February 19th, 2014
As natural climatic shocks strike the world over, both historically and recently, the human reaction has followed an old pattern. Over and over again, according to a new study, disaster management efforts related to food shortages caused by climate shocks result in returning the conditions back to the way they were before the shortage, rather than addressing root causes or vulnerabilities. (Popular Archaeology)
2,300-year-old village discovered near ‘Burma Road’
The remnants of a rural settlement that was occupied for approximately two centuries during the Second Temple Period have been uncovered. The find was made during an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeological salvage excavation, before the start of work on a natural gas pipeline to Jerusalem as part of a national project directed by Israel Natural Gas Lines (INGL). (Heritage Daily)
Ancient dog burial site found in Mexico
ARCHAEOLOGISTS say they have discovered “an exceptional” burial site under an apartment building in Mexico City containing the remains of 12 dogs, animals that had a major religious and symbolic significance to the Aztec peoples of central Mexico.Experts with Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, or INAH, said in a statement on Friday that this is the first time a group of dogs has been found buried together.They have been found accompanying human remains or as part of an offering in a monument. (CourierMail)
Ancient Viking code deciphered for the first time
An ancient Norse code which has been puzzling experts for years has been cracked by a Norwegian runologist – to discover the Viking equivalent of playful text messages. The mysterious jötunvillur code, which dates to 12th or 13th-century Scandinavia, has been unravelled by K Jonas Nordby from the University of Oslo, after he studied a 13th-century stick on which two men, Sigurd and Lavrans, had carved their name in both code and in standard runes. The jötunvillur code is found on only nine inscriptions, from different parts of Scandinavia, and has never been interpreted before. (The Guardian)
Archaeology: Spanish mission finds tomb from 1600 BC
A tomb dating back to 1600 BC of a man called Neb, which is practically intact, sheds new light on the XVII dynasty of ancient Egypt. It is the important finding made by researchers with the Djehuty project, led by the Spanish superior council of scientific research (Csic) and carried out far north in the Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis in Luxor, ancient Thebes, sources with Csic told ANSAmed. (ANSAmed)
‘Graffiti’ in Mingary Castle thought to be 700 years old
Archaeologists believe that markings scratched into the walls of a Scottish castle could be 700 years old. A team carrying out preservation work at Mingary Castle, on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, discovered the “graffiti” on plastered walls of the chapel. Some of the simple markings are thought to represent a ship and the first letter of someone’s name. (BBC News)
Hidden New England Landscape Comes to Life
Assistant professor of geography and geosciences William Ouimet and Ph.D. student Katharine Johnson have successfully combined state-of-the-art remote sensing technology with their mutual appreciation of New England’s rich and varied history to uncover long-lost features beneath the forest canopy that covers the region. (UCONN)
