December 2011, Daily News

Archaeology News for the Week of March 20th, 2011

Sun, Mar 20, 2011

March 26th, 2011

2500 Year Old Preserverd Human Brain Discovered

A 2,500-year-old human skull uncovered in England was less of a surprise than what was in it: the brain. The discovery of the yellowish, crinkly, shrunken brain prompted questions about how such a fragile organ could have survived so long and how frequently this strange type of preservation occurs. Except for the brain, all of the skull's soft tissue was gone when the skull was pulled from a muddy Iron Age pit where the University of York was planning to expand its Heslington East campus. (LiveScience)

X-ray technique peers beneath archaeology's surface

Striking discoveries in archaeology are being made possible by strong beams of X-rays, say researchers. A report at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, US, showed how X-ray sources known as synchrotrons can unravel an artefact's mysteries. (BBC News)

March 25th, 2011

New Identity for Arctic Explorer Emerges 140 Years Later

In 1845, two ill-fated British ships headed for the Canadian Arctic in the hope of discovering the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. More than two decades later, the nearly complete skeleton of one of the explorers was recovered from a shallow, stone-covered grave on King William Island in the Canadian Arctic. The remains were then identified as those of Henry Le Vesconte, a lieutenant aboard one of the ships, the HMS Erebus. However, a modern analysis points to another identity for the man. (livescience.com)

Chambered tomb containing burials from the Byzantine era has been unearthed in Syria

Archaeologist Ali al-Qatlabi said that 15 soldiers with worn-out leather shoes had been buried in the tomb, along with pottery, lamps, metal and glass bracelets, rings, copper coins, stone beads, and perfume bottles. (Archaeology.org)

Ice Age mammoth bones found in Monterey County

A worker clearing land for farming has uncovered the bones of a juvenile Ice Age mammoth that archaeologists are calling the first-ever find of its kind in Monterey County. (CBS47)

Ancient remains unearthed at Ylig Bridge, Guam

A major discovery has been made in the central village of Yona, as construction workers handling the Ylig Bridge project uncovered a piece of the island's history. Officials say ancient human remains were found during excavation efforts at the project site. (kuam.com)

March 24th, 2011

Paleo-Indians Inhabited North America 15,500 Years Ago, Study Shows

If you are among those that think people first arrived in the Americas no more than 13,000 years ago, you may want to think again. Ongoing archaeological investigations at the Debra L. Friedkin site at Buttermilk Creek in Central Texas have turned up artifacts dated approximately 2,500 years older than the earliest confirmed artifacts assigned by scientists to the Clovis horizon, the name given to the Paleo-Indian technology that prevailed between 11,500 and 13,000 years ago. Clovis is still argued by many in the scientific community as marking the earliest known presence for humans in the Americas. (Popular Archaeology)

Early Humans Occupied South Asia More Than a Million Years Ago

Recently discovered artifacts in South India suggest that early humans lived in the region more than a million years ago, contemporary with other early human populations that lived in Africa and Southwest Asia. The discovery may finally answer the long-standing question about when early humans migrated into South Asia, a question that has puzzled scientists for years. (Popular Archaeology)

Mexico says $4 million Maya statue is a fake

The Mexican government argued Wednesday that a Mayan-style statue auctioned for a record $4 million (2.9 million euros) this week is a fake. Auctioneers insisted it is genuine and charged Mexico wants to quash legal sales of pre-Hispanic artifacts.The stakes in the dispute are high - and not just because of the cash laid down by the as-yet unidentified buyer. A debate has been renewed about whether there is a place, if any, for sales of ancient artifacts. (Buffalo News)

37 pre-Inca tombs discovered in southern Peru

Thirty-seven pre-Inca tombs, which date back to between 800 and 1445 AD, were accidentally discovered last week while workers were digging trenches as part of the installation of a water system for the Boca del Río settlement, 60 kilometers from the city of Tacna in southern Peru. (Living in Peru)

Ancient Human Trash Heaps Gave Rise to Everglades Tree Islands, Research Suggests

Garbage mounds left by prehistoric humans might have driven the formation of many of the Florida Everglades' tree islands, distinctive havens of exceptional ecological richness in the sprawling marsh that are today threatened by human development. (ScienceNews)

Mangalore: Ancient Burial Rites - Something to Learn from the Urn

Evidence of a prehistoric burial custom of interring dead persons in earthen pots has been found in various parts of India, mostly in Tamil Nadu. (Mangalorean.com)

'Talking fires' link iron age hillforts

A TEST to show how people in the Iron Age communicated using Welsh peaks was yesterday hailed a success. Scores of volunteers flashed torches to each other from 10 hillforts in North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire. The furthest link spanned 15 miles, between hills at Burton Point on the Wirral and Cheshire's Maiden Castle. (WalesOnline)

Archaeologists hope dig brings proof of Battle of Towton death toll

Archaeologists are hoping to unearth proof of the death toll at a North Yorkshire 15th century battle. (The Press)

March 23rd, 2011

Wart Detected on Egyptian Queen Beauty

King Tut's grandmother, the powerful and beautiful Queen Tiye, might have had an unattractive flat wart on her forehead, according to a mummy expert. Located between the eyes, the small protuberance was found on the mummy of the so-called Elder Lady (KV35EL). Boasting long reddish hair falling across her shoulders, the mummy was identified in February 2010 by DNA testing as Queen Tiye, the daughter of Yuya and Thuya, wife of Amenhotep III, and mother of Akhenaten. (Discovery News)

3,000-year-old human activity sites discovered in Jiangxi

The Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (JPICRA) and the cultural heritage administrative departments of Jinxian County conducted archaeological excavations at the Nantudun site in Jinxian County and explored scores of human activity sites dating back 3,000 years ago and unearthed a group of precious early celadon, pottery and stone tools as well as a small amount of bronze ware. (Peoples Daily Online)

13th Century castle badly damaged after fire

A 13th Century Scottish castle has been badly damaged after a fire broke out in its clock tower, its owners have confirmed. (The Telegraph)

X-ray machine from 1896 compared to modern version

Scientists have dusted off X-ray equipment dating from shortly after the discovery of the rays in 1895, in order to put it through its paces. Researchers from the same Dutch town where the system was originally built used it to produce striking images that belie its simplicity and age. (BBC News)

Fertility Goddess Asherah: Was 'God's Wife' Edited Out of the Bible?

