A Baltic Canoe

Here we have pictures of the dugout!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzpycJTrdJgQgqJJEC_a9-G7LPiAD94ON9VG0

A Rich History

In India Jews have suffered little anti semitism until the tragedy last week in Mumbai.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702365043&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The Taj Hotel

This famous Mumbai hotel which was recently damaged by a terrorist attack may cost a $100 000 000 to restore.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200811291321.htm

At the Bottom of the Black Sea

Here an ancient dugout canoe has been found.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=255312

The James Ossuary

The Tel Aviv antiquities collector Oded Golan is either a brilliant collector or a master forger and the Israeli antiquities authority and Israeli courts may not have what it takes to prove it either way.

The Antiquities authority has been given six months to try and save their case.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burleigh29-2008nov29%2C0%2C1546620.story

Don't Bogart My Stash Man!

At 2700 years old this is the oldest stash of weed ever found.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gel13YFq2BdETMSItURlmnGXpuvw

Busy year at Orkney

This article has a lot of nice pictures of the excavated sites in 2008.

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh/ART62718.html

The Theft of History

Tragic story of artifacts loosing their history all because the finder did not put a sticker on the bottom with its find spot.

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081128/NATIONAL/498289389

Archaeologist Masud Azarnush Dies

Famed Iranian Archaeologist dies of heart attack at age 63.

http://www.payvand.com/news/08/nov/1274.html

A Slave Ship

A slave ship sank in 1841 off the Turks and Caicos islands freeing many of the ancestors of the residents of the two islands.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/25/slave-shipwreck.html

Roman Jewel

The video confused me a bit as it states that Roman emperors were buried in Serbia but any way the excavation is interesting.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081125-ruins-video-ap.html

The Colosseum Brought to you by McDonald's

Some very controversial decisions are being made at Italy's cultural ministry starting with the hiring of Two businessmen who have their experience working for the burger chain and no experience in culture.

Perhaps the Greek minister of culture will be soon taken over by Burger King and hopefully they will all have to wear hair nets.

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/29590/italians-outraged-by-changes-to-culture-ministry/

Pagoda Found

An ancient pagoda has been found the pagoda is four feet tall made of wood and was found in an iron case. The pagoda contains a box of gold with a box of silver containing what is believed to be part of the skull of a fifth century bc Buddha.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3511676/Buddhas-skull-found-in-Nanjing.html

Antikythera Mechanism

This is amazing a must see for everyone. This is a story on ancient technology exposed by modern technology.

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/index.asp

The 11 000 Year Old Footprints

This is a sad but interesting article on footprints left in clay by people wearing moccasins (or some kind of lobster).

SAY WHAT! I think lobsters would be very uncomfortable to wear on your feet?

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/541938#Comments

Theres That Chariot

A nice picture of the newly discovered chariot in Bulgaria.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/21/chariot-bulgaria.html

A Second Gate!

A second gate has been found at an archaeological site in Israel which some are using as evidence of the kingdom of David.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081121-biblical-city.html

Monster at the British Library

A former respected visitor to the British Library was slicing out pages out of rare books to add to his own collection. He is facing 14 charges in relation.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5201784.ece

Stele of the Soul

This very interesting iron age stele is the earliest known document to show the concept of the soul as a separate entity from the body in this part of the world.

http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/081120/ironage.shtml

Thracian Chariot

A Thracian chariot has been found in a mound in Bulgaria where it was buried during a funeral nearly 2000 years ago.

http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_916079967

Copernicus Found

This is a most interesting article with a conclusion that the remains of the great astronomer having been found and proven by a couple of hairs found in a book once belonging to Copernicus.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/20/copernicus-tomb.html

Iron Age Torc

This electrum torc is being regarded as the most important Iron age find in 50 years.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSuGw6hC7xpPHFC-AN_ikKxlycRQ

Those Tarim Mummies

The ever controversial mummies found in China's Tarim basin the oldest of the mummies being 4000 years old have been shown to be of European descent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/asia/19mummy.html?em

New Finds at Herod's Tomb

A fresco has been found at the supposed site of king Herod's tomb believed to belong to a theatre demolished to make way for Herod's complex.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081119-herod-tomb-paintings-missions.html

Article with 5 nice pictures:

