The Archaeological Review: May 2008

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Canada's Stolen Gold

Latest on this breaking story !

Gold Artifacts by Canada's late Premier Sculptural native artist Bill Reid that were donated by the widow of the late artist were stolen sometime over the past weekend.

This article has great pictures of some of the stolen pieces.

http://www.ctv.ca/gallery/html/stolen_reids_080526/photo_0.html

The Math of Stonehenge

Apparently the math used by the neolithic builders of Stonehenge was impressive.

Perhaps the nearby burial known as the Amesbury archer had something to do with this.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/stonehenge-builders-had-geometry-skills-to-rival-pythagoras-834313.html

Ancient Poems Found on Bamboo Strip

I missed this story from last week but when I did find it I had to publish. The article is a most interesting read.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20080524TDY03305.htm

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Art Historian Dies in Custody

Well known Art historian Roxanne Brown was arrested this past friday in connection with the police investigation into smuggling Thai artifacts into California many of which ended up in museums.

Ms. Brown was in Seattle to visit family and to speak at the University of Washington.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363131_antiquities15.html

Foguang Temple

I do love the videos brought by the Archaeological channel. This one is about a unique 1200 year old wooden temple that is nothing short of magnificent.

In the video someone says that the temple is the Chinese equivalent of the Parthenon, and their right.

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/

Drowned Ceaser

Photo: Associated Press

Divers in the Rhone river have fished out a number of ancient statues including a marble bust of Julius Ceaser which may date to 46bc. why the statuary was thrown in the river remains an unknown.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_sc/france_caesar_bust_5;_ylt=AtogDIAlWsTdo5IaFxsC6DxFeQoB

New Technology Solves Old Problem

New technology helps shipwreck investigators look below the sea floor. The article has a cool picture.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080512_navy.html

Bulgaria's Historic

Archaeologists have discovered a marble slab from the Roman era.

http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1280313951

Buddhist Tower

The archaeologists involved believe they have found the remains of the oldest wooden Buddhist tower in Asia.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200805/200805130005.html

Drought Exposes Village

A medieval village flooded when a reservoir was flooded in the 1960's is exposed by a drought. The video is a good watch!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7398012.stm

To Save or Not

The story is on trepanation in the Inca culture unfortunately the skull shown was not trepanned but rather the hole in the skull was made so that the skull could be placed onto a skull rack. More likely it was a war trophy.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080512-inca-skulls.html

Archaeology From Space

Archaeologists are using satellites to study archaeological sites.

http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20080513.064833&time=07%2055%20PDT&year=2008&public=0

Iran's Salt Men

The story of the preservation of the six men found in a salt mine in Iran. The article contains a good picture of one of the bodies.

http://www.payvand.com/news/08/may/1111.html

Bronze Age Chief

Archaeologists are in a rush to get the most information before the mound falls off its cliff due to erosion undermining the cliff.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/05/13/scibronze113.xml

The Queen of Sheba

The palace of the Queen of Sheba as well as the altar that once held the Ark of the covenant have been claimed to be found.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3919430.ece

A Broken Pot

The story of a third century common era engraved pot and used for collecting sap.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/13/stories/2008051355252000.htm

Unlocking Maya

Technology is being applied to a Mayan archaeological site.

http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=00240041a0ca090119cd98901306f35&mode=news

A New Girlfriend

A foriegn oil expert was arrested in an airport in Yemen stealing antiquities and now will be enjoying a Yemeni prison. That can't be good.

Well at least he will be popular!

http://www.yemenpost.net/29/Reports/20083.htm

Clifftop Barrow

An ancient barrow that will fall off its cliff because of erosion has been explored to gather as much information on its construction before it falls into the sea.

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART57241.html

Monument Repair Finished

Repairs on preventing Silbury hill from collapsing have been completed.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0%2C%2C2279497%2C00.html

Barcelona's Shipwreck

On a construction dig in downtown Barcelona has been found a shipwreck dating to the 13th-14th century.

http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/14920/medieval-shipwreck-found-in-barcelona-city-centre

An Interesting Life

A Vatican official in charge of restoration and the exhuming of Saints is on lecture tour.

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=69028

The Talpiot Tomb

The tomb found in Israel and believed by some to have held the remains of Jesus and his family is and will for a long time be giving up its answers.

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories_local.php?id=107684

Spain Files Suit

The American company that discovered $5oo million in Spanish coins last year and quickly whisked the 17 tons of silver back to the United states is now being sued by the Spanish government.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080509-AP-spain-shipw.html

Dubious Bridge to Temple Mount

A new bridge will be built to replace the old one that was damaged in an earthquake.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1209627058901&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Buried Alive

A thousand tombs have been discovered in Columbia one of which has a female who may have been buried alive.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080509-colombia-tombs.html

Damage to Iraq's Museum

The horror that is the Iraqi life and the damage to its heritage is unacceptable. Economics however may say different.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article3901133.ece

Neolithic Erosion

Neolithic sites from Orkney to Skara brae are in danger from coastal erosion.

http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=7&id=12677

A Drying World

Global warming is the big issue of the environmental world today as it may have been thousands of years ago.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080508-green-sahara.html

That Treasure Ship

The Spanish really want part of that 17 tons of silver coins found by ab American expedition last year.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1738445,00.html

Queen Mary's Ships

On her flight from Vienna poor Queen Mary had some of her ships carrying her belongings sink to the bottom of the Danube.

