================================================================
explorator 11.10 June 29, 2008
================================================================
Editor's note: Most urls should be active for at least eight
hours from the time of publication.

For your computer's protection, Explorator is sent in plain text
and NEVER has attachments. Be suspicious of any Explorator which
arrives otherwise!!!
================================================================
================================================================
Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Angelika Franz, Dave Sowdon, Diana
Wright,Donna Hurst, Hernan Astudillo, John McMahon, Joseph Lauer,
Lynley McAlpine, Martin Bemmann, Mata Kimasitayo, Mike Ruggeri,
Rochelle Altman, Richard C. Griffiths, Roger Gelder, Ross W. Sargent,
Rick Pettigrew, Sally Winchester, Toke Lindegaard Knudsen, Jona
Lendering, and W. Richard Frahm, for headses upses this week (as
always hoping I have left no one out).
================================================================
PETITION
================================================================
A petition/letter is being circulated in response to the Italian
government's plans to shut down the Istituto Italiano per
l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO):

http://www.giuseppetucci.isiao.it/
================================================================
EARLY HUMANS
================================================================
Britain's last Neanderthals were pretty handy:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/23/neanderthal-tools.html
http://www.physorg.com/news133427782.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ucl-bln062308.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7466735.stm
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/06/23/give-neanderthals-some-cred\
it-they-made-nice-tools
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/pesadilla/mamuts/elpepucul/20080623elpepu\
cul_7/Tes

Implications of Neanderthal remains in Balkan caves:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL2768278020080627
================================================================
AFRICA
================================================================
The first stage of the rebuilding of the Aksum Obelisk is
complete:

http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/444
================================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
================================================================
Painted coffins from various periods:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-06/27/content_6800958.htm
http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2008/06/26/egypt_archaeologists_find_ancient_pai\
nted_coffins/afp/
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2347694,00.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080626/wl_mideast_afp/egyptarchaeology_08062617535\
8
http://dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=14678
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-06/27/content_6800958.htm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080626/wl_mideast_afp/egyptarchaeology_08062617535\
8

Vague item about the discovery of a 'royal structure' in
northern Iran:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=61722&sectionid=351020105

A 3500 b.p. cylinder seal:

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8704030811

More coverage of that Greek-inspired architecture in Iran:

http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=77777

Pre-Roman Hellenistic Palmyra:

http://www.fwf.ac.at/en/public_relations/press/pv200806-en.html
http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=77049
http://www.andhranews.net/Technology/2008/June/24-Ancient-city-50995.asp

The Naked Archaeologist turns his attention to Sodom and Gomorrah:

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=c7339c1f-75b3-471c-\
bc0b-d0d62c2187b1

More coverage of that Egyptian rope find:

http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=76238

More coverage of the Saar temple theory:

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=220908&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=31094

More coverage of the impending display of the Cyrus Cylinder
in Iran (techically it isn't 'returning'):

http://www.radiojavan.com/news/2008/06/18/Cyrus-Cylinder-Returning-To-Iran

More coverage of the impending search for Menkaure's sarcophagus in a
shipwreck:

http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=21630&t=1&c=33&cg=4&mset=

More coverage of the antiquity of Catal Huyuk's wheat:

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=145271&bolum=101

Egyptology News Blog:

http://egyptology.blogspot.com/

Egyptology Blog:

http://www.egyptologyblog.co.uk/

Dr Leen Ritmeyer's Blog:

http://blog.ritmeyer.com/

Paleojudaica:

http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/

Persepolis Fortification Archives:

http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/

Archaeologist at Large:

http://spaces.msn.com/members/ArchaeologyinEgypt/
================================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
================================================================
Plenty of coverage of a theory correlating astronomy with the
date of Odysseus' return:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080623-homer-eclipse.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/06/24/Homerstudy.ap/index.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=359&objectid=10518190
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20080623-1709-sci-odysseydated.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008013891_odyssey24.html
http://tinyurl.com/5oogqt (Independent)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_on_sc/sci_odyssey_dated_4
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/24/spaceexploration.sciencenews
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=homers-odyssey-may-document-eclipse
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/science/24home.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25337041/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080623175435.htm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4200965.ece
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/healthscience/snastro.php
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/06/24/can-an-eclipse-really-hel\
p-us-date-events-in-greek-mythology
http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/boletim_dentro.php?id=9023

... the journal article itself is now available:

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0803317105v1

... and a group is trying to redate Caesar's invasion of Britain:

http://www.txstate.edu/news/news_releases/news_archive/2008/06/Caesar062308.html
http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2008/06/look_to_the_ancient_skies.ht\
ml
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/21410774.html
http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/local_story_177113648.html

5000 b.p. jewellery workshop in Cyprus:

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=39970&cat_id=1
http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/default.aspx?LocalNewsID=648

A Thracian 'doctor' burial:

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=f1645

An ancient Greek 'towpath' near Corinth is threatened:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7479805.stm

