Archaeology News Weekly 25.10.09

Wrapped URLs may require cut-and-paste restoration. Longer URLs have
been shortened using SnipURL. Some articles may "time out" after
several days. Some news sites requiree free registration (for a third-
party username and password, try http://bugmenot.com/ ). My apologies
if any repeats have slipped through - sometimes old news is disguised
as new.

#====================#

Auditorium found while digging for subway
World News Australia, 22 October 2009

The remains of an ancient auditorium dating back to the 2nd century
AD have been uncovered by archaeologists in the heart of Rome, after
being uncovered in preparations for a new subway line. It is believed
to have been built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian as a school to
promote the arts and culture. The site was uncovered as workers dug
beneath the modern city in a bid to ease Rome's congested streets .
The auditorium was apparently known as the 'Athenaeum' in honour of
the city of Athens, which had long been considered the centre of
culture in Europe at the time. According to Roberto Egidi, an
archaeologist working on the digs, the structure of the building, as
well as references in texts, meant is was 'likely' to have been
funded by Hadrian. "Hadrian, who was a cultured emperor, wanted to re-
establish the tradition of public recitation, conferences and poetry
contests, as it used to happen in classic Greece", said Egidi.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spj9e
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1116131/Auditorium-found-while-
digging-for-subway

Roman temple discovered in Tuscany
Adnkronos International [Italy], 21 October 2009

A Roman temple dating from the fourth century AD was discovered
inside the Maremma Park, located in the central Italian region of
Tuscany. The rectangular-shaped temple was found by a group of
archaeologists after three months of work about three kilometres from
the beach of Marina di Alberese, in the province of Grosseto. The
rectangular-shaped structure measures 11.5 metres by 6.5 metres and
was built using a Roman-building technique called 'opus testaceum'. A
loose stone foundation covered by bricks which are then covered in
slabs of marble. According to archaeologists, the temple suggests
there was once an important Roman settlement in the area, which
served as a trading port that handled goods coming from Africa and
from the entire Mediterranean basin. At the temple site,
archaeologists found at least 50 Roman coins and a huge quantity of
ceramic artefacts originating from all over the Mediterranean basin,
but especially from Tunisia.
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=3.0.3900135192

Byzantine Clay Lamps & Glass Kohl Jars Uncovered in Syria
Global Arab Network [UK], 22 October 2009

The excavations of the Syrian-Polish Joint Expedition during 2009 in
the site of Horta, 15 kilometers north of the ancient city of Apamea
in Hama, uncovered a number of clay lamps and glass kohl jars dating
back to the Roman and Byzantine periods. Representative of the Syrian
side in the expedition Nadim al-Khouri pointed out that the Horta
site has two levels, one Roman and one Byzantine, and that
excavations for this season focused on uncovering a temple dedicated
to the god Mithras, the principal figure of the Greco-Roman religion
of Mithraism. A big part of the temple was uncovered, particularly
the altar and the main hall. The walls of the main hall bear frescos
depicting Mithras and other gods associated with him. The roof
western side of the temple is almost completely collapsed, and the
clay lamps and glass kohl jars were found during the process of
clearing the rubble from that area, in addition to uncovering remains
pottery that possibly date back to the Byzantine period since they
bear the sign of the cross.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spk4u
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/200910213287/Culture/
archaeological-discoveries-byzantine-clay-lamps-a-glass-kohl-jars-
uncovered-in-syria.html

Train work uncovers Bronze Age bounty
The Local [Germany], 20 Oct 09

A massive dig along 22 kilometres of a new high-speed train route in
Saxony-Anhalt has revealed a spectacular discovery of 55,000
artefacts – among them skeletons that date back to the Bronze Age.
The eastern German state's office of archaeology announced this week
that Deutsche Bahn’s construction of a new Intercity-Express (ICE)
train route between Erfurt and Leipzig has proven to be a bonanza for
a team of 150 experts, who have been working since September 2008 to
examine some 75 hectares across the Querfurt plate near Oechlitz.
“The amazing thing is routes such as this naturally occur without
considering what’s beneath, it’s a random test trench through the
landscape that functions like the laws of probability,” he said.
“And we can make strong conclusions from something like this.
Especially in a region where hardly any archaeological digs have
taken place.”
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091020-22695.html
See also Der Spiegel [Germany]:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,656221,00.html

Archaeologists 'Strike Gold' by Finding Quarries of Greatest
Bulgarian Tsar
Novinite [Bulgaria], October 22, 2009

Archaeologists have solved a long-standing mystery by finding the
limestone quarries that Bulgaria's Tsar Simeon I The Great (893-927
AD) used to build his imperial palaces. The quarries are located
close to the village of Srednya, Shumen District, Northeast Bulgaria,
just 15 km away from Simeon’s capital city Veliki Preslav. The spot
has been found by accident by employees of the Shumensko Plato
(“Shumen Plateau”) Natural Park, who were mapping the region. They
saw a small cave, and thought that was a small rock monastery of the
type that have been found elsewhere in Northeast Bulgaria because
there was rectangular spots in the walls of the cave that looked fit
for placing icons. Only later did they bring specialists from the
Shumen Regional History Museum to the spot.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=109173

