Tuesday, May 13, 2008
SAVING ASIA’S TREASURES: FOGUANG TEMPLE, SHANXI, CHINA
Location: China Length: 12 min.
The 1,200-year old Foguang Temple in Shanxi Province, China, is one the most important remaining wooden architectural jewels of Chinese civilization. Built during the Tang Dynasty, the temple is a tribute to the peak of Buddhist art and architecture from the 9th century AD. Without regular maintenance and conservation by successive Chinese dynasties, the structure has fallen into dangerous state of disrepair. Global Heritage Fund (GHF) will provide funding and expertise for the investigation, planning and scientific conservation of the site.
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# posted by David Beard @ 6:42 PM 
Car park dig for ancient settlement
ARCHAELOGICAL investigations have started in Neston looking for evidence of an ancient settlement.
The results of the investigation will be used in connection with a planning application submitted for a major retail development in the present car park.
The dig, between Brook Street and Raby Road, will establish whether more extensive archaeological work would be needed, if planning permission was granted.
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Fragments of memorial stones from the parish church suggest that there has been a settlement at Neston for at least 1,000 years and examination of early maps and other documentary evidence indicate that the western part of the car park, behind the High Street, lay within the original settlement area.
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# posted by David Beard @ 6:41 PM
Silbury gives up its final secret
The secret of Silbury Hill, the most enigmatic prehistoric monument in Europe, isn't the monument but the monumental effort which went into building it, according to the archaeologist who has spent most of the last year slipping around on wet chalk deep in the heart of the hill.
On a sunny morning last week a local druid scattered Wiltshire grass and wild flower seed on the summit of Silbury, to mark what engineers and archaeologists devoutly hope is the completion of a project to prevent the 4,500 year old hill from collapsing - 10 months and £1m over budget.
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# posted by David Beard @ 6:40 PM
Grave robbers strike Sussex tomb of Bronze Age chief
Archaeologists excavating an enigmatic burial mound in Sussex believe that grave robbers beat them to the prize of finding the remains of a Bronze Age chief.
Racing against time to date a burial mound on the cliffs at Peacehaven Heights in East Sussex before it collapses into the sea, they have found evidence of human occupation of the site spanning back to 8,000 years BC.
But the prize was to find the remains of the warrior chief who was placed there in the Bronze Age, when the burial mound was built some 2000-3000 years ago, around the same time as the famous stones were erected at Stonehenge.
Many such mounds were built in the Bronze Age, often in high places, to mark the burial of a local chief.
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# posted by David Beard @ 6:38 PM
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Plan to prevent erosion of Neolithic sites
A LONG-TERM strategy is planned to protect one of Europe's most important archaeological sites from erosion.
A consultation was launched yesterday into a future management plan for the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site (WHS), which aims to protect, conserve and improve understanding of the historic area.
The WHS comprises six sites: the Skara
Brae settlement, Maeshowe chambered tomb, the Stones of Stenness, the Watch Stone, the Barnhouse Stone, and the Ring of Brodgar and associated monuments. The monuments, dating from 3000-2000BC, are regarded as outstanding testimony to the cultural achievements of the Neolithic people of northern Europe.
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# posted by David Beard @ 7:09 PM
Friday, May 09, 2008
Archaeology dig in car park site
An archaeological dig is taking place in the planned site of a supermarket car park after it was found it could be part of an ancient settlement.
Historians moved into Neston, Cheshire, after investigations revealed it may be part of a 1,000-year-old settlement.
Fragments of memorial stones from the parish church suggest that there has been a settlement there for at least 1,000 years.
The work is being carried out to establish whether remains are present.
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# posted by David Beard @ 2:01 PM
Dive team to scour Danube for Queen Mary's lost belongings
The legend goes something like this: after the disastrous Battle of Mohács in 1526, the twenty-one-year-old Queen Mary of Hungary fled the encroaching Ottoman army on a caravan of ships headed to Vienna. But, on her way up the Danube a few ships sank along with their valuable cargo. It is said that to this day they remain hidden in the murky depths of the river. Soon, any truth to this story may soon be discovered, or disproved.
According to inforadio.hu, a team of Hungarian archaeologists are launching an underwater excavation of the Danube to find ships identified by American radar technology.
The investigation is bound to be interesting, says Attila J. Tóth, departmental leader of the Hungarian Alliance Archeology and History of Art (Magyar Régészeti és Művészettörténeti Társulat), but whether or not the remains of the submerged sunken ships actually belong to the Hapsburg Queen's caravan can only be determined with intensive scuba diving.
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# posted by David Beard @ 1:59 PM
Italian builders uncover 2,000-year-old tombs
ARCHAEOLOGISTS were yesterday celebrating the discovery of 27 2,000-year-old tombs in Italy's "Valley of the Dead".
The tombs, some dating back to the 7th century BC, were found by chance while builders carried out work.
