• sean-williams

    Discovering Tut – Carter & Carnarvon: The duo that Unlocked the Tomb of Tutankhamun

    “The whole discovery of Tutankhamun needed both ingredients to make it work. It wasn’t all Howard Carter, certainly not only Carnarvon. But it needed the two of them.” George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon, ebbs deeper into the bond which drove two of archaeology’s greatest characters to the biggest discovery of all time. But how did the two men, so different in background and expertise, even forge such a strong relationship? Lord Carnarvon – or to give him his full tongue-twisting title, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon – was an aristocratic explorer and adventurer of the…

  • owenjarus

    Eat Your Breakfast! Archaeologist Finds a Cave Full of Stone Age Cereal

    Newsis breaking of a new discovery made by a Canadian archaeologist based in Calgary. Professor Julio Mercader, of the University of Calgary, has found evidence in a Mozambique cave thatHomo Sapienswere eating wild grains as early as100,000 years ago. The discoveryisreported today in the journal Science. It’s being touted as theearliest direct evidence of humans using pre-domesticated cereals anywhere in the world, ina university press release. Scientists have longbelieved that grains played little role in the Stone Age diet. Thisbelief isfueledbythe fact that its difficult to process grain using the tools of the time. The cave thatMercader excavated had a…

  • lyn

    Hello Toi Moko: Sweden Returns Tattooed Maori Heads to New Zealand

    Preserved Mori heads donated to a museum by a collector with a keen interest in natural history. A hand and a few odd bones gifted to a Swedish museum by a sea faring captain. According to details released this week to coincide with the repatriation of Mori ancestral remains to New Zealand, having a preserved head in the corner of your office at work was just the done thing during the 19th century. The recent return by two Swedish museums of Maori remains is part of a large-scale repatriation programme under way at New Zealands national museum. In all, some…

  • lyn

    Romans Join Fight Against Wind Turbine Plans

    Locals in the north of England will use their areas rich Roman heritage to fight a major electricity suppliers plans to build wind turbines near their village. RWE npower Renewables one of the UK’s leading renewable energy providers wants to build up to six turbines as part of its Stobhill Wind Farm development. The farm would generate enough electricity to power between 4,800 and 7,300 UK households every year. The company has already conducted preliminary investigations into the site and submitted a scoping report to Durham County Council. A full planning application is expected before the end of 2009. But…

  • bija-knowles

    Rome’s Ancient Via Tiburtina: From Neolithic Shepherds to Roma Gypsy Camps

    An illegal Roma gypsy camp might be one of the last places you’d expect to find yourself on an expedition in search of an ancient Roman bridge. But this is what happened to Professor Hans Bjur and his colleagues as they were researching their project on the historical and modern context of one of Rome’s oldest roads. As they made their way through a more neglected corner of Rome’s Ponte Mammolo suburb, they followed the directions to where the bridge should have stood, only to find themselves in the midst of a temporary settlement. While the Swedish researchers were the…

  • lyn

    Photography Tips From Derry Brabbs: Shooting Hadrian’s Wall

    Derry Brabbs is one of Englands finest heritage and landscape photographers. He has published more than 25 books, including collaborations with reknowned rambler Alfred Wainwright. His book England’s Heritage, a project in conjunction with English Heritage, featured more than 600 photographs of sites that have shaped England’s past. He is both author and photographer of his latest book, Hadrian’s Wall. The book traces the Wall from west to east, from the Solway Firth to Wallsend on Tyneside, taking in places of historical significance along the way. Brabbs has been photographing Hadrians Wall since his first assignment along the Roman frontier…

  • lyn

    Optical Illusions: is That an Exhibition of Trompe l’œil Coming to Florence and Paris?

    Fancy pitting your powers of perception against some of historys masters of deception? Then heres your chance. Art and Illusions: Masterpieces of Trompe l’il from Antiquity to the Present Day, the first major exhibition on visual illusion to be held in Italy, is on at Florences Palazzo Strozzi until January 26. Visual illusion has been used in art for thousands of years to trick and deceive us. This exhibition is designed to chart this fascinating story of trompe lil, or optical deception; the story of the tug-of-war between reality and its simulation. The show places optical illusion not only in…

  • owenjarus

    It’s a Fake! New Exhibit on Forgeries to Launch in Toronto

    A new exhibit that will look at forgery in ancient and modern art is going to be hitting the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) this January. The museum released details about it in a press release  today. It’s called Fakes & Forgeries Yesterday and Today and it runs from January 9 to April 4, 2010. There are going to be four sections that will examine the ancient world: Egyptian Antiquities will examine why the west is so interested in Egypt and how this led to so many fake Egyptian antiquities being created. Among the examples is an authentic relief of the…

  • owenjarus

    Mission Impossible? Bargaining resumes in strike hurting Afghan exhibit

    The exhibit Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul has been on at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, in Ottawa Canada, since October 24. For that entire time nearly 400 workers (including education staff and tour guides) have been on strike. The news only gets worse. As Heritage Key has previously reported talks broke down nearly two weeks ago with the union believing a settlement to be impossible. The union wants the museum to agree to binding arbitration. So far the museum has said no. People who want to see the exhibit have had to cross picket lines to…

  • owenjarus

    It’s a Fake! New Exhibit on Forgeries to Launch in Toronto

    A new exhibit that will look at forgery in ancient and modern art is going to be hitting the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) this January. The museum released details about it in a press release today. Its called Fakes & Forgeries Yesterday and Today and it runs from January 9 to April 4, 2010. There are going to be four sections that will examine the ancient world: Egyptian Antiquities will examine why the west is so interested in Egypt and how this led to so many fake Egyptian antiquities being created. Among the examples is an authentic relief of the…