Italy's fantastical farmers' sheds turned holiday homes

The latest property of choice for holiday home buyers in Southern Italy is not a rustic villa or a rambling farmhouse - it is a former farmer's shed, which would not look out of place on the set of Lord of the Rings.

Trulli are the trademark of Puglia - existing nowhere but the Valley of Itria. Round limestone buildings with conical roofs, they are as magical as they are historical. Dotted across the landscape, alone or in clusters, with one cone or even a dozen, they look like miniature rustic fairytale castles - Asterix meets Disney.

Originally nothing more than farmers' sheds used to store equipment or animals, the structure is made with the same drystone technique as the low walls that demarcate the olive groves. No cement, just local limestone cut into large, heavy slabs called chiancarelle - carefully positioned to make the perfect water-tight structure.

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Silk Road jewel reveals more of its treasures

Restoration work at the 15th Century Khwaja Parsa Mosque in Balkh

Balkh province in northern Afghanistan is home to some of the most significant historical sites in the world - its ancient city was even known as the mother of all cities. More than a decade after her first visit, Lynne O'Donnell returns with a group of archaeologists, trying to uncover more of its treasures.

Across the far northern Afghan plain, a hot wind blows the dun-coloured dust into blinding clouds, and the women's burkas into blue billows. It is 40C in the shade, and even the small black goats being herded through the sand dunes look sapped by the heat.

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Uppsala unearths pagan road of old kings

Archaeologists digging in old Uppsala have discovered what appears to be a remarkable display of power of a fifth century Swedish chieftain. Massive posts marked the ancient road in perfect alignment for more than a kilometre. 

"It's exciting because we’ve never seen anything like it in these parts before," Robin Lucas, archaeologist at Uppland Museum, told The Local.

The archaeologists, who were excavating the area in preparation for a new railroad line, discovered 144 post-holes two metres wide and a metre deep in a perfectly straight line spanning a kilometre in Old Uppsala. The post holes are placed precisely six metres from each other.

"It appears to be a processional road leading to Old Uppsala, which was the seat of the early Swedish kings," Lucas said. 

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Roman villa found near Devizes

The villa was discovered on land next to Lay Wood near Devizes

The remains of what is believed to be a 2,000-year-old Roman villa have been discovered near Devizes in Wiltshire.

Archaeologists uncovered the remains on land near Lay Wood, between the Kennet and Avon Canal and Horton Road, as part of a survey ahead of a new housing development.

Wessex Archaeology is now examining what has been found.

Steve Melligan, from the Crown Estate, which manages the land, said it was an "exciting find".

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Neanderthals used toothpicks to alleviate gum disease

Removing food scraps trapped between the teeth one of the most common functions of using toothpicks, thus contributing to our oral hygiene. This habit is documented in the genus Homo, as early as Homo habilis, a species that lived between 1.9 and 1.6 million years ago.

In the left image, the arrow shows the interproximal groove of the upper Pm3. The right image is a groove detail view as seen with an Environmental Chamber Electron Microscope [Credit: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona]

New research based on the Cova Foradà Neanderthal fossil shows that this hominid also used toothpicks to mitigate pain caused by oral diseases such as inflammation of the gums (periodontal disease). It is the oldest documented case of palliative treatment of dental disease done with this tool.

This research is based on toothpicking marks on the Neanderthal teeth related to periodontal disease. The chronology of the fossil is not clear, but the fossil remains were associated with a Neanderthal Mousterian lithic industry (about 150,000 to 50,000 years).

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Pre-Viking Age monuments uncovered in Sweden

Archaeologists in Sweden said Thursday they have unearthed the remains of unusually large wooden monuments near a pre-Viking Age burial ground.

Archaeologists in Sweden have uncovered this 1km-long row of wooden poles which is
believed to be from the 5th Century, but their purpose is unclear [Credit: flygfoto]

As archaeologists dug in preparation for a new railway line, they found traces of two rows of wooden pillars in Old Uppsala, an ancient pagan religious center. One stretched about 1,000 yards (1 kilometer) and the other was half as long.

Archaeologist Lena Beronius-Jorpeland said the colonnades were likely from the 5th century but their purpose is unclear. She called it Sweden's largest Iron Age construction and said the geometrical structure is unique.

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Finding, studying and sharing the ‘treasure’ beneath our feet

Last year, the ITV television series Britain’s Secret Treasures was a welcome hit, averaging 3.5 million viewers every evening for six programmes over the course of a week. It featured stories about 50 archaeological finds made by members of the public throughout Britain.

