December 2011, Daily News

Archaeology News for the Week of April 3rd, 2011

Mon, Apr 04, 2011

April 9th, 2011

'Gay caveman' theory gets a rocky reception

Definitely not a caveman, and could be a third gender, archaeologists warn. Archaeologists in Prague say they've uncovered a Stone-Age man buried in a position usually reserved for women — but media claims of a "gay caveman" may be exaggerated, according to some researchers. The skeleton, which dates back to about 2,500 to 2,800 B.C., was found in the outskirts of Prague. (MSNBC)

Bamboo tool-making study shines light on East Asia's Stone Age tool scarcity

Bamboo knives are easy to make — and will cut meat, but not hides, suggesting prehistoric people preferred crudely made stone flakes The long-held theory that early human ancestors in East Asia crafted their tools from bamboo and wood is much more complicated than originally conceived, according to a new study. (Free Republic)

2000-year-old tomb to be opened

Chinese archeologists are about to open an ancient tomb dating back some two-thousand years in the southern suburb of Xi'an, capital of China's Shaanxi Province. (China.org)

Neanderthals: Bad luck and its part in their downfall

As our ancestors moved north out of Africa and onto the doorstep to the rest of the world, they came across their long-lost cousins: the Neanderthals. As the popular story goes, the brutish hominins were simply no match for cultured, intelligent Homo sapiens and quickly went extinct. (Newscientist.com)

Race to save Buddhist relics in former Bin Laden camp

A rescue operation is underway to save as much as possible from ancient Buddhist monasteries in Mes Aynak, Afghanistan, before the mountains become an open-cast mine and the site is destroyed. In what is now the world’s largest archaeological dig, around 1,000 workers are trying to excavate artefacts from the country’s second most important Buddhist site (along with Hadda), after Bamiyan. (The Art Newspaper)

April 8th, 2011

In search of Genghis Khan's tomb

Legend has it that Khan, the ruthless conqueror who was the first emperor of the Mongol Empire, was buried in an unmarked tomb in northern Mongolia about 800 years ago. But finding said tomb is a task that has eluded scientists for years. Mongolia encompasses more than 600,000 square miles of largely uncharted, rural territory, which makes Lin's mission extremely challenging. Luckily, the explorer and research scientist at the University of California at San Diego has more than 7,000 people around the world helping with his mission, called the Valley of the Khans Project. The idea is to find the tombs of Genghis Khan and his descendants, and other ancient Mongolian artifacts. (SouthCoastToday.com)

Site workers dig up ancient Ha Noi tombs

AD100-200 have been discovered in Ha Noi's Dong Ngac Commune, the Vietnamese Association of Archaeology said.Building workers unearthed a tomb 2m below ground by chance last Friday. They immediately reported the find to local authorities. (Vietnews)

Archaeologists: Six Roman Tombs Uncovered in Central Syria

The Apamea Department of Archaeology uncovered a tomb containing six layered graves dating back to the Roman era north of Apamea Castle. (Global Arab Network)

Unearthing the Crossrail skeletons

Millions of pounds are being spent on archaeological and geological surveys across the capital and they're coming up with some striking findings. The archaeologists are currently working outside Liverpool Street Station. Behind some metal hoardings - yards away from the 205 bus route - they've been digging trenches where Crossrail's ticket hall will be. (BBC News)

St Bride's Bay grave remains recorded by archaeologists

Archaeologists are excavating early medieval remains from a cemetery before they are washed away by the sea. It is known the site at St Bride's Bay in Pembrokeshire contains graves that date back to the 9th and 10th Centuries. (BBC News)

April 7th, 2011

Tomb raiders to solve mystery of the Mona Lisa

Italian archaeologists are planning to dig up the remains of a rich silk merchant's wife believed to be the model for the Mona Lisa. A team of researchers will begin excavations later this month to search for the tomb beneath a convent in Florence, the suspected burial place of Lisa Gherardini. Most scholars believe that the Florentine woman was the model for Leonardo's famously enigmatic portrait. The archaeologists' ultimate aim is to find enough skull fragments to enable them to reconstruct her face, so a direct comparison can be made with the Mona Lisa. (Canada.com)

What caused Britain's Bronze Age 'recession'?

A large gap in pre-history could signal that Britain underwent an economic downturn over 2,500 years ago. In history lessons, the three ages of pre-history - Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age - seem to flow together without a gap. But there is a 300-year period in British history between around 800 BC and 500 BC where experts still struggle to explain what happened, where bronze is in decline and iron was not widely used. (BBC News)

Whisky buried by Ernest Shackleton expedition recreated

A whisky buried beneath a hut used by explorer Ernest Shackleton during his unsuccessful expedition to reach the South Pole has been recreated. (BBC News)

Grave of Stone Age 'gender bender' excavated in Prague

Archaeologists have unearthed a unique late Stone Age grave of a 'transsexual or gay man' in a suburb of the Czech capital. (CzechPosition.com)

1,700-year-old African skeleton could be an ancestor

It is hoped a 1,700-year-old African skeleton unearthed in Warwickshire could provide data about the DNA history of later populations and the ethnic origin of modern Britons. (BBC News)

Utah Rock Art Provides Glimpse of Hawaiian Life

Marine sea-life themes permeate the rock carvings near an abandoned Mormon settlement in the southwestern U.S. (USNews)