Phoenician remains found at Málaga airport
Typically Spanish, Oct 24, 2009

The oldest Phoenician remains yet to be found in Málaga have been
unearthed at the airport as land was moved as part of the
construction of the second runway. Archaeological work is now
underway at the site, coordinated by the Culture Department of the
Junta de Andalucía, and the Spanish Airports Authority, AENA, has
given an undertaking to look after and protect the historical
heritage at the site. It seems the site had been occupied between the
8th and 7th centuries B.C, earlier than the find 40 years ago at the
nearby El Cerro del Villar.
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_23621.shtml

Ancient Anglo Saxon and Iron Age artefacts and human remains found
Beverley Guardian [UK], 22 October 2009

ANCIENT human remains have been unearthed during an archaeological
dig at the Caythorpe Gas Storage site between Rudston and Boynton.
Five human burials have been recovered by experts. One set of remains
dates to the late Iron Age and had been buried with a simple iron
brooch. Another dates back probably to the Anglo-Saxon period and had
been buried with an iron knife. Archaeologists have also found
evidence of a settlement at the site, including an Iron Age round
house and at least one Anglo-Saxon building.
Other finds recovered include a Roman brooch, an Anglo-Saxon coin,
large fragments of a millstone and numerous fragments of pottery and
animal bones.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spkco
http://www.beverleyguardian.co.uk/739/EXCLUSIVE--Ancient-Anglo-Saxon.
5758141.jp

Archaeologists discover fourth set of human remains at University of
York dig
York Press, 22nd October 2009

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered what they believe to be a Roman
skeleton during excavations at the University of York. It is the
fourth set of human remains to be unearthed at Heslington East, the
site of the university’s campus expansion. Cath Neal, fieldwork
officer for the Heslington East archaeological project, said: “On
first inspection, it appeared to be an adult male skeleton and the
nature of the pottery within the grave fill leads us to believe that
it is Roman in date, but it will be fully analysed and scientifically
dated in due course.”
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spj71
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/
4696047.Archaeologists_discover_fourth_set_of_human_remains_at_Universit
y_of_York_dig/

'Atlantis' is discovered in Devon
Metro [UK], October 22, 2009

An ancient British inland Atlantis dating back millennia has been
discovered on a remote moor. The remains - including a mini-
Stonehenge - were found when an old reservoir was drained in
Dartmoor, Devon. The find includes remains of ancient walled
buildings, burial mounds and a stone circle 27m (89ft) across.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spj56
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?
Atlantis_is_discovered_in_Devon&in_article_id=755717&in_page_id=34

Ancient artifacts found in New York
Zanesville Times Recorder [USA], October 25, 2009

An archaeologist has found ancient tool fragments and other artifacts
at the site of a suburban New York sewer construction project. The
find was made around Peach Lake, in the Putnam County town of
Southeast. Archaeologist Michael Pappalardo said the artifacts also
include pottery shards; a 2 1/2-inch blade; tips for arrows or darts;
and stone flakes that show tools were made there. It's believed the
artifacts are about 1,000 years old. They're being donated to the
Southeast Museum in Brewster.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/sr5f5
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20091025/SPORTS/
910250353/1006/SPORTS/ANCIENT-ARTIFACTS-FOUND-IN-NEW-YORK

Divers recover reputed Blackbeard ship's anchor
The Virginian-Pilot, October 21, 2009

An anchor from a shipwreck thought to be Blackbeard's flagship, the
Queen Anne's Revenge, was so unstable that divers in North Carolina
retrieved it Wednesday rather than waiting until next year. Divers
raised the 4.5-foot, 160-pound grapnel, or anchor, from the wreck in
the Atlantic Ocean near Beaufort on Wednesday and will display it
Thursday at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. The
anchor originally had four prongs, but now has 1 1/2. The grapnel
probably was an anchor for a smaller boat that would have been used
to transport items between ships or from land to ship, Wilde-Ramsing
said.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spk5l
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/divers-recover-reputed-blackbeard-
ships-anchor

Shockoe Bottom dig finds 18th-century cellar
GoDanRiver [USA], October 23, 2009

Building the future of Shockoe Bottom is uncovering bits and pieces
of its past. An archaeological dig at the future site of Cedar Broad,
a 200-apartment, four-story development with ground-floor retail
spaces, has uncovered remnants of the homes of some of Richmond’s
early residents. Lyle Browning of Browning and Associates Ltd. said
finding the brick cellar and hearth of a late-18th-century home on
the 3-acre site at North 18th and East Broad streets was
unanticipated. The property is next to a McDonald’s restaurant.
Browning and his crew was expecting to find the remnants of homes
built in the 1840s. “To our surprise, we found no less than two 1769
or thereabouts buildings that were covered over by the 1840s homes,“
he said beneath a tent covering exposed layers of brick and soil.
Jeffrey Ruggles, a curator with the Virginia Historical Society, said
the discovery is significant.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spjy8
http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/lifestyles/local/article/
shockoe_bottom_dig_finds_18th-century_cellar/14864/#

Archaeologists unearth Hanford construction dumps
The Seattle Times, October 22, 2009

