December 2011, Daily News

Archaeology News for the Week of December 18th, 2011

Sun, Dec 18, 2011

December 23rd, 2011

Rare Cuneiform Script Found on Island of Malta

Excavations among what many scholars consider to be the world's oldest monumental buildings on the island of Malta continue to unveil surprises and raise new questions about the significance of these megalithic structures and the people who built them. Not least is the latest find - a small but rare, crescent-moon shaped agate stone featuring a 13th-century B.C.E. cuneiform inscription, the likes of which would normally be found much farther west in Mesopotamia. (Popular Archaeology)

Human Skull Is Highly Integrated: Study Sheds New Light On Evolutionary Changes

Scientists studying a unique collection of human skulls have shown that changes to the skull shape thought to have occurred independently through separate evolutionary events may have actually precipitated each other. (Science Daily)

Archaeological discovery provides evidence of a celestial procession at Stonehenge

Archaeologists led by the University of Birmingham with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection have discovered evidence of two huge pits positioned on celestial alignment at Stonehenge. Shedding new light on the significant association of the monument with the sun, these pits may have contained tall stones, wooden posts or even fires to mark its rising and setting and could have defined a processional route used by agriculturalists to celebrate the passage of the sun across the sky at the summer solstice. (Art Daily)

Skeletons point to Columbus voyage for syphilis origins

Skeletons don't lie. But sometimes they may mislead, as in the case of bones that reputedly showed evidence of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage in 1492. None of this skeletal evidence, including 54 published reports, holds up when subjected to standardized analyses for both diagnosis and dating, according to an appraisal in the current Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. In fact, the skeletal data bolsters the case that syphilis did not exist in Europe before Columbus set sail. (Energy Publisher)

Oldest obsidian bracelet reveals amazing craftsmen's skills in the eighth millennium BC

Researchers from the Institut Français d'Etudes Anatoliennes in Istanbul and the Laboratoire de Tribologie et de Dynamiques des Systèmes have analyzed the oldest obsidian bracelet ever identified, discovered in the 1990s at the site of Aşıklı Höyük, Turkey. Using high-tech methods developed by LTDS to study the bracelet's surface and its micro-topographic features, the researchers have revealed the astounding technical expertise of craftsmen in the eighth millennium BC. Their skills were highly sophisticated for this period in late prehistory, and on a par with today's polishing techniques. (PhysOrg.com)

December 22nd, 2011

OH CHRISTMAS TREE!: A HISTORY IN PHOTOS

Christmas would not be Christmas without a glittering fir tree. The most recognizable and traditional symbol of the holiday season, the Christmas tree is a custom that has continued from generation to generation and place to place. But how did the the fir tree find its way from the lonely forests into homes? ‭The story goes back many centuries. (Discovery News) 

"Golden Chief" Tomb Treasure Yields Clues to Unnamed Civilization

Newfound tombs in Central America are yielding thousand-year-old gold, gems, and even hints of murder by pufferfish. But the real treasure is the excavation's clues to the unnamed civilization of the so-called golden chiefs of Panama, archaeologists say. (National Geographic)

Stonehenge rocks Pembrokeshire link confirmed

Experts say they have confirmed for the first time the precise origin of some of the rocks at Stonehenge. It has long been suspected that rhyolites from the northern Preseli Hills helped build the monument. But research by National Museum Wales and Leicester University has identified their source to within 70m (230ft) of Craig Rhos-y-felin, near Pont Saeson. (BBC News)

2012 End of World Countdown Based on Mayan Calendar Begins

The countdown to the apocalypse is on. One year from Wednesday -- Dec. 21, 2012 -- is the date the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar allegedly marked as the end of an era, when the date would reset to zero and humanity would come to an end. But will that happen? (760wjr.com)

December 21st, 2011

Untold Stories of Plight of Afghanistan’s Archaeological Treasures Released

There was a time when Afghanistan's priceless archaeological and cultural artifacts and monuments were relatively safe, though they were not widely known to the world outside. When the Russians departed the country in 1988, the transitional shift to the Mujahadeen saw a power vacuum that created an environment of instability that, along with one conflict after another and continuing through the most recent war, has left much of the country's cultural heritage on the brink of extinction. (Popular Archaeology)

Archaeologists discover new ancient burial site at Knowth

New archaeological relics from the Neolithic era have surfaced in Knowth, Co Meath, reports the Meath Chronicle. The new finds were discovered at an area just southeast of the passage tomb cemetery at Brú na Binne, which has been the focus of Professor George Eogan’s study for the past few decades. At the site, a “number of previously unknown large-scale monuments” have been discovered. (IrishCentral.com)

