More and more of us are travelling each year, but are we getting the most for our money? I’d say probably not, but the future’s looking brighter. As the latest Ancient World in London bloggers’ challenge suggests, travel continues to buck the economic meltdown. And it’s not surprising: at a…
- Part 32
Just not Cricket: Two Roman Altars Stop Play at Musselburgh
Two Roman altar stones have been found in the Scottish town of Musselburgh, six miles east of Edinburgh. They are thought to date back almost 2,000 years and were uncovered during renovation work at a cricket pavilion. The archaeological excavation took place before building work could start on Musselburgh Cricket…
Hoard of Ptolemaic Bronze Coins, Jewellery and a Whale Discovered at the Fayum Oasis, Egypt
Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni announced today the discovery of 383 coins from the Ptolemaic period near the Fayum Oasis. Prehistoric jewellery made from ostrich eggs, and a skeleton of a 42-million-year-old whale were unearthed as well. According to the statement released by the SCA (Supreme Council of Antiquities)…
Bob Geldof’s Garden Being Searched for Iron Age Treasures
Anti-poverty campaigner Bob Geldof has done his bit to help preserve the heritage of Kent by allowing local archaeologists to carry out a geophysical survey on his land. The Faversham Society Archaeological Research Group is undertaking the survey and a series of mini digs this year in search of Iron…
How to Train Your Dragon Movie Could Help Teach us Humans to Play Nice
I went to see How to Tame Your Dragon at the weekend – a beautiful and delightful film by Dreamworks Animation about Hiccup, a distinctly un-Viking-like young boy from a village of blood-thirsty Vikings. Hiccup discovers that creatures who are different from them are not necessarily the enemy a discovery…
Glasgow Battlefield Archaeology Department Should Deploy Time Team Celebs to Help Stop Closure
Plans to close the University of Glasgows Centre for Battlefield Archaeology as part of funding cuts have been met with strong criticism from prestigious quarters since coming to light earlier this month. The centre, part of Guard and the Department of Archaeology, is an arm of the university which offers…
Shock and Awe: Assyrian Battle Strategies Used in German Blitzkrieg and US Campaign in Iraq
New research, conducted by Dr. Amy Barron of the University of Toronto, is shedding light on the weapons and battle tactics used by the Assyrians during the first millennium BC. Assyria was a military powerhouse during this time. The empire they controlled stretched from modern day Iraq to the Mediterranean…
New York Tutankhamun Exhibit Deserves the Met, not Times Square, Says Zahi Hawass
For me, the press preview of the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition, which opened in New York today, was a momentous event because I’ve never met Dr. Zahi Hawass before, and I got to look him in the eye and shake his hand and even ask…
Boudicca Cruise Ship hit by Norovirus and title of ‘Worst Ship Name Ever’?
Boudicca is a stupid name for a ship. Naming a Liverpool-based cruiseliner after one someone who murdered around 80,000 Romans in antiquity is hardly a great idea, especially when said ship is supposed to be travelling round the Mediterranean – you know, the sea that’s right next to Italy. The…
Baboon Mummy Tests Reveal Ethiopia and Eritrea as Ancient Egyptians’ ‘Land of Punt’
Heritage Key reported recently that mummified baboons in the British Museum could reveal the location of the land of Punt – a place to which pharaohsorganized trading expeditions. To theEgyptians, Punt was a placeof fragrances, giraffes, electrum and other exotic goods. It was sometimes referred to as Ta-netjer ‘Gods land’…