Some scholars say early versions of the Bible featured Asherah, a powerful fertility goddess who may have been God's wife. Research by Francesca Stavrakopoulou, a senior lecturer in the department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter, unearthed clues to her identity, but good luck finding mention of her in the Bible. If Stavrakopoulou is right, heavy-handed male editors of the text all but removed her from the sacred book. (Time.com)

March 22nd, 2011

Roman graves uncovered in Canterbury

Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient burial ground in Kent where around a hundred people were laid to rest. The site - dating back to the late Roman era - is on the former Hallets garage site in Canterbury's St Dunstan's. Experts have found hardly any grave goods and since most of the bodies are lying east/west they are believed to be mainly Christian. The excavation is being carried by Canterbury Archaeological Trust. (Kent Online)

King Henry VIII's Madness Explained

Among a long list of personality quirks and historical drama, Henry VIII is known for the development of health problems in mid-life and a series of miscarriages for two of his wives. In a new study, researchers propose that Henry had an X-linked genetic disorder and a rare blood type that could explain many of his problems. (Discovery News)

Native Americans Modified American Landscape Years Prior to Arrival of Europeans

A new study by Baylor University geology researchers shows that Native Americans' land use nearly a century ago produced a widespread impact on the eastern North American landscape and floodplain development several hundred years prior to the arrival of major European settlements. (Science News)

More Bodies Found Dumped At Burr Oak Cemetery

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Monday that archeologists have uncovered bodies and bones in an unused section of the historic Burr Oak Cemetery, in far greater numbers than previously believed. (CBS Chicago)

Looters strip Latin America of archaeological heritage

A century after Machu Picchu's rediscovery, ancient Mayan and Moche sites are being ransacked for tourist baubles (Guardian.co.uk)

March 21st, 2011

Lofty Ambitions of the Inca

On the remote Peruvian island of Taquile, in the middle of the great Lake Titicaca, hundreds of people stand in silence on the plaza as a local Roman Catholic priest recites a prayer. Descended in part from Inca colonists sent here more than 500 years ago, the inhabitants of Taquile keep the old ways. They weave brilliantly colored cloth, speak the traditional language of the Inca, and tend their fields as they have for centuries. On festival days they gather in the plaza to dance to the sound of wooden pipes and drums. (National Geographic)

Project documents prehistoric remains in Idukki district

A team of archaeologists have surveyed over 400 monuments of the prehistoric period in Devikulam taluk as part a project to document megalithic sites in Idukki district. Burial urns, dolmen, stone cist and artefacts of the megalithic period have been surveyed in the Marayur, Koviloor and Kanthallur areas in the first phase. (The Hindu)

Public Archaeology: Fighting back human destruction

On December 22, 1977, employees of the Tonto National Forest observed three men looting a ruin in Brooklyn Canyon, a remote spot on the Cave Creek Ranger District, between Camp Verde and Phoenix. (The Bugle)

Digging for a piece of Florida's past in Micanopy

An area archaeologist working with several professionals and volunteers has commenced work on a project to locate the site of a Seminole War-era fort in Micanopy. (Gainesville.com)

March 20th, 2011

Roman gold coin unearthed at Buddhist site

A Roman gold coin weighing 7.3 grams issued by the 7th Roman emperor Nerve Ceaser (96-98 AD) was unearthed at a Buddhist site in Phanigiri in Nalgonda district during the course of archaeological excavations recently. Prof. P. Chenna Reddy, Director, Department of Archaeology and Museums, who inspected the site on Wednesday said so far 60 lead coins of the Satavahana and Ikshvaku dynasties have been recovered. The latest find of a gold coin was interesting as it indicated the fact that there was a brisk trade between the erstwhile Telugu country and Rome. It is also for the first time that a Roman gold coin is recovered from a Buddhist site in the State. (The Hindu)

10,000-year-old spear is an archeological gem

Archaeologists hope a major find in a spring an hour and a half south of Tampa helps piece together how Florida's earliest inhabitants lived. On Friday, dive teams from The Florida Aquarium and the University of Miami exploring and excavating Little Salt Spring in southern Sarasota County carried to the surface a spear that dates back about 10,000 years. (TBO.com)

Pueblo traded for chocolate big-time

Chocolate may have provided sweet impetus for extensive trade between ancient northern and southern societies in the Americas. Pueblo people living in what’s now the U.S. Southwest drank a cacao-based beverage that was imported from Mesoamerican cultures in southern Mexico or Central America, a new chemical analysis of Pueblo vessels finds. (ScienceNews)

Investigation into stone-age barrow found near Midhurst

An investigation is under way into the significance of an early bronze-age barrow which has been revealed on the edge of a sandpit near Midhurst. The large mound, dating back to around 2000 BC, is set to be toppled as more sand is extracted from the huge pit at Minsted, on land owned by All Souls College, Oxford. (Midhurst & Petworth)

Choctaws reburying ancestors unearthed decades ago

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is leading an effort to rebury 124 bodies believed to be those of their ancestors in what it bills as one of the largest repatriations of its kind. (MySanAntonio.com)

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