Archaeology News Weekly 27.01.08

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New discoveries at the ash altar of Zeus, Mt Lykaion, offer insights
into early origins of ancient greece’s most powerful god
Penn Museum News, 24-Jan-2008

The Greek traveler, Pausanias, living in the second century, CE,
would probably recognize the spectacular site of the Sanctuary of
Zeus at Mt. Lykaion, and particularly the altar of Zeus. At 4,500
feet above sea level, atop the altar provides a breathtaking,
panoramic vista of Arcadia. What would surprise Pausanias—as it is
surprising archaeologists—is how early that “beginning” actually may
be. New pottery evidence from excavations by the Greek-American,
interdisciplinary team of the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey
Project indicates that the ash altar—a cone of earth located atop the
southern peak of Mt Lykaion where dedications were made in antiquity—
was in use as early as 5,000 years ago—at least 1,000 years before
the early Greeks began to worship the god Zeus. In addition, a rock
crystal seal, bearing an image of a bull, of probable Late Minoan
times (1500-1400 BCE) and also found on the altar, suggests an
intriguing early connection between the Minoan isle of Crete and
Arcadia, and bears witness to another chapter in what now appears to
be an especially long history of activity atop the mountain.
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/news/fullrelease.php?which=314
See also LiveScience [USA]:
http://www.livescience.com/history/080123-zeus-altar.html

Ancient Cemetery Unearthed in Syria
Associated Press, January 23, 2008

Archaeologists in northeast Syria have unearthed a 3rd century
cemetery in the shape of a cross, the country's official news agency
reported Wednesday. Ten skeletons, along with pottery and coins, were
found at the site in Hassaka, 441 miles northeast of the capital
Damascus, SANA reported. Some of the artifacts contained inscriptions
in the ancient Aramaic language, it said. Wednesday's find came a day
after SANA reported that archaeologists had found a Roman-era
cemetery in Latakia, northwest of Damascus. That cemetery was
believed to date back about 1,000 years, SANA said. Also according to
the report, Wednesday's find is not the same as that of another
cemetery, of the same era and on the same location, announced last
November.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gcqC6lHr-qFgEzzwzjtgGiLWKl8AD8UBS1R02

Iraqi Archaeologists Excavate New Sites and Find ‘Rare’ Parthian
Artefacts
CAIS News [Iran], 25 January 2008

Iraqi archaeologists have resumed excavations in southern Iraq
uncovering three important ancient sites and collecting magnificent
items. The museum’s information officer, Abdulzahara al-Talaqani,
said said Iraqi diggers have come across “a very important” Parthian
site which has so far yielded “200 rare pieces”. The head of the
excavation team of the Parthian site, Mohammed Abbas, said: “Most of
the finds are unique. We have a silver statue of a woman, another
silver piece representing a cobra, household utensils, legendary
animals, incised pots and various other magnificent items.” A post-
Sasanian site has also yielded 119 pieces. Saleh Yousef who led the
excavation there said the artifacts represented inscribed pots,
glassware and beautiful beakers.
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/January2008/25-01.htm

Gold coins show ‘Emperor of Britain’
The Times [UK], January 24, 2008

Two “extremely important” gold coins that shed light on a little-
known rebel Roman emperor from the 3rd century AD have been unearthed
by a farmer in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire area. They relate
to the Roman commander Carausius, who declared himself Emperor of
Britain around 286 or 287 after the Emperor in Rome ordered his
execution. He was overthrown in a coup d’état by his finance
minister, Allectus, in 293.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3241299.ece

Bus driver unearths £80,000 hoard of Bronze Age axe heads with metal
detector
The Daily Mail [UK], 21st January 2008