Who hates moving day.

http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/article/11/dive_team_to/?cHash=22e3e47adb

That Dingo Ate My Baby

Tourists re being eaten in Australia so they decided to build Dingo fences around tourist sites, sadly it is claimed that the fences are damaging archaeological sites.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/dingo-fence-has-damaged-sacred-sites-say-aborigines-822842.html

14 000 Years

That pushes the landing of people in north and south America back whether their method of arrival by boat or land bridge back a few more generations.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVNUT1aQGA8I-_LDSlMc2uMWqLdQ

Oh that Wonderful DNA

DNA is a godsend to archaeology and the possibilities in the future seem nearly limitless.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080507/sc_nm/genes_druze_dc;_ylt=AhbtiWHOnWKR__ibZjUfJcghANEA

Fortress Iran

Excavating at a fortress archaeologists have found a number of residential building.

http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/May2008/08-05-discovery.htm

Italian Tombs

Twenty seven tombs have been found in Italy's "valley of the dead. Some of the tombs may go back as far as the seventh century bc.

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Italian-builders-uncover-2000yearold-tombs.4061283.jp

Extinct

Comet West Photo courtesy of Peter Stättmayer of the Munich Public Observatory

The question of the impact of comets and asteroids on our world must be horrific to the local population.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080506-comet-extinct.html

Asteroid destroyed Sodom:
http://timothy-reid.blogspot.com/2008/03/asteroid-destroyed-sodom.html

Canadian Petroglyphs

This is a well written article on petroglyphs found in Alberta.

http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/story.html?id=ea03b99a-ff64-4368-8e57-b1fc0e2e4ace

Cave of Pigeons

Jewelry made of seashells have been found in a prehistoric cave and are believed to be some of the oldest adornments in the world.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/archaeologists-uncover-caveman-bling/2008/05/07/1209839683483.html

French Citizen in Deep Doo

A French citizen has been arrested and charged with smuggling antiquities out of Yemen.

http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10014190.html

Retrieving Iraq

Iraq citizens help to rebuild their shattered national collection with objects excavated illegally in the hundreds including some cylinder seals of which the museum lost nearly its entire collection.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2008-05-06%5Ckurd.htm

Bird from the Dino Era

Love the fossil in the story unfortunately the picture is of another famous fossil in Berlin.

The picture of the fossil in question is equally beautiful.!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/95096577.html

Viking Settlement

A whole lot of Viking stuff!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7385237.stm

A Good Scalping

A beautiful 17th century house yields a human skull which appears to have been scalped.

The skull was found 30 years ago was reported to the police at the time and the Sheriff told the finder to bury it apparently this was not done.

Very interesting video accompanies this piece.

http://capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/115453/more-details-released-about-human-skull-found-in-coeymans/Default.aspx

Were Sinking

This article has a picture of this thousand year old 40 ft. canoe.

http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2008/may/05/45-foot-ancient-canoe-stuck-muck-weedon-island/?news

A Good Summer

A farm that Mark Twain spent summer on as a boy and wrote about those days is set for an archaeological survey.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/607966.html

Priceless History

Illegal Latin American artifacts brought to Europe for sale have been siezed by Spanish Police.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7385775.stm

Viking Sword

Those good old metal detectors have found only the thirteenth Viking sword found on the Isle. of Man. The sword was buried around a thousand years go.

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/EditorialGallery.aspx?ArticleID=4052052&SectionID=870

Friedrich Schiller's Grave

The coffin of the great has evidently been holding an impostor.

Though the author was buried in a mass grave and during WWII his coffin went missing and was later recovered thanks to the late Emil Ludwig the remains inside have now been shown through DNA not to be the great man.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24453831/

Large Stick in the Mud

An ancient canoe has been found leaving conservationists to figure out how to preserve it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24468049/

Lewis and Clark

Here we have potential evidence of the 1806 expedition.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-may0508-lews_and_clark.ceaa8d20.html

Mayan Fabric

fabric found in the tomb of an ancient Mayan Queen reveals the sophistication of the culture. It is a miraculous survival.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430173528.htm

Turquoise of the Aztecs

A new study demonstrates the cultural variety and trade in turquoise objects created by Aztec artisans.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article3872341.ece

Carpet of Stone

Westminster Abbey has a beautiful intricate mosaic made of various stones and glass in medieval times.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/05/archaeology.art

Broken Reliefs

Archaeologists have done severe damage to 11th century inscriptions in an Indian temple. The damage is so severe that at least one of the inscriptions may now be lost forever.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Big_temple_inscriptions_damaged/articleshow/3010487.cms

Technology at Persepolis

Archaeologists are bringing in georadars and using electrostatic equipment.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=54295&sectionid=351020105

Viking Artifacts

A 1000 year old Viking site is only to be slightly investigated and its artifacts are to remain buried.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=61955-qqqx=1.asp

Great fakes #1: The Getty Kouros

A now famous Greek statue of youth was purchased by the trustees of the Getty museum from a Swiss dealer for 7 million dollars in 1983, the statue being in six pieces and pertaining to be from about 530 bce.

The statue has been carved in a flawed piece of marble and would have been unsalable to the ancient buyer once the flaw was noticed, it has been suggested that the flaw in the stone may have appeared late in the carving, the statue left at the side of a studio and practiced upon for a number of years by a number of different hands.