The majority of the finds had either been recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) or reported as ‘Treasure’ under the Treasure Act 1996 (or both!). The series culminated with the story of the Happisburgh Handaxe, a discovery which eventually led to the understanding that humans have inhabited Britain for hundreds of thousands of years longer than previously thought.

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International Archaeology Day

International Archaeology Day is a celebration of archaeology and the thrill of discovery. Every October the AIA and archaeological organizations across the United States, Canada, and abroad present archaeological programs and activities for people of all ages and interests. Whether it is a family-friendly archaeology fair, a guided tour of a local archaeological site, a simulated dig, a lecture or a classroom visit from an archaeologist, the interactive, hands-on International Archaeology Day programs provide the chance to indulge your inner Indiana Jones.

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Slave Tunnels Found Under Hadrian’s Villa

Amateur cavers have discovered a network of tunnels underneath the Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa) at Tivoli, near Rome. 

Experts suggest that the subterranean world of tunnels and roads was used to house slaves, oxen, carts and food supplies. The network includes streets wide enough to allow for the passage of carts in both directions as well as narrow passageways. Hadrian’s Villa covers approximately 618 acres but the extent of the underground network is not known yet and excavations are ongoing. 

The Roman Emperor Hadrian built the villa as a summer retreat between 38 AD and 118 AD. After his death in 138 AD, his successors used and enlarged the complex. A decade ago, experts realised that there were tunnels beneath the complex, and a team of Italian archaeo-speleologists led by amateur caver Marco Placidi mapped more than a mile of the vast network this year. 

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5200 BC House Discovered in Romania

Recently , we shared with you some recent discoveries in Romania, from various periods. Apparently there is room for more, as the biggest house from the pre-Cucuteni period, 5200-5100 BC was just found in Baia, Suceava. Experts from the Cambridge University support this research, seeking to identify how the grain trade between China and Europe was made at that time.

The discovery is extremely important, as it confirms the existence of the pre-Cucuteni first phase. A similar archaeological discovery, from the same period, was made in 1951.

Emil Ursu, Bucovina’s Museum Director, said that the site will be dated using Carbon 14 into a laboratory in Germany.

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Unique pre-Viking Age monuments uncovered at Old Uppsala pagan ceremonial site in Sweden

Archaeologists in Sweden said Thursday they have unearthed the remains of unusually large wooden monuments near a pre-Viking Age burial ground.

As archaeologists dug in preparation for a new railway line, they found traces of two rows of wooden pillars in Old Uppsala, an ancient pagan religious center. One stretched about 1,000 yards (1 kilometer) and the other was half as long.

Archaeologist Lena Beronius-Jorpeland said the colonnades were likely from the 5th century but their purpose is unclear. She called it Sweden’s largest Iron Age construction and said the geometrical structure is unique.

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Reconstruction of ancient Slavic boat in Rugen.

Reconstruction of ancient Slavic boat in Rugen.

A significant archaeological discovery was made in the village of Ralswiek on the legendary island of Rügen in 1967. During roadworks an excavator dug out several oak planks from the ground.  The road workers took their finding to a team of archaeologists working nearby and those soon began archaeological excavations during which four ancient Slavic ships and a trading settlement was uncovered. The settlement was one of the most important ports on the Baltic coast existed the 8th century. It was proposed that Rujani (an early Slavic tribe) harboured their fleet in the place of archealogical discovery because it is located in the Bay area protected from sea storms. The village of Ralswiek was destroyed by the enemies, most likely by Danes. This is evidenced by the traces of fire and hidden treasure of 2,203 Arab dichroism.

The archaeological excavation of the ships was not easy. Excacavated ships had to be buried in the ground because there were no funds allocated by the state for ships’ preservation. The ships were dug out for second time in 1980 to be shown to an international conference. The ships had to be buried in the ground once again as no money was provided by the state to preserve the ships.  It was only in 1993 the state provided the funds for archaeological excavations and preservation of ships. The ships were dug out for third time, adequately preserved and a team of ship builders was appointed for ship reconstruction to go ahead.

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Skull Find Could Change Picture of Early Human Evolutionary History

We may have to change some thinking about early human evolution in a major way, suggests researchers, after studying new fossil finds at the site of Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia. What has previously been thought to be separate ancient human species - Homo erectus,Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo ergaster, for example, may actually be variations of one and the same species. This is the conclusion of a recent examination of fossil finds uncovered at this, the world's earliest known hominid site outside of Africa.