Bus driver and metal detector fanatic Tom Peirce is in for a bumper
pay day after unearthing 500 Bronze Age artefacts - one of the
largest ever ancient finds. Amateur treasure hunter Mr Peirce started
combing a field after dropping off a school coach party at a farm -
and now he could have a haul worth more than £80,000 on his hands.
Over the next two days, he and colleague Les Keith uncovered nearly
500 bronze artefacts dating back 3,000 years. The find prompted a
Time Team-style search of the area by excited archaeologists. The
hoard, which included 268 complete axe heads, is one of the biggest
of its kind found in Britain. Mr Peirce, 60, will have to split any
proceeds with landowner Alfie O'Connell.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9h0
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?
in_article_id=509542&in_page_id=1770

Temple complex in Betwa River found
The Times of India, 26 Jan 2008

Quiet excitement is brewing in archeologists at the recent unearthing
of a very rare 1,000 years old idol of the dus-bhuja-dhari Ravana
(ten-armed Ravana). The idol, besides numerous others, was discovered
amongst the remains of a temple complex dating back to the 11th
century Chandela period. The ruins of three main temples have been
discovered by the U.P. State Archaeology Department on an island in
the middle of Betwa river near Deval village in Jhansi. Each temple
had a base made of ancient bricks and the complex was fortified with
a boundary, the remains of which are still visible. Two main idols
along with numerous smaller idols too have been unearthed on this
island.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9gj
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Temple_complex_in_Betwa_River_found/articleshow/2732924.cms

Japan team finds ancient Cambodian water site
The Japan Times, Jan. 22, 2008

Japanese archaeologists said Monday they have found a man-made water
channel in northwest Cambodia used for rituals as far back as the
first century. The archaeologists said they discovered sacred mounds
or altars at the ruins in Snay village in Banteay Meanchey Province
under a two-year project that began last January. "Before, it was
said that Khmer civilization started from the seventh to ninth
century AD, but based on our research here, Khmer civilization went
back to the first century AD," said Yoshinori Yasuda, a professor of
the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080122a9.html

Ancient Maya sacrificed boys not virgin girls
Reuters, Jan 23, 2008

The victims of human sacrifice by Mexico's ancient Mayans, who threw
children into water-filled caverns, were likely boys and young men
not virgin girls as previously believed, archeologists said on
Tuesday. The Maya built soaring temples and elaborate palaces in the
jungles of Central America and southern Mexico before the Spanish
conquest in the early 1500s. Maya priests in the city of Chichen Itza
in the Yucatan peninsula sacrificed children to petition the gods for
rain and fertile fields by throwing them into sacred sinkhole caves,
known as "cenotes." The caves served as a source of water for the
Mayans and were also thought to be an entrance to the underworld.
Archeologist Guillermo de Anda from the University of Yucatan pieced
together the bones of 127 bodies discovered at the bottom of one of
Chichen Itza's sacred caves and found over 80 percent were likely
boys between the ages of 3 and 11. The other 20 percent were mostly
adult men said de Anda, who scuba dives to uncover Mayan jewels and
bones.
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSWRI32680820080123

QUT researcher discovers Maya mask splendour
QUT News [Australia], 23 January 2008

Ancient Mayan temple builders discovered and used lustrous pigments
to make their buildings dazzle in the daylight, a Queensland
University of Technology researcher has discovered. Studying tiny
shards of paint from the Mayan city of Copan, QUT physical and
chemical sciences PhD researcher Rosemary Goodall found evidence of
mica that would have made the buildings glitter when hit by the sun.
Ms Goodall said the mica was applied over the red paint of stucco
masks on the corners of Copan's well-preserved Rosalila temple, found
buried under another pyramid. "The Rosalila would have been one of
the highest buildings of the valley in its time, built by the Maya
ruler to exhibit his power and impress his subjects," Ms Goodall said.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1yd18
http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?
newsEventID=15353

Shoes were worn at least 40,000 years ago
The Telegraph [UK], 24/01/2008

People were wearing shoes at least 40,000 years ago, a new study
published today suggests. Scientists made the discovery while
examining toe bones from a 40,000-year-old skeleton in a Tianyuan
cave near Beijing in China. Erik Trinkaus and Hong Shang, from
Washington University in Missouri, measured the shape and density of
the bones. They then compared them with those from a modern urban
Americans' feet and late-prehistoric Native Americans and Inuits. The
pair could make assumptions about their footwear because shoes alter
the way a person walks.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9f0
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/24/
scishoe124.xml

