While Turkey has managed to reclaim some major historical artifacts smuggled from Turkey to the US and the UK, it is still unable to implement effective measures against the smuggling of new ones. According to the “Cultural and Natural Assets Smuggling Report” prepared by the Culture and Tourism Ministry based on figures provided by the KOM – the Anti-smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau of the police department – Turkey sees higher statistics related to the smuggling of historical artefacts every year; in 2008, when authorities seized 42,073 historical artefacts and detained 4,077 suspects in 1,576 operations. In 2003 security authorities…
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This week the ‘Achievements and Problems of Modern Egyptology’ conference takes place in Moscow, Russia. The colloquium – organized by the Centre for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences – is the first international Egyptological conference ever held in Russia, organized by the Centre for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is organized to celebrate the centenary of acquiring the Egyptian collection of the famous Russian Egyptologist Vladimir Golenischev by the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and spans all ranges of Egyptology but also has a clear focus on new methods and technologies in…
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To say that archaeologist Sarah Milledge Nelson has had a productive career would be a gross understatement. The University of Denver archaeologist has held the John Evans professorship. A position that every faculty member, at her university, competes for, but only one person gets each year. She wrote the book on Korean archaeology – literally – and has written or co-written somewhere in the neighbourhood of a dozen books, as well as numerous articles. She’s done fieldwork throughout Korea and extensive work at Niuheliang, a Neolithic site in China. She even pens works of historical fiction. Right now she’s working on…
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The Museo delle Antichit Egizie (Museo Egizio) in Turin is currently undergoing a makeover that is set to change the layout and design of the venue that is home to the biggest collection of Egyptian artefacts outside Egypt. In an interview yesterday, Alain Elkann, president of the Fondazione Museo delle Antichit Egizie, gave Quotidiano Arte a idea of what we can expect to see at the new-look museum. A Trip up the Nile One of the innovations is that visitors can expect to be taken through a reconstruction of a Nile environment by an escalator linking the four floors of…
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New research suggests the giant step pyramids of the ancient Mayas may in fact have been used to make music on a colossal scale. Experts were already aware of the ‘raindrop’ sounds made by the footsteps of those ascending Chichen Itza‘s famous El Castillo pyramid. Yet the comparison of El Castillo’s sonic phenomenon with another of Mexico‘s Maya structures has led two scholars to conclude that creating ‘rain music’ was the pyramids’ main function. Jorge Cruz of the Professional School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in Mexico City and Nico Declercq of the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA compared the…
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For many years, people said the Valley of the Kings had revealed all its secrets.. but then came KV63. In 2006, a team from the University of Memphis, headed by Dr Otto Schaden, were excavating the Tomb of King Amenmesse (KV10) when they accidentally uncovered something new. Noticing white stone fragments near where material was being removed, the team uncovered the first tomb to have been found in the last 80 years, since Howard Carter’s startling discovery of KV62 – the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Excavations at the tomb continue to this day, as does the hunt for KV64, and…
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An incredible ancient settlement off Britain‘s south coast that could ‘rewrite the history books’ is in danger of being swept away, unless archaeologists secure enough funding to launch full-scale excavations by next year. Experts have been astounded by the discovery of 24 worked timber fragments found on underwater diving expeditions to an underwater cliff of Bouldner, on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. Hundreds of objects such as flint, charcoal, hazelnuts, string and the remains of a longboat have been found alongside the fragments, which many feel are the remnants of a huge structure built over 8,000 years…
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Hot on the heels of Scottish Archaeology Month comes the Highland Archaeology Festival, from October 3-18 a fortnight of over 100 events, activities and open days, most of them free, giving the public a great chance to get hands on with the picturesque northern regions abundant heritage. As well as the archaeology of the Highlands, the festival will also celebrate its history, landscape and culture, through all from guided walks to family events, self-guided trails, archaeological surveys, evening lectures and exhibitions. Highlights will include an archaeology in action session at the famous Eilean Donan Castle in Skye and Lochalsh, a…
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The mouth of the river Thames has been the site of several Roman and Iron Age discoveries in recent weeks bringing to light evidence of early industrial activity in Britain. The structures include a fourth century Roman kiln used for processing salt water as part of the Roman salt-producing industry, as well as a Roman-era salt-house, boathouse and roundhouse. These structures were uncovered during a series of excavations near Mucking Creek and Coryton in Essex, which are taking place before the area is prepared for the new London Gateway port Britain’s first deep-sea container port and logistics centre. Salt would…
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Metal detecting enthusiasts are enjoying a halcyon period this week, as four extremely rare Norman coins have been unearthed in Gloucestershire dating back to the reign of William the Conqueror. The coins, which were discovered by an as-yet unnamed finder, are believed to have been minted in Gloucester between 1073 and 1076. And while they may have been overshadowed by the recent Staffordshire Saxon hoard – and even a recent Roman coin haul in Shropshire – archaeologist Kurt Adams tells the BBC the 0.8mm-thick coins are extremely uncommon. A coroner will soon decide whether the cache can be kept by…