Only one other kouros shows no sign of being painted and tests on the stone showed proper chemical erosion only achieved over hundreds of years, unfortunately a few years later it was shown that if you rubbed potato mold on marble you could achieve the proper erosion in just 3 months.

Soon the documents which came with the kouros were found out to be fakes, with its provenance destroyed and a chemical test to explain its surface it was now up to experts in kouros to stylistically date it, ultimately it was considered to be an amalgamation of styles, not pure to anyone.

Worse still a known fake kouros torso came on the market which bore a strong resemblance to the Getty kouros.

All these years later the ultimate verdict is still out.

Mysteries of Stonehenge

We will perhaps never know what was up at this site and maybe that is for the better.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-stonehenge4-2008may04,0,4585446.story

Another Bolton Mummy

X-rays of a Peruvian mummy stored at Bolton museum has revealed the mummies hands and feet are missing even though its wrappings are intact.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/boltonnews/display.var.2245537.0.unwrapping_secret_of_bolton_museums_mummy.php

How Much is Too Much

The article is about how to best present an archaeological site for its own preservation.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/corporate-jollies-to-oust-cultural-fuddyduddies-from-pompeii-ruins-820477.html

More Damage to Buddha's

While recently exploding unexploded bombs near one of Afghanistan's two famous Buddha statues damaged by the Taliban one of the statues was damaged further.

http://www.thestate.com/372/story/394349.html

Historic Cave in Danger

A cave used by humans for much of the last 200 000 years and contains ancient paintings is in danger of collapsing.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/236064.php/Historic-Italian-cave-may-collapse

The Complete Family

The barbarity that is the act of killing unarmed people no less those people be children. The Russian Royal family can now be laid to rest complete with its missing Princess and the Prince who would never be King.

Nearly a century later the savageness of the act has not dulled but at least a proper burial be given and the awful mystery can now be put to rest.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_on_re_eu/russia_czar_s_family;_ylt=AhTAAtIbmnqtjX6NZn8g4zqs0NUE

Tse -Whit Zen

Some of the Pacific Northwests most spectacular archaeological discoveries are sitting in boxes rather than being on display where everyone can learn from and about the objects.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004384678_artifacts01m.html

The Roman Coffin

It is only the third time a complete Roman coffin has been found in England.

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/3121083.Stunning_finds_on_archaeological_dig/

Bronze Age Factory

More of the bronze age axe factory found in England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/7371344.stm

Honey Bee Village

Article from the U.S. southwest containing nice pictures of some of the finds from this village.

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/236744

Iraq's Heritage

A short article with some pictures of the 700 artifacts recently returned to Baghdad's museum.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/04/iraq-recovering.html

Treasure Found

The famous diamond people De Beers have found a shipwreck.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aA1SbJLhrkCQ&refer=home

Terracotta Warriors

China's famed Terracotta warriors are on their way to the Bowers museum for their first U.S. stop

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080429-warrior-video-ap.html

HMAS Sydney

The Australian ship sank in November of 1941 in a battle with the German raider Kormoran taking its entire crew of 645 to the bottom of the ocean.

The Australian government has just spent an absurd amount of money to find her.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/30/2230390.htm?site=science&topic=ancient

Roman Mass Grave

This story is about a mass grave of 91 Roman bodies placed into a mass grave. The article has a number of really good pictures.

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART56936.html

Ancient America's

A collection of Mayan, Aztec and other ancient art has been seized in Spain because of a lack of import permits. The collection is said to be valued at $100 million.

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27481/german-police-seize-ancient-art-collection/

Frozen Relations

There are some 17 people on the west coast of Canada related to the frozen man found a decade ago at the foot of a glacier.

http://www.ecanadanow.com/news/science/ancient-frozen-man-linked-to-17-people-in-canada-20080429.html

Mortar Shell in Western Wall

Archaeologists "excavating" in Jerusalem have found unexploded ordinance.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870522470&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Reburial of the Cave Lady

It is nice to see that the rights of burial have been applied to this archaeological mission. After the work is done all human remains should be returned to their graves. Only those remains which are put on display and continue to teach should remain unburied.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Cave-woman-is--laid.4029526.jp

Turtle Mound

A nice video accompanies this article on the famous mound.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-mound2908apr29%2C0%2C5758195.story

Japan's Royal Dead

Archaeologists are receiving a first look in some of Japan's royal tombs.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080428-ancient-tomb.html

9 Year Old Finds Hoard

A 9 year old and his grandfather out exploring find more than 4500 silver coins buried in the 13th century.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/201839%2Cboy-9-and-grandfather-find-medieval-silver-treasure-in-sweden.html

Herodutos Helps

Herodotus is truly the man of history whether he made it up or relied on tenuous sources.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/04/28/080428crbo_books_mendelsohn?currentPage=all

Bronze Age Axes

A bronze age axe making center has been found in England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/7371344.stm

Ancient Burial Mound

A burial mound excavated in the 1890's still yields information/

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_564671.html

Archimedes Codex

Courtesy of Archimedes Palimpsest Project

Bought for $2.2 million in 1998 and sent to the Walters Art museum for restoration and investigation.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0415/p20s01-ussc.html

Saddam's Museum

Syria is returning 701 artifacts retrieved from smugglers and stolen from the Baghdad museum.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/27/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-National-Museum.php

