Friday, September 17, 2004
Large Roman coin cache found in Surrey
One of the biggest finds of Roman coins ever discovered in Surrey has been
unearthed on a farm at Leigh.
Almost 60 silver denarii dating back to 30BC were located after Martin
Adams, a metal detecting enthusiast, received a signal on his machine.
IC Surrey On-Line
Ancient mosaic uncovered in park
AN ARCHAEOLOGIST has unearthed a colourful 3rd Century mosaic in Verulamium Park, St Albans, during building works on the ancient hypocaust and mosaic
site.
The field archaeology unit at St Albans Museums was digging a trench for a
new electricity cable when Jack Couch made the new find of a chequered
mosaic.
Probably not seen for nearly 2,000 years, the mosaic is made up of red or
brown tessera in a grid of grey Purbeck marble. It may be from the corridor
of a town house built close to the hypocaust.
This is Hertfordshire
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Archaeological Events Diary
I am in the process of updating the Archaeological Events Diary with
features archaeological lectures, excavations, filed trips and conferences
in the UK.
If anyone has any events that they would like me to add to the Diary, please
email details to events@archaeology.eu.com.
You can find the Archaeological Events Diary at http://www.archaeology.eu.com/events/
Stonehenge centre plans unveiled
Plans for a £67.5m visitors' centre, which will help rejuvenate facilities
at Stonehenge, have been unveiled. The proposals, submitted by English
Heritage, are for a single-storey building two miles from the stones.
Around 750,000 people visit Stonehenge each year, but the site's facilities
have been slammed by critics who have called them "a national disgrace".
Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage, said: "Until now, we have
let our ancestors down."
Megalithic Portal
CORINIUM MUSEUM WELCOMES ITS FIRST VISITORS AFTER £5M
RE-VAMP
The first people to visit the Corinium Museum in Cirencester for two years
walked through its doors on September 15 to see the result of a massive £5
million transformation.
"It's just wonderful to be down here today," Collections Management Officer
Judy Mills told the 24 Hour Museum.
"This is the real test of seeing people come in," she added, "it's been
great to see that everybody is enjoying it."
24 Hour Museum News
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Archaeologists find earlier evidence of life in glen
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered evidence “potentially of national significance” in a remote Perthshire glen, showing people living there 1200 years ago.
Carbon dating of material from Bunrannoch, in the shadow of Perthshire mountain Schiehallion, has revealed activity there during the Dark Ages in structures previously thought to be medieval.
The Courier
What Makes Humans Do the Crane Dance?
Eighty-five hundred years after someone in ancient Anatolia drilled holes in the wings of a crane -- evidently to make a bird costume for a ritual dance -- then hid one wing in a narrow space between mudbrick houses at Çatalhöyük in what today is Turkey, scientists are asking a two-part question: Why stash the wing, along with a pile of other unusual items, in a place where only modern-day archaeologists would be likely to find it? And why do people around the world dance like cranes?
Newswise
Saarbrücker Forum für Altertumskunde gegründet
Zu den Bodenschätzen des Saarlandes gehören zahlreiche Zeugnisse der römischen und gallo-römischen Geschichte, wie sie in großangelegten Grabungsprojekten zunehmend zu Tage gefördert werden - etwa in Reinheim, Borg oder im Wareswald am Fuße des Schaumbergs.
Archäologie
Bronze Age sauna may sink plans for tourism
The remains of a sauna used by Bronze Age Brummies is set to scupper a multi-million pound marina project for the city. The "hot tub" threat emerged as planners investigated possible sites for the big money tourist scheme.
Megalithic Portal
Tarmac Condemned by Heritage Experts
The archaeologist who knows most about what is now recognised as a unique sacred prehistoric landscape around the Thornborough Henges near Ripon has castigated Tarmac Northern for seeking to extend its open-cast quarrying on to Ladybridge Farm. Dr J.Harding of Newcastle University has carried out research-driven fieldwork in the area for nearly 10 years and condemns the mining company for submitting factually misleading statements and failing to recognise the importance of Ladybridge.
Megalithic Portal
Roman Basilica Target of New Dig in Tiberias
The next scheduled excavation session at the ancient site of Tiberias will be devoted to the exposure of the Roman basilica and auxiliary buildings in use between the 2nd and 10th centuries CE. In contrast to the basilical plans of the church on top of Mount Berenice and the synagogue of Hammat Tiberias, this basilica was not used for sacral purposes. The excavation is planned between October 31-November 25, 2004.
Roman Archaeology
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Oxford Experience 2005
Details of the Oxford Experience summer school programme for 2005 are now available on the internet.
This unique summer school, which is held at Christ Church, Oxford, features a number of interesting archaeological courses.
Further details can be found here.