A glass beer bottle with a faded label that says "brewed in Walla
Walla." Two children's marbles. A 1938 Buick Roadmaster hubcap. Heavy
white ceramic shaving mugs. And more beer bottles - lots and lots of
beer bottles. That's just a sampling of the items that have been
unearthed from pits at Hanford where trash generated by the tens of
thousands of workers who came to the nuclear reservation during World
War II was buried. Archaeologists are sorting through what those
early Hanford workers and their families threw away at the atomic
boom town, seeing if what they find can tell more of the story of the
Manhattan Project. "This is a little piece of the puzzle we are
trying to add to it," said Brian Smith, archaeologist and owner of
Brian F. Smith and Associates of San Diego.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spj2i
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/
2010117834_apwahistorichanforddump.html

500-Year-Old Wooden Statues Found in Peru
Latin American Herald Tribune [Venezuela], 20 October, 2009

Peruvian archaeologists found 12 anthropmorphic wooden statues more
than 500 years old in the archaeological complex of Chan Chan, the
biggest adobe city in the Americas. The director of one of the teams
working at Chan Chan, Cristobal Campana, confirmed the find to Efe on
Tuesday, saying that the statues were discovered at the entrance to
the Ñan An palace, the most modern building on the site. Campana said
that the statues, in a fine state of conservation, belonged to the
penultimate stage of the Chimu culture, which was defeated and its
lands occupied by the Incas. While the anthropomorphic figures, which
measure between 60 and 70 centimeters (24 and 28 inches) are
indicated by their dress to be males, they display symbols of the two
sexes, Campana said. The statues found with cream-colored faces, a
low headdress and with the Peruvian Spondylus seashell in their hands
represent femininity, while those with the faces painted white, a
tall headdress and with Conus fergusoni seashells in their hands
represent masculinity.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=345892&CategoryId=14095

UWI team finds proof of ancient people
Trinidad & Tobago Express, October 25th 2009

AN archaeological team has found more evidence on a site at St John's
Road, South Oropouche, that people lived there 7,000 years ago. The
site is as old as that of the famed Banwari Man, whose remains were
found in San Francique, Penal, 40 years ago. The two sites are about
five kilometres apart. It means that the site, among the oldest in
the Caribbean, may see a rewriting of secondary school history. Proof
of the antiquity of the St John's Road site has come, in part, from
the research done by Dr Basil Reid, senior lecturer with the
Department of History at the University of the West Indies. Reid said
radiocarbon testing done in 1994 suggested that the St John's Road
site was dated to approximately 5,000 BC.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161548331

Ancient tomb unveiled in Nara
The Japan Times, Oct. 23, 2009

Archaeologists showed to the media Thursday a stone chamber that was
excavated at an ancient tomb near Nara and is believed to date back
to the late third to early fourth centuries. The red-colored chamber
measures 6.75 meters long, 1.2 meters wide and 1.7 meters high, and
forms the core part of the Sakurai Chausu-yama burial mound in
Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. The Nara Prefectural Kashihara
Archaeological Institute restarted research on the chamber earlier
this year to look into its structure. The tomb is believed to be that
of a nobleman in the early years of the Yamato dynasty, which ruled
major parts of Japan from the third to seventh centuries.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091023a4.html

Ancient tomb excavated in central China's Hubei
Xinhua News Agency [China], 2009-10-21

Photo taken on Oct. 20, 2009 shows articles excavated in an ancient
tomb in Xiangfan, central China's Hubei Province. A tomb dated back
to 650 B.C., the early Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.),
was discovered at Shengang Hi-tech Industrial Zone in Xiangfan City,
central China's Hubei Province, on Oct. 18, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/21/content_12284928.htm

DPRK unearths remains of Paleolithic Age
Xinhua News Agency [China], 2009-10-24

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has unearthed more
than 14,000 historical relics and remains dated back to the Old Stone
Age, the official KCNA news agency said Saturday. Two layers of
culture were found in the natural limestone Chongphadae Cavern,
Huangju County, North Hwanghae Province. More than 30 pieces of stone
tools, including a cutter, a hand-taking axe, a thrusting tool, and a
scraper from the middle of the Old Stone Age were discovered in the
first layer of culture. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 pieces of stone
tools, such as a pusher, a carving tool and a stone blade belonging
to the latter term were unearthed in the second layer of culture.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/24/content_12317269.htm

Stone with Sanskrit, Tamil inscriptions unearthed in TN
Press Trust of India, Oct 19 2009

A four-and-a-half feet tall stone slab with inscriptions in Sanskrit
and Tamil, believed to be dating back to the Pallava dynasty, has
been unearthed by labourers at a village in Tamil Nadu. Archaeologist
and researcher at Vellore Fort Museum, Kamalanathan, said the stone
slab might be as old as the Pallava period. The Pallava dynasty ruled
several parts of present day Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for about
500 years from fourth century to ninth century. He said eight
inscriptions were found on the front side and seven in the back of
the stone, which measures 2.5 feet in width.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spjbx
http://www.ptinews.com/news/338218_Stone-with-Sanskrit--Tamil-
inscriptions-unearthed-in-TN

