Category: Ann - Part 10

5000-year-old Planning Application Holds Final Clue to Solve Stonehenge Riddle

Replica of the prehistoric deer hide discovered at Salisbury. - Image courtesy A. Dobe On Midsummers day, while more than 20,000 gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the Summer Solstice,it was revealed a long-lost prehistoric documentwasdiscovered at Salisbury. The fragile deer hide document will put an end to all speculations asto the Neolithic monument’s purpose, revealing that theworld’s most famous stone circle was never a place of worship or a giant calendar. Rather, it was the centre of commerce for Britain’sBronze Agecivilization, as far as 5,000 years back.

According to entertainment website ‘NewsBiscuit’, after extensive study, Oxford University archaeologists concluded that the document is in fact a 5000-year-old failed planning application for a vast covered market place.The finds shows that 600stalls were to be constructed over a 200 acre site, with grazing facilities for 3,500 oxen and cart. The document further reveals that the Stonehenge development was never completed,for the planning application was turned down by the ‘Local Council of Elders’. One of the reasons given for this was that the planners ‘did not think that the developers used of imported Welsh stone was sympathetic to, or in keeping with, local architecture’, as well asserious concerns over increased oxen traffic.

The planners ‘did not think that the developers used of imported Welsh stone was sympathetic to, or in keeping with, local architecture’.

The find does not only solve the mystery of Stonehenge’s function, but also offers new insight into the history of Druidism. Dr Amy Bogaard told NewsBiscuit: “We now know that Druidism is not a pagan religion at all. ‘Druids’ was actually the brand name of a chain of prehistoric pharmacists, the forerunner of their modern day counterpart ‘Boots'”. Further detailson the ‘discovery’ and ‘research’ are available on the NewsBiscuit website.

The team of experts nowhope that now they’ve solved the mystery of Stonehenge,the government will reconsider contributing 10 million towards the new visitor centre planned on the site.The visitor centre,funding for which was recently scrapped by the LibDem coalition, willcommemorate what was once the most important site for the Salisbury Plain economy.

Plants Used to Date Egypt’s Pharaohs

Scholars across the globe have spent more than a century trying to document the reigns of the various rulers of Egypt’s Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. Now, researchers say they nailed down a more accurate chronology for dynastic Egypt. The new chronology, based on a radiocarbon analysis of short-lived plant remains, is a long and accurate chronology of ancient Egyptian dynasties that agrees with most previous estimates but also imposes some historic revisions.

Although previous chronologies (based on both historical and archaeological records) have been precise in relative ways (the sequence of rulers), assigning absolute dates to specific events in ancient Egyptian history has been an extremely contentious undertaking. This new study tightly constrains those previous predictions, especially for the Old Kingdom (the third millenium BC), which was determined to be slightly older than some scholars had believed.

The research team says the study, published in today’s issue of Science, will also allow for more accurate historical comparisons to surrounding areas, like Libya and Sudan, which have been subject to many radiocarbon dating techniques in the past.

Christopher Bronk Ramsey and colleagues from the Universities of Oxford and Cranfield in England, along with a team of researchers from France, Austria and Israel, collected radiocarbon measurements from 211 various plants – obtained from museum collections in the form of seeds, baskets, textiles, plant stems and fruit – that were directly associated with particular reigns of ancient Egyptian kings. They then combined their radiocarbon data with historical information about the order and length of each king’s reign to make a complete chronology of ancient Egyptian dynasties.

“My colleague, Joanne Rowland, went to a lot of museums, explaining what we were doing and asking for their participation,” Bronk Ramsey said. “The museums were all very helpful in providing material we were interested in – especially important since export of samples from Egypt is currently prohibited. Fortunately, we only needed samples that were about the same size as a grain of wheat.”

For the most part, the new chronology simply narrows down the various historical scenarios that researchers have been considering for ancient Egypt. Yet, it does indicate that a few events occurred earlier than previously predicted. It suggests, for example, that the reign of Djoser – famous for his Step Pyramid – in the Old Kingdom actually started between 2691 and 2625 BC and that the New Kingdom began, with the reign of Ahmose I, between 1570 and 1544 BC. King Tut is put between 1353 and 1331 BC.

