Ancient wall paintings were discovered in northern China in a 1,400-year-old royal tomb found during the construction of one of the country’s largest infrastructure projects, a national water transport system. The detailed frescoes found in the tomb in Cixian county in Beijing’s neighbouring Hebei province depict honour guard officials from the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577), the report said. The tomb itself had belonged to Gao Xiaoxu, the male heir of an emperor in the Qi, archaeologists told the agency. The intricate images, painted on the walls of a 15-meters long passage, will prove useful in the study of the escort…
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Wookey Hole Caves, is planning to bring its ancient history to life by hiring a resident witch to live in the caves and teach tourists about their history and craft. Hours are seasonal, but this is no pocket money summer job the owners of the caves are offering 50k (pro rata) for the right witch. The original Wookey Witch is thought to have lived in the caves during Britains Dark Ages, and put a curse on a local romance, before being turned into a stallagtite in return. The Dark Ages are thought to have begun when the defeat of the…
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The UCLA team creatingand updating a virtual model of Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves, have now released free photos and videos of their work, which are now available to view and download from their website. Their project started in 2005 and has been continuing ever since,adding new archaeological information as it comes along. It includes a number of photos, and short videos which you can watch in high definition on their site, or on youtube. The main aim of the project is not to bolster any one theory on how Qumran, or the…
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Qumran excavator Yuval Peleg (YP) was in Toronto last Thursday to lecture about his recent Qumran findings. Although he had to give two back to back lectures (on the same night) he generously made some time to talk with Heritage Key. I asked him about his theory that Qumran started off as a military site. I alsoquestioned himon his idea that the Dead Sea Scrolls were deposited in the Qumran caves by refugees who were fleeing the Roman army after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Here’s a transcript of our interview: OJ: One thing I found intriguing is…
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London is a massive metropolis, buzzing with energy and bags of history to boot. Well now you can see the city’s top ancient sights, all handily presented in our custom Google Earth flyover. For there’s plenty more to London than its monstrous museums – though they’re all pretty good too – and this map gives you the chance to plan a first-time visit, tell a friend or just take a day out to explore London’s proud heritage. There’s no shortage of events either; check our calendar page for the pick of the city’s listings, which include this year’s British Archaeology…
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Attribution: MANNOVER Supe Valley Peru Key Dates Inhabited between 3000 BC and 2000 BC. Discovered in 1948; excavations began in the latter part of the 20th century, and continue to this day. Key People Paul Kosok discovered Caral in 1948. Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady has carried out the most extensive research of the site. At over 5000 years of age, Caral is the oldest civilization in the Americas – an elaborate complex of pre-Inca pyramids, temples and houses as old as the Pyramids of Egypt. Many believe it to be a “missing link” or archaeological “mother city”. It is in…
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You’ve just finished a Calippo, had a lunchtime cider and staggered towards the tube in shorts and flip flops – and not a green leaf in site. You stumble onto a packed train and instantly lose ten pints of water, face buried in the pungent pits of a Bulgarian banker. You could go to the city’s myriad museums this weekend to grab a piece of the ancient world – but why not escape the madness of the metropolis, and get your fix outside the city limits? Three beautiful Roman villas are waiting for you with open arms, and stunning scenery.…
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Among the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibited in Toronto, at the Royal Ontario Museum, are two fragments which have never before been shown to the public. One of them is a fragment from Daniel. It appears to have been a popular book as archaeologists have no less than eight copies of it among the scrolls but this particular fragment has not beenexhibited until now. The other, Barki Nafshi (Apocryphal Psalms), is a series of Psalms that do not appear in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). As mentioned in my preview, photography of the scrolls is forbidden at the ROMs exhibit because…
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Schools out for summer – it’s playtime now. And while there are plenty of computer games to whet your appetite for the ancient world, there’s also still a lot of fun out there to be had with a bit of glue and some decent instructions. From projects for big kids to those with slightly less nimble fingers, there’s something it seems in the ancient world for everyone. Build Your Own Stonehenge from Running Press may not come with the more than 150 rocks that feature in the life-size version, but it does come with a good two dozen that you…
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Summer‘s here – and if you hadn’t noticed from the lighter nights, sunny days and relaxed morals, the Council for British Archaeology are ready to officially launch the barbeque season with a festival on a truly mind-boggling scale: The Festival of British Arachaeology 2009. From Saturday 18 July, the nation will become a hotbed of heritage fun, games and erudition as hundreds of venues the length and bredth of Britain lay on over 615 events celebrating archaeology and history in this country and many more. Maybe you want to join in on an excavation project? Or be taken on guided…