April 6th, 2011

The Curse of the Mummies' Arteries

In the ancient tomb paintings of the Nile Valley, Egypt's nobility often appears lithe, beautiful, and, above all, healthy. But researchers have long doubted that life at the top of the social pyramid in ancient Egypt was quite so rosy. At least as early as 1500 B.C.E., Egyptian physicians observed symptoms of angina, heart attacks, and congestive heart failure in patients and recorded them in medical papyri. Yet they gave little indication of how often they saw such cases. (Science Magazine)

Rising Seas Made China's Ancient Mariners

A rising tide lifts all boats, but in a surprising twist, ascending sea levels launched a flotilla of rafts or canoes on voyages from China to Taiwan around 5,000 years ago, a new study suggests. (USNews.com)

Old cobbled street unearthed in Sunderland

An archaeological dig in Sunderland has unearthed what experts say is a 250-year-old cobbled street. (BBC News)

Human remains could be 7,000 years old

Sewer construction workers made an unusual discovery on Des Moines' southeast side in January: remains of a human body archeologists believe could be as old as 7,000 years. (DesMoinesRegister.com)

Smugglers' tunnel is discovered by workmen

WORK on a flood protection scheme has unearthed a 20 metre-long hand-built smugglers cave. A team from Southern Water made the unusual discovery while digging trenches to lay new sewers in Collier Road and nearby Priory Road last week. (HastingsObserver.com)

April 5th, 2011

How a 'Jester god' revealed oldest Mayan royal tomb

The image of a "Jester god," a symbol of royalty among the ancient Maya, may have done just the trick. Discovered on a buried incense burner, the Jester god identifies what archaeologists report is the oldest tomb of an ancient Maya ruler. The ancient Maya filled Central America with pyramid-dotted cities prior to a drawn-out abandonment of such sites around 850 A.D., one of archaeology's most storied mysteries. The unexpected find from the archaeological site of K'o (Kuh-OH) in modern-day Guatemala, reported here at the Society for American Archaeology meeting, pushes the first known Maya ruler, or "Ajaw," back two centuries to around 350 B.C. (USA Today)

Study finds facial structure of men and women has become more similar over time

Research from North Carolina State University shows that they really don't make men and women (and women particularly) like they used to, or at least in Spain. The study, which examined hundreds of Spanish and Portuguese skulls spanning four centuries, shows that differences in the craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced. (Smithsonian)

Nanotechnology to protect rock tombs in southern Turkey

Nanotechnology, which is the production and use of materials at the smallest possible scale, will be used to restore and protect ancient rock tombs in the Aegean province of Muğla. A project has been prepared and will be presented to TÜBITAK for the protection of tombs with this technology. It will be the first time nanotechnology will be used for protecting cultural assets in Turkey (Hurriyet Daily News)

April 4th, 2011

Archaeologists Investigate Origins of Great Pueblos of American Southwest

The majestic remains of Mesa Verde stand as icons to the legacy of the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest. Anyone visiting them or the many other Pueblo sites that dot the picturesque desert landscape of the American Four Corners region and the southwestern states cannot help but walk away impressed. But who really built them, where did they come from, and what is their story? Archaeologists of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center now hope to find answers through major new investigations at a promising site in Colorado. (Popular Archaeology)

Bones, seeds, reveal Indian life

Indians living along the Sacramento River thousands of years ago gradually shifted toward eating more freshwater fish and small plant seeds, possibly because of rising sea levels and growing population. (The Sacramento Bee)

Is this the first ever portrait of Jesus? The incredible story of 70 ancient books hidden in a cave for nearly 2,000 Years T he image is eerily familiar: a bearded young man with flowing curly hair. After lying for nearly 2,000 years hidden in a cave in the Holy Land, the fine detail is difficult to determine. But in a certain light it is not difficult to interpret the marks around the figure’s brow as a crown of thorns. (The Daily Mail)

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April 3rd, 2011

CT Scan Unlocks Mummy Mystery

Doctors at the Mount Sinai Medical Center's Department of Radiation performed a state-of-the-art CT scan Friday on a 2,600-year-old Egyptian mummy in the hope of finding out more about the person's life, WPLG-TV in Miami reported. The Bass Museum of Art in Miami asked for the CT scan to gather more information for part of its upcoming art exhibit "The Mummy Project," which opens in May 2010. (Boston News)

Sweet Trading: Chocolate May Have Linked Prehistoric Civilizations

Roughly 1,000 years ago, residents of pueblos in the American southwest appear to have had an appetite for imported chocolate, according to new research. The finding, based on chemical traces found in clay pots, is evidence of a strong connection between the southwestern puebloans and the ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America. (LiveScience)

Indiana Jones, the dentist

This article is about a woman who lived 3,500 years ago. It's a double mystery with an amazing dental forensics connection. The woman's name was Hatshetsup (hat'shep sup), meaning "Foremost of Noble Ladies." and she became the fifth Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt in 1479 BC. (RDH)

Ancient Greek Computer Had Surprising Sun Tracker

The world’s oldest astronomical calculator is famous for having intricate gear systems centuries ahead of their time. But new work shows the Antikythera mechanism used pure geometry, as well as flashy gears to track celestial bodies’ motion through the heavens. (Wired Science)

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