This Friday promises a feast for archaeology lovers in the Toronto area. The Archaeology Centre, at the University of Toronto, is holding Archaeology Research Day. It takes place from 10 am to 4 pm at Koffler House, 569 Spadina Ave., Room 108. Fifteen presentations will be given on archaeology research happening all around the world. Its a free event and theres no registration. If youre interested in research involving ancient times, you will not be disappointed. Much of the research that is going to be presented dates to that era. Here are some of the highlights: News From Syria This…
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They came. They saw. They brought affordable self-assembly flat-pack furniture. Okay, so the Scandinavian contribution to the fabric of modern London might not be any more obvious than a few IKEA stores and a scattering of ubiquitous blonde-haired tourists, students, au pairs and bar workers. But without both the influence and menace of outlanders from Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the Anglo-Saxon period, Britains iconic capital wouldnt be the city it is today. Thats why I reckon theyre the invaders that had the biggest influence on London. The Vikings burned, raped, pillaged, ransacked and generally terrorised London frequently between 842…
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Learning about ‘alternative’ sexualities through time is often a murky business, beset with the prejudices and right-leaning morals of almost every culture in history. And when you’re looking as far back as ancient Egypt, the task becomes infinitely harder. This makes the Petrie Museum’s latest endeavour all the more impressive, as it falls in line with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Month, a UK-wide event running throughout February. Watch our special AWiL video on Love & Sex in the ancient world here. Like lesbian or gay history in general, you’ll have to do more than scratch at the museum’s…
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Once more, the J. Paul Getty collection of antiquities may be depleted due to the repatriation of a 4th century BC bronze called ‘Statue of a Victorious Youth‘ thought to be the work of Lysippos, a Greek sculptor who flourished under the patronage of Alexander the Great. The work was originally salvaged from the depths of the Adriatic sea near the Italian town of Fano in 1964 by Italian fishermen trawling in international waters. The real irony in the Italian court’s ruling ordering the confiscation of the work from the Getty is that the bronze was probably on its way…
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Some 10 miles south-east of Rome, archaeologists have been excavating a site they believe was of great religious importance to the ancient Romans as well as to bronze-age communities. The dig at the sanctuary of Diana and Nemi (also known as Diana Nemorense), overlooking Lake Nemi, has found ceramic pieces dating from the 13th and 12th centuries BC, a stone enclosure and evidence that a large religious complex once existed there. The archaeologists involved in the excavation, including Filippo Coarelli, a leading expert on ancient Rome and former professor of archaeology at the University of Perugia, believe that the site…
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The latest Tut research has revealed a king who, while still in his teens, probably had to walk around with a cane (as seen in this stele), had a cleft palette, suffered from malaria and had a spine that was out of whack. As an Egyptologist told me today, this pretty much kills the idea of King Tut as a sort of warrior king who died in a chariot accident. But for those wanting to see a warrior in the family, you may be interested in another research finding. The new Tut research has confirmed who one set of King…
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The King Tut results are in and right now everyone is going gaga over the fact that malaria appears to have played a role in the boy king’s death. While this is an interesting find, there is another discovery – King Tut looked fairly normal, or at least he did not have a significantly bizarre or feminine physique – which also carries major implications for Ancient Egyptian research. First a bit of background. During the reign of Akhenaten(who is probably Tut’s father)Egyptian art became, well, very weird. The formal prose that the Egyptians had followed for thousands of years was…
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South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) have sent us some of the first pictures of the remarkable finds recovered from the site of Britains oldest shipwreck a 3,000 year old Bronze Age trading vessel that sunk off the coast of Devonshire in southwest England around 900 BC. We blogged about its discovery on Tuesday. The wreck was located in just a few metres of water at the bottom of Wash Gully near Salcombe. When it went down, the boat was on its way back from the continent with a precious cargo of tin and copper ingots key raw metals in…
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When it comes to invading marauders, who had more influence in shaping London? To my mind, the Romans will win this hands down. They came, they saw, and they started building drains, underfloor heating and fancy mosaics. They also had awesome military organisation and ferocious fighting techniques, but I think the Romans should be remembered as the invaders to beat all other invaders for a slightly different reason. There’s no doubt they completely transformed the landscape of London. If it wasn’t for the Romans, Southwark would still be flooded by salt water twice a day. If Julius Caesar hadn’t landed…
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The tourist climb to the top of Australia’s most famous ancient site, Uluru, could be closed following the approval of a new management plan for the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Uluu-Kata Tjua National Park. However the final decision to close the controversial climb will not be made until one of the following three conditions is met. The number of people climbing the ancient icon drops from the current 38% to less than 20% The climb is no longer the major reason visitors travel to Uluru A range of new experiences are in place for visitors. It could therefore take years for…