The discovery of artefacts during gas mains excavations in Monmouth has helped illustrate how the River Wye supported a Stone Age camp.
Archaeologists found flint tools and bone fragments at St James's Square and Wyebridge Street.
They indicate hunter-gatherers used the River Wye for food and transport some 6,500 to 7,500 years ago.
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Monday, November 08, 2010
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Megalithic tomb’s secrets revealed after 5,500 years
Flint tools from the dawn of time and an ancient blue glass bead have been uncovered by archaeologists excavating a portal tomb in Northern Ireland for the first time in 50 years.
The team are thrilled with the discoveries yielded by Tirnony dolmen near Maghera.
Portal tombs, which are among the oldest built structures still surviving in the province, are usually off limits to archaeologists as preservation orders protect them from intrusive processes such as excavations.
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The team are thrilled with the discoveries yielded by Tirnony dolmen near Maghera.
Portal tombs, which are among the oldest built structures still surviving in the province, are usually off limits to archaeologists as preservation orders protect them from intrusive processes such as excavations.
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Were the Romans more energy efficient than we are?
According to Eon, we could learn a lot from the Romans about energy efficiency. To coincide with the launch of their new website which apparently helps consumers measure and cut down on their energy use, they have teamed up with Prof Andrew Wilson from the Institute of Archaeology at Oxford University to come up with four ways in which the Romans were more efficient users of energy than us:
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Luftwaffe spy photo reveals lost Tudor garden
Grass rings in photograph of Lyveden New Bield's grounds reveal historically important labyrinth, says English Heritage
A German spy photograph of a ruined house in Northamptonshire surrounded by oddly marked fields, has revealed a secret unguessed at by the Luftwaffe cameraman: such important evidence of a lost Tudor garden that the site has been awarded Grade I status by English Heritage, ranking it among the most important gardens in Europe.
The garden's grass ring marks, shown clearly by the aerial, monochrome, photograph, are 120 metres across and almost certainly mark a Tudor labyrinth tracing in symbolic form the religious faith of its creator – a faith that finally cost the man his family fortune and his son's life, after the latter was exposed as one of the Gunpowder plotters.
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A German spy photograph of a ruined house in Northamptonshire surrounded by oddly marked fields, has revealed a secret unguessed at by the Luftwaffe cameraman: such important evidence of a lost Tudor garden that the site has been awarded Grade I status by English Heritage, ranking it among the most important gardens in Europe.
The garden's grass ring marks, shown clearly by the aerial, monochrome, photograph, are 120 metres across and almost certainly mark a Tudor labyrinth tracing in symbolic form the religious faith of its creator – a faith that finally cost the man his family fortune and his son's life, after the latter was exposed as one of the Gunpowder plotters.
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House of the Gladiators collapses in Pompeii
A house in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii has collapsed, raising concerns about Italy's state support for its archaeological heritage.
The House of the Gladiators was found in ruins when curators came to open the site to visitors early on Saturday.
Partially rebuilt after it sustained damage during World War II, it had not been thought at risk of collapse.
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The House of the Gladiators was found in ruins when curators came to open the site to visitors early on Saturday.
Partially rebuilt after it sustained damage during World War II, it had not been thought at risk of collapse.
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World's oldest axe found in Australia
Archaeologists have discovered a piece of a stone axe in far northern Australia, which they believe is the oldest of its kind to have been found.
The 35,500-year-old piece was found in a remote part of the Northern Territory among traditional Aboriginal rock art paintings dating back to thousands of years ago.
The shard bears some marks which show that it was once part of a ground-edge stone axe.
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The 35,500-year-old piece was found in a remote part of the Northern Territory among traditional Aboriginal rock art paintings dating back to thousands of years ago.
The shard bears some marks which show that it was once part of a ground-edge stone axe.
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Five things archaeologists can learn from PRINCE2
I've written about PRINCE2 before. The choice to use the PRINCE2 project management methodology has to be made at corporate level; it is rarely used in archaeology because the nature of its activities and problems do not play to PRINCE2's strengths. Nevertheless, the methodology is based on common sense and experience of project management, so there should be some elements which can be applied.
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Pompeii ruin collapses amid claims site mismanaged
A 2,000-year-old ancient Roman house used by gladiators before fighting to the death has collapsed in the buried city of Pompeii, further fuelling claims the site is badly managed.
The stone house, known as Schola Armaturarum Juventus Pompeiani, crumbled into a pile of rubble and dust in the early hours of Saturday morning before visitors were allowed in.
Although the house is closed to the public, it was a popular site in the city – buried by an eruption from nearby Mt Vesuvius in AD79 – because of its beautiful gladiator frescoes painted on the outside walls.
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The stone house, known as Schola Armaturarum Juventus Pompeiani, crumbled into a pile of rubble and dust in the early hours of Saturday morning before visitors were allowed in.