Emperor Nero in Cologne

A gate and part of a wall from the period of Nero's reign have been found in Cologne.

http://www.expatica.com/de/articles/news/Emperor-Nero_s-gate-discovered-in-Cologne--.html

Ancient Rock Art

Over a thousand bronze age rock art drawings have been identified

http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20080427/102787.shtml

Ancient Jewelry

Ancient gemstone jewelry has been unearthed in Iran.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=53347&sectionid=351020105

Frozen Man

This body was found at the foot of a melting glacier in British Columbia about 9 years ago and today is revealing his DNA link to surviving people on Canada's west coast.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=e9d68150-22ab-4b53-bcef-c0514231148e

B.C. Tourism- Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi Project:

http://www.tsa.gov.bc.ca/archaeology/kwaday_d%C3%A4n_ts%E2%80%99inchi/index.htm

Incan Trepenation

This article has a really nice picture with it and interesting story on the sophistication of Incan doctors.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/31466/title/Incan_skull_surgery

Ancient Ceramics Found in China

Examination of a number of newly found kilns and ceramics.

http://www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=590278

Prince Visits Ancestors Coffin

Prince Charles spends a great deal of time visiting coffins thankfully he is not accompanied by his wife this time,( he probably couldn't find the keys to the stable).

I must say I was sad when I saw this article had a picture of the Prince but only a small corner of the stone coffin he was inspecting.

Thats just sad!

I can find pictures of the Prince but the coffin?

So stupid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7366080.stm

Megalithic Pottery

Pots have been found with scratch inscriptions on them.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/27/stories/2008042757322000.htm

Walking Through History

That road found last week might be older than first thought and have been mentioned in passing in a 1684 survey of the area.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042503349.html

Off to the Museum

More than 700 artifacts have been handed over to Turkmenistan's fine arts museum ranging from simple household objects to artistic masterpieces.

http://www.turkmenistan.ru/?page_id=3&lang_id=en&elem_id=12658&type=event&sort=date_desc

The Old Girl

The travelling exhibit containing the fossilized remains known as Lucy will be staying a little longer in the United states.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5731828.html

The Mayan Queens Fabric

A fascinating find of pieces of fabric placed into the tomb of an unknown Mayan Queen around 500ce.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080425-maya-fabric.html

Edinburgh's Big Move

With over 2 million artifacts the museums staff is working on overtime.

Nice video.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7366604.stm

Tomb Raiders

A well organized gang has been robbing Spain's archaeological sites and selling their finds to an antiquities dealer.

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14624&Itemid=31

The Ruins of Qatar

Interesting sort article of ancient remains in Qatar.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=April2008&file=Local_News2008042625353.xml

The Oseberg Ship Burial

A double viking burial found in an oak ship in 1904 has been re examined and shows the 2 women found were well fed and that the older of the 2 died of cancer.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080425/sc_nm/viking_queen_dc;_ylt=Ao.mlbiU.wWnGxfiBbIrKjQhANEA

French Face Waterloo

Apparantly the French army have not quiet gotten over their loss at Waterloo 200 years ago.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3803539.ece

A Near Miss for the Human Race

Scientists believe that sometime around 70 000 years ago homo sapiens nearly went extinct dwindling in population to as little as 2000 individuals before they began to come back.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870488260&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Living in Caves

Pottery and artifacts have been found in a cave in Cambodia.

http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=3965

Fire Temple

Archaeologists believe they have found a Sasanian fire temple at an archaeological site in Iran.

http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/April2008/24-04-possible.htm

Looted Artifacts

The Syrian government is handing over to Iraq 700 looted antiquities.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0aVORs5t2W5HbYcrWWnJJ2t5HagD907OJSO0

Who Owns Lewis Chessmen

The flood of repatriation boggles the mind. The worlds antiquities trade is sadly the prevail of big brother institutions and jealous governments.

Soon even viewing antiquities will probably be illegal if you do not have the right title after your name.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article3785332.ece

Historic Restrictions

People in Great Britain are lucky with free museums and sophisticated internet sites even though museums need to protect their objects this should not remove the objects from view.

The worst offender is probably Egypt you can hardly take a picture of its objects or sites or the dictator and his henchmen will do God knows what if you get a picture of an object.

Wasn't the point to bring objects to the public instead the opposite happens and we are all left to look at that stupid mask of King Tut and who hasn't seen enough of the mummy of Ramesses II.

Show the public mummies and objects that remain hidden to all except those who stand in front of it in a museum. People should be allowed to take pictures and who cares what they do with them.

Well we cannot complain when tourists and so called public and private institutions pour money into dictatorships like Egypt.

Monkey see monkey do.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7360263.stm

3000 Year Old Jewelry Box

This article has some nice pictures of the jewelry and decorated pottery.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jiZfrCLQYS737QObR5s_zFXvwfqAD907E52O0

Alexander's Family

Burials excavated in Greece in the late 1970's indicate that a number of objects including a silver crown, shield and 6ft. scepter are believed to be possessions of Alexander the great.

These objects are now thought to have been buried with Alexanders brother, Phillip Arrhidaeus in the tomb found in the 1970's.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080423-alexander-great.html

Trojan Horse Does Job

The good old times when the Trojan war was raging except the Trojans were not the brightest bulbs on the block.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/04/dayintech_0424

Painting Lost in Holocaust

A painting from the 1620's was confiscated from a Warsaw art dealer when the owner was forced into that cities famous ghetto by Nazi's in WWII.