“For the first time, radiocarbon dating has become precise enough to constrain the history of ancient Egypt to very specific dates,” said Bronk Ramsey. “I think scholars and scientists will be glad to hear that our small team of researchers has independently corroborated a century of scholarship in just three years.”

Bronk Ramsey and his colleagues also found some discrepancies in the radiocarbon levels of the Nile Valley, but they suggest that these are due to ancient Egypt’s unusual growing season, which is concentrated in the winter months.

However, there’s at least one riddle thatremains: when did the Thera or Minoan eruption take place? While previous radiocarbon dating suggests the eruption took place at least 100 years before the start of the New Kingdom – put at no earlier than 1570 BC by this study. Archaeologist Manfred Bietak puts the massive eruption during the New Kingdom era.

The Thera eruption which some say is the inspiration for the Atlantis legend – destroyed the Minoan city of Akrotiri and caused havoc in the Aegean. It is considered a ‘global Bronze Age time marker’, and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilisation on Crete, through the creation of a gigantic tsunami that hit the island.

‘Archaeologists and Travelers in Ottoman Lands’ – The Penn Museum’s Near-East First

Excavations at Nippur, oil painting by Osman Hamdi Bey. 1904 (based on a photograph taken in 1893) In the 1880s, a time of great opportunities and great adventures, the University of Pennsylvania Museum organized America’s first archaeological expedition to the ancient Near East – to Nippur, a promising but far-flung Mesopotamian site then within the vast Ottoman Empire, now located in Iraq to the south of Baghdad. Nearly 130 years and 400 archaeological and anthropological expeditions later, the museum returns to ‘the Age of Exploration’ and their first Near Eastdig with the exhibition’Archaeologists and Travelers in Ottoman Lands’ (September 2010 to February 2011).

‘Archaeologists and Travelers in Ottoman Lands’ offers a gimps at the accomplishments, struggles, and fortunes of three adventurers whose lives intersected at Nippur: Osman Hamdi Bey, archaeologist, Director of the Imperial Ottoman Museum, and internationally renowned Turkish painter; John Henry Haynes, American archaeologist and photographer; and Hermann Vollrath Hilprecht, a German archaeologist, Assyriologist, and professor at Penn. The year 2010 marks the centennial of the deaths of Hamdi Bey and Haynes, and the demise of Hilprecht’s career due to scandal after he was accused of tampering with cuneiform inscriptions and withholding the finest discoveries for his personal collection. (Read up about the scandalin this excellent 1910 New York Times article about a dispute that continuously involves more and more persons, who originally had nothing to do with it. )

The Penn Museum’s exhibition sheds light on some of the late 19th century’s diplomatic obstacles and opportunities for ambitious archaeologists seeking to establish excavations in distant lands. As one of the most ancient Sumerian cities, Nippur was a prime choice for a major excavation, but it also posed major challenges. Located in the hard-to-reach marshes of southern Mesopotamia, the site offered a harsh climate, and was surrounded by warring tribes.

Ancient clay cuneiform tablet, ca. 1720 BCE, written in Sumerian. The famous literary text is called Hymn to the Goddess Inanna. Nippur. (Penn Museum Object number B7847).

Click To Watch Video

Episode 11: Age of Discovery

Christopher Naunton of the Egyptian Exploration Society explains the significance of discoveries by great explorers such as Flinders Petrie, Howard Carter and Giovanni Belzoni who revolutionised archaeology.

CLICK TO WATCH

Despite these, over the course of years, the excavations at Nippur provided archaeologists with a wealth of new information, and a trove of artefacts, including more than 30,000 cuneiform tablets, among them the largest collection of Sumerian literary tablets ever found. The cuneiform tablets formed the basis of the Penn Museum’s Babylonian Tablet Room and collection. Today, scholars continue to draw upon this vast core of material to develop an online dictionary of Sumerian, through the ongoing Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project.

