As if Stonehenge itself wasn’t impressive enough yet – the sarcen stones vary in weight from 20 to 50 tonnes – we are being told over and over it’s part of a bigger whole, a ‘ritual landscape’ including the Avenue, the Durrington Walls, the Stonehenge Cursus, and Woodhenge. Using LiDAR – airborne 3D scanning – data Tom Goskar for Wessex Archaeology has created a stunning 3D animation of Stonehenge’s current day landscape, showing the Winterbourne Stoke Barrows and that the Avenue is still clearly visible today. Add to that a virtual reconstruction of the Amesbury Archer’s skull and a 3D visualisation of…
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Heritage Key has posted a new video of Dr. Zahi Hawass by Sandro Vannini and Nico Piazzadiscussing the current excavations in the Central Valley area of the Valley of the Kings,or what we like to call the Quest for KV64.While the photography of Sandro Vannini alone makes the clip worth viewing, lets face itwhat we are looking for is news of the next tomb. Dr. Hawass has been closing in on what he hopes will be the tomb of Ramesses VIII, but regardless of whose name will eventually adorn the entrance, KV64 is the goal.If his team is successful, theevent…
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Another carved stone figurine has been discovered at the Neolithic site of atalhyk in Turkey, adding to an already large collection of over 2,000 pieces that has raised conflicting theories among scholars about their prehistoric purpose. The find, made last week, is of a six inch-tall reclining man with a large beard and oversized nose. Back in the 1960s, it was speculated that the prevalence among the carvings of females with big breasts and bellies (similar to the likes of the much older Venus of Hohle Fels, found recently in Germany) were indicative of a cult of worshipping mother goddesses…
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Two thousand years ago today, one of the most decisive and devastating battles of Roman times was raging at the northern edge of the empire. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest was to have a pivotal effect on Rome’s strategy in central and northern Europe and was probably the deciding factor in keeping the empire’s boundaries not much further north than the Danube for the following four centuries. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Roman soldiers lost their lives in the battle against Germanic tribes and the circumstances and timing were a hard psychological blow to emperor Augustus back in Rome. The defeat…
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From Sheep Pasture to Number One Tourist Attraction The Roman Forum and the surrounding monuments, such as the Colosseum and the Imperial Forum, are today considered to be some of Rome‘s most valuable heritage sites. They are visited by millions of tourists each year and generate vast sums of money towards their own maintenance, not to mention the associated income from the tourist industry. Efforts are made to protect and preserve them. But it hasn’t always been that way. During the 18th century when Grand Tourists – usually rich, young men on a gap-year-of-yore – came to Rome, the Roman…
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Tourists are taking the piss quite literally when it comes to Uluru, the sacred Aboriginal ‘rock’ in the middle of the Australian desert. Andrew Simpson is the general manager of Anangu Waai, an Aboriginal-owned company that runs culturally sensitive tours of the World Heritage-listed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. He claims that tourists are not only disrespecting local heritage and beliefs by climbing Uluru in the first place, but they are “shitting on a sacred site” when they get to the top. Waiting half an hour to get to the bottom again, he says, is just too much of an effort…
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Andrew Collins promised the world that soon he’ll unravel Egypt’s best kept secret in ‘Beneath the Pyramids: Egypt’s Greatest Secret Uncovered’, but it seems that Dr. Zahi Hawass has beaten Collins to this, stating that the so-called cave-complex is nothing but a rock cut tomb, already thoroughly explored and examined. Dr. Hawass says in a statement on his website: “This story shows how people who do not have a background in archaeology use the media and the Internet to make headlines.Unfortunately, when people make statements without knowing the history of the subject, they may mislead the public.For example, if a…
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A team from Glasgow Archeological Research Division (GUARD) are plumbing the depths of a medieval drain in the grounds of the 14th century Paisley Abbey, in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The dig is jointly part of Scottish Archaeology Month and Doors Open Day Scotland an annual event that allows the public free access to otherwise off-limits buildings, historical and modern, across the country throughout September. Michael Fediginan, who runs the local interest website Paisley.org.uk, has been on hand to photograph and record the excavation, and gave Heritage Key an insight into progress so far. Measuring between five and two metres high in…
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Here in Europe in the 21st century we like to think were pretty sophisticated. Yet, judging by a clutch of recent discoveries, our Iron Age, Bronze Age and even Stone Age ancestors werent so backward themselves. International trade? Social networking? Fancy gadgets? In every case, they went there, did that, bought the t-shirt (well, the animal hide). If theyd had a connection quicker than 28.8K dial-up, theyd probably have just blogged about it themselves, saved me the effort. Take the recent research done at a temple dating back to circa 800 BC in the Tell Tayinat region of Turkey, by…
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New research suggests some of Egypt’s most famous ancient temples charted the heavens in much the same way as Stonehenge, with many built to align with various stars as well as the sun and moon. One of the country’s most recognisable landmarks, Luxor‘s Karnak Temple, was constructed so that New Year coincided with the midwinter sun hitting its central sanctuary. An article in New Scientist reports that Many of the temples, some dating back as far as 3,000 years, would have been precisely aligned so that their people could set agricultural, political and religious calendars by them. Experts have long…