Recently the painting has resurfaced and is set to be auctioned at Christies.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870472310&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The Painting:

http://tinyurl.com/5ugwqj

18th Century Road

A road in Maryland has been found in Annapolis.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423180059.htm

The Griffin

The 17th century ship built by explorer La Salle has been found at the bottom of lake Michigan now the battle of who has the right to it. The Griffin is the oldest shipwreck in lake Michigan.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/23/america/NA-GEN-US-Griffin-Shipwreck.php

Covered in Egg

I guess as an artist that I was not surprised by this article. Egg is a natural fixative for paint.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/18/terracotta-army-egg.html

Divine Escort

Dog burials found in the United states southwest appear to be buried to accompany the dead on their journey through the afterlife.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080423-dog-burials.html

Great Wall of China

Still yet more of the wall has been discovered.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/6397046.html

The 9500 Year old Temple

The find of a temple of this age in Turkey is astonishing archaeologists.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/23/archaeology.turkey

The Jewelry Box

a pot found in Fiji contained some of the oldest jewelry ever found in Fiji.

http://www.fijilive.com/news_new/index.php/news/show_news/4072

Roman Turf

This article is short but with a nice picture.

http://kentonline.co.uk/news/default.asp?article_id=40451

The Travelling Dead

The new issues museums and collectors face with some of their collections as to whether to keep or return questionable artifacts in particularly human remains.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/science/stories/2008/04/22/sci_whose_bones.ART_ART_04-22-08_B6_9A9UMP7.html?sid=101

Renovating the 14th Century

Russia is in the process of renovating a 14th century fortress on its border with Estonia.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080422/105650018.html

The Revenge of Excess

The famous Getty kouros was purchased by the trustee's of the Getty museum from a Swiss collector for 7 million dollars in 1983.

The kouros was in 6 pieces and pertaining to be from about 530 bc.

The statue is carved from a piece of flawed marble and would have been unsalable once the flaw became noticed..

It has been suggested that the flaw might have appeared late in the carving, the statue left aside in a studio and practiced upon for a number of years by a number of different hands.

Only one other kouros shows no sign of being painted all other kouros show signs of being painted

Tests on the stone showed a proper chemical erosion that could only have been acquired over hundreds of years in the ground.

Sadly a few years later it was shown that if you rubbed potato mold on marble that you could achieve the same effect in 3 months?

A forgers trick discovered.

Soon the documents which came with the kouros were found out as fakes.

With its provenance destroyed and a chemical test to explain the surface it was left up to experts in kouros to stylistically date it.

Many sources consider it a stylistic amalgamation not pure to any one.

Worse still a known fake kouros torso came on the market and bore a strong resemblance to the Getty kouros.

The jury is still out these years later the Getty admits their kouros is from 530bc or a modern forgery.

(NOTE): Kouros shown are from the Archaeological museum, Thebes, Greece.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Celebrating Maya

A nice article with sharp picture on Mayan discoveries in the heart of Mexico city.

http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20080419/100520.shtml

The Little White Disc

Interesting little object is the center of this article with a number of nice pictures.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/04/18/fairfield-gorget-little-white-disk-big-big-history/

Caving News

The story has been big for a couple of weeks this article has a couple of vague pictures.

http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4207&Itemid=50

Ancient Boardgame

Archaeologists have found among other things carved on rocks on the island of Kharg in the Persian gulf a compass.

http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/April2008/19-04.htm

Antiquities Trade

The antiquities trade surrounding mesoamerica as a case study in the handling and trade in antiquities.

http://www.athenapub.com/15-central-america2.htm

Moron Damages Moai

A comment to my last "moron damages Moai" article received a well worded response in defense of the "perpetrator".

A reader writes:

"A high-octane, adrenaline addict adventurer climbs on top of a high and sacred monument, bad enough. The Finn broke the ear of this fragile lava type of stone, worse enough. My countryman tries to hide it and runs away, worst enough. Okay all correct, he confessed what happened later on, but this does not prove him a thief..."

My reader wrote truth when they showed an alternative motive, from a thrill seeker looking to vandalise a monument whether for a souvenir or not.

Sadly the inexperience or even stupidity of the vandal is no excuse, intent is another matter however and we can only hope that if the "climber" was simply stupid that his punishment would be much less than one who would deliberately damage a monument of world history.

Mayan Textiles

Interesting article on Mayan textiles and their relation to culture.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/539875/

Archaeological Devastation

This story from last week has sadly turned ugly.

http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4198&Itemid=50

Gives Us Our Dead

I am certainly one who believes that skeletons of people once studied should be reburied again, I do not feel this about the objects.

I could be wrong.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/17/tribe_wants_university_to_return_remains/3686/

The Twelve Thousand Year Old Temple

An article from Turkey may change history in the region.

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav041708a.shtml

Pre-Clovis Life

Here we have another interesting video from the fine folks at the Archaeological Channel.

