The Archaeology News Network

Ancient remains from Arla dig set to go on display

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Historical treasures discovered during archaeological work at the Arla Foods dairy site will be on display at a public open evening later this month. Skeleton found during archeological dig at Arla site [Credit: Bucks Herald] People are invited to view Iron Age and Roman artefacts uncovered during the archaeological study of the site which will include pottery, metalwork, coins and jewellery as well as images of skeletons found...

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1000-year-old Siva temple escapes demolition

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 18:00:00 +0000

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to spare the 1000-year-old Siva temple at Manampadi village near Kumbakonam while taking up road expansion under the Thanjavur-Vikkiravandi four-lane project. The Siva temple at Manampadi near Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district [Credit: B.Velankanni Raj] The decision will save the temple that was declared by State Archaeology Department as a protected monument 30 years...

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Ancient Egyptian tombs at 'virgin site' looted

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Three dozen members of an armed gang invaded and stole the contents of five tombs from the Qubbet Al-Hawa (The Dome of The Winds) ancient Egyptian necropolis on Aswan's west bank. Qubbet Al-Hawa necropolis [Credit: Ahram Online] The lack of security in Egypt continues to negatively affect archaeological sites, especially those located in remote areas. The Qubbet Al-Hawa necropolis is named after the domed tomb of a Muslim Sufi...

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Moscow hotel restoration unearths historical treasures

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Archaeologists are working hand-in-hand with builders, as the renovation of Hotel Pekin on Moscow’s Bolshaya Sadovaya Street continues. Around 350 objects from the 17th–19th centuries were discovered here between March and May, on the site of a staging post that once stood on this spot. The excavation site at the Hotel Pekin in Moscow [Credit: Dmitry Zverev] The finds here shed light on the secrets of everyday life in centuries...

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Bulgaria’s 2013 season underway with new discoveries

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:00:00 +0000

The archaeology season for Bulgaria is underway, with 2013 already seeing new discoveries. Among these are the finding of a prehistoric sanctuary near the Via Diagonalis Roman road site and a new dating of the Cape Akra, now believed to be from the time of Trojan War. The Odeon site, Plovdiv [Credit: Clive Leviev-Sawyer] The projects underway this year include a study of the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica, near the temple of...

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Byzantine church, mosaic unearthed in Jordan

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Looting of archaeological sites in Jordan is a widespread problem, yet this time it has brought to light the mosaic floor of a previously undiscovered Byzantine-era church near the Roman city of Jerash. The Oval Plaza in Jerash [Credit: Dr Jacques Seigne] “Underneath about a metre of soil, the mosaic floor of Kanisat Qirmerl was almost perfectly preserved,” Jacques Seigne, director of the French Archaeological Mission at Jerash,...

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Uncovering Canada’s first industrial neighbourhood

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Archaeologist Bernard Hébert peered down at a vast open pit in Griffintown, where colleague Martin Royer, wearing construction boots and a hard hat, was examining the remains of a circular wall. Archaeologist Martin Royer takes measurements next to the foundations and the lower walls of the old gas reservoir on the corner of Ottawa and Ann Sts. last week [Credit: Pierre Obendrauf/The Gazette] “He’s measuring the thickness of the...

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Environmentalists warn of Nicaragua canal disaster

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:00:00 +0000

A proposed Nicaraguan waterway rivaling the Panama Canal would cause an environmental disaster threatening drinking water supplies and fragile ecosystems, conservationists said. Graphic fact file on the Nicaragua canal project. The proposed waterway rivaling the Panama Canal would cause an environmental disaster threatening drinking water supplies and fragile ecosystems, conservationists said Friday [Credit: AFP] President Daniel...

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Wild cheetah reach speeds of up to 58mph during a hunt

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College have captured the first detailed information on the hunting dynamics of the wild cheetah in its natural habitat. Using an innovative GPS and motion sensing collar that they designed, Professor Alan Wilson and his team were able to record remarkable speeds of up to 58 miles per hour (or 93 kilometers per hour). A cheetah wearing a collar hunting impala in northern Botswana [Credit: K...

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When it comes to mammals, how big is too big?

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Mammals vary enormously in size, from weighing less than a penny to measuring more than three school buses in length. Some groups of mammals have become very large, such as elephants and whales, while others have always been small, like primates. A new theory developed by an interdisciplinary team, led by Jordan Okie of Arizona State University, provides an explanation for why and how certain groups of organisms are able to evolve...

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Flare star becomes 15 times brighter in less than 3 minutes

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Astrophysicists at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and the Byurakan Observatory (Armenia) have detected a star of low luminosity which within a matter of moments gave off a flare so strong that it became almost 15 times brighter. The star in question is the flare star WX UMa. Flare star [Credit: Casey Reed/NASA] "We recorded a strong flare of the star WX UMa, which became almost 15 times brighter in a matter of...

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Stacking up a clearer picture of the Universe

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have proven a new technique that will provide a clearer picture of the Universe's history and be used with the next generation of radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Jacinta studies distant galaxies like those shown in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, using the new 'stacking' technique to gather information only...