Malawi could be the cradle of humankind
NewsDaily [USA], 2009/10/23

The latest discovery of pre-historic tools and remains of hominids in
Malawi's remote northern district of Karonga provides further proof
that the area could be the cradle of humankind, a leading German
researcher said. Professor Friedemann Schrenk of the Goethe
University in Frankfurt told Reuters that two students working on the
excavation site last month had discovered prehistoric tools and a
tooth of an hominid. "This latest discovery of prehistoric tools and
remains of hominids provides additional proof to the theory that the
Great Rift Valley of Africa and perhaps the excavation site near
Karonga can be considered the cradle of humankind," Schrenk said.
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre59m408-us-malawi-hominids/

Primate fossil 'not an ancestor'
BBC, 21 October 2009

The exceptionally well-preserved fossil primate known as "Ida" is not
a missing link as some have claimed, according to an analysis in the
journal Nature. The research is the first independent assessment of
the claims made in a scientific paper and a television documentary
earlier this year. Dr Erik Seiffert says that Ida belonged to a group
more closely linked to lemurs than to monkeys, apes or us. His team's
conclusions come from an analysis of another fossil primate. The
newly described animal - known as Afradapis longicristatus - lived
some 37 million years ago in northern Egypt, during the Eocene epoch.
And the researchers say it was closely related to Ida. Ida lived some
47 million years ago and was given the scientific name Darwinius
masillae. Dr Seiffert and his colleagues say that both Afradapis and
Darwinius were in a sister group to the so-called "higher primates",
which includes humans.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8318643.stm

Neanderthals ‘had sex’ with modern man
The Times [UK], October 25, 2009

Modern humans and Neanderthals had sex across the species barrier,
according to a leading geneticist who is overseeing a project to
compare their genomes. Professor Svante Paabo, director of genetics
at the renowned Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in
Leipzig, will shortly publish his analysis of the entire Neanderthal
genome, using DNA retrieved from fossils. He aims to compare it with
the genomes of modern humans and chimpanzees to work out the ancestry
of all three species. Paabo recently told a conference at the Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory near New York that he was now sure the two
species had had sex — but a question remained about how
“productive” it had been. “What I’m really interested in is,
did we have children back then and did those children contribute to
our variation today?” he said. “I’m sure that they had sex, but
did it give offspring that contributed to us? We will be able to
answer quite rigorously with the new [Neanderthal genome] sequence.”
Short URL: http://snipr.com/sr62f
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/biology_evolution/
article6888874.ece

Comets Didn't Wipe out Sabertooths, Early Americans?
National Geographic News, October 23, 2009

A comet impact didn't set off a 1,300-year cold snap that wiped out
most life in North America about 12,900 years ago, scientists say.
Though no one disputes the frigid period, more and more researchers
have been unable to confirm a 2007 finding that says a collision
triggered the change, known as the Younger Dryas. The drop in
temperature, plus fires from the impact, wiped out sabertooths,
mastodons, and other giant animals, and may have caused the decline
of an early civilization known as the Clovis culture. The 2007
research was based on a combination of archaeological artifacts and
extraterrestrial magnetic grains in soil samples found in a thin
layer of sediment throughout North America. Nicholas Pinter, a
geologist at Southern Illinois University, argued that black mats
described as charcoal in the 2007 research weren't actually charcoal.
Instead they were from ancient, dark soil formed in a long-ago
wetland, Pinter said. "It's a misunderstanding of what these layers
represent."
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spipi
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091023-comet-north-
america-extinctions.html

Evidence Alexander the Great Wasn't First at Alexandria
LiveScience [USA], Oct 23 2009

Alexander the Great has long been credited with being the first to
settle the area along Egypt's coast that became the great port city
of Alexandria. But in recent years, evidence has been mounting that
other groups of people were there first. The latest clues that
settlements existed in the area for several hundred years before
Alexander the Great come from microscopic bits of pollen and charcoal
in ancient sediment layers. Alexandria was founded by Alexander the
Great in 331 B.C. The city sits on the Mediterranean coast at the
western edge of the Nile delta. Its location made it a major port
city in ancient times; it was also famous for its lighthouse (one of
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) and its library, the largest
in the ancient world. But in the past few years, scientists have
found fragments of ceramics and traces of lead in sediments in the
area that predate Alexander's arrival by several hundred years,
suggesting there was already a settlement in the area (though one far
smaller than what Alexandria became).
Short URL: http://snipr.com/sr5xt
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091023/sc_livescience/
evidencealexanderthegreatwasntfirstatalexandria

'Dutch' Batavians more Roman than thought
PhysOrg.com [USA], October 23rd, 2009

The Batavians, who lived in the Netherlands at the start of the
Christian era were far more Roman than was previously thought. After
just a few decades of Roman occupation, the Batavians had become so
integrated that they cooked, built and bathed in a Roman manner.
Dutch researcher Stijn Heeren discovered this during archaeological
research. Heeren studied excavated artefacts and traces of
settlements and burial fields in the neighbourhood of Tiel. In Dutch
history, the Batavians are often presented as a brave people who
resisted a cruel oppressor. But Stijn Heeren has now demonstrated
that these 'simple people' also adopted a lot of Roman customs.
According to him the small farming communities changed into villages
where Roman practices made their entrance.
http://www.physorg.com/news175507383.html