Fossilised skull may end row over origin of 1.3bn Chinese
The Guardian [UK], January 24, 2008

Chinese archaeologists are hailing their biggest discovery in almost
80 years after unearthing a skull that could provide a clue to the
origins of a fifth of the world's population. The fossilised skull,
named Xuchang Man after the city where it was found, is thought to
date back 80,000 to 100,000 years, to a period that has long been a
mystery to scientists. It contains a rare fossilised membrane that
archaeologists hope will reveal important details about the nervous
system of the ancients and settle a contentious academic debate about
whether most of China's 1.3 billion people are mainly indigenous,
descended from African migrants or intermixed. The almost complete
skull, which comprises 16 fragments, was found in the central
province of Henan last month.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2245624,00.html

Four California museums raided in Asian looting probe
Reuters, Jan 24, 2008

Four leading Southern California museums were raided on Thursday by
U.S. authorities investigating illegal smuggling of art from
Thailand, China, Myanmar and from American Indian tribal lands.
Dozens of U.S. federal agents searched galleries, offices storage
areas and computer archives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(LACMA), the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, the Mingei International
Museum in San Diego and the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. No one
was arrested and no charges have been filed in what has been a 5-year
investigation by customs and immigration officials, a spokesman for
the U.S attorney's office in Los Angeles said. According to a 120-
page search warrant, two Los Angeles men smuggled hundreds of ancient
artefacts from southeast Asia and from Native American graves and
other heritage sites and sold them to the museums. Some museum
officials knew the art works were illegally or suspiciously
purchased, according to the warrants.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN2426802320080124?rpc=401&

Relic thefts 'huge crime problem' in U.S. parks
USA Today, 2008-01-23

Some visitors to Badlands National Park spot a fossil and take it
home as a souvenir. Sometimes college students studying the 244,000-
acre park's natural history assume it's OK to take a specimen for
further scrutiny. A bigger problem, though, is the looting of
artifacts found in the South Dakota park's rich fossil beds by
thieves who plan to sell them online or to galleries or collectors.
"With a million visitors coming every year, it's very hard to stop,"
says Mark Gorman, Badlands' chief ranger. "Has it increased over the
past few years? Absolutely." Six permanent rangers patrol the park.
Last year, they investigated 41 looting reports and made nine
arrests. He assumes that represents a fraction of the real number of
thefts. Signs warn visitors not to take artifacts and to stay away
from possible Indian burial sites, but thieves can be persistent and
brazen, Gorman says. "Collectors will dial 911 to draw park resources
away … and give themselves time to get into areas to quickly pick up
their work," he says. Human remains, animal fossils, bullets and
projectiles all vanish.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-23-parks_N.htm

Illegal occupiers of temple to be evicted
The Bangkok Post, January 27, 2008

State authorities have moved in to take action and evict settlers
encroaching on the grounds of an ancient and deserted temple in
Ayutthaya province. The Fine Arts Department has laid charges
accusing three groups of people of encroaching on the premises of Wat
Worachet temple in tambon Ban Pom in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
district and using areas in and around the temple for holding
superstitious rituals to benefit them financially. These occupiers
came to the temple over five years ago. They are a group of monks led
by Phra Maha Singthon, a group of nuns, and a group of mediums who
claim to have supernatural powers. Phra Maha Singthon claimed the
ancient temple was built in commemoration of King Naresuan the Great
during the Ayutthaya Period. However, archaeologists and experts of
the Fine Arts Department have so far provided no confirmation to the
claim.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/27Jan2008_news07.php

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More on:

2,300-Year-Old Wine-Carrying Ship Found Off Cyprus
FOX News [USA], January 24, 2008

