A hat-trick of victories have been won around the world this week in the global fight against the theft and sale of archaeological artefacts a multi-million dollar international industry. The arrest of three men in Bulgaria in connection with their possession of a number of precious Roman coins and other items is particularly heartening, since it offers some sign that the tide might be turning in the struggle against a black-market industry that has been destroying the countrys rich ancient heritage. In the US on Wednesday, the former head of Long Island Universitys Hillwood Museum Barry Stern, was arrested and…
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We all get a bit ticked off when someone else uses our favourite coffee mug. But for the Jews in ancient Jerusalem, keeping their best cups sacred was apparently a matter of the gravest importance. A stone drinking receptacle dating from around the time of Jesus Christ, found recently on historic Mount Zion, has shed light on strict religious ritual when it came to mugs in Biblical times. It bears tens lines of strange script scratched into its side, which while not yet deciphered are nevertheless believed to indicate that the cup wasnt to be casually used by just anybody.…
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Not a week after we flagged up the archaeological site of Birne as the place to visit during Scottish Archaeology Month, its been announced that the remains of another Iron Age roundhouse have been discovered there. Archaeologists have speculated that the erstwhile multi-storey structure these days reduced to just a hard floor and rotting timber beams may once been the very centre of what was a Celtic power base in the north east of Scotland some 2,000 years ago. 20 roundhouses have been found at Birnie so far five in the last year alone. But this one, located at Dykeside…
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Tiny flax fibres aged 34,000 years old the earliest examples of their type ever seen have been discovered by archaeologists in a cave in the Caucasus mountains of the Republic of Georgia. Theyre so tiny theyre not visible to the naked eye the team responsible for the find, from Harvard University, only spotted the minute artefacts while examining clay samples from the cave under a microscope. The flax was probably used to make linen or thread, and was collected raw from the wild, rather than being farmed. It could have been put to all sorts of uses from making warm…
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Got a metal detector? Into archaeology? Lost your, ahem, manhood? Then the Manhood Search and Recovery Society is for you a newly-formed body promoting conscientious metal detecting in the West Sussex area of England, as well as the important role it can play in archaeology and, with it, local history. In the long term, the society aims to swell its ranks to the point where it can assistant in major archaeological digs. Responsible metal detectorists play a big part in our understanding of the region and our place, organisation founder Steve Lawrence told the Midhurst and Petworth Observer. Our first…
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Another carved stone figurine has been discovered at the Neolithic site of atalhyk in Turkey, adding to an already large collection of over 2,000 pieces that has raised conflicting theories among scholars about their prehistoric purpose. The find, made last week, is of a six inch-tall reclining man with a large beard and oversized nose. Back in the 1960s, it was speculated that the prevalence among the carvings of females with big breasts and bellies (similar to the likes of the much older Venus of Hohle Fels, found recently in Germany) were indicative of a cult of worshipping mother goddesses…
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A team from Glasgow Archeological Research Division (GUARD) are plumbing the depths of a medieval drain in the grounds of the 14th century Paisley Abbey, in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The dig is jointly part of Scottish Archaeology Month and Doors Open Day Scotland an annual event that allows the public free access to otherwise off-limits buildings, historical and modern, across the country throughout September. Michael Fediginan, who runs the local interest website Paisley.org.uk, has been on hand to photograph and record the excavation, and gave Heritage Key an insight into progress so far. Measuring between five and two metres high in…
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Here in Europe in the 21st century we like to think were pretty sophisticated. Yet, judging by a clutch of recent discoveries, our Iron Age, Bronze Age and even Stone Age ancestors werent so backward themselves. International trade? Social networking? Fancy gadgets? In every case, they went there, did that, bought the t-shirt (well, the animal hide). If theyd had a connection quicker than 28.8K dial-up, theyd probably have just blogged about it themselves, saved me the effort. Take the recent research done at a temple dating back to circa 800 BC in the Tell Tayinat region of Turkey, by…
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Ancient Egypt has provided the inspiration for a whole host of screen hits over the years, from the good (Cleopatra and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) to the bad (The Mummy, installments one through three), to the downright very bad (I Was A Teenage Mummy!). Among the most celebrated fictional tales set in the age of the pyramids is Giuseppe Verdis opera Aida, which was adapted into a hugely successful rock opera by Elton John and Tim Rice in association with Disney in 1998. Rumours are circulating that a long-threatened Disney big-screen adaptation of the story…
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, Director General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), recently attended ceremonies marking the reopening, after major restoration work, of a number of Islamic monuments in Cairo. It follows his appearance at similar ceremonies recently marking the completion of a number of big-budget developments in and around the area of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. Islamic Monuments The restored Islamic monuments all in the Al-Darb Al-Ahmar area of Cairo include The Al-Imam mosque, the Al-Layth mosque, the Al-Set Meska mosque, the Ali Labib house and the well zone of Youssef, at the Salah El-Din Citadel. The…