How does one transport a 1.8 million-year-old skull that might rewrite the history of mankind and has never before left the vault of the National Historic Museum in Tbilisi, Georgia? Very carefully, of course! The only person allowed to travel with the The ‘Dmanisi Skull’ – which suggests a Eurasian chapter in the long evolutionary story of man – is Professor David Lordkipanidze, director of the Georgian National Museum who brought the extra-ordinary find to the Naturalis Museum, Leiden for a special exhibition to end their one-year celebration of evolutionary scientist Charles Darwin. Archaeologists started in 1936 by excavating the…
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Remember the ‘groundbreaking discovery’ of Cambyses’ lost Persian army a few weeks back, in the Western Desert of Egypt? Almost as soon as it had been announced, Zahi Hawass’ Supreme Council of Antiquities were all over it, rejecting the Castiglioni brothers’ claims they’d found the legendary fleet near Siwa Oasis. Yet any doubts as to the brothers’ credibility have been lost on Iranian officials, who have branded Dr Hawass’ rejection of the discovery as politically motivated, and have urged UNESCOto step in to save the army’s remains. The request by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Toursim Organisation (ICHHTO) was made…
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Some people might look to Dr Zahi Hawass, bedecked in Indiana Jones denim shirt and Stetson hat, for a paragon of archaeological cool. Others could point to Kathleen Martinez, currently hunting for the tomb of Cleopatra at Taposiris Magna, as the epitome of a dynamic modern adventurer. But how many Egyptologists could realistically hold their own on long-running US chat show TheLate Late Show, hosted by Scottish funnyman Craig Ferguson? I’m struggling to think of any – much less anyone who’s done it three times. It must have been child’s play when the lovely Dr Kara Cooneyspoke to me about…
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It looks as if picket lines will be up for awhile yet at the Ottawa showing of Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. The blockbuster exhibition has been at the Canadian Museum of Civilization since October 23. There has been a strike on at the museum for that entire time. Nearly 400 workers, including educational staff and tour guides, have been manning picket lines. News is just breaking that the latest attempt to reach a negotiated settlement has failed. The union now believes that a negotiated settlement is impossible. PSAC advised the Minister of Labour after the vote…
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Museums from Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece have joined hands – and virtual artefacts – to create the first ‘Virtual Museum of European Roots’. They have put their most treasured objects online in 3D for visitors to explore in several thematic routes, as they are guided through European prehistoric culture and heritage. For museum professionals, there are e-courses, training them in the skills needed for establishing and managing a virtual museum. The ‘Berliner Goldhut‘ (Berlin Golden Hat, in the Neues Museum), thought to be a lunar and solar calendar, is part of a larger group of Golden…
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I got a jump on the Queen of England the other day, and visited the newly-opened wing of the Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology in Oxford a full week before she officially opens it Dec. 2. My parents live in Oxford, and I was visiting them unexpectedly (death in my husband’s family). They had tried to visit the Museum at the weekend, but queues that snaked round the block drove them back, so my father and I took a secondwalk over there on a quieter Wed. afternoonto see what all the fuss was about. First off, I should confess…
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Two Swedish museums have this month returned the remains of Maori people, believed to have been removed from New Zealand in the 19th century. The remains from five different people included a skull, a skeleton, two arm fragments and a mummified hand. A traditional Maori ceremony was held at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg to hand over the remains. Representatives from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the countrys national museum, and New Zealand’s Ambassador to Sweden Barbara Bridge attended. The ceremony was all about talking to the spirits and acknowledging that even though the bodies…
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The ‘birthplace of drama’ – the Theatre of Dionysus, located on the south slope of the Acropolis – is to be partially restored in a 6 million project that is set for completion in 2015. The ancient open-air theatre in Athens saw the premire of many of the great dramatic works written during the ‘golden age’ of Greek Tragedy. Famous ancient playwrights – such as Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes – took part in competitions staged twice yearly at the Dionysus theatre; the City Dionysia festival during the spring and the Lenaia in wintertime. The limestone and marble version of…
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A Maltese explorer claims he may have solved one of Egypt’s oldest mysteries. Mark Borda and Egyptian accomplice Mahmoud Marai, an adventure holiday planner, have discovered a large rock in the Western Desert, some 450 miles west of the Nile Valley – inscribed with a king’s cartouche, royal images and hieroglyphs. Ancient Egyptians are thought never to have strayed past Dakhla Oasis, located around 200 miles from the river. Mr Borda will not disclose the location of his find to protect it from prying eyes. He immediately sent details of the text to compatriot and Egyptologist Aloisia De Trafford, based…
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In the small town of Casola di Napoli, about three miles south of the archaeological site of Pompeii, sheer chance has brought to light an archaeological discovery as well as some unanswered questions. A lorry driver was manoeuvring his van when he managed to cause some subsidence in part of a car park between two residential buildings. A hole opened in the ground revealing a stone arch and some walls. Experts believe the structure revealed is a Roman domus built maybe 2,000 year ago when the area just east of Stabiae would have been largely agricultural and dotted with country…