‘Archaeologists and Travelers in Ottoman Lands’ features two 19th century oil paintings by Osman Hamdi Bey: Excavations at Nippur, which has never before been on public exhibition, and At the Mosque Door. Also on display are about 50 photographs, many by Haynes, whose contributions as an archaeological photographer are only now being recognized, and more than 40 artefacts from the Nippur expedition (1889-1900), including a full-sized “slipper” coffin, incantation bowls (inscribed with spells to perform protective magic), figurines, and numerous clay cuneiform tablets bearing some of the earliest writing in the world.

Archaeologists and Travelers in Ottoman Lands opensSunday, September 26, 2010 and running through February 6, 2011 at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Admissionis $10 for adults; $7 for senior citizens (65 and above); $6 children (6 to 17) and full-time students with ID. Amission is free to Members, Penncard holders, and children 5 and younger.

New World Settled Twice: Two-migration Scenario for the Americas

The two-migration scenario according to the study. A new analysis of Early American skeletons concludes that the large anatomical difference seen between ancient and recent Native Americans is best explained by two colonisation events of the New World.

The study suggest that the latest common ancestor between Early and Late Native American groups must have been located outside the continent: an other group of individuals arrived in the New World before the primary ancestors of today’s Native Americans.

The team studied a series of skeletons from South and Central America between 7,500 and 11,5000 years old, comparing them with those of more than 300 Amerindians, dating to 1000 years ago.The morphologicaldata wasthen compared against six possible scenarios for the settlement of the New World, including a single migration scenario, a single migration with subsequent evolutionary change through time, and two migrations into the Americas.

The comparison results suggest that the last common ancestor between Early and Late Native American groups must have been located outside the continent, and that a scenario considering two distinct migrations from Northeast Asia explains the observed differences best.

We found that the differences seen between Early and Late Native American groups match the predictions of a two-migration scenario far better than they do those of any other hypothesis, even taking into account local evolution through time. In other words, these differences are so large that it is highly improbable that the earliest inhabitants of the New World were the direct ancestors of recent Native American populations explain the authors of the study, published in PloS One.

In such a scenario, an early migration from North-East Asia and through the Bering Strait into the continent could have given rise to the Early American populations found in South and Central America.

This first dispersal between Paleoamericans and Amerindians probably occurred before the evolution of the distinctive cranial morphology that characterizes Native Americans today. This morphology would have been brought into the continent in a second wave of migration, again from East Asia and following much the same route.

The research by professors Katerina Harvati (University of Tubingen), Mark Hubbe (University Catlica del Norte) and Walter Neves (San Paulo University) indicates an elaborate scenario for the settlement of the New World: “What we actually demonstrate is that the processes associated with the settlement of the Americas appear to have been more complex than is often proposed.”

Angelina Jolie Cleopatra in Film of Stacy’s Schiff’s Biography of Egyptian Queen

Angelina Jolie cast as Cleopatra for new biopic slash blockbuster Angelina Jolie will play Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, in a film adapted from Stacy Schiff’s upcoming book ‘Cleopatra: A Life’. It’s hardly likely to subdue those arguing Cleopatra was little more than ‘Egypt’s sex kitten’ (opposed by myself, Nele and Rosemary Joyce in her blog and book ‘Ancient Bodies’, I must say), but it’s exciting news nonetheless.

The book won’t be published until autumn 2010, but producer Scott Rudin has already purchased film rights, saying the movie ‘is being developed for and with Jolie’. Author Schiff has even hinted at Brad Pitt playing Roman general Mark Antony, reminding us of the 1963’s Cleopatra starring (brief) Hollywood sweethearts Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Although I’m curious for the end result, I believe Jolie is miscast in this role. She does great goddesses (Beowulf) and mythical figures (Alexander), but Cleopatra was a real figure, ruling in Graeco-Roman times. Angelina Jolie is even a closer match to the Nefertiti Bust than Cleopatra VII, Ptolemaic Queen!