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE4AI7S920081119

No Mystery

Here we have an article on the hope diamond and its provenance however deliberately obscured it may be.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081118/sc_afp/sciencehistorydiamondmuseum_081118185115;_ylt=AkwjvoCHROqbvAuiYp2ecpPPOrgF

That Bronze Horse

A magnificent bronze horse has been found in a tomb in China, the horse is the largest found in China. The two pictures with this story are excellent.

http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20081119/102709.shtml

Mayan Jade

Before excavating the sacred cenote at Chichen Itza the land was purchased first though the return of these jades will be welcome.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSReiZ2_8Tvhocog3XSANg3rIkmQD94HMUC81

Money Ship

Those people who found the 17 tons in Spanish coins and then smuggled them to the United states are going to be in court for many years on this claim.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2033908/

Bibles Buried Secrets

The show was good but not great the chronological order for the show was all over the place for the story line and as a result a bit confusing.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bible/

Busy Year

It has been a busy and successful year for British metal detectorists with around 750 finds including a 2000 year old gold and silver necklace called a torc.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7736759.stm

Oldest Islamic Inscription

The oldest known Islamic inscription may help in the interpretation of the Qur'an.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/18/islamic-inscription.html

Stelae Tells Story

This wonderful document has recently been found in Turkey and comes from the eighth century b.c.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/science/18soul.html

How to Throw Away Money

Details from The Colossus of Rhodes, an 18th century engraving by George Balthasar Probst, from the Stapleton Collection. Photograph: Bridgeman Art Library

Here we have another cockamamie scheme good luck to the people of Rhodes and congratulations on your new money pit.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/nov/17/colossus-rhodes-greece-sculpture

Accidental Discovery

An old archaeological report has turned up showing a photo of a Byzantine period mosaic from under the Al Aqsa mosque.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404750389&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Mary Rose Sunk by French Warship

The pride of king Henry VIII fleet of ships which sank in front of the king and has long been considered scuttled but now it appears that a french canon ball may have done the job.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3462882/Mary-Rose-sunk-by-French-cannonball.html

A Violent Death

This article comes with a good image , the story is about a stone age family found buried lovingly in Germany.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/specials/science/cold-case-worlds-oldest-family-identified/2008/11/17/1226770354389.html

Oracle Bones

Long have I waited for more of these inscribed bones to be found, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries inscribed turtle shells and bones have been found at first apothecaries ground them up believing them to be dragon bones but soon an ancient imperial archive emerged and now more.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/12/content_7195425.htm

Phoenician Funerary Urns

Archaeologists have found 2900 year old funerary urns in Lebanon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE4AB3QW20081112

Ransom Room at Risk

The room which Pissaro kept King Atahualpa is crumbling and in need of restoration. King Atahualpa promised Pissaro to fill the room twice with silver and once with gold as ransom.

http://www.livinginperu.com/news-7819-peru-peru-atahualpas-ransom-room-infrastructure-is-risk

Damaging Babylon

A new show in the United Kingdom displays damage the American overlords have wracked upon ancient Babylon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE4AA4YA20081111

Corpses Everywhere

A huge necropolis has been found in Sicily, the necropolis may contain up to 10 000 graves.

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-11-11_111302237.html

Xibalba

Here we have a road to a Mayan hell for what it is worth. Those Mayans could do with a little cheering up.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081110-hell-video-ap.html

Peru Sues Those Theives at Yale

The government of Peru is talking about suing Yale university and the Peabody museum over hundreds of artifacts taken from Macchu Picchu by Hiram Bingmam more than a century ago on the promise that they would be returned back to Peru within eighteen months.

More than a century later Yale has failed to return the artifacts they stole.

Peru has an excellent case which when decided will surely have effects on the antiquities markets world wide.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081109/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_peru_yale_machu_picchu;_ylt=Ahx9NwKxQWcw7OapCGP0QOpvieAA

Rebuilding the Temple of Artemis

A $150 000 000 plan to rebuild the temple has been put forward, I do not know why a new temple might seem a little odd and a pointless way to spend that money.

http://www.voicesnewspaper.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2401

A 2000 Year Old Earring

A wonderful bauble has been found in Jerusalem under a parking lot in the rubble of a Byzantine building.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081110/ap_on_sc/ml_israel_ancient_jewelry