Marine archaeologists will begin work in June to uncover the sand-
buried hull of a 2,300-year-old cargo ship thought to have been
ferrying wine from the Aegean island of Chios before it sank off
Cyprus' southern coast, researchers said Thursday. The vessel, dating
from the late Classical period (mid-fourth century B.C.) is one of
only a few such ships to have been found so well-preserved, said
University of Cyprus visiting marine archaeologist Stella Demesticha.
"The shipwreck looks very promising about shedding light on the
nautical and economic history of the period in the east
Mediterranean," Demesticha told the Associated Press on Thursday. The
wreck rests on the seabed at a depth of 144 feet some 1 1/2 miles off
the island's southern coast. Demesticha said the wreck was also
unique because it lies at a depth that divers can easily reach,
unlike similar discoveries found in deeper waters. Unreleased
underwater photographs that researchers took of the vessel on initial
surveying dives in November show a jumble of dozens of amphorae —
clay urns used in antiquity to carry liquids and solid foodstuffs —
lying on the seabed in the shape of the ship.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325206,00.html

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Continuing Sagas:

'Ancient civilization . . . broken to pieces'
The Los Angeles Times, January 22, 2008

He works as a blacksmith in one of Baghdad's swarming Shiite slums.
But at least once a month, Abu Saif tucks a pistol into his belt,
hops into a minibus taxi and speeds south. His goal: to unearth
ancient treasures from thousands of archaeological sites scattered
across southern Iraq. Images of Baghdad's ransacked National Museum,
custodian of a collection dating back to the beginning of
civilization, provoked an international outcry in the early days of
the war in 2003. The ancient statues, intricately carved stone
panels, delicate earthenware and glittering gold are now protected by
locked gates and heavily armed guards. But U.S. and Iraqi experts say
a tragedy on an even greater scale continues to unfold at more than
12,000 largely unguarded sites where illegal diggers like Abu Saif
are chipping away at Iraq's heritage. "It may well be that more stuff
has come out of the sites than was ever in the Iraqi museum," said
Elizabeth Stone, an archaeology professor at the State University of
New York at Stony Brook.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9go
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-
antiquities22jan22,1,4177435.story

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Features:

3D radar-computer 'digs' for Lost Colony
The Outer Banks Sentinel [USA], January 23, 2008

When doctors want to see a body's organs they use an magnetic
resonance imaging machine (MRI) to view beautifully clear images of
what's inside. When archaeologists want to see what's below the
surface of the earth they are now beginning to use a similar
technology called computer-assisted radar tomography (CART). An
archaeologist with the First Colony Foundation was on site at Fort
Raleigh Saturday with CART engineers testing the advanced ground
penetrating system. Their hope is that CART will prove to be a viable
tool to help find artifacts from Sir Walter Raleigh's 16th Century
colonies in the future.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9g7
http://obsentinel.womacknewspapers.com/articles/2008/01/23/
top_stories/tops3441.txt

Lasers unearth historical sites
BBC, 22 January 2008

Laser technology is being used to locate potential archaeological
sites hidden by woodland in Worcestershire. The hope is that ancient
settlements and farms across the Wyre Forest will be detected by
lasers fired from aircraft 3,300ft (1,000m) up. The results are
processed by computers and turned into images of the ground,
currently hidden by trees. One expert said the process offered a
"tantalising glimpse" of a very dynamic landscape. The Forestry
Commission has teamed up with the Worcestershire Historic Environment
and Archaeology Service. The technique is known as Light, Detection
and Ranging (LiDAR).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hereford/worcs/7202361.stm

Footless, if not quite fancy free
Al-Ahram [Egypt], 24 - 30 January 2008

Deir Al-Banat necropolis, which lies in the southern Fayoum,
comprises a series of rock hewn tombs dating from the Graeco-Roman
period through to early Christian times. To the north is a well
preserved ruin of a mediaeval monastery with a fired brick church at
its centre, a mud brick residential area and a refectory where the
monks would have communal meals. In the last six years several
burials with mummies were found as well as a collection of cartonage
wooden sarcophagi, arm rings, clay vessels and remains of linen. This
year the mission located and studied 154 rectangular shaped tombs
with rounded corners partly dug in compact sand and partly cut in
rock. Their depth ranged from 1.5 and 1.7 m and each contained an
unpainted wooden sarcophagus with an anthropoid mask on the lid and a
cartonage inside covering the head, shoulders and feet of the mummy.
In one of the graves an intact mummy of a young lady was found while
four Ptolemaic graves, which appeared to have been looted, contained
the lids of painted coffins along with mummies with their feet torn off.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/881/eg6.htm