A Roman necropolis in Fucino:

http://ilcentro.repubblica.it/dettaglio/Necropoli-romana-scoperta-nel-Fucino/148\
0298

Nice solstice moonrise over Cape Sounion (makes very nice
wallpaper):

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0806/solmoon_ayiomamitis.jpg

New Roman finds at Alfaz del Pi:

http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/9060.html

Reviving the Vestalia:

http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20080622/101520.shtml

Global warming threatens Scythian mummies:

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/25-frozen-siberian-mummies-reveal-a-lost-ci\
vilization

Fair bit of coverage of the Nemean Games:

http://www.askmen.com/videos/sports-today/ancient-games-re-enacted-in-greece.htm\
l
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7470858.stm
http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20080625/102437.shtml

More on the state of sites in Greece:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/23/greece.heritage

Recent reviews from BMCR:

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/recent.html

Recent reviews from Scholia [back online]:

http://www.classics.ukzn.ac.za/reviews/2008.htm

Visit our blog:

http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism

Blegen Library News:

http://blegen.blogspot.com/

Mediterranean Archaeology:

http://medarch.blogspot.com/
================================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
================================================================
Paris has had humans occupying it for much longer than previously
thought:

http://tinyurl.com/5mrhvm (Independent)
http://www.andhranews.net/Technology/2008/June/27-Paris-years-older-51466.asp

A Neolithic settlement in Wrexham:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_east/7471742.stm

Interesting finds at the Black Spout Enclosure:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/7475577.stm

An 'arab' was found in a Danish Iron Age burial:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080624-arab-dane.html

Thousands of burials in London have been mapped:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4228215.ece

Remains of medieval maltings at Bury St. Edmunds:

http://tinyurl.com/6hq2gp (EADT)

Items from a recent excavation of a Viking boat burial are going on
display in Sweden:

http://tinyurl.com/4btvhw

Not sure if we've mentioned this Viking ship recreation yet:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/raiders-vikings.html

... while this one needs restoration:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-viking-ship_both_26jun26,0,\
7484116.story

Some WWII bunkers in Denmark were recently revealed by a storm:

http://www.cphpost.dk/get/107892.html

Archaeology in Europe Blog:

http://www.archaeology.eu.com/weblog/index.html
================================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
================================================================
Some Neolithic burials in Shanghai:

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080618/article_363676.htm

Time for the semi-annual tourists-are-threatening-Cambodia's-
temples piece:

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/103864/Tourism-threatens-Cambodias-ancient-temples

... and they're doing the same at Easter Island:

http://news.mobile.msn.com/en-us/articles.aspx?aid=25379395&afid=1

Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog:

http://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/

New Zealand Archaeology eNews:

http://www.nzarchaeology.org/netsubnews.htm
================================================================
NORTH AMERICA
================================================================
Interesting gold 'chalice' found off the coast of Florida:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=6229195
http://cbs4.com/local/Chalice.gold.treasure.2.756568.html
http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=26849510713

Investigating the builders of the oldest church in the U.S.:

http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_9666934

Digging a soggy site in Kansas:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jun/22/ksu_archaeology_professor_leads_search_\
lost_treasu/

Looking for evidence of a 1694 massacre:

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080623/GJNEWS_01/113170114

A site with 1500 b.p. artifacts near Onalaska:

http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080621/FON0101/80621062
http://www.wbay.com/global/story.asp?s=8535919

Using archaeomagnetic dating techniques:

http://www.kansas.com/news/state/story/441912.html

Honouring Kathleen Gilmore:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/062408dnmetar\
chaeologist.32d03a67.html

Four Colonial burials at Port Tobacco:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25411852/

Can Inuit oral stories shed light on the fate of the Franklin expedition?:

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=42e42606-a3a0-429d-be43-47a7\
8378edc2

A Chinese burial in the Fraser Canyon:

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/2008/06/27/5999916-sun.html

Clues to pioneer diet in Quebec:

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=766c680b-d6ef-4f2d-a5ba-ee\
f74cce54d0


More coverage of DNA matches to 'Long Ago Person Found':

http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/stories/062508/news_20080625005.shtml
================================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
================================================================
Ancient maize varieties:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/asop-amm062308.php
http://www.physorg.com/news133663767.html

Rethinking Maya migrations:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2008-06-22-maya-kiuic_N.h\
tm

Precolumbian 'noisemakers' reassessed:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/27/america/LA-FEA-GEN-Mexico-Pre-Columbia\
n-Sounds.php
http://www.pr-inside.com/recreating-pre-columbian-sounds-r668938.htm

Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas Breaking News:

http://web.mac.com/michaelruggeri

Ancient MesoAmerica News:

http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/
================================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
================================================================
Some old tomes belonging to Iraq's Jewish community have turned
up in Israel:

http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2008/06/27/rare_iraqi_jewish_books_surface_in_is\
rael/afp/

Bones of the missing Romanovs?:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/24/Bones_said_those_of_missing_Romanovs/UPI-\
21261214350921/

Copying biblical texts may have been harmful to monks' health:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/27/poison-monks-mercury.html

Microscopic organisms threaten monuments around the world:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/healthscience/24micr.php

Chemical fingerprints of volcanic eruptions and their implications:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080624124308.htm

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Lives of the Week:

http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/lotw/

Arts and Letters Daily:

http://aldaily.com/

Past Preservers:

http://pastpreservers.blogspot.com/
================================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
================================================================
Egypt:

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700238123,00.html
================================================================
DIG DIARIES/BLOGS
================================================================
[please send in suggestions! current digs only please!]