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/vidint/jenkinsint.html

Mayan Apocalypse

Okay the world ends on the 21rst of December 2012, I'm comfortable with that.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/15/2217547.htm?site=science/greatmomentsinscience&topic=ancient

Idols Bring Believers

Recently found stone ands metal idols dating to the 14th century are drawing in the faithful.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14650080

Whackjobs End Stonehenge Dig

Those pagan nuts have closed the dig at Stonehenge with their blessings.

http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.2199212.0.pagans_mark_end_of_stonehenge_dig.php

Dissolving History

After all the years the scaffolding has been "adorning" the Parthenon I was shocked to hear that 17 of the original metopes were still on the building.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080413/ts_afp/greecearchaeologypollution_080413085950;_ylt=AkFTXEiu4Xn480RhpBg6vUFFeQoB

Peabody vs Peru

It is now thought the size of the collection stolen from Machu Pichu is more than 40 000 objects strong nearly ten times what was thought.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=peru-says-yale-has-over-4

Hieroglyphic Anchor

An anchor has been found off the northern coast of Cyprus. The anchor is made of stone and unique that it bears a hieroglyphic inscription.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=101452

Achaemenid Dam

French and Iranian archaeologists are excavating a dam in Iran. The article has nice picture.

http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=665587

A Happy Home

A house purpose built for King Henry VIII and his Queen Anne Boleyn is on its path of preservation.

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1596&Itemid=26

Achaemenid Inscriptions

The amazing Oriental Institute is creating 3d images of thousands of Achaemenid inscriptions.

http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/April2008/13-04.htm

Ten Commandments Stone

This wonderful fourth century stone was excavated from a synagogue in tel Yavne in 1913. Purchased for an American museum a deposit was put while approval from the Israeli government export was pending.

The Israeli export papers arrived which unfortunately would permit it to be exported but would have to be returned in five years. The buyer said no thanks please give me my deposit back and that's the problem.

The good Rabbi in New York wants his money back and the bad antiquities dealer in Israel is refusing.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208179714568&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Big Loot

Good work by Italian police have recovered priceless treasure two heads in separate operations.

This Emperor now has five surviving representations of him and this Empress belongs to the people of Italy.

http://www.thestate.com/372/story/372975.html

Call Me Farnaka

The Uncle of Darius I has for the first time been found in achaemenid inscription. Farnaka was known from at least two other languages but never his own.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=166159

African Concentration Camp

The remnants of concentration camps from the Boer war are difficult to find as the British did what they could to hide this disgrace from the beginning of the last century.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20080412082240505C435975

Bronze age Village

The first picture in this article is stunning and along with the short story is a good read.

http://www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk/news/s/1045029_timeless_landscape

India's Past

There are a lot of discoveries coming out of the Indian sub-continent including this magnificent city.

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=233&page=38

Evil Archaeology

Taking something as beautiful as the study of our ancestors and using it to remove families from there ancestral homes. Why Jewish settlers are left to do this is beyond peace and brotherhood, a naive concept in Jerusalem.

http://imeu.net/news/article008427.shtml

Anasazi Gone

The Anasazi people were one of north America's bright cultural lights and sadly like so many brilliant cultures has disappeared into the dark of the past leaving only ruins and a giant mystery.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080412/NEWS/804120308/-1/newssitemap

Lavish Pagan Burial

The woman buried in the centre of this Anglo-saxon cemetery is of obviously high status. Laid out on a bed she may represent the last of her kind before the population embraced Christianity.

Her jewels are reminiscent of the jewels found in the Suton Hoo burial and now displayed in the British museum.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/11/anglo-saxon-cult.html

Lots of Atifacts No Museum

This is a story of artifacts being neglected and left lying on a classroom floor for decades.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=31884

Rare Emperor's head Recovered

Italian police have uncovered a stash of stolen antiquities which include a portrait of Lucius Verus, the "shy" emperor of which there are only four other portraits known.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/11/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Shy-Emperor.php

Justinianic Plague

Victims of the Justinianic plague have been found south of Rome. The plague may have killed as many as 100 million people around the world.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.2059849995

Trajan's Column

Trajan's column is to be coloured with lights.

Can anyone say Tacky!

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/10/trajan-column.html

Ancient Spa

An ancient spa discovered a few years back is to become flooded by the erection of a dam. In spa tradition the spa will be covered in mud first.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7340499.stm

Roman Alter

A Roman alter has been found in pristine condition in Manchester. The alter was dedicated to two little known goddesses by a Roman soldier 2000 years ago.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1044666_roman_soldiers_gift_found

Burial Cave Found

A cave has been found in the Phillipines containing jars and other artifacts dating back 2000 years.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/88727/2000-year-old-cave-artifacts-found-in-Mindanao

Mixtec Cremation

A grave containing two cremated bodies has been found in Mexico. The graves are believed to be around 3000 years old.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080409-cremations.html

New Statue found at Colosseum

A fragment of a marble statue has been excavated at the colosseum. The statue is an equestrian with part of the back being preserved. It is thought the statue may be of an Emperor and hopes are up that the rest will turn up.

The statue is thought once to have graced the Imperial arched entrance.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.2056023971

Stonehenge

The most recent dig in 40 years is well on the way though it is a glamorous place to dig the dig is less than spectacular. The video is quite informative on this most famous dig.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7337292.stm

Iran in the Third Millenium bce.

An unusually interesting article from this source including some excellent pictures.

http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/April2008/08-04.htm

Oh That Viking Haord

An article from our friends at National Geographic.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080408-viking-hoard.html

Oldest Arched Gate Restored

a Canaanite gate built somewhere around c. 1850 bce has been restored.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207649966046&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Anasazi Lives

With no written language we may always be left guessing what they were up to.

