Archaeology News for the Week of July 31st, 2011

December 2011, Daily News

Sun, Jul 31, 2011

August 6th, 2011

Glacial Lake Floods Threaten Nepal Village, Ancient Monastery

Halji village, located in northwestern Nepal’s remote Humla district, is a settlement of approximately 400 inhabitants. Best known for its 1000-year-old monastery, a potential World Heritage Site, the village has also become increasingly popular among trekkers due to its position at the end of the Great Himalayan Trail.

However, since 2006, the village has been repeatedly struck by glacial lake outpour floods (GLOF), which have occurred annually on approximately the same day every summer. This year proved no exception.... (Popular Archaeology)

Earliest Image of Egyptian Ruler Wearing 'White Crown' of Royalty Brought to Light

The earliest known image of an Egyptian ruler wearing the "White Crown" associated with Egyptian dynastic power has been brought to light by an international team of archaeologists led by Egyptologists from Yale University. Carved around 3200 BCE, this unique record of a royal celebration at the dawn of the Egyptian dynastic period was found at a site discovered almost a half-century ago by Egyptologist Labib Habachi at Nag el-Hamdulab, on the West Bank of the Nile to the north of Aswan. (Science Daily)

Remains of Ancient Palace Discovered

Hidden beneath an ancient palace in what is now central Sudan, archaeologists have discovered the oldest building in the city of Meroë, a structure that also may have housed royalty. The capital of a vast empire that flourished around 2,000 years ago, Meroë was centered on the Nile River. At its height, the city was controlled by a dynasty of kings who ruled about 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) of territory that stretched from southern Egypt to areas south of modern-day Khartoum. (Live Science)

Hunt for origins of beautiful Tsodilo ritual stones begins

Researchers in geology and archaeology fields have started a P500 000-project to find answers to the origins of the beautiful silcrete stones at an archaeological site at the very, very top of the Tsodilo Hill. The rare finds that startled researchers include chalcedony, silcrete and an as yet to be identified shiny, white, silcretised organic material. (Mmegi Online)

Armada wreck discovered off Donegal

The wreckage of a sunken vessel believed to be from the Spanish Armada has been discovered off the Donegal coast. Underwater archaeologists are to explore the historic wreck, located in shallow waters in Rutland Harbour, near Burtonport. Evidence uncovered during a dive survey revealed the vessel was likely to be a 16th-century ship, possibly part of the 1588 Spanish Armada. (Fingal Independent)

The World Trade Center Ship, From Stern to Stem

After finding the stern of an 18th-century sailing vessel in landfill where the new World Trade Center is being constructed, what could be better? Finding the bow — or at least enough to gain a clearer picture of the length of the vessel and how it was constructed; all of which might help solve the mystery of what it was doing anchored off Lower Manhattan in the first place. (The New York Times)

Important finds at Late Bronze Age site

A LARGE building dating as far back as 1200 BC and a female goddess figurine were only some of the fascinating finds following five-week long excavations at the Late Bronze harbour city of Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaca. Inside the 30 by 20m building were both living and working spaces containing spindle whorls and loom weights, which indicate the production of textiles, as well as a plethora of high-quality pottery imported mainly from the Mycenaean world. Jugs, bowls and jars were among the pottery uncovered. (Cyprus Mail)

August 5th, 2011

Mexican Archaeologists Discover Two Partially-Mummified Bodies in Chihuahua

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History found two human corpses that were partially mummified and a raramuri ancestor's skeleton in the Cueva El Gigante (Giant's Cave), located in Guerrero, in the Tarahumara Sierra in Chihuahua. The two mummies are now added to another eight that were found in the same place late last year. According to the specialists, the finding of the mummified individuals, which are thought to be between 800 and 1000 years old, are part of a Pre-hispanic burial ground, since, between 2010 and 2011, ten mummies and thirteen skeletons have been found in the cave. (ArtDaily.org)

Going underground: The massive European network of Stone Age tunnels that weaves from Scotland to Turkey

Stone Age man created a massive network of underground tunnels criss-crossing Europe from Scotland to Turkey, a new book on the ancient superhighways has claimed. German archaeologist Dr Heinrich Kusch said evidence of the tunnels has been found under hundreds of Neolithic settlements all over the continent. (DailyMail.co.uk)

England's western-most Roman town uncovered

A chance discovery of coins has led to the bigger find of a Roman town, further west than it was previously thought Romans had settled in England. The town was found under fields a number of miles west of Exeter, Devon. Nearly 100 Roman coins were initially uncovered there by two amateur archaeological enthusiasts. (BBC News)