The whole area was sealed off yesterday and put under police guard to prevent anyone from trying to steal artefacts inside the burial chambers.
Grave robbers, or tombaroli as they are known in Italy, make a lucrative living from selling such objects to museums or private collectors.
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# posted by David Beard @ 1:56 PM
German archeologist unearths the riches of Turkey
Christine Bruns-Özgan, a German native and archaeologist, has made the unearthing of Knidos her life project over the last 20 years. With teams from the University of Konya she has made dozens of trips to the southern peninsula to find the traces of its history
Christine Bruns-Özgan, head of the archeology department at Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Universitesi, knows the historical value of a Turkish stone all too well.
Having lived in the heart of Turkey, Konya, for 26 years and having attended dozens of excavations in her lifetime, Bruns-Özgan, a German native, told the Turkish Daily News that Turkey holds a new surprise for her and the country's cultural collective history every year.
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# posted by David Beard @ 1:50 PM
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Metal detectorists thrilled at Viking sword find
BURIED for more than a 1,000 years, these beautifully cast fragments of a Viking sword could be a once-in-a-lifetime find for two metal detector enthusiasts in the Isle of Man.
Only the 13th recorded Viking sword found in the Island, it was unearthed by Dan Crowe and Rob Farrer while metal detecting in the north west of the Island.
The two Manx Detectorists Society members have found many interesting artefacts over the years, so they knew the importance of what they had found.
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# posted by David Beard @ 1:59 PM
Irish Viking trade centre unearthed
One of the Vikings' most important trading centres has been discovered in Ireland.
The settlement at Woodstown in County Waterford is estimated to be about 1,200 years old.
It was discovered during archaeological excavations for a road by-pass for Waterford city, which was founded by the Vikings.
The Irish government said the settlement was one of the most important early Viking age trading centres discovered in the country.
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# posted by David Beard @ 1:57 PM
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Bavarian police confiscate Latin American treasures
Police in Bavaria have confiscated a trove of ancient Latin American artefacts from the Mayan, Aztec and Incan cultures worth an estimated $100 million.
The collection of cultural treasures is thought to have been smuggled to Munich from Costa Rica by way of Spain, according to the Bavarian state police. Several countries including Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador lay claim to various items that were in the possession of a 66-year-old Costa Rican art collector.
According to the Munich-based daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, the man, identified as Leonardo Augustus P., claims to be a former diplomat who properly obtained the artifacts. The man, now a resident primarily of Geneva, is reportedly well-known to police dealing with smuggled art and exotic animals on several continents. He has even picked up the unflattering nickname “The Thief of the Treasures” in his native Costa Rica.
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# posted by David Beard @ 9:41 AM
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
TAC FESTIVAL 2008 PREVIEW
Location: Worldwide Length: 26 min.
The world’s best films and videos on archaeology and indigenous peoples are showcased at The Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival, to be held 20-24 May 2008 in the Soreng Theater at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon, USA. The Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Donny George, former Iraq Museum Director. This preview includes a short clip from each of the 18 competing productions. Film-makers from 17 countries submitted 81 entries for this event, which is one of the world’s few contests for heritage film.
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# posted by David Beard @ 2:50 PM
Emperor Nero's gate discovered in Cologne
The gate, found complete with 11 meters of wall, was a goods-delivery entrance to the Roman town from its river port outside on the Rhine.
Cologne, Germany -- A town gate that was probably built with a grant from Roman Emperor Nero has been discovered in Cologne, Germany during work on a new underground train line, archaeologists said.
"This is finest Roman handiwork," said Hansgerd Hellenkemper, director of the Roman museum in the city.
The gate, found complete with 11 meters of wall, was a goods-delivery entrance to the Roman town from its river port outside on the Rhine. The sturdy Roman wall protected Cologne for 1,000 years.
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# posted by David Beard @ 2:49 PM
Bronze Age axe 'factory' survey
Archaeologists are hoping to unearth evidence of what they believe to have been one of Bronze Age Britain's largest axe-making "factories".
Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) said the axes, made from a distinctive type rock - known as picrite - had been found throughout the country.
A three-week survey at the 4,000-year-old site will start soon in Hyssington, near Welshpool, Powys.
The trust's Chris Martin said it may have been a large industrial centre.
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# posted by David Beard @ 2:48 PM
Cave woman is laid to rest after 1,900 years
THE remains of a woman have been laid to rest in a hidden location in the Yorkshire Dales – about 1,900 years after she died.
She was returned in a special ceremony to the mysterious limestone cave where she was discovered by two Yorkshire divers more than a decade ago.
Phillip Murphy, an academic at Leeds University, and his friend Andrew Goddard found the woman's skull by chance during a diving mission at the cave, dubbed the Wolf Den, in 1997.