This article contains lovely pictures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/science/08anasazi.html?_r=2&8dpc&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Exhuming the Past

Lots of grave looting articles, so much so that it sometimes appears not to be archaeology but exhumation.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=165873

Graves Moved to Foil Looters

This all began when an amatuer historian displayed the mummified remains of a black soldier wearing a civil war uniform.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/567648.html

A Rich History

One of the most mystifying aspects of antiquity is the notion we tend to crave that we as craftsmen are more refined than those craftspeople from thousands of years ago. Then we see artifacts generate excitement and awe that the modern crafts person could dream of receiving.

Back last December a 5000 year old figurine known as the Guennol lioness was sold at auction for around $ 60 million, the lioness being considered the worlds oldest surviving masterpiece.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=31153

Oxford's Grizzly Past

A dig in Oxford has found more than a dozen bodies that had been thrown into a mass grave. The remains appear to be Saxon in origin and may be Executed criminals or battle dead.

The bodies are all of young men.

http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2175214.0.experts_bone_up_on_grisly_relics.php

The 35 000 Year Old Tool

Tools found at an Australian mine have been dated to 35 000 years ago.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/archaeological-finds-dated-to-35000-years/2008/04/06/1207420202548.html

The Amesbury Archer

The find is not new and neither is the article however the find is the most remarkable thing that has happened at Stonehenge in thousands of years.
What this man was doing at Stonehenge when it was being built is unknown, he was not originally from the area but when he died was honoured with the most lavish of beaker period burials.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/10013696.html

Origins of Whaling

Here we have an article on the origins of hunting whales.

http://www.uaf.edu/news/news/20080402153648.html

The Maximilian Affair

On the 17 of July in 1861 the first indigenous President of Mexico Benito Juarez suspended interest payments to foreign governments.

Those governments being Britain, Spain and France and their respective Monarchs were unhappy about this so with the lead of the French Emperor Napoleon III the French army invaded Mexico with an eye on exploiting its resources.

On the 8, September 1861 Spanish troops from Spanish controlled Cuba arrived at the port of Veracruz and were followed by both the French and British fleets in early January of 1862.

By April of that year the British and Spanish realized that it was France's ambition to conquer Mexico and they withdrew their fleets.

On the 31rst of May 1863 President Juarez and his government went into exile taking the treasure of the state with them. On October 3 the French Emperor Napoleon III and a Mexican commission convinced the Archduke of Austria, Maximilian to become Mexico's Emperor.

Maximilian arrived in Veracruz at the end of May and was crowned Emperor of Mexico on the 10th of April 1864. Maximilian was a man of Liberal ideas unfortunately too liberal for the conservatives who were partly responsible for creating the Emperor and unfortunately the liberals would not stand for a Monarch.

As the French forces kept fighting the Nationalist forces, Maximilian issued his "Black decree" which sought immediate execution for any Mexicans captured during the war.

With a number of Nationalistic victories on May 31, 1866 Napoleon III began withdrawing his forces and advised Maximilian to leave Mexico but he refused. On the 15th of May 1867 Maximilian was captured and on the 19th of June Maximilian and two of his Generals were executed by firing squad.

The Emperor was 34 years old.

Viking Hoard

A burial cairn was found in Sweden to contain hundreds of coins buried probably by Viking's about 850ce in a much older grave

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7330540.stm

Mother Mary Removed to Safety

A revered 400 year old statue of the Virgin Mary has been removed from its shrine for safety purposes as the shrine and surrounding area are being shelled in a battle between Sri Lanka's army and the Tamil Tigers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7329452.stm

Ressurecting the Tower Lions

Two 13th century lion skulls found in the moat of the Tower of London may help to revive the species now extinct in the wild.

The skulls having been found in the 1930's.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080404-tower-lions.html

Canada's Iceman

This article is on a body found in 1999 melting out of a glacier.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=99fb88c2-21e2-4075-80c2-499b737c552d&k=96411

Buddha in a Dam

A large number of sculptures have been found in a dam in Pakistan.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/rare-buddha-relics-discovered-in-pakistan-dam_10034307.html

A might thanks to Michael for the spell check

Ash Alter of Zues

The excavations on MT. Lykaion have found an alter used for worship a thousand years before the Greeks worshipped Zues.

http://www.huliq.com/55822/dig-turns-surprises-and-questions-ancient-greece

Tomb of Agamemnon

An article on one of the nine tombs in the area with nice pictures.

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1588&Itemid=36

Disappearing Rome

Tourists are doing what they are supposed to do, that being collecting souveniers of their trip to Rome. This would not happen if the Italian government sold antiquities to tourists.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/03/artifacts_disappear_from_rome_sites/2035/

Re-excavating Edakkal

After 114 years the caves of Edakkal are being re-excavated revealing new neolithic petroglyphs.

http://www.topnews.in/edakkal-caves-re-excavated-after-114-years-kerala-229742

Bosnian Pyramids

This story is a couple of years old and did not impress the first time around however this story has quite a few pictures so you decide what you think.

http://www.balkantravellers.com/en/read/article/485

Roman Road

Beneath the fields of Peterborough from an ariel view can be seen Roman roads

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/features/Archaeology-Looking-beneath-the-surface.3937444.jp

Circus Maximus to be Restored

Romes favorite place to be entertained is to be restored.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/after-1500-years-as-a-ruin-gladiators-stadium-to-be-restored-804002.html

Teams Find Medieval Gate

Restorations at a castle have revealed the gate.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/7326112.stm

Medieval Calculator

A beautiful Medieval astrolabe found under an Inn is set to go up for sale and the British museum hopes it can raise the L350 000 needed to secure it.