A Vessel of Indian Culture

In the spring of 2000 Steve Everett and his environmental-science students from Eastside High School here were examining the isolated north shore of the 5,800-acre Newnans Lake, six miles east of town, looking for signs of a former logging camp. But what at first seemed to be logs lying on the exposed bed of the drought-stricken lake turned out to be dugout canoes, their bows and sterns emerging from the mud. Once state archaeologists were called in, 101 canoes or partial canoes were found and studied, their positions mapped and samples of their wood radiocarbon dated. (The Wall Street Journal)

Fate of Indian village abandoned in 1200 puzzles Tennessee scientists

Here once was the home of American Indians with a culture far removed from the tepees, wigs and wigwams of TV Indians.A village slowly being unearthed on the Ames Plantation was a distant neighbor to Memphis' Chucalissa Indian Village. The residents were among hundreds of Mississippian Culture villages along the waterways of the Mississippi River Valley. (ScrippsNews)

August 4th, 2011

Early Human Ancestors Were at Home on the African Savanna

Viewing the African landscape that our distant human ancestors saw up to 6 or 7 million years ago may not require much imagination, if a recent University of Utah study has anything to do with it. The study, involving a new method of measuring and analyzing chemical isotopes in comparative samples of modern and fossil-bearing (paleosol) soils, allowed a team of scientists to determine the canopy density or tree cover in East African prehistoric environments going back more than 7 million years, the time when human ancestors and their ape cousins were evolving. (Popular Archaeology)

Ancient dog skull unearthed in Siberia

A very well-preserved 33,000 year old canine skull from a cave in the Siberian Altai mountains shows some of the earliest evidence of dog domestication ever found. But the specimen raises doubts about early man's loyalty to his new best friend as times got tough. The findings come from a Russian-led international team of archaeologists.(BBC News)

More 'medieval' skeletons found in Kempsey

Another 16 graves have been found in a Worcestershire village where new flood defences are being built. The 16 are in addition to the 12 uncovered in Kempsey last week next to St James Church. It is thought that some of the skeletons could date back as early as 500 AD. (BBC News)

Capt. Morgan's lost fleet found?

It may not be a $500 million golden hoard, but underwater archaeologists are nevertheless excited about finding what they believe are traces of the five ships that British privateer Henry Morgan lost off the coast of Panama in 1671. The discovery was made at the mouth of Panama's Chagres River, near another underwater site where six iron cannons were found. (MSNBC.com)

Chinese stone tools introduced in Japan 20,000 years ago

Archaeologists from China and Japan have said that a technique used to make stone tools in China, which later made its way to Japan, might have been the earliest exchange between the two civilisations about 20,000 years ago. The discovery can throw new light on early migration and cultural exchanges between the Chinese mainland, South Korea and Japan, Xinhua reported. (Nerve)

Digging into history, archaeology at the fort

The years slowly rolled back Tuesday as Flynn Denard went deeper into the soil. "This is the closest I'll ever be to a time traveler," she said. Denard is part of the annual summer archaeology field school at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, where she is getting hands-on experience in excavating techniques. (The Columbian)

Ancient Burial Chambers Uncovered in Amrit, Ram Tarza in Tartous

Excavations by the Tartous Archeology Directorate in 2011 uncovered a burial site built with sandstone in Amrit site containing 28 multi-level chambers and a clay sarcophagus.The site contained clay and glass containers, a bronze bracelet, an engraved ring stone depicting a wing child, bronze clasps used for fastening wooden coffins, golden leaflet, a bronze object depicting an animal that could be a gazelle or a rabbit, and two broken clay jars containing a broken glass decanter and small bone fragments. (Syrian Arab News Agency)

30 Viking graves found in Setesdal

Thirty graves believed to originate from the Viking period have been discovered in the valley of Setesdal, southern Norway. The major discovery earlier this summer was made in connection with a road project in the area. Newspaper Aftenposten reports that the burial area, near the settlement of Langeid, was first found in June as part of archaeological surveys connected to work on state highway 9, a road that winds through the scenic valley. (Views and News from Norway)

The world's most disputed antiquities: a top 5 list

One of the biggest arguments in the art world is the repatriation of objects, particularly antiquities. On one side of the debate are art scholars who feel that ancient objects should remain in the care of their current (usually Western) museums or locations. The other side argues that antiquities should be returned to the countries from which they were removed because they were taken during times of war and colonization or were stolen and sold through the highly lucrative art black market. (Gadling)

August 3rd, 2011

Tomb tells of tough times for ancient warrior

Battling nomads earned you buckets of trouble around 2,500 B.C., reports an international archeology team. Scars too.But at least you earned yourself a fancy burial. "Intensive excavations in the Near East, which have been carried out for over 100 years, show that this region merits to be called a cradle of civilization," begins the International Journal of Osteoarcheology report led by Jacek Tomczyk of Poland's Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University. The study team reports on two Bronze Age burials in a tomb from the ancient trade town of Terqa, a Mesopatamian archeological site in modern-day Syria. The twin-domed tomb was about 16 feet long, 12 feet wide and six feet high, note the authors. Examination of the skeletons showed one belonged to a woman and one belonged to a man. A tough man. (USAToday)