The Cenotes of Hell

Archaeologists are exploring the cenotes that the Mayans considered to be the underworld.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i0X_X9vW5eX27jlXl8wH_UFcp3UgD94BHVEO0

Worlds Oldest Temple

This article has lots of wonderful pictures they concern a temple found in Turkey.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/09/worlds-oldest-temple-disc_n_142417.html

Sleeping Buddha FOUND

The sleeping Buddha of Bymian has been found seven years after the Taliban destroyed the standing Buddha's.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20081109-171150/New-Bamiyan-Buddha-find-amid-destruction

Lets All Go to Berlin

Apparently the antiquities trade has moved on to Berlin as the German laws are more civil than the rest of the continents wrong laws.

Prohibition has proven that it does not work so you can throw all the antiquities collectors and dealers in jail it just means 3 hots and cot for the taxpayers pocket oh and you will probably have to let other criminals go to make way for the prohibited collector.

Perhaps the Swiss will give back all that stolen money and valuables their ancestors stole from Jewish clients during the last great war. Not likely!

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5198&Itemid=33

Burials Restored to Dignity

Over the years the grave markers have one by one disappeared some were probably stolen or vandalized while others may have been destroyed by car accidents from the highway that runs past.

http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2008/08nov06/lost.html

Who Owns History?

When I started this blog I never dreamed I would spend much of my efforts on this question. Countries like Egypt, Italy and Greece seem to have the idea that everything created historically in their territory is their property.

Unfortunately for them the Parthenon marbles left with legal permission which the British museum displays online while the St. Louis art museum received the okay from Egypt's Supreme council of antiquities before it purchased the mask of Kanefernefer. The fact that we now realize the mask was probably stolen some 50 years ago is not the responsibility of St. Louis.

Sloppy work of those at Egypt's Supreme council of antiquities also probably lead to Berlin being in possession of the famous bust of Nefertiti. The bust left for Berlin in 1912 after the councils representative Mr. Gustave Lefebvre gave the German excavator the claim to it.

As a note the damage to the antiquities and history of the country of Iraq would be even greater if it were not for all those foreign collections which ensure the legacy of societies as distant in time as they are in geography.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7709000/7709332.stm

The Parthenon Marbles

Here the Vatican state museum has handed over another of the three pieces of sculpture from the Parthenon in their collection. The piece however is only on loan for a year.

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE4A46A820081105

Skamby Boat Grave Published

This interesting boat grave excavated in 2005 has now been published online. This one to be bookmarked.

http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2008/11/skamby_boat_grave_paper_publis.php

Wheres Cardinal Newman

The Cardinal who is on his way to sainthood died in 1890 and as part of his beatification he was to be dug up but the dig revealed the Cardinal is not at home!

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2008/11/05/professor-probes-mystery-over-missing-bones-of-cardinal-newman-65233-22185056/

The Shamans Burial

Credit: P. Groszman (illustration drawn to scale)

Here we have a shamans grave from 12000 years past but whether we have a shamans grave or not it is a very important burial.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/1103/2

And here with a picture:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/38287/title/An_ancient_healer_reborn

Dead Bandit Caught

This interesting story is of a collection of more than one hundred very impressive time pieces stolen 25 years ago from the L.A. Mayer Islamic art museum in Jerusalem.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_time_bandit

The $400 000 Mound

St. Louis's last remaining Indian mound is for sale. I cannot believe they built a house on the side of it. Sounds like St. Louis officials need serious lessons in preserving it's heritage.

Good Grief!

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/C0638F0B7471B539862574F70016C0CD?OpenDocument

Israeli Antiquities Authorities are Without a Clue

The ossuary inscribed " James son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" and believed by some to be a relic of the holy family is currently making Israel's antiquities authority look like no authority!

The forgery case is falling apart and the judge in the case is asking the prosecution in open court to drop the case.

The James ossuary was on display at the Royal Ontario Museum from November 15, 2002 to January 5, 2003.

http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/42064/

The Jesus Tomb:

http://thearchaeologicalreview.blogspot.com/2008/05/lost-tomb-of-jesus-3.html

Leonardo to be Dismantled

The codex Atlanticus is to be dismantled in the name of conservation and to undue damage done in a previous restoration.

The codex contains more than 1000 drawings and writings by Leonardo Davinci.

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-10-28_128277593.html