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080402/full/news.2008.730.html

Aztec Taxes

Can you imagine what the Aztec's would do to you if you could not pay your taxes.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080403-aztec-math.html

Elgin Marbles going Nowhere

It is quiet one thing for the Getty museum or the Metropolitan to hand over objects proved to have been stolen in the last few decades.

It is another thing in the case of the Parthenon marbles of which the British museum holds a permission slip from the government of that day which say's that Lord Elgin was allowed to take away the marbles.

No theft there.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-03-30-marbles_N.htm

Texas Ranger Cemetery and Hall of Fame

This rude story from Waco Texas has a museum sitting on top of a forgotten cemetery. It seems years ago someone wanted to "develop" the land so they had the tombstones removed and appear to have left the corpses.

Can you say "poltergeist".

http://www.wacotrib.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/breakingnews/entries/2008/04/01/museum_grounds_may_be_rededica.html

Silver Cross

This is another article on the silver cross found at a site in Canada thought to have been used as a detention center for men and boys.

http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-198365-Acadian-church-silver-cross-unearthed-at-GrandPre.html

Oldest Gold Necklace in America's

A four thousand year old gold necklace has been found near lake Titicaca

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7323351.stm

Asteroid Destroyed Sodom

A 5000 year old Cuniform tablet tells of the destruction of the biblical city of Sodom by an asteroid.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=551010&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

Stonehenge

There is a great animation of stonehenge being erected and falling to ruin.

This image is of Merlin and a giant erecting the henge. It is the earliest known image of the monument.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7322134.stm

Stonehenge

Inca Temple

An Incan temple has been found in the ruins of another structure. There are some beautiful pictures of an Inca mummy.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080331-inca-temple.html

Rock Art

An article on petroglyphs in Finland.

http://www.6d.fi/Lifestyle/page.2008-03-31.0662985477

Origin of Pacific Islanders

Archaeologists believe they have found that the native peoples who occupy Pacific Islands came from China.

http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-03-31-voa31.cfm

Shakespeare's Church

Beneath cracked paving stones and flower beds may be the ruin of Shakespeare's church.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/shakespeares-church-found-in-shoreditch-802604.html

Predating the Temple

This is another story on the beautiful little temple and the discovery of architectural elements beneath the present temple.

http://lifestyle.in.msn.com/travel/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1315817

Silver Cross tells Sad Story

A silver cross found a couple of years ago may pinpoint the foundations of a church used to keep men and boys housed for detention before deportation.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f7c2df3d-8f2b-47ff-a7ba-62cfa5dd01a8&k=30787

A Voice from the Past

Here we have a recording made in 1860 of a folk song. It is the oldest recorded sound predating Thomas Edison's 1877 recording of a children's song.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7318180.stm

Booty Call

For some reason the Russians are giving back objects to Germany which the Soviets took during WWII. One of two major European wars started by Germany in the last century.

Church windows will never make up for the 50 000 000 people who were murdered during WWII.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080328/102447969.html

To Bury or Not

The big debate among museums is at what point are human remains informative and at what point disrespectful to the dead. Though I do not believe the dead care.

The photo with this article says it is of the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmosis II. I however am certain it is actually Thutmosis IV.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23429019-16947,00.html

When They Come to Dig You Up

Germans are being dug up to see if they can be matched to a skull pulled from a mass grave supposedly belonging to the German poet Friedrich Schiller.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080328/sc_nm/germany_schiller_skull_dc_1;_ylt=Akqd_gI9Qlg..tqwtbHXXVhFeQoB

Crusaders Genetics

It is not surprising to find that the participants of the crusades have left their genetic mark on the populations they came into contact with.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3635086.ece

Language International

A number of Native American languages have been linked to Siberian Languages.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080326-language-link.html

The Devil Made Them Do It

Those Israeli's are at it again tunnelling under Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem.

It is inspirational to know that organized religion works and that members of Judaism ,Islam and Christianity can all live in peace provided they all stay in their corners.

Lets hope for a miracle.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqKLsrw_vAzHpA0MubslDP55VLgg

St. Michael's and All Saints

This terrific story is over as far as the archaeological work and now comes the time to study the evidence found.

Keep tuned to The Archaeological Review which will feature an article on this most interesting church in April.

Until then here is a short outline of the discoveries.

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Wearside-church-dig-unearths-secrets.3913618.jp

When found more than a decade ago the Ringlemere cup thrilled archaeologists and now leads them to another Anglo-Saxon burial ground of high status.

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/aroundkent/news.asp?village=16203&article_id=428564

Photo:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps359052.jpg&retpage=21272

A short article with nice picture of the newly discovered temple. There are a good number of archaeological discoveries in Yemen these days but this is like the first photo to come out.

What up with that.

http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1139&p=front&a=1

Robbing the Cradle

This marks the fifth year of America's invasion of Iraq and though a hundred thousand Iraqi's and a couple thousand American's are dead and one of the worlds great museums is also on life support.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/03/20/iraq_roundtable/

Lost and Found

For whatever reason the 1000 year old statue pictured was found abandoned along a road.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=28605