Maybe with sexy Jolie in the lead (or especially with Jolie in the lead) it won’t all be about Cleopatra’s two love affairs. Maybe the ruler of Egypt will get as much credit for ‘ruling’ as Caesar and Mark Anthony? Maybe they’ll realise there is no need to recreate the 1963 hype of having a celebrity couple as Cleopatra and Mark Anthony (Mrs and Mr Smith should be a warning)? Maybe Asterix and Obelix will get a cameo role? Maybe the film will indeed dispel the Cleopatramovie myths that focusedon glamour and Cleopatra’s skills as seductress?

Regardless of the narrative’s balance, the movie should encourage people to read up on ancient Egypt. But definitely, independent of how Egypt’s queen is portrayed, ‘Cleopatra(2011)’ promises to be just like Troy and Alexander a major blockbuster. Sadly blockbusters can only really be blockbusters when they contain enough disaster and/or violence and eroticism, right?

If you had no budget limitations, and people could be raised from the dead (without looking like zombies), who would you cast as Cleopatra, Mark Anthony and Julius Caesar?

On a happier note, Henry Cavill (The Tudor’s Charles Brandon) as Theseus in Tarsem Singh’s ‘Immortals’ (originally titled ‘War of the Gods’) now has an official release date, November 11th 2011. Director Tarsem Siggh (The Cell) describes Immortals as ‘Caravaggio meets Fight Club’ (rather than historically correct) and even Stephen Dorff returns to the screen as Stavros, helping Theseus to free Greece from the dark threat of the Titans. Except for post-shooting rendering to 3D, surely nothing can go wrong with this one?

Return of the Parthenon Marbles: Reunification, Not Repatriation Says Pandermalis

'The Agenda' host Steve Paikin interviews President of the New Acropolis Museum Dimitrios Pandermalis about the Eglin Marbles and repatration of artefacts. - Still from 'The Agenda' In an interview for Toronto-based ‘The Agenda’, journalist Steve Paikin questioned Dimitrios Pandermalis, president of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, on why Greece believes the famous Elgin Marbles should be returned to their homeland. And if the British Museum were to return the marbles would it not set a precedent for a myriad other claims for reparation, from all over the world?Pandermalis sees the return of the Parthenon Marbles not as a ‘repatriation’ of artefacts, but rather as re-unification, reinstating the ancient monument’s integrity.

Pandermalis is right to say that the Parthenon sculptures and friezes do not belong to Britain. Neither do they belong to Greece. The decapitated marble body in Greece, its head in Britain, are part of a larger construction, a symbol of a great ancient culture and ‘the first democracy’. That symbol is world heritage. But opposed to the Rosetta Stone‘s orNefertiti’s repatriation, a ‘reunification’ of the Parthenon Marbles, would put the pieces in the context they are now so severely lacking. I think these statues belong to the world community, says Pandermalis.

Even if we agree that neither Greece nor Britain has ethical ‘ownership’ over the marbles, where should they be? The sculptures belong to the monuments from which they derive, says Pandermalis abruptly.

Video: Dimitrios Pandermalis on TVO’s ‘The Agenda’

Les excuses sont faites pour s’en servir

Already in the early19th century, when the Parthenon Marbles first arrived on British soil, it was heavily debated whether bringing themto Britain was the right thing to do. In Elgin’s defence it is oftenarguedhe ‘saved’ the marbles from an Ottoman government that did not care. At the start of WWII, when the Greek government officially started demanding their marbles back, they were told: You’ll get them when the war is over. Until then, we’ll keep them safe. When the war had ended, and peace returned to Europe, it was: You’ll get them when you have a decent place to house them. Until then, we’ll keep them safe.

Fast forward to today, and the Greek government cares about its cultural heritage. The war is over. A splendid New Acropolis museum has been constructed (interview with architect Bernard Tschumi).We have the technology and logistics to safely transport invaluable artefacts from one country to another. What other excuse can Britain still think of?