The new report describes the analysis of a complete, approximately 1.8-million-year-old cranium that was discovered in 2005 by scientists who, 5 years earlier, uncovered its corresponding mandible (jaw) at the same location. Combined, these fossils now constitute the most complete adult ancient human ancestor skull known to be identified with the Early Pleistocene genus of Homo (the genus of great apes that includes modern humans and species closely related to them). The Early Pleistocene time period ranged between 2.588 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 0.781 ± 0.005 Ma.

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1.8M-year-old skull gives glimpse of our evolution, suggests early man was single species

In this photo taken Oct. 2, 2013, in Tbilisi, Georgia, David Lordkipanidze, director of the Georgia National Museum, holds a pre-human skull found in 2005 in the ground at the medieval village Dmanisi, Georgia.

The discovery of a 1.8-million-year-old skull of a human ancestor buried under a medieval Georgian village provides a vivid picture of early evolution and indicates our family tree may have fewer branches than some believe, scientists say.

The fossil is the most complete pre-human skull uncovered. With other partial remains previously found at the rural site, it gives researchers the earliest evidence of human ancestors moving out of Africa and spreading north to the rest of the world, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The skull and other remains offer a glimpse of a population of pre-humans of various sizes living at the same time—something that scientists had not seen before for such an ancient era. This diversity bolsters one of two competing theories about the way our early ancestors evolved, spreading out more like a tree than a bush.

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Archaeologists rediscover the lost home of the last Neanderthals

A record of Neanderthal archaeology, thought to be long lost, has been re-discovered by NERC-funded scientists working in the Channel island of Jersey.

The study, published today in the Journal of Quaternary Science, reveals that a key archaeological site has preserved geological deposits which were thought to have been lost through excavation 100 years ago.

The discovery was made when the team undertook fieldwork to stabilise and investigate a portion of the La Cotte de St Brelade cave, on Jersey's south eastern coastline.

A large portion of the site contains sediments dating to the last Ice Age, preserving 250,000 years of climate change and archaeological evidence.

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Bulgaria archaeologists find ancient wine cellar

A team of archaeologists, headed by Associate Professor Aneliya Bozhkova with the National Archaeological Institute with Museum with the Bulgarian Academy of Science, and Petya Kiyashkina with the Ancient Nesebar Museum, discovered a perfectly preserved cellar with amphorae from the V BC, over the last days of the archaeological excavations in the Bulgarian coastal town of Nesebar, the press office of Nesebar Municipality announced.

The research is organised under a project of the Ancient Nesebar Museum, financed by the Ministry of Culture, with the participation of experts in archaeology. 

The ancient amphorae warehouse was dug in deep into the ground along the northern coast of the peninsula, which preserved it from the encroachment of time and the following cultural layers. 

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Blow to multiple human species idea

The 1.8 million-year-old skull is the most complete hominid skull ever found

The idea that there were several different human species walking the Earth two million years ago has been dealt a blow.

Instead, scientists say early human fossils found in Africa and Eurasia may have been part of the same species.

Writing in the journal Science, the team says that Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus are all part of a single evolving lineage that led to modern humans.

But others in the field reject this.

A team looked at the most complete hominid skull ever found, which was uncovered in Dmanisi, Georgia.

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Unlocking the mysteries of Israel's Tel Dor

It's cold. It's silent. It's murky. It's the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea and it's the hangout of choice for students of maritime archaeology, seeking clues to the dawn of modern man. Or in the case of participants on Haifa University’s new English MA in Maritime Civilizations, signs of a harbor at the ancient site of Tel Dor.

View of Tel Dor [Credit: nexttriptourism]

The Tel Dor expedition, some 30 kilometers south of Haifa, is a collaboration between Dr. Assaf Yasur-Landau and Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of the University of Haifa, and Prof. Ilan Sharon of the Hebrew University. Students of the new English-language program, which started its second year this fall, take part in underwater surveys of Tel Dor mostly in shallow waters but also at depths of up to 10 meters of water.

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A Roman bathhouse still in use after 2,000 years

Roman ruins are rarely boisterous places, full of noise, laughter and life. But Edward Lewis stumbled across one that is - a place to have a daily wash, and to enjoy the companionship of friends, just as it was for the Romans who built it.

Observing middle-aged men swathed in white foamy soapsuds is not something I would normally write home about and it certainly wasn't why I was in north-east Algeria.