Why Cleo is both hit and myth
Manchester Evening News [UK], 24/1/2008

THE thick kohl eyeliner, the raven black hair, those sultry,
seductive eyes - for most of us Elizabeth Taylor is the embodiment of
Cleopatra. Oozing sex appeal in her legendary on-screen performance
opposite real-life love Richard Burton, she caught the imagination of
millions as she brought the tragic Egyptian queen to life. So, in
some ways, what a disappointment to discover the real-life Cleopatra
may not have been such a gorgeous creature after all. In fact, the
woman who seduced Julius Caesar and Mark Antony could have been more
fearsome than fair. "Everyone has this Elizabeth Taylor image in mind
but the truth is we don't really know what she looked like," explains
author Joyce Tyldesley, whose new book - Cleopatra: The Last Queen of
Egypt - looks at the myths behind the real-life ruler.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9cr
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/arts/s/
1033420_why_cleo_is_both_hit_and_myth

Grim secrets of Pharaoh's city
BBC, 25 January 2008

Evidence of the brutal lives endured by some ancient Egyptians to
build the monuments of the Pharaohs has been uncovered by
archaeologists. Skeletal remains from a lost city in the middle of
Egypt suggest many ordinary people died in their teenage years and
lived a punishing lifestyle. Many suffered from spinal injuries, poor
nutrition and stunted growth. The remains were found at Amarna, a new
capital built on the orders of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, 3,500 years ago.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7209472.stm

Tomb raider opens crypt on why he’s breaking the law
Cyprus Mail, 27 January 2008

FOR SOME people, happiness is a warm metal detector and despite
strict laws forbidding the practice, dozens of people are currently
making a tidy living digging up the past and flogging it to the
highest bidder. To learn more about this lucrative and somewhat
suspect hobby, I spoke to Achilleas (not his real name) who for years
has been sweeping the island’s fields with his metal detector. This
‘hobby’ is not, as I first thought, one that appeals only to
trainspotting anoraks, but quite the reverse, with aficionados
spending much of their time dodging the country’s tough antiquities
laws. Achilleas and others like him have for years campaigned in vain
to legitimise their hobby. He wants the government to amend a 1935
law, which “protects any object whether movable or part immovable
property” and states that “no person shall excavate or cause
excavations to be made whether on his own land or elsewhere for the
purpose of discovering antiquities without a formal licence.” “This
law,” he told the Sunday Mail, “is sheer nonsense. We need to look
seriously at what is going on with regard to our buried heritage and
all the anomalies that surround the act of digging up artefacts.”
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=37233&cat_id=1

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Miscellany:

Man-Made Changes Bring About New Epoch in Earth's History
AlphaGalileo [UK], 25 January 2008

Geologists from the University of Leicester propose that humankind
has so altered the Earth that it has brought about an end to one
epoch of Earth’s history and marked the start of a new epoch. Jan
Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams at the University of Leicester and
their colleagues on the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological
Society of London have presented their research in the journal GSA
Today. In it, they suggest humans have so changed the Earth that on
the planet the Holocene epoch has ended and we have entered a new
epoch - the Anthropocene. They have identified human impact through
phenomena such as: Transformed patterns of sediment erosion and
deposition worldwide; Major disturbances to the carbon cycle and
global temperature; Wholesale changes to the world’s plants and
animals; Ocean acidification. The scientists analysed a proposal made
by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen in 2002. He suggested the
Earth had left the Holocene and started the Anthropocene era because
of the global environmental effects of increased human population and
economic development.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1yd0y
http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?
fuseaction=readrelease&releaseid=526639&ez_search=1

