Pit House

This house is in the Royal British Columbia museum.

Auction House Records

This is a very good article on recent auction house prices in antiquities and the provenances of such desired objects including a blue glazed shabti of Seti I which sold for more than $330 000.

Included in the article is a recently identified Roman cameo glass vase set to go to auction that surpasses the "Portland vase" in its complicated pattern.

Mayan Tomb

Mexican archaeologists have found an intact Mayan tomb complete with stone sarcophagus though unfortunately the article presented here cannot figure out if the tomb is 1100 years old or 2100 years old. I assume the 1100 year old date is the right one but I am not an expert on the subject.

Because of this error in date I hummed over whether to publish this article however the pictures that go with the article are excellent and thus I found that the pictures outweighed the error in date.

(AP Photo/Miguel Tovar) (Miguel Tovar - AP)

No to the Shroud of Jesus

The studies of a burial shroud and objects found with it from the first century ad. in a Hinnom valley tomb in 2000 have shown that the famous shroud of Turin could not have come from Jerusalem in Jesus' time. Archaeologist Shimon Gibson head of the department of archaeology at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who studied the shroud said he had found two differences between the shroud fragments found in 2000 and the shroud of Turin.

The fragments discovered in 2000 made up two cloths, one of linen used to wrap the head and another larger cloth used to wrap the body and made of wool. The fragments discovered in 2000 are in keeping with Jewish tradition and are unlike the large linen cloth known as the burial cloth of Christ.

Mr. Gibson's study has gone on to show that the Turin shroud was woven in a complicated weave pattern not known from the time of Christ in Jerusalem while the fragments found in 2000 are made up of a simple two way weave. Mr. Gibson and his co author Boaz Zissu, professor of archaeology at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University are set to publish an upcoming monograph on the subject

The shroud of Turin is kept in the cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy where it is about to be put back on display for the first time in a decade. The shroud is one of many that appeared in the middle ages and is first recorded in 1357.

Cypriot Smuggling Ring

Police foil a major smuggling ring on the island of Cyprus and objects that were set to sell for 11 million Euros. The picture of dozens of pots being stored in less than desired manner is concerning.

Inanke Caves

This article is on magnificent cave paintings in the Matobo hills, Zimbabwe. The slideshow that accompanies the article is beautiful.

Digging Up Leonardo

Archaeologists wish to dig up the supposed remains of Leonardo da Vinci to make a facial reconstruction of the great Renaissance master. Leonardo is believed to be buried at Amboise castle in the Loire valley where he died on May 2, 1519 in the arms of the french king Francis I.

A group from Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage has asked to open Leonardo's tomb, part of the reason the archaeologists want to do a facial reconstruction is to see if Leonardo's most famous painting his Mona Lisa is actually a painting of Leonardo dressed as a woman.

This effort may be hampered by the fact that during the french revolution the chapel where Leonardo lay was destroyed with his remains later being reburied in a nearby smaller chapel unfortunately with a plaque that describes the reburial as being the presumed remains of Leonardo da Vinci.

Should the group gain permission to open Leonardo's grave and they find a skull they can prove belonged to him the question about the Mona Lisa may be settled once and for all.

That Cat Joan

Here we have not 1 but 2 Egyptian mummies pretending to be the mortal remains of the French saint Joan of Arc . Including part of a cat perhaps dedicated to the late period Egyptian cult of the goddess Bastet who's form was that of a house cat.

How parts of two different Egyptian mummies came to be regarded as the remains of Joan of Arc is probably best left a mystery though one wonders what laugh was had and who got jerked around?

Well at least people who like these types of ghoulish collectabi can now own not only part of an Egyptian mummy but a French saint at the same time.

Not Living Up to it's Word

Iranian officials are still sending threats to the British museum over it's five year delay in sending that museums famous Cyrus cylinder on a loan to Iran. Readers who have been following this story know the threats are more than likely not helping Iran's cause not only for the loan of the cylinder but also other objects and international institutions loaning their objects in the future to Iran may be uncomfortable with the idea.

The Cyrus cylinder is considered to be the worlds oldest declaration of human rights being created for the Persian Emperor Cyrus the great in 539 bc following the conquest of Babylon and the defeat of the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus. The cylinder denounces the defeated king Nabonidus and tells of king Cyrus' good deeds to his people and the god Marduk.

The cylinder was found in excavations of the temple Esagila's foundations in 1879 by the Assyro-British archaeologists Hormuz Rassam. The cylinder is property of the British museum with a copy kept at the United nations.