I had come to look at the Roman baths in Khenchela and had overlooked the fact that for many of the local population the attraction was not the ancient architecture or remarkable state of preservation but the fact there was a free and plentiful supply of hot water - still feeding into two open air baths.

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A VIKING WHITEWASH

Peter Steen Henriksen and Sandie Holst excavate Denmark's oldest lime kiln. Photo: National Museum.

It was already known that Iron Age Danes whitewashed their houses and halls with lime to protect clay walls against wind and weather. However it wasn’t clear whether they created their their own lime, or if it was sourced from elsewhere.

Now Danish National Museum archaeologists have found the answer in the rich Viking settlement at Tissø, Zealand. In the spring of 2013 they excavated the first lime kiln from the Danish Late Iron Age, the oldest found in Denmark.

Burning slaked lime

The researchers examined a kiln used to burn slaked lime around the the middle of 800s CE. National Museum archaeologist Sandie Holst explained that, “We knew in advance that the great halls and buildings of Fuglede farmhouse were whitewashed because of previously excavated daub with traces of white chalk, but now we have proof that the limestone was burned in the immediate area” .

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Frogs' legs may have been English delicacy 8,000 years before France

Blick Mead, near Stonehenge, where a charred toad's leg was found. Photograph: University of Buckingham/PA

If you're French, asseyez-vous, s'il vous plait. Archaeologists digging about a mile away from Stonehenge have made a discovery that appears to overturn centuries of received wisdom: frogs' legs were an English delicacy around eight millennia before becoming a French one.

The shock revelation was made public on Tuesday by a team which has been digging at a site known as Blick Mead, near Amesbury in Wiltshire. Team leader David Jacques said: "We were completely taken aback."

In April they discovered charred bones of a small animal, and, following assessment by the Natural History Museum, it has been confirmed that there is evidence the toad bones were cooked and eaten. "They would have definitely eaten the leg because it would have been quite big and juicy," said Jacques.

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Discovery that brings forgotten church back to life

IT IS a discovery which ranks as one of the most treasured finds to be unearthed yet in an archaeological dig spanning more than a decade.

Archaeologists carried out initial investigations at the Hungate site in the centre of York at the turn of the Millennium, but have only now managed to pinpoint the location of a forgotten church which gives a fascinating insight into life during the medieval era.

The remains of the Church of St John The Baptist, more commonly known as St John’s in the Marsh, have been found as part of the most extensive dig that York has seen since the early 1980s ahead of a £150m housing and retail development.

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Landscape Archeaology: Forty Years on

Landscape Archeaology: Forty Years on
Lecturer: Trevor Rowley
6pm Friday 6 December 2013
To be held at the Rewley House Lecture Theatre, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA

The OUDCE is sponsoring an annual lecture on landscape archaeology in memory of Mick Aston, who sadly died earlier this year. Mick was tutor in local studies in the Department for Continuing Education before moving to Bristol University as Staff Tutor in Archaeology. Earlier he had made a major contribution to the archaeology of Oxfordshire through his work on the Sites and Monuments Record, then based at the City and Count Museum, Woodstock.

In this lecture Trevor will discuss the thinking behind Landscape Archaeology, a book which went on to have a significant impact on the development of field archaeology in Britain.

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Bronze Age Europe – the first Industrial revolution

s part of a larger pan-European study investigating the Bronze Age of Europe, an archaeologist from the University of Gothenburg has provided the first evidence of long distance travel by an individual – probably from southern Sweden – into the territory of the Únětice culture of Silesia.

The doctoral thesis confirms evidence based on bioarchaeological data.

A traveller from Sweden

‘Over 3800 years ago, a young male, possibly born in Skåne, made a journey of over 900 kilometres south, to Wroclaw in Poland”. concludes Dalia Pokutta, author of the thesis. He met his end violently in Wroclaw, killed in the territory of the Úněticean farmers. His remains were discovered in association with two local females, who had been killed at the same time.

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Amesbury dig 'could explain' Stonehenge history

A group of archaeologists is undertaking a major dig in Wiltshire, which it is hoped could explain why Stonehenge was built where it was. 

The team, which consists of leading experts in the Mesolithic period, also hopes to confirm Amesbury as the oldest continuous settlement in the UK. 

The site already boasts the biggest collection of flints and cooked animal bones in north-western Europe.