Carbon dating tests confirmed that the remains dated back to Roman times, and further visits to the site unearthed the bones of some medieval wild dogs and the first set of prehistoric cave footprints ever seen in Britain.
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# posted by David Beard @ 2:47 PM
Neandertals Ate Their Veggies, Tooth Study Shows
Tiny bits of plant material found in the teeth of a Neandertal skeleton unearthed in Iraq provide the first direct evidence that the human ancestors ate vegetation, researchers say.
Little is known about diet of Neandertals (also spelled Neanderthals), although it's widely assumed that they ate more than just meat.
Much of what is known about their eating habits has come from indirect evidence, such as animal remains found at Neandertal sites and chemical signatures called isotopes detected in their teeth.
The new hard evidence is microfossils of plant material that investigators found in the dental plaque of 35,000-year-old Neanderthal teeth, said lead study author Amanda Henry, a graduate student in hominid paleobiology at The George Washington University.
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# posted by David Beard @ 2:43 PM
Plague killed Roman grave bodies
A study into a mass Roman grave excavated in Gloucester appears to show the dead had been killed by plague.
The remains of around 91 individuals, uncovered in 2005, are part of Wooton cemetery which was the burial ground for the fortress at nearby Kingsholm.
The bodies appear to have been thrown in haphazardly during the second half of the 2nd Century.
Oxford Archaeology who analysed the remains say they are the victims of an epidemic, perhaps the Antonine Plague.
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# posted by David Beard @ 2:38 PM
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Historian hopeful fort will be found
THE END of a 40-year search for Dorchester's Roman Fort could be in sight for leading archaeologist Bill Putnam.
He is pinning his hopes on builders exposing a road that tracked across the area that became the Roman town of Durnovaria.
Part of the road has already been found during excavations in the town centre.
But the fort itself has eluded the retired Bournemouth University archaeology lecturer.
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# posted by David Beard @ 3:45 PM
LINDOW MAN - A BOG BODY MYSTERY AT MANCHESTER MUSEUM
One of the British Museum’s most popular exhibits is on loan to Manchester Museum for the next year.
Lindow Man was discovered in 1984 on Lindow Moss in Cheshire. Since then scientists, archaeologists, historians, curators - and the public - have been eager to find out more about him.
A Bog Body Mystery looks at the story of Lindow Man through seven different inquisitive minds, including those of a forensic archaeologist, a peat digger, a curator and a druid priest.
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# posted by David Beard @ 3:44 PM
Ancient timbers restored by sugar
Timbers from three medieval bridges in Leicestershire are being restored after a donation of 40 tonnes of sugar.
The 11th Century timbers were found in Hemington Quarry in 1993 and are being preserved at Snibston Discovery Park.
The wood is immersed in liquid sugar as part of the conservation process. The sugar crystals gradually replace the water in the wood and prevent warping.
The final batch of sugar - donated to the county council by British Sugar - was delivered on Tuesday.
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# posted by David Beard @ 3:43 PM
Turkish site a Neolithic 'supernova'
URFA, Turkey - As a child, Klaus Schmidt used to grub around in caves in his native Germany in the hope of finding prehistoric paintings. Thirty years later, as a member of the German Archaeological Institute, he found something infinitely more important: a temple complex almost twice as old as anything comparable.
"This place is a supernova," said Mr. Schmidt, standing under a lone tree on a windswept hilltop 35 miles north of the Syrian border.
"Within a minute of first seeing it, I knew I had two choices: go away and tell nobody, or spend the rest of my life working here."
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# posted by David Beard @ 3:42 PM
Terracotta army has egg on its face
China's terracotta army, a collection of 7000 soldier and horse figures in the mausoleum of the country's first emperor, was covered with beaten egg when it was made, scientists say.
According to German and Italian chemists who have analysed samples from several figurines, the egg was as a binder for colourful paints, which went over a layer of lacquer.
"Egg paint is normally very stable, and not soluble in water ... This makes it less sensitive to humidity and moisture," says German co-author Catharina Blaensdorf, a scientist at the Technical University of Munich.
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# posted by David Beard @ 3:41 PM
Archaeologists in city centre dig
Archaeologists have started digging up a site in the centre of Birmingham to try and find out more about the city's industrial heritage.
The dig is taking place at the home of the new city centre library, between Baskerville House and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in Centenary Square.
Experts said they hoped to uncover the remains of an old canal, a mill and a brass works.
The work is expected to last a total of four weeks.
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# posted by David Beard @ 3:40 PM
Ancient finds unearthed at dig site
THE Romans certainly knew how to build well.
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of the original turf wall built on the edge of the River Medway in about 70AD.
Their discoveries, found in the winter but kept secret until now, were made while they were exploring the flint-and-brick wall that eventually replaced it.
Archaeology South-East carried out the dig at the Rochester Riverside site as part of the preparations by Medway Renaissance, the council's regeneration team.
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# posted by David Beard @ 3:36 PM
