Rescue excavations at the construction site of an underground car park in the Swiss city of Zurich are exceeding all expectations. So far, the remains of at least five successive prehistoricsettlements came to light, as well as some amazing finds. These including a flint dagger from Italy anda 5000-year-old wooden door – looking incredibly good for its age. The oldest of the settlements discovered at the Opera House digis dated to as early as 3700 BC. Underneath these remains, the archaeologists from Zurich’s Structural Engineering Department found sediment layers, which will offer information about the fluctuating water levels of Lake…
-
-
In 2004, agroup of 80 individuals were discovered at Driffield Terrace, in York. They were buried between the late 1st and early 4th centuries AD, on a large cemetery on the outskirts of Eboracum, the Roman town of York. They are unusual because they are all believed to be male,most are adults and more than half had been decapitated. When these 30 bodies were buried some got their heads in the right place on their shoulders. Others saw their heads placed between their knees, on their chests or down by their feet. In one double burial the two bodies even…
-
In 2004, a group of 80 individuals were discovered at Driffield Terrace, in York. They were buried between the late 1st and early 4th centuries AD, on a large cemetery on the outskirts of Eboracum, the Roman town of York.They are unusual because they are all believed to be male, most are adults – and more than half had been decapitated. When these 30 bodies were buried some got their heads in the right place – on their shoulders. Others saw their heads placed between their knees, on their chests or down by their feet. In one double burial the two bodies even had…
-
After more than ten years of excavation and restoration, the ancient well-house at the Royal Palace of Qatna, Syria, has been officially opened to the public. It is the first phase of an ambitious project that will see the entire palace site opened for international tourism. The ancient city of Qatna is located at Mishrifeh in western Syria, about 18 km north-east of the city of Homs and 200km from the modern-day Syrian capital Damascus. Bronze Age Qatna was strategically located at a the now vanished lake of Mishrifeh. In the 2nd millennium BC, itbecame the capital city of the…
-
The pre-Columbian Indian societies that once lived in the Amazon rainforests may have been much larger than researchers previously realized. Archaeologists have located the remains of about 90 settlements in an area south of the city of Santarm, Brazil. Traditionally archaeologists have thought that these inland areas in northern Brazil were sparsely populated before the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries. One reason for this assumption is that the soil found in the Santarm area is generally quite infertile; another reason is that far away from all the major watercourses, the access to water in the…
-
Egyptian archaeologists discovered a 4400-year-old tomb, south of the cemetery of the pyramid builders at Giza, Egypt. In a statement, Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny, said the ancient Egyptian tomb was unearthed during routine excavations supervised by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) near the pyramid builder’s necropolis. The recently discovered tomb belongs to a priest named Rudj-Ka (or Rwd-Ka), and is dated to the 5th Dynasty – between 2465 and 2323 BC. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, said that Rudj-Ka had several titles and would have been an important member of the ancient Egyptian court. Rudj-Ka was…
-
A massive haul of more than 10,000 Roman coins crammed inside a buried clay pot has been unearthed by an amateur metal detecting enthusiast – on his first ever treasure hunt, and this only a few days after it was announced the Vale of York Hoard was purchased by the British Museum. The silver and bronze ‘nummi’ coins, dating from between 240 AD and 320 AD, were discovered in a farmer’s field near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, last month. Experts say the coins have spent an estimated 1,700 years underground. The stunning collection of coins, most of which were found inside the…
-
Submissions from the public have helped Oxford University academics put together a hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasures. Yet, there is no need to get your metal detectors out. The hoard in question is the worlds largest online archive of material concerning the Anglo-Saxons. The virtual treasure consists of digital objects related to the teaching, study, or research of Old English and the Anglo-Saxon period of history, which will be made available online for free. Project Woruldhord (Old English for world hoard), which called on the public to submit Anglo-Saxon teaching material after being inspired by the level of interest surrounding the…
-
New research by archaeologists at the University of York suggests that it is beyond reasonable doubt Neanderthals often misrepresented as furry, primitive caveman hobbling about had a deep seated sense of compassion. Dr Penny Spikins, Andy Needham and Holly Rutherford from the universitys Department of Archaeology examined the archaeological record in search for evidence for compassionate acts in early humans. These illustrate the way emotions began to emerge in our ancestors six million years ago,which developed into the idea of ‘compassion’ we know today. We have traditionally paid a lot of attention to how early humans thought about each other,…
-
German archaeologists have made new discoveries at modern day Hisarlik, northwest Turkey ancient Troy. The finds further confirm the area occupied duringthe Bronze Age was not limited to the citadel; Troy VI and VIIwere muchlarger than originally thought. The three year research project at Troy lead by Prof. Ernst Pernicka, from the University of Tubingen‘s Institute of Pre- and Early History sees scholars focus on the analysis and publication of materials found since the university started excavations at the site in 1988. But to investigate and resolve outstanding issues, Project Troia does undertake some smaller excavations. These digs, in combination…