Fracture zones endanger tombs in Valley of Kings
EurekAlert [USA], 18-Oct-2009

Ancient choices made by Egyptians digging burial tombs may have led
to today's problems with damage and curation of these precious
archaeological treasures, but photography and detailed geological
mapping should help curators protect the sites, according to a Penn
State researcher. "Previously, I noticed that some tomb entrances in
the Valley of Kings, Luxor, Egypt, were aligned on fracture traces
and their zones of fracture concentration," said Katarin A. Parizek,
instructor in digital photography, department of integrative arts.
"From my observations, it seems that tomb builders may have
intentionally exploited these avenues of less resistant limestone
when creating tombs."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/ps-fz101509.php

18th century paintings damaged in floods
The Times of India, 22 October 2009

HYDERABAD: Rare paintings belonging to the 18th century, Persian and
Arabic manuscripts, coins, weapons and pottery in Kurnool and Alampur
museums suffered damage in the recent floods. Talking to TOI,
director of archaeology and museums P Chenna Reddy said that the
department had sent a two-member team on Monday to examine the damage
to the museums. Deputy director (Museum) K S B Kesava, who inspected
the museums, said that the officials had managed to salvage the
manuscripts from Kurnool museum and brought them to Hyderabad for
chemical treatment and restoration works. The only silver lining was
that the artifacts were intact as they were kept in the showcases and
escaped flood fury. There are about 1000 artifacts belonging to the
stone age in the Kurnool museum. The coins are of Satavahana,
Ikshavaka and Moghul period. There are also sculptures which belong
to the Chalukyan period.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spjlr
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/18th-century-
paintings-damaged-in-floods/articleshow/5147053.cms

Digs to unearth mining heritage
BBC, 20 October 2009

A major archaeological research project aimed at uncovering the
mining heritage of part of Cumbria is under way. The three-year
scheme will see teams scour a 300 sq km (116 sq miles) area of Alston
Moor in the North Pennines. The English Heritage-backed project hopes
to reveal how the area's landscape and settlements developed over the
centuries. The North Pennines is one of the most intensely mined
landscapes in Britain and famed for rich deposits of lead. Stewart
Ainsworth, English Heritage project manager, said: "The impact of
mining on the landscape from the Roman period onwards has never been
systematically researched by archaeologists. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cumbria/8315731.stm

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More on:

Pavlopetri -- the world's oldest known submerged town
EurekAlert [USA], 21-Oct-2009

The world's oldest known submerged town has been revealed through the
discovery of late Neolithic pottery. The finds were made during an
archaeological survey of Pavlopetri, off the southern Laconia coast
of Greece. Marine geo-archaeologist Dr Nic Flemming of the National
Oceanography Centre, Southampton said: "The discovery of Neolithic
pottery is incredible! It means that we are looking at a port city
which may be 5000-6000 years old, with trade goods and wrecks nearby
showing some of the very earliest days of seafaring trade in the
Mediterranean." The project is being carried out by a
multidisciplinary team, including Dr Flemming, led by Mr Elias
Spondylis, Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic
Ministry of Culture in Greece and Dr Jon Henderson, an underwater
archaeologist from the Department of Archaeology at The University of
Nottingham.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/nocs-pt102109.php

Ancient Mosaic Reveals Artisans' Footprints
Discovery News, Oct. 19, 2009

Foot and sandal prints said to be 1,700 years old have emerged from
one of Israel's largest and finest mosaics. The markings reveal how
ancient artisans could have crafted the mosaic during the Roman
period. Spreading over 180 square meters (215 square yards), the
mosaic -- apparently the floor of a lavish Roman villa -- was
uncovered 13 years ago at Lod, south of Tel Aviv, only three feet
under an asphalt road not far from Ben-Gurion Airport. After a brief
display for a single weekend, attracting thousands of visitors, the
mosaic was covered until funds could be found to preserve it.
"Beneath a piece on which vine leaves are depicted, we discovered
that the mosaic's builders incised lines that indicate where the
tesserae (mosaic tiles) should be set," said Jacques Neguer, head of
the Israel Antiquities Authority conservation department.
"Afterwards, while cleaning the layer, we found the imprints of feet
and sandals."
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/19/mosaic-footprints.html

#====================#

Continuing Sagas:

Israel Plans Major Excavation at Western Wall
Arutz Sheva [Israel], Oct/23/09

Israel is planning a major archaeological dig under the Western Wall
(Kotel) plaza, opposite the Temple Mount, officials announced
Thursday. The excavations will create an archaeological park directly
underneath the area where worshippers currently stand while praying
at the Kotel.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/173091

Earhart's Final Resting Place Believed Found
Discovery News, Oct. 23, 2009

Legendary aviatrix Amelia Earhart mostly likely died on an
uninhabited tropical island in the southwestern Pacific republic of
Kiribati, according to researchers at The International Group for
Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR). For years, Richard Gillespie,
TIGHAR's executive director and author of the book "Finding Amelia,"
and his crew have been searching the Nikumaroro island for evidence
of Earhart. A tiny coral atoll, Nikumaroro was some 300 miles
southeast of Earhart's target destination, Howland Island. A number
of artifacts recovered by TIGHAR would suggest that Earhart and her
navigator, Fred Noonan, made a forced landing on the island's smooth,
flat coral reef.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/23/amelia-earhart.html

#====================#

Features:

Beneath Every Footstep in Syria is an Ancient Civilization
Global Arab Network [UK], 25 October 2009

