An archaeologist from the University of Manchester has produced new research suggesting Western invaders should be blamed for the demise of the ancient people and culture of Rapa Nui or Easter Island, further contradicting the once popular idea that its primitive, warlike Polynesian inhabitants had already themselves provoked societal collapse long before the remote southeastern Pacific island was first visited by European explorers in 1722. Backing an already substantial body of opinion, Dr Karina Croucher a post-doctoral researcher in the School of Arts Histories and Cultures argues that the Easter Islanders must have had a sophisticated and successful culture until…
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An unpublished manuscript, written by 19th century Egypt explorer Frdric Caillaud, has been discovered and it points the way to a 3,500 year old tomb of an Egyptian official. It is called Arts and Crafts of the Ancient Egyptians, Nubians and Ethiopians. It iswritten in French and illustrated with drawings. The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) is in the process of translating and publishing it. The work is being led by Dr. Andrew Bednarski. He gave a lecture and interview recently in Toronto, and provided me withsnippets from the bookand pictures ofthree of the drawings. Frdric Caillaud was one…
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Ever thought about a job that takes you across the length and breadth of Egypt, exploring the desert sands to find treasures and valuable artefacts that haven’t been touched in thousands of years?A career which gives you responsibility for some of the most famous and significant finds in history (as well as trying to get back others)?A vocation which earns you the nickname “Pharaoh” for your control over who gets to uncover the antiquities still to be found amidst the heat. And lets not forget starring in your own History Channel TV show! Dr Zahi Hawass, the Director of the…
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The good citizens of Milwaukee are set for a mummifying experience. From December 17, 2010 to May 20, 2011 the exhibit Mummies of the World will be hitting the Milwaukee Public Museum. The exhibit features 150 human and animal mummies showcasing mummification practices from around the world. The ‘Mummies of the World’ touring exhibit is currently on at the California Science Center. Egypt is famous for its mummies, but the practice is seen in many other cultures. The bogs of Northern Europe allow for mummification, as does the hot arid climate of Peru. Mummification techniques have even been used in…
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A stone effigy monument, in the shape of a Blackfoot creator god named Napi, has been discovered in southern Alberta south of the Red Deer River near the hamlet of Finnegan. One day Old Man determined that he would make a woman and a child; so he formed them both the woman and the child, her son of clay. After he had moulded the clay in human shape, he said to the clay, “You must be people … They walked down to the river with their Maker, and then he told them that his name was Na’pi, – Old Man.…
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tzi has not been put on ice, on the contrary – things are hotting up for him! By decoding tzi the Iceman’s DNA, scientists have reached a new milestone in their study of the world’s mostfamous glacier mummy. Experts from three institutions have pooled their skills in order to map tzis entire genetic make-up: Albert Zink, Head of the EURAC Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, together with Carsten Pusch, from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Tbingen and Andreas Keller from the biotech firm febit in Heidelberg. Together the researchers reached a historic moment in the…
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There is a billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles where Zahi Hawass is framed in the photo to look bigger than the Great Pyramid.Supposedly, it is all a matter of perspective. In the same way you can take your own view on the reality television series “Chasing Mummies” from History Channel. (If anyone in LA can snap a good shot of that billboard, please add it to the comments below.) In terms of realityTV fare on the tube, I guess this show is pretty good. It is action packed. The series has a strongstar driving the drama andmany interesting,…
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Steering clear of crocodiles and navigating around massive submerged trees, a team of divers started mapping some of the 25 freshwater pools of Cara Blanca, Belize, which were of importance to the ancient Maya civilisation. So far, the divers found fossilized animal remains, bits of pottery and in the largest pool explored an enormous underwater cave. The underwater archaeology project, led by University of Illinois anthropology professor Lisa Lucero, was the first of what the professor hopes will be a series of dives into the pools of the southern Maya lowlands in central Belize. The divers so far have explored…
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Scientists have made a reconstruction of a 10,000 year old ancient woman, based on the skeletal remains found near Mexico’s Caribbean coast. Surprisingly, the reconstruction resembles people from Southeastern Asia,rather than Northern Asia. In 2002, divers discovered the remains of an Ice Age woman at an underwater cave 4.5 km from Tulum, on the Ycutan Peninsula. The well-preserved remains 90% complete are estimated to be between 10,000 and 12,000 years old. Based on the skeleton, experts have now reconstructed what Mujer de las Palmas (The Woman of the Palms) must have looked like with surprising results. The body structure, skin…
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News that King Tut’s chariot will leave Egyptto join the final leg of the ‘Tuankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs’ exhibition in New York its first trip abroad has been confirmed by an SCA press release. In the same release Dr Hawass and his team say they continue to stand behind the findings published in JAMA earlier;King Tut died of complications from malaria and Kohlers disease. Mr. Farouk Hosni, Minister of Culture, confirmed that one of King Tuts chariotsis travelingto New York City, the first time that a chariot from Tutankhamun’stomb will be allowed out of Egypt. The…