We have our museum and they appreciate it but now it is another discussion: what practically is a metropolitan museum around the world? These major museums are in a sense encyclopedic museums, so they need to have important pieces from around the world. To present world history, to make comparisons between Japan, Africa, Athens, and so on. It is another concept, explained Pandermalis.

Video from the NAM:Moving Marbles isn’t that tricky…

Footage from the New Acropolis Museum and the ‘moving day’, from the TVO website. A subtle message to the British Museum that it is definitely not impossible to safely move the marbles?

Will the New Acropolis Museum ever house the Elgin Marbles?

NowAthens has the NAM(and possibly, if the British Government is keeping this silent, the clock of Big Ben) what will be the country’s next move?

Pandermalis sees the new Athens museum as a platform for discussion, the base of new negotiations and even collaboration with the British Museum.

Cleverly Pandermalis points out that most north European and American museums nowadays have difficulties acquiring new pieces, because illicit trade is not so easy as it was, it is criminal today. They, and of course, the British Museum, should keep in mind that their best chances of getting more new pieces to add to their ‘Ancient Greece’ collection is to have a good relationship with the country.

The arguments Dr Pandermalis presents in this interview are very moderated and well-thought out, making the interview a pleasure to watch.

No major wish-list for Greece (although they could easily compile one). No threats of suspended excavations. An offer of mutual respect and of collaboration. It seems that Greece does truly just want its marbles back? And shouldn’t the British Museum send them back, and in turn, for the next 200 years, get to display the reconstructions now at the NAM?

World’s Oldest Leather Shoe Discovered in Armenia

A 5,500-year-old leather shoe has been found in a cave in Armenia. The shoe 1,000 years older than Giza’s Great Pyramid and 400 years older than Stonehenge is perfectly preserved and was found complete with shoelaces. It is believed to be the oldest example of enclosed leather footwear, out-dating the shoes worn by Otzi the Iceman by a few hundred years.

The shoe is sole-less, made out of a single piece of cow hide and was shaped to the wearer’s right foot. It contained grass, which might have served to either keep the foot warm or to maintain the shape of the shoe. It is not known whether the shoe 24.5cm long and a European size 37 belonged to a man or a woman, though it would have been ideal for a male of that era.

The shoe is similar to the ‘pampootsies’ worn until the 1950s on Irelands Aran Islands. In fact, enormous similarities exist between manufacturing technique and style of this shoe and those found across Europe at later periods, suggesting that this type of shoe was worn for thousands of years across a large and environmentally diverse geographic region, said Dr Ron Pinhasi of Cork University.

We couldn’t believe the discovery. The crusts had sealed the artefacts and archaeological deposits and artefacts remained fresh dried, just like they were put in a can.

Such a well-preserved artifact from a Middle Eastern archaeological site is considered an amazing find because organic materials usually deteriorate due to the high content of salts and fungi in the soil, as well as fluctuations in temperature and humidity.

The discovery was made in Vayotz Dzor province on Armenias border with Iran and Turkey by Diana Zardaryan of Armenias Institute of Archaeology. I was amazed to find that even the shoelaces were preserved, she said.

The stable, cool and dry conditions in the Areni-1cave resulted in the exceptional preservation of the shoe and other objects. Other finds included large containers, many of which held well-preserved wheat, barley, apricots and other edible foodstuffs.

Click the images to see them inlarge size

A thick layer of sheep dung covered the floor of the cave, sealing the artefacts and archaeological deposits and further assisting preservation. Other discoveries included a broken pot, fishbones and sheep’s horns.

We couldn’t believe the discovery, said the dig’s co-director Gregory Areshian, part of an international team of archaeologists working at the site. The crusts had sealed the artefacts and archaeological deposits and artefacts remained fresh dried, just like they were put in a can.

Both the shoe and the grass samples were shown to be the same age, and dated to the Chalcolithic period, about 3500BC.

While the Armenian discovery is believed to be the oldest recorded example of a leather shoe and the oldest Eurasian shoe it is not the oldest known footwear. Predating the shoe by as many as 2,000 years are a moccasin made of plant material and a pair of leather sandals discovered in the 1970s in a cave in Missouri.