Although the house is closed to the public, it was a popular site in the city – buried by an eruption from nearby Mt Vesuvius in AD79 – because of its beautiful gladiator frescoes painted on the outside walls.
Read the rest of this article...
Beer Lubricated the Rise of Civilization, Study Suggests
May beer have helped lead to the rise of civilization? It's a possibility, some archaeologists say.
Their argument is that Stone Age farmers were domesticating cereals not so much to fill their stomachs but to lighten their heads, by turning the grains into beer. That has been their take for more than 50 years, and now one archaeologist says the evidence is getting stronger.
Signs that people went to great lengths to obtain grains despite the hard work needed to make them edible, plus the knowledge that feasts were important community-building gatherings, support the idea that cereal grains were being turned into beer, said archaeologist Brian Hayden at Simon Fraser University in Canada.
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Their argument is that Stone Age farmers were domesticating cereals not so much to fill their stomachs but to lighten their heads, by turning the grains into beer. That has been their take for more than 50 years, and now one archaeologist says the evidence is getting stronger.
Signs that people went to great lengths to obtain grains despite the hard work needed to make them edible, plus the knowledge that feasts were important community-building gatherings, support the idea that cereal grains were being turned into beer, said archaeologist Brian Hayden at Simon Fraser University in Canada.
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Language and toolmaking evolved together, say researchers
Evolutionary advance saw stone-age humans master the art of hand-toolmaking and paved the way for language to develop
Stone-age humans mastered the art of elegant hand-toolmaking in an evolutionary advance that boosted their brain power and potentially paved the way for language, researchers say.
The design of stone tools changed dramatically in human pre-history, beginning more than two million years ago with sharp but primitive stone flakes, and culminating in exquisite, finely honed hand axes 500,000 years ago.
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Stone-age humans mastered the art of elegant hand-toolmaking in an evolutionary advance that boosted their brain power and potentially paved the way for language, researchers say.
The design of stone tools changed dramatically in human pre-history, beginning more than two million years ago with sharp but primitive stone flakes, and culminating in exquisite, finely honed hand axes 500,000 years ago.
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Historical find at Leighton Buzzard golf course
An archaeological treasure has been unearthed on a golf course in Bedfordshire.
A quern stone was found by greenkeepers at Leighton Buzzard golf course as they dug out a new tee.
Club Captain Neil Bagshawe told BBC Three Counties Radio how they found it.
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A quern stone was found by greenkeepers at Leighton Buzzard golf course as they dug out a new tee.
Club Captain Neil Bagshawe told BBC Three Counties Radio how they found it.
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Große Keltenausstellung 2012
2012 kommen die Kelten nach Stuttgart. In einer Koproduktion wird vom 15. September 2012 bis 17. Februar 2013 die wohl größte Kelten-Ausstellung seit dreißig Jahren präsentiert. Unter dem Titel „Die Welt der Kelten. Zentren der Macht – Kostbarkeiten der Kunst“ erarbeiten das Archäologische Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg und das Landesmuseum Württemberg in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart und dem Historischen Museum Bern eine Große Landesausstellung, die sich den Kelten im 1. Jahrtausend vor Christus als einer der prägenden Kräfte der europäischen Geschichte widmet.
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Pompeii collapse prompts charges of official neglect
Archaeologists, commentators and opposition politicians accused Italy's government of neglect and mismanagement on Sunday over the collapse of the 2,000-year-old "House of the Gladiators" in the ruins of ancient Pompeii.
Some commentators said the UNESCO World Heritage site should be privatized and removed from state control because the government had shown it was incapable of protecting it.
"Pompeii -- the collapse of shame," La Stampa newspaper headlined, echoing national opinion over the cultural disaster.
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Some commentators said the UNESCO World Heritage site should be privatized and removed from state control because the government had shown it was incapable of protecting it.
"Pompeii -- the collapse of shame," La Stampa newspaper headlined, echoing national opinion over the cultural disaster.
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Pompeiians Flash-Heated to Death—"No Time to Suffocate"
The famous lifelike poses of many victims at Pompeii—seated with face in hands, crawling, kneeling on a mother's lap—are helping to lead scientists toward a new interpretation of how these ancient Romans died in the A.D. 79 eruptions of Italy's Mount Vesuvius.
Until now it's been widely assumed that most of the victims were asphyxiated by volcanic ash and gas. But a recent study says most died instantly of extreme heat, with many casualties shocked into a sort of instant rigor mortis.
(Related: "Huge Vesuvius Eruption Buried Town 2,000 Years Before Pompeii.")
Volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo and colleagues began by analyzing layers of buried volcanic ash and rock, then fed the data into a computer simulation of the Mount Vesuvius eruption.
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Until now it's been widely assumed that most of the victims were asphyxiated by volcanic ash and gas. But a recent study says most died instantly of extreme heat, with many casualties shocked into a sort of instant rigor mortis.