Syria, the land of civilizations and history, is rife with ancient
monuments that tell the stories of the many peoples and civilizations
that lived in it, whose stories endured in the face of time to tell
humanity about their greatness. "Beneath every footstep in Syria is
an ancient civilization," says Archaeologist Markus Gschwind, head of
the Syrian-German Archaeology Expedition working at al-Rafina in
Hama. He notes that this saying is repeated around Germany, as most
Germans consider Syria the most historically deep-rooted country in
the Mediterranean. In a statement to SANA, Gschwind said that he has
been living and excavating in Syria for six years, each day
discovering many secrets from the history of mankind. He said that
the expedition is currently undertaking surveying the ancient city of
al-Rafina, which was one of the largest gathering points of Roman
armies during the Roman era. Excavations in the area began in 2005
with the purpose of making an archeological map of the old city,
detailing the various buildings, fortifications, streets, temples,
camps and burial grounds, all of which are still buried beneath the
earth.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/sr5gl
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/200910253329/Travel/german-
archaeologist-beneath-every-footstep-in-syria-is-an-ancient-
civilization.html

Trajan Palace, Headquarters of Archbishop
Global Arab Network [UK], 19 October 2009

The French Archaeological Team headed by Jean-Marie Dentez and Robert
Marie Blanc ended its excavation works for the recent archeological
season in Bosra, Daraa, southern Syria. Chairwoman of the Department
of Antiquities in the city of Bosra Wafaa al-Audi said that the
French expedition detected the northern curve of the Church and
unveiled the foundations of the private bathroom of the Trajan Palace
from the south. The works of the French expedition comes as a
completion of the excavation season last year which resulted in
finding the mechanism of providing the Palace with water from a pond
adjacent to the Palace of Hajj on the south side through clay pipes,
al-Audi added. Antique saddle crockery, broken glass and pottery
dating mainly to the Byzantine period and some dating to the Mamluk
period, were also uncovered.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spk9z
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/200910193249/Culture/
archaeological-discoveries-trajan-palace-headquarters-of-archbishop.html

Greeks uncorked French passion for wine
PhysOrg.com [USA], October 23rd, 2009

The bottle sitting in your wine rack at home is probably labelled as
a juicy, full-bodied French number, with dark berry flavours and a
long, complex finish. Rewind 2,500 years, however, and the original
makers of Côtes-du-Rhône are more likely to have prided themselves
on rather different qualities, such as Athenian sophistication, and
perhaps just a soupçon of Spartan grit. Writing in a new study,
Cambridge University Professor Paul Cartledge suggests that the
French, not to mention the rest of the West, might never have become
the passionate wine lovers we are without the assistance of a band of
pioneering Greek explorers who settled in southern France around 600 BC.
http://www.physorg.com/news175507773.html

The excavations of the ancient therms in Bourgas are almost completed
VisitBulgaria.net, Oct 21, 2009‎

After the end of the archaeology season, the ancient therms in the
mineral baths nearby Bourgas are almost completely uncovered,
announced the municipality. The depth of the culture layers is almost
9 metres and specialists already discover findings from the IV-I
century BC. The historical sources announce that the today’s
neighborhoods in Bourgas – Vetren and Banevo used to be a famous
Thermopolis – Aqua Kalide, build in the beginning of the II century
by the roman emperor Trayan over an ancient Thracian village. The
most important result from the discoveries is that the mineral baths
of Thermopolis turn out to be the biggest in the eastern part of the
Balkans. The total area of the excavations is already 3 800 square
metres. During the new excavations, scientists uncovered the central
hall of the baths, called “caldaria” in ancient times – a site
for hot procedures with mineral water.
http://www.visitbulgaria.net/en/bourgas/news/20091022/
ancient_therms.html

When Ancient Artifacts Become Political Pawns
The New York Times, October 23, 2009

As thousands lined up to catch a glimpse of Nefertiti at the newly
reopened Neues Museum here, another skirmish erupted in the culture
wars. Egypt’s chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, announced that his
country wanted its queen handed back forthwith, unless Germany could
prove that the 3,500-year-old bust of Akhenaten’s wife wasn’t
spirited illegally out of Egypt nearly a century ago. “We’re not
treasure hunters,” Mr. Hawass told Spiegel Online. “If it’s
proven clearly that the work was not stolen,” he said. “there
shouldn’t be any problem.” Then he said he was sure the work had
been stolen. Globalization, it turns out, has only intensified, not
diminished, cultural differences among nations. The forces of
nationalism love to exploit culture because it’s symbolic,
economically potent and couches identity politics in a legal context
that tends to pit David against Goliath.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/arts/design/24abroad.html

Egyptians conflicted over preserving Jewish past
Associated Press, October 24 2009

