bekannt.

Der Brunnen ist quadratisch und misst etwa 80 x 80 cm. Angelegt wurde er inmitten einer Siedlung, von der bisher 20 Hausgrundrisse nachgewiesen werden konnten. Interessant ist auch, dass sich die steinzeitlichen Ackerbauer und Viehzüchter die Mühe machten, einen Trinkwasserbrunnen unweit eines Flusses anzulegen. »Das deutet daraufhin, das es schon damals ein Umweltproblem gab und die Flüsse nicht mehr sauber waren« sagt die Archäologin Susanne Friederich.

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Roman holiday!

FASCINATING clues about life in a Roman ‘motel’ were uncovered during an archaeological dig on the moors above Huddersfield

Top Roman officials and well-to-do travellers could well have stopped off at Slack while out and about on vital business.

And another exciting discoveries during the project near Outlane was the remains of what could be an aqueduct.

The nine-day dig – paid for by a £10,000 grant from the Lottery’s Awards for All scheme – was carried out by Huddersfield Archaeological Society.

Project co-ordinator Granville Clay said: “We had 50 volunteers, who all turned up despite the terrible weather.

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400-year-old Scots ready to reveal their battle secrets

A MASS grave of soldiers, including Scots, slaughtered during Europe's bloody Thirty Years War is yielding up valuable information on how they had lived.

Skeletons of more than 100 men who fought in the Battle of Wittstock near Berlin in 1636 were discovered by workmen excavating a sandpit.

Anthropologists say the remains offer a fascinating insight into the health of Europeans nearly 400 years ago.

Superficially, the bodies bear all the hallmarks of terrible fighting: shoulder blades smashed by axes; spines run through with swords and skulls pierced by musket balls.

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Shop assistant wore ancient necklace

Archaeologists have found a valuable ancient gold necklace being worn by a cashier in a Bulgarian grocery after it was dug up by her husband.

Boris Todorov, 43, from Karlovo in Bulgaria dug up hundreds of fine gold rings from a field on his farm and put them together to make a gift for his wife.

But it was spotted by a group of archaeologists from the Bulgarian National Museum of History who were passing through - and went into her shop to buy provisions.

They immediately identified the necklace as extremely valuable and now say it dates back to 3,000 years BC.

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Massive Mastodon Tusks Unearthed in Greece

ATHENS, Greece — Researchers in northern Greece have uncovered two massive tusks of a mastodon that roamed Europe more than 2 million years ago — tusks that could be the largest of their kind ever found.

The remains of the mastodon, which was similar to the woolly mammoth but had straighter tusks as well as different teeth and eating habits, were found in an area about 250 miles north of Athens where excavations have uncovered several prehistoric animals over the past decade.

One of the tusks measured 16 feet, 4 inches long and the other was more than 15 feet long, the research team said.

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Laverstock church survey ready in 2008

VOLUNTEERS in Laverstock are carrying out a detailed survey of their parish church in readiness for the church's 150th anniversary next year.

The Church Discovery Project is one of three groups involved in the history of the village - the others are Oral History and House History.

John King from the Laverstock Discovery Project said: "The survey of St Andrew's Church is an essential part of our local history task.

"We intend to have an excellent display of the history of both the inside and the outside of our church by midsummer 2008, when the 150th anniversary of it being consecrated occurs."

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ANCIENT GATEWAY UNCOVERED AT CASTLE

An Ancient gateway has been revealed near the entrance to a north-east castle after lying hidden beneath the ground for centuries.

The discovery was only made after gardeners at Leith Hall, near Kennethmont in Aberdeenshire, kept bashing their mowers on a buried rock that had gradually surfaced on the sweeping lawns.

Castle owners the National Trust for Scotland decided to dig into the archives and discovered an estate map from 1758, which revealed an elaborate courtyard had stood at the entrance of its drive.

The long-forgotten access was apparently flanked by two buildings, at locations that matched the problem rock and other mysterious square marks which were becoming increasingly visible beside an oak tree.

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Stone Age site surfaces after 8000 years

Excavations of an underwater Stone Age archaeological settlement dating back 8000 years are taking place at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton this week (30 July - 3 August 2007).

Maritime archaeologists from the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology (HWTMA) have been working at the site just off the Isle of Wight coast. Divers working at depths of 11 metres have raised sections of the seabed, which have been brought to the NOCS laboratories for excavation.

Garry Momber, Director of HWTMA said: 'This is a site of international importance as it reveals a time before the English Channel existed when Europe and Britain were linked. Earlier excavations have produced flint tools, pristine 8,000-year-old organic material such as acorns, charcoal and worked pieces of wood showing evidence of extensive human activity. This is the only site of its kind in Britain and is extremely important to our understanding of our Stone Age ancestors from the lesser-known Mesolithic period.