Jamestown Tablet

I loved this article about the discovery and interpretation of an inscribed slate tablet found in a well at the site of Jamestown and dated to around 1610.

Yale wants Lawsuit over Stolen Artifacts Dismissed

I have to say right from the start that this ongoing issue infuriates me, the theft of the Macchu Picchu artifacts is proven by the signed documents which their discoverer Hiram Bingham III signed with the government of Peru which Yale and its Peabody museum have chosen to ignore.

Now Yale wants the case closed because of the length of time that has gone by since the original theft took place by Yale university. Over the last century Yale has been allowed to operate free and without penalties in retaining objects from Peru that were supposed to have been returned.

This is the premier bad institutional behavior example and a reason why museums and institutions need to be accountable for their acquisitions. Makes one wonder what the point of UNESCO is if a century later a rich and important university can get away with acts that would get the average person in the United states some serious jail time with the objects returned quickly to Peru.

Perhaps Yale is hiding behind the issue of repatriation of artifacts to countries of origin with the fear of museums of the "flood gates" opening emptying their collections, as should happen in the case of Yale's Peabody museum many of its best displays of Incan artifacts taken from Peru by Hiram Bingham III should be returned to Peru.

The attitude prevails among some that if an artifact made it into a museum it's " home free" regardless of how it got into the museum.

The Bones of Caravaggio

Some archaeologists believe they have discovered the remains of the last great Renaissance artist Caravaggio who worked between 1593-1610, others though do not believe it and there also appears to be a death certificate which states that he died in 1610 after 3 days in Hospital.

How Caravaggio died remains a mystery and there is talk that the death certificate is a forgery and that he may have been murdered in an act of revenge on his way to Rome to ask for a papal pardon for killing Ranuccio Tomassoni, though he may have accidentally bled to death while Caravaggio was castrating him.

The doubt over the bones may be founded as the residences of the cemetery that Caravaggio was supposed to have been buried in were moved in 1956 to a new location. Some believe these claims are being made in the name of a publicity stunt for that destination.

Dead Sea Scrolls

Officials in Jordon have requested that Canadian officials seize the dead sea scrolls and not send them back to Israel who's authorities seized the scrolls during the six day war in 1967. The scrolls have been in Canada at the Royal Ontario museum for a show based on the scrolls.

Jordanian official Rafea Harahsheh said "Israel seized the scrolls and other antiquities from the Palestinian Museum, which was managed by Jordan, in east Jerusalem when it occupied this part of the city in 1967."

Canadian officials are uncomfortable with the idea and most likely will do nothing or risk damage to cultural relations with foreign museums who would probably not want to send their cultural artifacts to Canada in the future if it thought that Canadian institutions might seize them.

Temple of Murals

Interesting article on a Mayan crypt found below the floor of Templo de las Pinturas. The burial contained pottery and jewelry made up of hundreds of stone beads and is believed to have taken place during the reign of Chaan Muan II.

Though the Jaw bone was present in the burial the skull was not and is believed to be the local ruler defeated in battle by Chaan Muan II.

More Threats from Iran

The British museum agreed in a cultural exchange with Iran which included the famous Cyrus cylinder from that museum visiting Iran. Unfortunately the apparent troubles in Iran since the elections of last summer have left the British museum reluctant to let the cylinder to travel to Iran during this time.

Oddly this caution on behalf of the British museum has infuriated some officials in Iran who are reducing themselves to issuing petty threats against future activities in Iran for the museum. With such indignities about I myself would perhaps keep the Cyrus cylinder back at home safe in the British museum.

Getty's Director to Resign

The director of the J. Paul Getty museum Dr. Michael Brand is set to resign at the end of the month. Dr. Brand was responsible in Getty's dealings with the return of a number of antiquities in the Getty's collection stolen from countries like Italy and Greece.

The director hired in 2005 has decided to leave his job early to pursue other matters.

King Wu of Wei

Here is a fine article with pictures of the recently found tomb of Cao Cao in Henan province. The article opens the possibility that DNA tests may someday be done on the human remains found in the tomb to try to prove it is actually Cao Cao.

The remains of two women were also found in the tomb one of them is older and may be Cao Cao's wife who is historically supposed to have been buried next to her husband a decade after his death.

(Photo: China Daily)

Noah in Old Babylonian

A 3700 year old Mesopotamian tablet is one of many to tell the story of an epic flood interpreted by some to be the Noah flood story and though it is not the oldest tablet to tell the story it is unique in that it describes the ships shape.