Tel Kadesh (new!):

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/kelseymuseum.digdiary/read_our_blog

Tel Dan:

http://teldan.wordpress.com/

Hopkins in Egypt Today:

http://www.jhu.edu/egypttoday/index.html
================================================================
GENERAL MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS
================================================================
About.com Archaeology:

http://archaeology.about.com/

Archaeorama:

http://blogs.discovery.com/news_archaeorama/

Archaeoblog:

http://archaeoblog.blogspot.com/

Archaeology Briefs:

http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/
================================================================
CRIME BEAT
================================================================
Latest video on the Archaeology Channel is an interview with
Donny George:

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/

The Katas Raj temple was looted of nearly everything:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C06%5C27%5Cstory_27-6-2008_p\
g13_7

A number of looted items were returned to Mexico from the U.S.
and Canada:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080623-artifacts-video-ap.html

The feds are cracking down on looting in Oregon:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/nwheadlines/2008/06/_more_northwest_front_pages_142.h\
tml

A train guard from Kent who purloined artifacts from Roman sites
has received his comeuppance:

http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Court-sentences-Roman-artefacts-thief-newsin\
kent14059.aspx

More coverage of Jordan's return of looted items to Iraq:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/23/2282498.htm
http://en.rian.ru/culture/20080623/111740339.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/arts/design/23arts-LOOTEDANTIQU_BRF.html
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=578&cat=2
http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2008/06/22/jordan_returns_stolen_antiquities_to_\
iraq/afp/
http://www.reuters.com/article/artsNews/idUSL2262024520080622
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2008/06/22/iraq-artifacts.html

Looting Matters:

http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/
================================================================
NUMISMATICA
================================================================
Ancient Coin Collecting:

http://ancientcoincollecting.blogspot.com/

Ancient Coins:

http://classicalcoins.blogspot.com/
================================================================
EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
================================================================
Excavating Egypt:

http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=24892

Babylon: Myth and Reality:

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3440815,00.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aYog2rCe6MWk&refer=muse
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=24896&int_modo=1

Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty:

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=24883
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/arts/design/27anti.html

Roman Art from the Louvre:

http://www.normantranscript.com/localnews/local_story_174234432.html
(slideshow)

Dead Sea Scrolls:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1123440.html

Goya:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/travel/22journeys.html

... meanwhile, a piece attributed to Goya has been "downgraded":

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/arts/28arts-AGOYADOWNGRA_BRF.html
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/Coloso/seguro/era/Goya/elpepucul/20080626\
elpepucul_8/Tes

They're trying to arrange for the display of the Bayeux Tapestry
in England (but the story is being spun into a repatriation
issue?!):

http://tinyurl.com/5dsa9r (Telegraph)
http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Tapestry-row-sparks-new-Norman.4218336.jp

Ivory Coast is auctioning off a pile of antiquities:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/arts/design/27anti.html

Big bucks for a Monet:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/arts/design/25auct.html
================================================================
PERFORMANCES AND THEATRE-RELATED
================================================================
Macbeth (?):

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/theater/reviews/23macb.html

The Last Mistress (movie):

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/movies/27mist.html

Bacchae:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/theater/29mcge.html

Romeo and Juliet:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/arts/dance/29sulc.html

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/29theatnj.html
================================================================
ON THE WEB
================================================================
Vieux La Romaine (pristine Roman site with a nice museum):

http://www.cg14.fr/culture/patrimoine/archeologie/musee/
================================================================
OBITUARIES
================================================================
John Dore (archaeologist):

http://tinyurl.com/3uvjnz (Independent)

Henry Chadwick (Anglican scholar):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/world/europe/22chadwick.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/22/business/obit.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/19/religion
http://tinyurl.com/5htv9y (Independent)

Richard Koke (NY Historian):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/arts/design/25koke.html

Richard Vecoli (Immigration historian):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/us/23vecoli.html

Charles Parkhurst ("Monuments Man"):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/arts/design/28parkhurst.html
================================================================
PODCASTS
================================================================
The Book and the Spade:

http://www.radioscribe.com/bknspade.htm

The Dig:

http://www.thedigradio.com/

Stone Pages Archaeology News:

http://news.stonepages.com/

Archaeologica Audio News:

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/AudioNews.asp
================================================================
EXPLORATOR is a weekly newsletter representing the fruits of
the labours of 'media research division' of The Atrium. Various
on-line news and magazine sources are scoured for news of the
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game) and every Sunday they are delivered to your mailbox free of
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