Rio's Cemetery of New Blacks sheds light on horrors of slave trade

Tooth analysis shows Africans taken from wide area ranging from Sudan in the north-east to Mozambique in the south. Locals called it the "cemetery of the new blacks", but in truth it wasn't much of a cemetery. Devoid of headstones, wreaths or tearful mourners, this squalid harbourside burial ground was the final resting place for thousands of Africans shipped into slavery. The new world greeted them with a lonely death in an unfamiliar land. (The Guardian)

BIG QUESTION FOR 2012: THE GREAT PYRAMID'S SECRET DOORS

Will the mystery over the Great Pyramid's secret doors be solved in 2012? I dare say yes. After almost two decades of failed attempts, chances are now strong that researchers will reveal next year what lies behind the secret doors at the heart of Egypt's most magnificent pyramid. New revelations on the enduring mystery were already expected this year, following a robot exploration of the 4,500-year-old pharaonic mausoleum. (Discovery News)

Serbia: archaeologists dicover prehistoric settlement

A prehistoric settlement from the early and late Iron Age and several remains from the Ancient Period (from 1,000 BC to II-III century AD) have been discovered at the site of Bare, southern Serbia, the head of an archaeological research team that made the discovery has told Tanjug news agency. (ANSAmed.info)

Archaeology | Earthworks created for more than farming

Many of Ohio’s ancient earthworks are aligned to astronomical events, such as the apparent rising and setting of the sun or the moon on key dates in their cycles. The main axis of the Octagon Earthworks at Newark, for example, lines up to where the moon rises at its northernmost point on the eastern horizon. Clearly, ancient Americans were paying close attention to the sky, but why? (The Columbus Dispatch)

Was St Edmund Killed by the Vikings in Essex?

The story of Edmund, king and martyr, has become a kind of foundation myth for the county of Suffolk, but contains at least one element of truth – in 869 there was a battle between the East Anglians and the Vikings; Edmund was captured and later killed. (Past Horizons, Adventures in Archaeology)

Decemeber 20th, 2011

New Excavations Provide Insights to the Rise of Pueblos of the American Southwest

Located within the Mesa Verde region of southwestern Colorado, a heretofore unheard-of archaeological site is beginning to offer up some hints about the early rise of the Pueblo society (otherwise known as the Anasazi) that gave rise to the great cliff dwellings and other settlements often associated with the famous Native American desert cultures in the Southwest region of the present-day United States.  (Popular Archaeology)

Cockerel figurine found in Cirencester Roman dig

A Roman cockerel figurine thought to have been made to accompany a child's grave has been unearthed in Gloucestershire. The 1,800-year-old enamelled object was found during an archaeological dig at one of Britain's earliest-known burial sites in Cirencester. (BBC News)

Alice Gorman, space archaeologist

Dr Alice Gorman's fascination with space junk bridges the worlds of traditional archaeology and space science.I'm an archaeologist but I'm also in that lovely position of feeling very warmly accepted by the space community. Alice is an expert in traditional cultural heritage, in particular Aboriginal stone tool analysis, but her primary interest is space archaeology. She lectures in both areas at Flinders University. (ABC Adelaide)

Digging up the oldest church in the nation

Raphael Cosme reported to Historic City News that Archaeologist Kathleen Deagan and her team are excavating a section of grounds at the Mission of Nombre De Dios that could be the exact location where the oldest church in the nation once stood. “This is an important find,” Deagan said. “Last summer, some of the church’s stones showed up near the surface, and then we rescued a 17th century kaolin pipe fragment at the site.” (Historic City News)

Archaeology Conservancy buys upstate NY property that was site of Colonial British blockhouse

A national archaeology preservation organization has acquired an upstate New York property that was home to a Colonial era blockhouse built to guard Britain's largest North American fortification during the French and Indian War. (The Republic)

Treasure-Laden Viking Cemetery Discovered in Poland

A mysterious burial ground dated to the late 10th and early 11th centuries A.D. has been discovered in a recent archaeological excavation in Poland. Located in the small village of Bodzia in central Poland, the site was excavated from 2007 through 2009 by archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. (Design You Trust)

December 19th, 2011

Relics of St John the Baptist Examined by Scanner in Bulgaria

Modern medical scanners were used to examine the inside and make a 3D image of the relics of St. John the Baptist. The study was conducted in the Burgas cardio hospital and was filmed by a team of "National Geographic." The shots will be shown in a documentary about the most commented archaeological find of the year, the Bulgarian "24 Chassa" (24 Hours) daily reports Monday. To scan had confirmed conclusions made earlier by other methods - that the bones belong to a man of Mediterranean type, between 30 and 40 years of age, who used vegetarian food, Tsonya Drazheva, Director of the Burgas History Museum and Deputy Head of the excavations on St. Ivan island, told "24 Hours". (Novinite.com)