Kinect Hacked For 3-D Scanning Of Archaeology Site

University of California, San Diego students will be going to Jordan soon to take part in an archaeological dig that's decidely futuristic: As they uncover artifacts and structures in the soil, they'll be using high-quality 3-D scanning to record accurate positional details--rich data that could be incredibly useful in the future. Instead of using expensive and complex imaging systems like LIDAR, however, the team will use a hacked Microsoft Kinect to do the job for them. (FastCompany.com)

Ancient Anasazi site excavated along new highway route

A major archaeological find along the proposed route of a new highway is offering new insights to the people who inhabited Southern Utah 1,000 years ago.Archaeologists working with the Utah Department of Transportation gave The Spectrum & Daily News a tour Tuesday of the site east of Washington City, where five ancient Pueblo habitations were found at a site near what will soon be an overpass. One may have been built as early as 2,000 years ago. (The Spectrum.com)

Twelfth Century Chess Piece Discovered

A chess piece cut out of herringbone was among the objects found in an archeology expedition at Siglunes by Siglufjordur. According Fréttabladid team leader Birna Lárusdóttir thinks that most likely the piece was cut out in Iceland in the 12th or 13th century. The group found remains of camps for fishermen in the area, which is now in danger because of waves breaking down the coast. (Iceland Review Online)

Rome's Pantheon may have been built as a massive sundial researchers reveal

It is one of the best preserved buildings from the Roman world, a 2,000-year-old testament to the immense power and wealth of the empire. But mystery has always surrounded what lies behind the unusual design of the Pantheon, a giant temple in the heart of Rome that was built by the Emperor Hadrian. Now experts have come up with an intriguing theory – that the temple acted as a colossal sun dial, with a beam of light illuminating its enormous entrance at the precise moment that the emperor entered the building. (The Telegraph)

Archaeologists in Barrowburn underwater dig for relics

An area's first underwater archaeological dig has yielded further evidence of its past as a centre of cloth production. Coquetdale Community Archaeology's (CCA) dig in the River Coquet has uncovered the remains of a system of sluices linked to the fulling mill which was the subject of their project. The 13th-Century fulling mill near Barrowburn was operated by monks, with records kept by those at Newminster Abbey in Morpeth showing they had built such an operation to process cloth in that area. (Journallive.co.uk)

August 2nd, 2011

Saving Afghanistan's Archaeological Treasures

Not long ago, the site was the backdrop for an Al Queda training camp. That camp is now gone, but the site still lies within an area considered to be a major transit route for insurgents infiltrating from nearby Pakistan. Today, archaeologists are racing against time to save a treasure of immeasurable significance to the cultural interests of war-ravaged Afghanistan and, by extension, the world. Not everything can be salvaged, but what archaeologists and other specialists are thus far recovering promises to represent a cultural heritage that will do enormous credit to a country that, until now, has not been prominently depicted on the archaeological map of the world. (Popular Archaeology)

"Spectacular" Three-Cat Monolith Unearthed in Mexico

With a little help from archaeologists, three giant cats have slunk into view after spending thousands of years underground in central Mexico. Carved in a vaguely Olmec style into a stone monolith, the seated jaguars—or possibly mountain lions—may have been part of a decorative hillside wall that was crawling with big-cat carvings, experts suggest. The circa 700 B.C. carving, dubbed the "Triad of Felines" by archaeologists, was found about 60 miles (a hundred kilometers) south of Mexico City at Chalcatzingo. (National Geographic)

Tomb of Jesus' Apostle Found In Turkey?

The tomb of Saint Philip, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, might have been unearthed in southwestern Turkey, according to Italian archaeologists who have been excavating the area for decades. Francesco D'Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy's National Research Council in Lecce, found the burial after intensive geophysical research at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale. (Discovery News)

Mariemont serpent mound could be world's largest

To the untrained eye, there's nothing special about the earthen hump that runs for hundreds of feet alongside picturesque Miami Bluff Drive and curves down along the edge of the woods toward the Mariemont Swimming Pool.At certain points, it's undetectable from the road because trees, honeysuckle and weeds grow on parts of it.(Cincinatti.com)

Archaeologists survey early Alabama highway

Archaeologists from the University of South Alabama have surveyed an Alabama highway built more than 200 years ago and are working on a guidebook.The 250-mile Old Federal Road was built before Alabama became a state. The road was built from Augusta, Ga., to Mobile, with a branch road running to New Orleans and was completed in 1806. (CBSAtlanta.com)