(Related: "Huge Vesuvius Eruption Buried Town 2,000 Years Before Pompeii.")
Volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo and colleagues began by analyzing layers of buried volcanic ash and rock, then fed the data into a computer simulation of the Mount Vesuvius eruption.
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Monday, November 01, 2010
Bronze Age hoard found intact in Essex field
Archaeologists have unearthed a collection of Bronze Age axe heads, spear tips and other 3,000-year-old metal objects buried in an Essex field.
The items include an intact pottery container with heavy contents which has been removed undisturbed.
The materials are now at a local museum where archaeologists hope to uncover new insights into Bronze Age Britain.
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The items include an intact pottery container with heavy contents which has been removed undisturbed.
The materials are now at a local museum where archaeologists hope to uncover new insights into Bronze Age Britain.
Read the rest of this article...
Digger finds Neolithic tomb complex
Archaeologists on Orkney are investigating what is thought to be a 5,000-year-old tomb complex.
A local man stumbled on the site while using a mechanical digger for landscaping.
It appears to contain a central passageway and multiple chambers excavated from rock.
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A local man stumbled on the site while using a mechanical digger for landscaping.
It appears to contain a central passageway and multiple chambers excavated from rock.
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Sunday, October 31, 2010
How 5000-yr-old Neolithic men painted their homes
London, Oct 30 : A new research has revealed that our ancestors from 5,000 years ago painted their homes to brighten up their places too.
They used red, yellow and orange pigments from ground-up minerals and bound it with animal fat and eggs to make their paint, the new study from a Stone Age settlement on the island of Orkney revealed.
Several stones used to form the buildings painted and decorated by the locals in about 3,000 BC, most probably to to enhance important buildings and may have been found in entranceways or areas of the building, which had particular significance.
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They used red, yellow and orange pigments from ground-up minerals and bound it with animal fat and eggs to make their paint, the new study from a Stone Age settlement on the island of Orkney revealed.
Several stones used to form the buildings painted and decorated by the locals in about 3,000 BC, most probably to to enhance important buildings and may have been found in entranceways or areas of the building, which had particular significance.
Read the rest of this article...
New study finds headless skeletons in ancient cemetery were Romans
Eighty headless skeletons unearthed between 2004 and 2005 from an ancient English cemetery in the city of York or the then Roman capital Eboracum holds proof that they all lost their heads far away from home.
Archeologists say the burial ground was used by the Romans throughout the second and third centuries A.D. Almost all the bodies were of males with more than half of them had been decapitated, and many were buried with their detached heads.
Eboracum was the Roman Empire's northernmost provincial capital during that period.
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Archeologists say the burial ground was used by the Romans throughout the second and third centuries A.D. Almost all the bodies were of males with more than half of them had been decapitated, and many were buried with their detached heads.
Eboracum was the Roman Empire's northernmost provincial capital during that period.
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Scientists issue call to action for archaeological sites threatened by rising seas
global warming cause sea levels to rise as predicted in coming decades, thousands of archaeological sites in coastal areas around the world will be lost to erosion. With no hope of saving all of these sites, archaeologists Torben Rick from the Smithsonian Institution, Leslie Reeder of Southern Methodist University, and Jon Erlandson of the University of Oregon have issued a call to action for scientists to assess the sites most at risk.
Writing in the Journal of Coastal Conservation and using California's Santa Barbara Channel as a case study, the researchers illustrate how quantifiable factors such as historical rates of shoreline change, wave action, coastal slope and shoreline geomorphology can be used to develop a scientifically sound way of measuring the vulnerability of individual archaeological sites. They then propose developing an index of the sites most at risk so informed decisions can be made about how to preserve or salvage them.
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Writing in the Journal of Coastal Conservation and using California's Santa Barbara Channel as a case study, the researchers illustrate how quantifiable factors such as historical rates of shoreline change, wave action, coastal slope and shoreline geomorphology can be used to develop a scientifically sound way of measuring the vulnerability of individual archaeological sites. They then propose developing an index of the sites most at risk so informed decisions can be made about how to preserve or salvage them.
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Saturday, October 30, 2010
Armenian archeologists: 5,900-year-old skirt found
An Armenian archaeologist says that scientists have discovered a skirt that could be 5,900-year-old.
Pavel Avetisian, the head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yerevan, said a fragment of skirt made of reed was found during recent digging in the Areni-1 cave in southeastern Armenia. Avetisian told Tuesday's news conference in the Armenian capital that the find could be one of the world's oldest piece of reed clothing.
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Pavel Avetisian, the head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yerevan, said a fragment of skirt made of reed was found during recent digging in the Areni-1 cave in southeastern Armenia. Avetisian told Tuesday's news conference in the Armenian capital that the find could be one of the world's oldest piece of reed clothing.
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