Economy crisis saves Spanish ruins but buries future

Spain's pre-historic burial chambers have survived invasion, war, a long dictatorship and a property bubble which paved over vast tracts of the country. But the economic crisis which ended the building boom that buried some of the country's greatest archaeological treasures under shopping malls and new housing may also be bad news for those hoping to provide lasting safeguards for Spain's remaining tholos dolmens or passage tombs. (Reuters)

Scientists discover source of rock used in Stonehenge's first circle

Scientists have succeeded in locating the exact source of some of the rock believed to have been used 5000 years ago to create Stonehenge's first stone circle. By comparing fragments of stone found at and around Stonehenge with rocks in south-west Wales, they have been able to identify the original rock outcrop that some of the Stonehenge material came from. (The Independent)

Jersey return for 7,000-year-old Neolithic ring

A Neolithic stone ring which dates back more than 7,000 years is to be returned to Jersey. La Societe Jersiaise and Jersey Heritage bought the polished jadeite ring for $17,500 (£11,291) at auction. The ring, which was found in 1986 and sold to a private collector in 1993, is considered to be one of the island's most valuable archaeological treasures. It is made from stone quarried in the Alps and was brought to Jersey by the first farmers who colonised the island. (BBC News)

Neanderthals built homes from mammoth bones, new study says

Researchers have discovered a 44,000-year-old Neanderthal house in eastern Ukraine. The house is made from mammoth bones. This finding contradicts the widely held view that Neanderthals were primitive nomads who took shelter in the nearest cave. (www.digitaljournal.com)

Wrong persons found in King´s tomb

The Swedish King Magnus Ladulås (1240-1290 a.d.) is buried in the Riddarholmen church (Riddarholmskyrkan) in Gamla Stan, Stockholm. This is at least what everybody have taken for granted...until new facts were presented recently. A new radiocarbon dating of the tomb's content indicates that the content of the tomb comes from the remains of nine persons who were buried some time between 1430 and 1520, i.e. at least 200 years after King Magnus. (Stockholm News)

Ancient Texts Tell Tales of War, Bar Tabs

A trove of newly translated texts from the ancient Middle East are revealing accounts of war, the building of pyramidlike structures called ziggurats and even the people's use of beer tabs at local taverns. The 107 cuneiform texts, most of them previously unpublished, are from the collection of Martin Schøyen, a businessman from Norway who has a collection of antiquities. (Live Science)

December 18th, 2011

History in the Wells

A mother-load of archaeological artifacts dredged up from wells helps tell the story of the first permanent English colony in the U.S. (Popular Archaeology)

Bulging Brain Structures Separate Us from Neanderthals

Modern humans possess brain structures larger than their Neanderthal counterparts, suggesting we are distinguished from them by different mental capacities, scientists find. We are currently the only extant human lineage, but Neanderthals, our closest-known evolutionary relatives, still walked the Earth as recently as maybe 24,000 years ago. Neanderthals were close enough to the modern human lineage to interbreed, calling into question how different they really were from us and whether they comprise a different species. (Live Science)

Countdown to Apocalypse? Mexican City Installs Clock to Record Every Passing Moment

For some, it is the end and for some others it is the beginning. In both ways, the date December 21, 2012, and the Mayan cities of Mexico are drawing lot of interest nowadays.Mexico is not sparing any stone unturned to capture every moment that leads to the "doomsday." At the same time, nobody is not sure about what would happen on that day which some believe would be the end of the world. (AU.ibtimes.com)

Top 10 Discoveries of 2011

Years from now, when we look back on 2011, the year will almost certainly be defined by political and economic upheaval. No year-end review would be complete without polling archaeological communities in the affected areas to determine whether sites linked to the world’s oldest civilizations, from Apamea in Syria to Saqqara in Egypt, are still intact (Archaeology.org)

UNC archaeologists identify 19-century drainage system, cellar on McCorkle Place

What began as the finishing touches to a campus renovation project has shed some light on the early days of the University and the town of Chapel Hill. UNC archaeologists have wrapped up the excavation of the area in front of Battle, Vance and Pettigrew Halls, discovering a drainage system that predates the oldest recorded sewer system connected to the University. (DailyTarheel.com)

Archeological dig along river in Cedar Rapids as prelude to Army Corps’ work turns up 9,500-year-old spear point

It’s hard to tell which discovery that archeologist David Benn is most excited about: The treasure trove of more-than-century-old bottles, trinkets, pieces of china, coins, nails, animal bones and much more that he and his digging crew unearthed here this fall — much from backyard privies and outdoor dump sites used for household kitchen waste — in an effort to unravel the story of late-19th Century working-class Cedar Rapids. Or the portion of a single spear point shaped from chert that Benn says his crew found 8 feet below a city parking lot along the Cedar River and that he says comes from prehistoric Cedar Rapids of some 9,500 years ago. (Eastern Iowa Government)