Leather sandals of a similar age to the Areni-1 shoe were found in a cave in Israels Judean Desert but these were never directly dated. Rather, their age is based on various other associated artefacts found in the Cave of the Warriors.

The archaeologists have not yet identified the purpose of the cave.”We know that there are children’s graves at the back of the cave but so little is known about this period that we cannot say with any certainty why all these different objects were found together,” said Dr Pinhasi.The international team will continue to excavate the many chambers of the cave.

The same team last year announced the find ofthe ‘world’s oldest human brain’ at the Areni-1 site, a 9 by 7 centimetres brain fragment, possible evidence of ceremonial cannibalism as well as a large number of vessels and grapevine shoots (possibly the ‘world’s oldest commercial winery’).

Further details on the study of the Areni-1shoeare published in the online scientific journal PloS ONE as First Direct Evidence of Chalcolithic Footwear from the Near Eastern Highlands.

Queen Cleopatra: More than Egypt’s Sex Kitten

The exhibition ‘Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt’ premired this weekend at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Blogs and major newspapers have been in awe about the exhibition, featuring the amazingphotographs from the underwater excavations by Franck Goddioand articles about Cleopatra’s glamour and quite disastrous – love life. There’s nothing but praise for the ‘beautiful queen’ and mass coverage on the two quests for her tomb, where she rests with lover Mark Antony. But a true must-read before visiting the exhibition is Rosemary Joyce’s critical blog entry on how we perceive the last Queen of Egypt. She protests quite rightly against how Cleopatra is hardly recognized as historical subject because she ruled Egypt, but rather because of the mythology of her doomed love affair, and the breathless treatment of a ruler as a sex kitten.

Rosemary Joyce is professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley and author of the book ‘Ancient Bodies, Ancient Lives: Sex, Gender and Archaeology’ that I’m currently reading. In the book she accessibly explains how archaeology in the past, and today, focuses too much on a male / female division of society, which leads to simplified models and incorrect generalisations. She demonstrates that sex, nor gender, were necessarily how men and woman in ancient cultures distinguished themselves, and makes a good case for less generalisation and more individuality. A reoccurring theme in the book handles noble Maya woman, and the theory that their importance was not limited to producing future rulers, but thatthey had political influence and powerful roles in their society.

Though Joyce hardly mentions Egypt in her book, the parallels are definitely there: we talk about Pharaohs and the rulers as male, and the princesses and wives as hardly worth mentioning, unless to figure out who was King Tut’s mummy… err.. mommy.

As Rosemary Joyce puts it on her ‘Ancient Bodies’ blog:

Discussions of ancient queens almost always display a concern with how they came to power that assumes women ruling were abnormal. This in turn leads to an emphasis on their relations with powerful men the fathers they succeed, the sons for whom they serve as regents, or as in Cleopatras case the men with whom they were sexually involved.

There are a few ‘exceptions’ to the fact that women in Ancient Egypt are forgettable: Nefertiti, known for her beauty, Hatshepsut, known for dressing up like a man and Cleopatra, known for seducing two Roman rulers. Still, all three of them have achieved more than that, and in their times were probably not just regarded as ‘mother of’, ‘wife of’ or ‘lover of’. Joyce on Cleopatra during her reign:

She was regarded asa ruler: the political leader whose strategies make her an excellent example of how independent kingdoms tried to contain the expansion of the Roman empire. Because she cannot be reduced to a type a generic woman she serves as a possible way into the thorny thicket of treating women (and men) in the past as actors with their own motivations, not reducible to generic categories.

Personally, I wonder why were are still ‘romancing Cleopatra’. Surely as an aspiring sole ruler she must have realised how advantageous an affair with the most powerful Roman alive would be? And with him gone, she needed protection once more. Pure political choices, rather than genuine love and romance? Although Antony may not have been the best bet, should Queen Cleopatra not be given more credit for being a cunning political strategist, and less pity for her doomed love affairs?