Grimes Grave set for virtual reality
Visitors to a Neolithic site near Thetford will soon be able to go on the world's first virtual tour of a prehistoric mine.
The Grimes Graves site on heathland in Thetford Forest contains hundreds of flint mines dug more than 5000 years ago. Now one of the most important mines has been mapped by laser to allow visitors to "fly" in virtual reality over the surface and along the shafts and galleries.
Pete Topping, head of archaeological investigation for English Heritage, said: "You will be able to fly over the lumps and bumps on the surface and then go underground."
EDP 24
Unearthing a Viking Graveyard
A small graveyard in northern England reveals the remains of six people whose jewelry and clothing identify them as Vikings. The find could shake up some assumptions about the Vikings' role in early Britain. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and British archaeologist Faye Simpson.
NPR
Forscher wollen Regensburgs Mittelalter lebendig machen
Zahlreiche Wissenschaftler der Regensburger Universität wollen mit einem interdisziplinären Forschungsvorhaben die mittelalterliche Vergangenheit der ehemaligen Reichsstadt Regensburg wieder lebendig werden lassen. Durch die Initiative soll die Vergangenheit der Donaustadt besonders in der Öffentlichkeit verankert werden und lebendig dargestellt werden.
Als erstes großes Projekt organisiert der seit knapp zwei Jahren bestehende Arbeitskreis "Forum Mittelalter" vom 30. September bis 2. Oktober eine internationale Tagung zum Thema "Das mittelalterliche Regensburg im Zentrum Europas".
Archäologie
Sunken forest found after 6500 years
IT has all the ingredients of an Indiana Jones adventure: an academic, an old map, and a search for hidden treasure older than the pyramids of Egypt.
This treasure, however, is a forest in Orkney, which was buried beneath rising sea levels 6500 years ago.
The Herald
Monday, September 13, 2004
Ancient graves uncovered at pit
Quarry workers have unearthed a 1,500 year-old Christian burial ground.
The 20 stone-lined graves were found in a sand and gravel pit at Auchterforfar, near Forfar in Angus.
Archaeologists working for Historic Scotland excavated the scene and have now removed a number of bone remains for examination.
BBC News
Dive recovers Cromwell's sailor
A sailor from a sunken ship belonging to Oliver Cromwell's navy had the upper body of a trapeze artist but bowed legs, his recovered skeleton shows.
The able seaman, who was in his early 20s, stood 157cm (5ft 2in) tall and suffered from rickets as a child.
About 80% of the man's skeleton was recovered from the wreck of the Swan, a warship that sank off the Isle of Mull in Scotland on 13 September 1653.
The results were presented at the BA Festival of Science in Exeter.
BBC News
The Masked King
A TEAM of Bulgarian archaeologists, led by Professor Georgi Kitov, discovered a 2400-year old golden mask in the tomb of an ancient Thracian king on August 19. The mask bears the image of a human face and is made of 500 grams of solid gold, Kitov said. The discovery was made near the town of Shipka, in the heart of the Stara Planina Mountain. Dozens of Thracian mounds are spread throughout this region, which archeologists have called "the Bulgarian valley of the kings", a reference to the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, which is home to the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs.
Greece News
1500-year-old Christian burial ground uncovered at quarry
QUARRY workers have discovered an ancient graveyard which is giving archaeologists an insight into the lifestyle, nutrition and health of early Christians in Scotland.
Machine operators unearthed 19 graves in a previously unknown 1500-year-old cemetery at the quarry.
Experts are analysing 17 skeletal remains found at the site to glean more information about the dawn of Christianity in Scotland and its impact on the native Picts.
The Herald
Crannogs - revealing a lost chapter of Orkney's history
When is an island not an island? The answer? When it is a crannog.
Crannogs are small, artificial islands found in many of Scotland's lochs and inland waters. They are a class of monument not usually associated with Orkney.
But is this because there is a lack of them? Or simply because they have gone unnoticed or been ignored for centuries?
From the shore, most crannogs look like rocky mounds or low grassy islets, accessible to only the most dedicated explorer. This inaccessibility may be part of the reason Orkney's crannogs have remained firmly in the shadow of the county's grander monuments.
Orkneyjar
Plans for Iron Age tourist camp
An archaeologist plans to offer tourists the chance to experience life as an Iron Age villager.
Jasper Blake aims to transform farmland in the Forest of Dean into a working Iron Age settlement.
Paying visitors will be able to live at the village for a week, wearing authentic costumes, foraging for food or learning to weave.
BBC News
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Famous ‘Celtic’ nations may be misnamed
Genetic studies hint at unexpected origins of clans
DUBLIN, Ireland - Celtic nations like Ireland and Scotland have more in common with the Portuguese and Spanish than with “Celts” — the name commonly used for a group of people from ancient Alpine Europe, scientists say.
MSNBC News
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