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UW archaeologists have discovered legion barracks in Bulgaria

The barracks occupied by the 8th Roman legion of Augustus in the middle of the 1st century AD have been discovered by a team of researchers from the Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Centre, University of Warsaw, during the excavation in Novae near Svishtov, Bulgaria.

"The structure consisted of a series of segments of equal sizes. The segments consisted of one big and one small room, the dimensions of which underwent modifications in the subsequent phases of the settlement. The barrack was about 16 meters wide and 42 meters long" - explained Prof. Piotr Dyczek , head of the expedition.
 
The remains indicate that the support structure were large wooden poles, while smaller dowels sustained braid covered with soil. In the last phase, the exterior walls were covered with white plaster. The system of small dowels inside large rooms suggests, according to the researchers, that there could be bunk beds in the corners. There were wooden shelves in the vestibules.

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Iron Age camp unearthed at UK quarry

Archaeologists have unearthed an Iron Age enclosure while excavating land at the edge of a working quarry.

Archaeologists are excavating land close to Potgate Quarry [Credit: Steve Timms/BBC]

It is thought the encampment discovered at Potgate Quarry, near Ripon, was home to several families from as early as 130BC before being abandoned.

Dig leader Steve Timms said the site was later brought back into use in the early Roman period as a paddock.
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Forscher enträtseln die Bevölkerungsentwicklung Europas in der Jungsteinzeit

Die bisher umfangreichste und detaillierteste genetische Studie zur Besiedlungsgeschichte Europas während des Neolithikums ergab deutliche Hinweise auf vier wesentliche Migrationsereignisse in der Zeit zwischen dem 6. und 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Für die heute in Science veröffentlichte Studie untersuchten Anthropologen aus Mainz und Adelaide in Kooperation mit Archäologen aus Halle (Saale) hunderte DNA-Proben von jungsteinzeitlichen Skelettfunden aus dem Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet.

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European origins laid bare by DNA

DNA from ancient skeletons has revealed how a complex patchwork of prehistoric migrations fashioned the modern European gene pool.

The study appears to refute the picture of Europeans as a simple mixture of indigenous hunters and Near Eastern farmers who arrived 7,000 years ago.

The findings by an international team have beenpublished in Science journal.

DNA was analysed from 364 skeletons unearthed in Germany - an important crossroads for prehistoric cultures.

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Link to Oetzi the Iceman found in living Austrians

Austrian scientists have found that 19 Tyrolean men alive today are related to Oetzi the Iceman, whose 5,300-year-old frozen body was found in the Alps.

Their relationship was established through DNA analysis by scientists from the Institute of Legal Medicine at Innsbruck Medical University.

The men have not been told about their connection to Oetzi. The DNA tests were taken from blood donors in Tyrol.

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Shock Bronze Age find 'changes history'

Archaeologists in northern Sweden have located the remains of a farm from the Bronze Age, a find which challenges the established history of the area around Umeå and the province of Norrland.

 

"It is completely unique," Jan Heinerud at Västerbotten's Museum in Umeå told The Local on Friday. "We have never previously found a long house like this so far north."

The farm was discovered in the area between Backen and Klabböle in an area known as Klockaråkern and it is thought that the farm was in use for almost 600 years from around 1100 BC.

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Lidar reveals New Forest's hidden secrets

Scrambling through the dense forest undergrowth looking for signs from the past may not sound like your average archaeological expedition. 

The Lidar map shows how another Bronze Age barrow, to the left of the damaged one,
has been flattened to make the other larger [Credit: BBC]

But a project in the New Forest National Park is discovering hundreds of new historical sites which have never been recorded before.

With the help of a technique known as Lidar - a laser beamed from a plane - a detailed 3D map of the terrain underneath the forest canopy has been created. 

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Engraved Penises Reveal Birth Date of Italian City

Two penises engraved on a 2,000 year old stone may shed light on the foundation of the city of Aosta in northern Italy, revealing its deep connection with the Roman emperor Augustus.

Named Augusta Praetoria Salassorum by the Romans -- who captured it from the local Salassi people in 25 B.C. to control strategic mountain passes -- Aosta boasts several monuments dedicated to Augustus.

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1500 YEAR OLD SWEDISH FORTRESS MASSACRE REVEALED

Archaeologists at Lund University have found what they describe as a moment frozen in time by a brutal massacre, leaving a fort untouched since the 5th century.