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Lost medieval city found in Cambodia

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:00:00 +0000

A lost medieval city that thrived on a mist-shrouded Cambodian mountain 1,200 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists using revolutionary airborne laser technology, a report said. Post holes on an old temple site [Credit: Nick Moir] In what it called a world exclusive, the Sydney Morning Herald said the city, Mahendraparvata, included temples hidden by jungle for centuries, many of which have not been looted. A...

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Byzantine basilica comes to life in Bursa

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Excavations to unearth a 1500-year-old Byzantine basilica in Bursa (Greek Prousa) will begin this month it was announced by the local governor. The 1500 year old Byzantine basilica at Bursa [Credit: AA/Hurriyet] Harput, who was investigating the area where the historical basilica was discovered in the Derecik Village of the Büyükorhan neighborhood, gathered information from the authorities. The basilica was used for worship in...

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Sixteenth-century crucifix possibly by Michelangelo

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:00:00 +0000

A recently donated wooden crucifix tentatively attributed to Michelangelo has sparked controversy in the art world. The crucifix attributed to Michelangelo [Credit: ANSA] The 44-centimeter wooden sculpture portrays Christ on the cross and was created by a Florentine Renaissance artist, possibly the great Michelangelo Buonarroti himself. The work was donated to Paris's Louvre museum by Canadian collectors Peter Silverman and...

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Third season dig begins in Maryport

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Archaeologists hope that Maryport will reveal more of its Roman secrets this summer. The third year of excavations at Camp Farm began this week, led by Newcastle University’s Professor Ian Haynes and site director Tony Wilmott. Excavations on site at Maryport set to resume again this summer [Credit: Newcastle University] The Temples Project is the start of a new phase in the five year excavation which will take the team back to...

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3,500-year-old house unearthed in central Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000

The remains of a house dating back 3,500 years have been uncovered during excavations in the central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale's Karakeçili district. Japanese archaeologist Kimiyashi Matsumura explains the recent finds to Turkish officials [Credit: HaberMonitor] Headed by Kimiyashi Matsumura, a Japanese archaeology professor at Kırşehir University, the excavations have been unearthing antiquities and ancient settlements...

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Forgotten dead in potter's field lifted from their graves

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:30:00 +0000

A member of an archaeological crew lifted a human skull from a pauper's grave Thursday morning and gingerly brushed the inside clean. Another carefully wielded a hammer and chisel to tap away hard dirt from a skeleton's clavicle. Above and behind them rose a glistening new structure for a public hospital on a building spree. Members of a combined archaeology and osteology team excavate graves in a potter's field on the grounds of...

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Perperikon dig to begin on schedule

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Bulgarian archaeologist Nikolai Ovcharov said on June 13 that the summer digs at the Perperikon site would go as scheduled after his team received government funding. In March, after the resignation of the Boiko Borissov cabinet, Ovcharov warned that the political upheaval could delay the start of work. Ancient Perperikon [Credit: Clive Leviev-Sawyer] Of the 250 000 leva promised by the Borissov government, Ovcharov said his team...

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High-tech tools behind search for Calusa house on Mound Key

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Researchers are looking at an ancient shell mound in a new way. Financed in part through a $20,000 grant from the National Geographic Society, archaeologists from the University of Florida and University of Georgia spent three weeks in May using ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity to look for a buried Calusa Indian structure on Mound Key in Estero Bay. Katharine Napora, of the University of Georgia, participates in...

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Microblades connected with mobile adaptations in north-central China

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Though present before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, around 24,500–18,300 years ago), microblade technology is uncommon in the lithic assemblages of north-central China until the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD, around 12,900–11,600 years ago). Dr. GAO Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team discussed the origins, antiquity, and function of microblade technology...

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Mayan artefacts surface at construction site

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Salvadoran construction workers building a housing complex unearthed Mayan pots, ceramic fragments and other artifacts, an official said. Salvadoran construction workers building a housing complex unearthed Mayan pots, ceramic fragments and other artifacts, an official said.The find was made in Colon, 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of San Salvador.Specialists alerted to the site also found pieces of obsidian and part of a human...

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Medieval leprosy genomes shed light on disease's history

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

An international team of scientists reconstructed a dozen medieval and modern leprosy genomes -- suggesting a European origin for the North American leprosy strains found in armadillos and humans, and a common ancestor of all leprosy bacteria within the last 4000 years. Skull and femur of a medieval leprosy sufferer from Denmark. In the background, a de novo reconstructed leprousy genome [Credit: Ben Kyora-Krause] It is the...

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Braincase anatomy of late Cretaceous tyrannosaurid revealed

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:00:00 +0000

The late Cretaceous tyrannosaurid Alioramus altai is known from a single specimen whose articulated braincase exhibits a nearly unique combination of preservational quality, subadult stage of growth, and morphological complexity. An international team, including Dr. XU Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, use a detailed physical preparation combined with high-resolution...

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Large dinosaur bones found in Qld, Australia

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:30:00 +0000

A graveyard of large dinosaur bones has been discovered in outback Queensland. The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum's palaeontologists uncovered the fossils during a dig near Winton, in central west Queensland. Palaeontologist Stephen Poropat directs Milton Gosley and Harry Elliott excavate a large sauropod tibia [Credit: AAOD] Field palaeontologist David Elliott said he's not seen this many large dinosaur bones in one area...

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