Looking forward to read your opinions on this! 😉

‘The Curse’ by Josh Ritter – A Mummy & Archaeologist Love Story

Still from 'The Curse' music video by Josh Ritter When you see Dr Bob Brier lecturing about mummies, there is no doubt he’s passionate about them. The same goes for Dr Salima Ikram and all kinds of animal mummies (watch the video). But actual love between an archaeologist and a mummy?

That’s something reserved solely for B-movies, until now: Musician Josh Ritter chronicles the love between an archaeologist and a mummy she discovers in Egypt, on new album ‘So Runs the World Away’.

Aptly named ‘the Curse’, the song is accompanied by an enchanting puppet music video.

When they are on their way from Egypt to New York by ship:The days quickly pass, he loves making her laugh. The first time he moves, it is her hair that he touches. She asks: Are you cursed? He says: I think I am cured. *blinks away a tear*

Hat tip to ancientdigger.com for bringing this romantic song with quite bizarre lyrics to my attention. He points us to this ‘behind the scenes’ / making-of, for more information on the music video from drummer Liam Hurley, who created this little masterpiece.

This definitely means changes in my Top 5 vaguely related to ‘Ancient History’ funny songs. The new (way-too) short list is:

King Tut by Steve Martin
The Curse by Josh Ritter
Awful Egyptians from Horrible Histories
The Anthropology Song by Dai Cooper
Rubber Ducky by Bert and Ernie (OK, technically not about Egypt or Mummies, but performed while exploring a pyramid and scared of a mummy.)

My favourite Heritage Key-related song is still ‘Nine to Five’ from our dearly beloved, of course! 😉 – server tecchie and rock star Foolish.

Prehistorical Burial Mounds and WWII Defense Systems Mapped at New Forest

A Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) pilot survey at the New Forest National Park has revealed previously unknown features to archaeologists. The data, from a a 34 square kilometres section of the New Forest between Burley and Godshill, has allowed researchers to identify a wide range of features, from Iron Age field systems and Bronze Age burial mounds (known as barrows) to anti-glider obstacles, a practice bombing range and a searchlight position from World War II.

Normally archaeologists rely on lengthy and labour-intensive field surveys to uncover such features, but airborne Lidar helps speed up the process.

Tom Dommett, carrying out the historic landscape research for the National Park Authority says: One of Lidars greatest benefits in the Forest is its ability to penetrate all but the densest vegetation like conifer or holly. It reveals very subtle features which are difficult to see on the ground and are even more difficult to map accurately, particularly in woodland.

At the current rate of survey carried out in the National Park it would take roughly 200 years to obtain a full understanding of the archaeological resource, Dommett adds, but with Lidar we will hopefully be able to do it in 10 years.

Airborne Lidar is a ‘remote sensing technology’ that uses the time delay between transmission of a pulsed laser beam from a light aircraft and the detection of the reflected signal to measure up to 100,000 points per second, building a detailed model of the landscape and the features upon it.

But no technology is perfect. As Lidar is indiscriminate in what it shows, the date sometimes has to be backed up by a targeted field survey, known as ‘ground-truthing’.

This is where the involvement of the wider volunteering community has been really helpful and the New Forest History and Archaeology Group have already made an invaluable contribution, says Dommett.

Originally developed for submarine detection Lidar has only become popular with archaeologists in the last decade. Being a huge time-saver, it has become more and more common in ‘modern’ archaeology. It is mainly used to survey possible excavation sites (its ability to penetrate forest canopy reveals features that are invisible on satellite images) but also for mapping ancient structures themselves.

An example is recent research at the ancient Maya site of Caracol, where the laser survey covered a 200 square kilometre radius in four days and revealed several unknown terraces, hidden caves and roads. Archaeologists estimate it would have taken them 25 years of machete-wielding to gather the same data.

Closer to home, laser scans are being used to map Rome’s ancient catacombs and Scottish heritage sites such as the Antonine Wall, New Lanark, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh and the island of St Kilda.