Excavation of the Iron Age Sandby borg (ringfort) on Öland, an island off the southeastern coast of Sweden,  has revealed a number of bodies, lying where they fell, in one case, it seems that a couple were cut down from behind as they ran through the house, another body lies in a doorway. The project has been running since 2010 and is directed by Helene Victor for the Department of Archaeology in the local Kalmar Läns museum. It was initially reported last year that the site contained the remains of the unfortunate inhabitants.

Migration period

During what is termed the Migration Period in Scandinavia it was customary to cremate the dead, and it is rare to find uncremated remains. The archaeological site therefore offers important clues about the period, and although five bodies have been discovered in one house alone, human bones have been found in other parts of the fort, making it highly likely that many more bodies are yet to be uncovered.

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Gamers take aim at ancient Pictish stone puzzle

Jigsaw from 800AD: screenshot of the software program that allows gamers and others to play with 3,000 fragments in 3D. Picture: Contributed

ONLINE gaming fans are to be recruited by Scotland’s national museum to harness their technical skills to help piece together more than 3,000 recently discovered fragments depicting the Cross on a Pictish slab.

The project, the first of its kind in the archaeological world, will see participants use a unique 3D programme developed by a Scottish technology firm to try to solve the mystery of the Hilton of Cadboll Stone.

Computer experts believe people who play computer games are more adept at manipulating objects on screen. Nasa has already made use of citizen astronomers who use home computers to sift through time-lapsed data from the Kepler space telescope to search for habitable exo-planets, planets outside the solar system.

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Evidence unearthed of Richard III's lost chapel

Filming for Medieval Dead, where archaeologists believe they found proof of Richard III's lost chapel

ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they have found a chapel built by Richard III to commemorate the Yorkist victory in one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on English soil.

As the row continues to rage over whether the Plantagenet king’s remains should be laid to rest in Leicester or York, a new discovery in a peaceful field on the outskirts of York has unearthed more of his legacy.

The land was where the Battle of Towton was fought; the bloody clash between the Lancastrians and Yorkists in the War of the Roses. According to accounts at the time, it left 28,000 soldiers dead, causing rivers to have run red with blood and survivors fleeing across “bridges of bodies”.

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1,500 year old massacre found in Sweden

Archaeologists at Lund University have found what they describe as a moment frozen in time by a brutal massacre, leaving a fort untouched since the 5th century.

An archaeologist works to uncover one of the skeletons found lying within the
5th-century fort on the Swedish island of Öland [Credit: Lund University]

“There are so many bodies, it must have been a very violent and well organized raid”, says Helene Wilhelmson, a PhD student in historical osteology, who was astounded when the skeletons kept emerging from the Sandby fort site on Öland, an island just off the Swedish coast.

During the Migration Period in Scandinavia it was customary to burn the dead, and very few uncremated remains have previously been recovered. The archaeological site therefore offers important clues about the period, and five bodies have been discovered in one house alone. Human bones have been found in other parts of the fort, making it highly likely that many more bodies are yet to be dug out.

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Roman skulls washed down lost river

About 20 Roman skulls were dug up from an old river bed near Liverpool Street station in London

Archaeologists working with London's Crossrail project have uncovered 20 skulls believed to be from the Roman period.

It is likely the bones were washed from a nearby burial site along one of London's "lost" rivers - the Walbrook.

Since the Crossrail project began, about 10,000 Roman items have been discovered.

These latest finds could give new insights into the lives of Roman people.

Near-intact pottery artefacts were also found which likely travelled along the same route as the skulls. Other bone fragments would not have been washed as easily down the river.

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Museums 'ditching staff for volunteers'

More than 120 museums took part in the survey about changes over the past year

More than a third of museums and galleries cut staff last year, while nearly half increased the number of interns and volunteers, according to a survey by the Museums Association.

The annual review also found that school visits were down by 31%.

"Interns and volunteers have plenty to offer but can never replace skilled, experienced staff," said Mark Taylor, director of the Museums Association.

The government said museum visits were at record highs.

The Museums Association said staff cuts were primarily due to a reduction in public investment, which had continued to affect half of all museums in the past year.

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Mystery 13th Century eruption traced to Lombok, Indonesia

Scientists think they have found the volcano responsible for a huge eruption that occurred in the 13th Century.

The mystery event in 1257 was so large its chemical signature is recorded in the ice of both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

European medieval texts talk of a sudden cooling of the climate, and of failed harvests.

In the PNAS journal, an international team points the finger at the Samalas Volcano on Lombok Island, Indonesia.

Little remains of the original mountain structure - just a huge crater lake.

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