Cleopatra comes back to life in ballet
The Aiken Standard [USA], January 25, 2008

Her beauty was legendary, her power and influence over two ancient
cultures undeniable. Now, the tale of Egyptian queen Cleopatra is
being retold in a seductive new production by the Columbia City
Ballet. Cleopatra," featuring nearly 90 dancers, lavish new costumes
and monumental sets evoking the grandeur of ancient Egypt and Rome,
will enjoy its world premiere Friday, Feb. 1 and Saturday, Feb. 2 at
the Koger Center in Columbia. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m.,
with the Saturday matinee at 3 p.m. William Starrett, artistic and
executive director of the Columbia City Ballet, said "Cleopatra" has
been two years in the making. It was created as a companion piece to
a new exhibition opening this weekend at the Columbia Museum of Art,
"Excavating Egypt," featuring artifacts from the Petrie Museum of
Egyptian Archaeology at University College-London.
http://www.aikenstandard.com/2007redesign/news/343004791416287.php

Islamic jug worth £5m sells for just £220,000 in 'biggest bargain in
auction history'
The Daily Mail [UK], 21st January 2008

A crystal ewer worth £5m dubbed the "Holy Grail" of Islamic art has
sold for just £220,000 in what was reported to be one of the biggest
bargains in auction history. The ewer, first described as a 19th
century French claret jug and orginally estimated at £100-200 by
Lawrences auctioneers in Somerset, stunned the antiques world when it
was bought for more than one thousand times its guide price after two
anonymous buyers became locked in a bidding war. In fact, the 11th
century Egyptian jug is considered to be one of the most valuable
artefacts in Islamic art, with only five others existing in the world
today. Made of rock crystals, the surface of the Fatimad ewer is
relief cut with mythological animals, birds and vegetable motifs with
a silver gilt and enamel mounting. The last one to surface on the
market was bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1862.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9dd
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?
in_article_id=509519&in_page_id=1770

Museum's rocket turns out to be live
Metro [UK], January 24, 2008

A veterans' museum in America came close to experiencing an
unpleasantly realistic 'Nam flashback, after a rocket that had been
on display for two years was discovered to be live. After Allegany
County authorities were notified Wednesday that the Mark 1 rocket on
display in Cumberland might be live, the state fire marshal's office
and the FBI confirmed it was. Anticlimactically, bomb experts removed
the ordnance and rendered it safe. The 48-inch-by-2.75-inch rocket
rocket was similar to those used on helicopter gun ships during the
Vietnam War, said Deputy State Fire Marshal Joseph Zurolo Jr.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/1y9eb
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?
in_article_id=85739&in_page_id=2&ito=newsnow

Art attack
The Guardian [UK], January 27, 2008

When he accidentally put his elbow through his $139m Picasso in 2006,
Las Vegas casino king Steve Wynn (below) only had himself to blame.
But who stabbed a Rembrandt? And why was a Rodin sculpture blown up?
John Hind puts 13 unlucky works of art in the frame ...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2245950,00.html

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Curiosa:

Fake 'mummy' still awaits burial
BBC, 24 January 2008

The dead in Pakistan are usually buried within hours - but the
mummified body of a woman that sparked a diplomatic row has lain
unburied for seven years. Pakistani police discovered the mummy in
2000, during a murder investigation. Script on the sarcophagus dated
it to 6th century BC Persia. Both Iran and Pakistan claimed the mummy
as their own - until tests showed it to be a fake. A charity that
agreed to perform the last rites on the body says red-tape is
delaying the burial. The body is now being kept in the mortuary of
the Edhi Trust, which is waiting for the police departments of
Balochistan and Sindh to authorise the burial. "Keeping a body in the
mortuary for three days costs us 500 rupees ($8.3; £4.2) and this
body has been lying here for seven years," Anwar Kazmi, a trust
spokesman says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7206526.stm

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