At the opening of the new Neues Museum in Berlin this week, it seems that one question is on everybody’s mind – will Germany return the bust of Nefertiti to Egypt? Dr Hawass of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities may be feeling a little more confident after obtaining an agreement from the Musee du Louvre for the return of the fragments from Tetiki’s tomb recently. There’s not much chance that Egypt would have received that reassuring phone call from President Sarkozy had the Louvre’s access to excavations at Saqqara not been threatened. These tough tactics have worked in this case.…
-
-
Who hasn’t watched Gladiatorand then wondered why you don’t meet men like that down the local pub? The same goes for those bulging muscles of antiquity that we see in classical art galleries they’ve often made me think that, well, they don’t make ’em like they used to. Now it turns out that what we thought all along that men in ancient times were a darn sight fitter than their modern descendants – is actually true. What’s more, it seems that ancient man was also better looking and more intelligent. This is the controversial argument that Australian author Peter McAllister…
-
Footprints left by the artists and workers who made the largest and most beautiful Roman-era mosaic in Israel 1,700 years ago have been discovered in the plaster underneath the mosaic. Archaeologists were in the process of conserving the famous Lod Mosaic when they found the imprints of bare feet and sandals shown clearly in the plaster bed onto which the mosaic was later laid. The conservation experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority were detaching each piece of the 180 square-metre mosaic before taking it to conservation laboratories in Jerusalem. Jacques Neguer, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s conservation branch, said:…
-
A second century AD Roman shipwreck with a cargo of 130 amphorae containing wine and possibly also olive oil has been the subject of an underwater archaeological survey off the eastern coast of Cyprus. The survey, the first detailed non-invasive archaeological survey conducted at the site since the ship was found in 2007, was completed at the end of August. It found that the amphorae, which are now scattered on the seabed, came from south-eastern Asia Minor as well as the north-east Mediterranean region. Some of the jars contained wine from the south coast of France. Other items provide clues…
-
Experts think that the head of a marble statue depicting a young boy, found at Fishbourne Roman Palace in Sussex 45 years ago, might actually be the emperor Nero. This theory has yet to be proven and a 3D laser scan of the marble head on 15 October may provide further evidence. The curator of archaeology at Fishbourne Roman Palace, Dr Rob Symmons, and archaeology experts from Bournemouth University, Dr Miles Russell and Harry Manley are working on this project. They noticed during the past year that there are several factors that suggest the marble portrait could be Nero. The…
-
The discovery of a unique amphitheatre and other structures at Rome’s ancient maritime port is putting the archaeological site of Portus on the map. For decades it’s been a much over-looked site next to Fiumicino’s international runway and scholarly attention has focused on neighbouring Ostia Antica, but experts now believe it is a unique site that should rank alongside monuments such as Stonehenge or Angkor Wat. I spoke to Professor Simon Keay, director of the Portus Project and leading expert in Roman archaeology at the University of Southampton and the British School at Rome about the findings of the excavation,…
-
The Roman walls of Chester are being restored by a team of the city’s archaeologists. A section up to 30m long collapsed in April 2008 and has been closed to visitors ever since. According to Cheshire West and Chester Council, piecing the wall together could take up to one year, but in the meanwhile visitors can watch the archaeologists at work from a temporary walkway. The rebuilding of the wall should be quite ‘authentic’ the project team, including specialists from English Heritage as well as other specialists, has researched Roman wall-building techniques and hope to reconstruct something faithful to the…
-
I blogged earlier about the discovery of major Roman structures at Rome’s principal maritime port from the middle of the first century onwards. As part of the Portus Project, a team of archaeologal experts worked together with the Archaeological Computing Research Group at Southampton University to create digital images to aid excavators at the site. These two images show what the amphitheatre and the entrance to the port would have looked like 1,800 years ago. The Amphitheatre The amphitheatre has emerged at a location that excavators say is inside an ‘imperial’ palace complex – whose main function was port-related administration.…
-
Several major archaeological discoveries have been made at the site of one of Rome‘s ancient harbours. An oval amphitheatre, a 90m canal as well as many smaller objects (including marble statues) have emerged during excavations of Portus, the cargo port of ancient Rome, about two miles north of its better-known counterpart, Ostia Antica. The team of archaeologists working at the site is led by the University of Southampton, who are working with Cambridge University, the Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Ostia and the British School at Rome. Amphitheatre Fit For an Emperor The amphitheatre, which could have seated many…
-
An architect and a classical archaeologist have come together to give a new perspective on one of Rome’s ancient roads, via Tiburtina. The result is a book just published, Via Tiburtina – Space, Movement and Artefacts in the Urban Landscape, which examines the constantly changing urban space of the road. The project involved six years of studying almost every inch of the ancient road and takes an interdisciplinary look at the road through the ages and from various angles, including its history during antiquity, the Renaissance and up to its continued use today. The origins of via Tiburtina date back…