August 1st, 2011

Achaemenid palace found in Iran

Archeologists have unearthed an ancient palace dating back to the Achaemenid dynasty in Dahaneh Gholaman located in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. Comparing the structure in the Dahaneh Gholaman site with Achaemenid palaces in Takht-e Jamshid and Pasargaad proved that the newly-found site dates to the Achaemenid era, said Kourosh Mohammadkhani, leader of the archeological team, IRNA reported. He added that the finding is the most significant achievement in the current phase of the recent study. The Dahaneh Gholaman site comprises of 54 ancient structures, most of which were discovered during the years 1959 and 2008. (Press TV)

Archaeologists uncover 19th Century village in Central Park

Central Park is a legendary spot in New York City. Over the years, popular artists have played dozens of concerts there. It's a popular area for tourists from all over the globe. Now there's even something more special about the park. Archaeologists have found remnants of a 19th Century village. Archaeologists said the village, Seneca, was an African-American community on the outskirts of Central Park. It was inhabited from about 1827 through1857. Around 1855 archaeologists believe Seneca had about 300 residents, which included waiters, teachers and businessmen. (KVUE.com)

2,800 year-old lion statue discovered at Tell Tayinat in Turkey

There's breaking news from the site of Tell Tayinat, in Turkey. A team of archaeologists led by Tim Harrison, from the University of Toronto, have discovered a beautifully carved stone lion that dates back around 2,800 years. It stands nearly four feet tall and appears to be roaring. (Unreported Heritage News)

New archaeological discovery illuminates practices from the copper age

A well preserved skeleton from the copper age has been discovered in an archaeological reserve in Kozareva mound near Kableshkovo in Pomorie. The discovery marks an exciting new development for the village that was also a centre for the pottery industry during the fifth century BCE. According to the head of the excavation, Professor Petya Georgieva, this is the first confirmed tomb from such an early period in southern Bulgaria. (The Sofia Echo)

Sewer repairs reveal early visitors to Sitka?

An anthropologist has found what she believes are stone tools in a street excavation in downtown Sitka. The finds – if they are confirmed – could help shed light on Paleolithic humans who either lived in, or passed through, the region. (KCAW-FM, NPR)

July 31st, 2011

Fossils Reveal that Maya People Knew about Prehistory

Recent interdisciplinary investigations regarding 31 marine fossils found at Palenque Archaeological Zone, in Chiapas, reveal that Maya people conceived their beliefs parting from this kind of vestiges, so their idea of the underworld was associated to water. For Palenque inhabitants, marine fossils were the convincing proof of the land being covered by the sea long time ago, and parting from this fact they created their idea of the origin of the world, declared archaeologist Martha Cuevas, responsible, with geologist Jesus Alvarado, of research conducted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. (Art Daily)

Dig through ancient Rome finds mosaic

Excavations in the bowels of an ancient Roman hill have turned up a well-preserved, late 1st century wall mosaic with a figure of Apollo, nude except for a colorful mantle over a shoulder. Archaeologists and city officials unveiled the recent find to reporters Friday on the Oppian Hill. (The Korea Herald)

Archaeologists give tentative name to shipwreck

Professional archaeologists may have finally solved the mystery behind a sunken steamboat in Bayou Bartholomew that has intrigued local residents for decades. Dennis Jones with the state Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, Division of Archaeology and Allen Saltus Jr. with Archaeological Research Inc. conducted the first formal study of the site Friday (BastropEnterprise.com)

Ancient port discovered in Egypt

Archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered a harbor on the Red Sea that was used for international trade. The excavation at Mersa Gawasis has revealed traces of an ancient harbor. It's long been known that the Egyptians traded down the coast of Africa, but the location of their embarkation was unknown. A famous carving at Deir el-Bahari, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, shows an ocean-going vessel like the one pictured above and scenes a land with thatched huts and exotic items for sale such as ivory and giraffes. (Gadling)

Ancient city survived as civilizations collapsed

As ancient civilizations across the Middle East collapsed, possibly in response to a global drought about 4,200 years ago, archaeologists have discovered that one settlement in Syria not only survived, but expanded. Their next question is — why did Tell Qarqur, a site in northwest Syria, grow at a time when cities across the Middle East were being abandoned? (msnbc.com)

Huge number of statue menhirs found on a Sardinian wall

The astonishing discovery in the Sardinian countryside (Italy) of a small drystone wall entirely made of broken standing stones - many carved with stylised human figures - could make the site at Cuccuru e Lai, near Samugheo, one of the most important prehistoric sanctuaries of the island. (StonePages)

Montpelier Offers a New Way to Learn about Something Old

A newly constructed addition to James Madison's Montpelier replicates a smokehouse that stood on the same foundation more than a century ago. "What we're doing here at Montpelier is reconstructing the building where James Madison's slaves both worked and lived," said Mathew Reeves, an archaeologist at Montpelier. The replica of the smokehouse will be more than just an addition for tourists, it will provide information and background on what happened on the plantatio (NewsPlex.com)