The warren of slum alleys is called the Jews' Quarter, but no Jews
live there. The ancient synagogue still stands, but its roof is gone.
The government is renovating it, but is doing so at a moment when
anti-Israel feeling is running especially high in Egypt. The Ben
Maimon synagogue exemplifies this country's conflicted relationship
with its Jewish past. The Jewish community that once flourished in
the Arab world's most populous nation left behind physical traces
ranging from grand temples in central Cairo and Alexandria to a holy
man's humble grave in a Nile Delta village. But the modern-day
Egyptian view of those relics lies within a narrow spectrum ranging
from disinterest to outright hostility. "We are a nation that doesn't
have enough to eat and doesn't have clean water," grumbled Mahmoud
Fahim, a Muslim who runs a clothing store in the Jews' Quarter. "Why
are we paying for these temples to be developed?" Fahim was touching
on a sore point — the failed bid last month by Farouk Hosny, the
Egyptian culture minister, to be elected head of UNESCO, the U.N.
culture agency. The minister blamed his defeat on a Jewish conspiracy
"cooked up in New York."
Short URL: http://snipr.com/sr5k9
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_Z-
qoQioyjtA3EEcXn9Se_MnQrwD9BHH2RO0

The mystery of Durban harbour
IOL News [South Africa], October 19 2009

Shipwreck sleuth Vanessa Maitland likes nothing better than a
mystery, and getting to the bottom of something for her means real
deep research. Maitland is a maritime archaeologist and when the
ocean finally looks like giving up some of its secrets, she is called
in to don her diving suit and investigate. The Agatha Christie of the
deep might not have uncovered the stuff of boys' adventure novels
like pirated gold coins, but what she finds is much more important,
she said. "The treasure is the information you get," she said.
Fathoming a mystery might take her years, but as she put it, "it is
not the destination, but the voyage that counts".
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spjde
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?
set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn20091019105122224C318153

Centuries later, house search heats up
Maryland Independent, Oct. 23, 2009

Anthropologist Julia King is on a treasure hunt on land nestled deep
in the Zekiah Swamp in Waldorf where she hopes to find definitive
proof of a summer house built in 1673 by Charles Calvert, the third
Lord Baltimore and second proprietary governor of Maryland. Zekiah
Manor, also known as Zekiah House, was a simple wooden structure with
a wood roof and brick chimney, King said. It might not sound
elaborate to folks today, but the home was considered elite for the
late 1600s, particularly since it was built in a densely forested
area that was often used as a hideout by the Piscataway tribe when
their enemies from the north, the Seneca and Susquehannock tribes,
conducted raids in the area.
http://www.somdnews.com/stories/10232009/indytop95717_32182.shtml

Meet the REAL Young Indiana Jones
FOX News [USA], October 23, 2009

Young Indiana Jones was a good story. But the real thing is even
better. Meet Andrew Du. Buried deep in the sand of a remote spit
called Koobi Fora hides a treasure trove of artifacts tracing back to
the beginnings of humankind. Found on the eastern side of Kenya's
Lake Turkana, the site is a prime spot for paleontological research
— and there we uncovered a new nonfictional adventurer, in the
flesh. Step aside, Harrison Ford: Andrew Du is the real young Indiana
Jones. Du, 22, earned his bachelor's degree in evolutionary
anthropology at Rutgers University. Since then he's spent the past
three summers in Africa uncovering a trail of rare, 1.5-million-year-
old human footprints. Garnering media coverage worldwide, these
findings from Rutgers’ Koobi Fora Field School yielded key
information about the soft-tissue anatomy of the oldest human-like
foot, information that could not be verified by fossilized bones alone.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569182,00.html

VIDEO: Statue of Roman Emperor Nero unearthed at Fishbourne
Chichester Today [UK], 22 October 2009

History has been re-written at Fishbourne Roman Palace after it was
confirmed a damaged statue found there more than 40 years ago is that
of famous Roman Emperor Nero. The statue found in 1964 had long been
believed to be that of a young Roman with connections to the royal
family. But that theory has been quashed after a 3-D scan carried out
last Thursday confirmed the marble head's uncanny likeness to the
only two other remaining depictions of the disgraced emperor left in
the world.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/sr66o
http://www.chichester.co.uk/chichester/VIDEO-Statue-of-Roman-Emperor.
5753696.jp

#====================#

Miscellany:

Bolivia rejects pyramid criticism
BBC, 21 October 2009

Bolivia's culture minister has denied that restoration work on an
ancient pyramid might see it lose its Unesco World Heritage Site
designation. Pablo Groux told the BBC the government had halted the
work at the Akapana pyramid in Tiwanaku earlier this year, after it
was told to do so by Unesco. Local archaeologists used a clay-based
plaster, adobe, instead of stone on the structure, sparking worldwide
outrage. Some experts said they were concerned the work could even
cause its collapse.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8317483.stm

Mystery surrounds gold ring find
BBC, 25 October 2009

A gold ring found by a metal detector enthusiast in Nottingham is
provoking debate among experts. Paul Hammond unearthed the ring in a
field near his Clifton home last summer and handed it over to a local
museum for them to investigate its origins. While the signet ring has
been dated to the 17th Century, no-one has been able to identify the
elaborate coat of arms it bears. It has now been declared treasure
trove and could go on display in Nottingham.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/8324754.stm

Land mines to be cleared in ancient city of Karkamis
Zaman [Turkey], 23 October 2009