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Bronze Age skeleton is dug up in quarry

ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they may have unearthed a Bronze Age cemetery near Peterborough after digging up the remains of a 3,500 year-old skeleton.

Experts who made the find at Bardon Aggregates' Pode Hole Farm quarry in Thorney, near Peterborough, say they expect to come across further burial sites as excavations continue.

The skeleton, which is thought to date from the middle to late Bronze Age, was uncovered by Milton Keynes-based Phoenix Consulting Archaeology Limited, during routine excavation work.

Lead archaeologist Dr Andrew Richmond said: "We have been excavating for seven years and have found Bronze Age remains, but this is the first body. I don't think it will be the last.

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Archaeologists in Rome dig up ancient tannery

An ancient tannery that is being dug up in Rome — believed to be the largest ever found in the capital — is threatened by railway construction, and archaeologists said Tuesday they might need to move the entire complex.

The 1,050-square meter (1,255-square yard) complex includes a tannery dating between the 2nd and 3rd century, as well as burial sites and part of a Roman road.

At least 97 tubs, some measuring 1 meter (3.28-feet) diameter, have been dug up so far in the tannery, archaeologists said.

The complex, located in the Casal Bertone area in the outskirts of Rome, lies between two tunnels of a high-speed railway being built to link Rome and Naples, said Stefano Musco, the director of the archaeological excavations.

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New Viking graves discovered

While most parts of Norway have experienced the wettest summer in years, the county known as Nord-Trøndelag, not far from Norway's third largest city Trondheim, has experienced extreme drought. But due to the dry summer, supposedly the driest in a century, more traces from Norway's Viking past have appeared.

The most recent findings include around 120 Viking graves, traces of houses, and even traces of what could be the Viking Chief's hall. A total of 145 antiquities have been found in the area.

"These are some of the most exciting antiquities ever found in this part of Norway," said county archaeologist Lars Forseth to newspaper Aftenposten.

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Archaeologist Uncover Possible Medieval Mosque In Sicily

Earlier this summer, while standing in an archaeological pit adjacent to an ancient hilltop castle in west-central Sicily, Northern Illinois University graduate student Bill Balco could literally reach out and touch the centuries—even the millennia.

The dig site, about 7-by-10 meters near the castle entrance, reveals a crossroads of cultures and history: remnants of post-World War I floor tiles, a wall trench dating to the Renaissance, an 11th-century Norman fortification wall, a fourth-century-B.C Hellenistic house and a sixth-century-B.C. dwelling constructed by the indigenous Elymian people.

Amidst such an archaeological treasure trove, another discovery was uncovered in June—the base of an ancient column. In a country that boasts the seat of Roman Catholicism, the column base and an adjacent section of gypsum flooring represent a potentially surprising find—the ruins of what is believed to have been an early medieval mosque, dating to the ninth or 10th century.

“In one spot, you can sit on the mosque floor, eye-level with the modern city, resting an arm on a Norman fortification wall with one foot near what’s left of a house from the fourth century B.C. and another resting near the ruins of a dwelling from the sixth century B.C.,” Balco says.

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EU Committee Chairperson Repeats Calls for Work to Halt on 'Illegal' M3

The chairperson of the influential EU Petitions Committee has written to Minister John Gormley calling for a halt to all construction work in the disputed Tara/Skryne Valley area. The letter states that: "urgent action is needed to halt existing works in this area and to review the routing of this section of the M3 motorway." (full text attached below) A similar letter is being sent to the Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas.

The letter from Marcin Libicki, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions confirms previous correspondence with Minister Gormley where the EU indicated that continuing works on the M3 were illegal under EU law governing the need for Environmental Impact Assessments. It goes on to state that many members at the recent meeting of the Committee voiced their concerns about "recent developments related to the M3 project at Tara and Lismullin and the Skryne Valley" and that serious damage was being done to sites of great archaeological and historical value and significance.

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3000-year-old whalebone mask found in Alaska

Archaeologists working in Unalaska (Alaska, USA) have found the remains of a whalebone mask believed to be about 3,000 years old. The partial mask was discovered earlier this month while archaeologists were unearthing an ancient village. The mask, stained brown by soil, is about 2,000 years older than any known Aleut mask, according to archaeologists.

Archaeologists began working on the hillside because a new bridge is to be built there, replacing an old wooden-decked one. The dig, originally scheduled to last only a month, has been extended because the site has proved to be much richer than anyone expected. The village was inhabited at a time when the climate in the Aleutians was much colder and the islands were surrounded by ice year-round. The inhabitants lived in stone houses with under-floor air spaces for heating. Residents of the ancient site - a village marked by unprecedented stone houses and ivory carvings - ate polar bears, ice seals that no longer visit the island and a whale that's never been documented in North American waters, Knecht said.

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