A tender for the clearance of land mines by hand in the ancient city
of Karkamis, located on the mined Syrian border in Gaziantep, has
been won by Nokta Yatırım with a bid of TL 1.1 million. The company
will begin to clear the minefield once a contract is signed and the
area is consigned to them. It will be the first time land mines will
be removed by hand in Turkey. The task is expected to be completed
within 300 days. Once the land mines are removed from the
archaeological site, the centuries-old history of Karkamis will be
revealed through excavations, turning the city into a tourist
attraction. Universities in Japan, Italy and the US have already made
requests to carry out excavations.
spjho
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-190777-100-land-mines-to-be-
cleared-in-ancient-city-of-karkamis.html

Former archbishop's treasures found in river
Associated Press, ‎Oct 23, 2009

A fresh mystery is gripping Britain's religious community: Just how
did a treasure trove of rare medallions and coins collected by a
former archbishop of Canterbury end up at the bottom of the River
Wear? The coins, medals, goblets and other religious items were found
over the last few years by two divers, Gary and Trevor Bankhead, in
the frigid, murky river waters that loop around Durham Cathedral, a
Norman-style classic. Research shows many of the artifacts are linked
to the late Michael Ramsey, a former archbishop of Canterbury with
longtime ties to Durham, a city 280 miles (450 kilometers) north of
London where he served as bishop and spent some of his retirement
years before his death in 1988. The find was revealed Friday by
cathedral officials — who believe the items may have been robbed
from Ramsey — and by the Bankhead brothers, two intrepid amateur
divers who collected the unusual items during a series of dives over
the last three years. A statement posted on the cathedral's Web site
indicated that the brothers had found some 300 artifacts, including
some of archaeological significance.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spjs0
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jm-ICjP-ezv9-
xIqvCvaGYGOStigD9BGUS5G0

Council rubbishes idea of selling off Iron Age site
The Argus [UK], 22nd October 2009

A council leader has ridiculed suggestions that a historic landmark
could be sold off for housing. Ian Ross, Labour’s Parliamentary
Candidate for Worthing West, claimed Worthing Borough Council was
planning to sell Cissbury Ring, a nationally important site for
archaeology and wildlife. But Paul Yallop, the leader of the council,
said Mr Ross had got the wrong end of the stick and that the Iron Age
site was owned by the National Trust. Instead he said the council
was planning to sell fields to the south east and south west of the
landmark after the death of the tenant farmer.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spjik
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/
4695204.Council_rubbishes_idea_of_selling_off_Iron_Age_site/

Agatha Christie's picnic basket – junk or artefact? You decide
The Guardian [UK], 19 October 2009

Agatha Christie's picnic basket – a wonderfully Miss Marple-ish
object holding a bizarre assemblage including fragments of 4,000-year-
old pottery, a door handle, a sheet of newspaper and a key – almost
certainly did not belong to the world's most famous crime writer. It
is just one of myriad oddities that have ended up among more than
250,000 objects in the museum collections of University College
London. Visitors will be invited this week to vote on whether it
deserves its place there, along with the skull of a giant water
buffalo, a death mask of a Victorian murderer, an Native American war
bonnet presented to prime minister Stanley Baldwin, salami-shaped
clay samples from the Channel Tunnel rail link, a dilapidated
wheelchair that may have belonged to Joseph Lister, and some
spectacular Texan cowboy boots – right feet only.
Short URL: http://snipr.com/spjp2
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/oct/19/ucl-disposal-exhibition-
agatha-christie

Ancient graves ruined? Area man says gravel pit is disturbing tribal
site
Mansfield News Journal [USA], October 25, 2009

If you think Walter Renz gets prickly when asked -- however
discreetly -- for proof of his Native American heritage, he
positively bristles when thinking about what he calls the rape of a
burial mound at a northeastern Richland County gravel pit. The owner
of that gravel pit wants to see proof of that claim. Renz, self-
described Chief of the Chaliawa Nation, is trying to preserve what he
says is a ceremonial Thunderbird mound on land once owned by his
grandfather. Now it is the site of the Ganges Gravel Co. The rural
Butler Township man said he discovered the area was disturbed when he
went there in July with ceremonial food offerings to honor his
ancestors. "I saw they had started getting gravel from the edge of
the mound and found a large rock with crystal in it at the very edge
of the mound," he said. Renz identified the rock as a mound boundary
marker because of its size, the fact that it was worked into a
typical wall block-type shape with rounded corners and because it had
several red ochre etchings of animals and tribal symbols on it.
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20091025/
NEWS01/910250314/1002

In 1809, a bizarre burial for a 'mad' general
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 24, 2009

As American colonists battled for independence, Gen. "Mad" Anthony
Wayne captured a British fort in New York at midnight, earning a
reputation as a brilliant strategist in the chaos of battle. After he
died at age 51 from an attack of gout, his body rested for 12 years
in an oak coffin at Presque Isle, a peninsula off Lake Erie. In 1809,
his only son, Isaac, journeyed 900 miles round-trip from Eastern
Pennsylvania to Western Pennsylvania to return his father's remains
to the family plot in Wayne, Chester County. Unable to face the
exhumation, Isaac Wayne rested at a hotel while his famous father was
dug up. The general's friend, Dr. J.C. Wallace, was amazed to find
the general well preserved. Embalming was not possible so Wallace
dissected the body and boiled the flesh from the bones in an iron
kettle. With his father's skeleton, Isaac Wayne returned to Eastern
Pennsylvania. His flesh remained in Western Pennsylvania.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09297/1008070-455.stm

#====================#====================#

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