A set of unusually well preserved human and other organic remains discovered in the Highlands of Scotland wrapped in animal hide or furs, with a wicker basket curiously encasing the skull have been described by archaeologists as an extremely rare and valuable find that have the potential to tell a great deal about contemporary life and burial practice in the Bronze Age. They were uncovered last February by landowner Jonathan Hampton, while digging peat with heavy machinery at a farm at Strath Oykel, in Sutherland. Local police were first on the scene and according to an angry Hampton made a…
-
-
Work is ongoing in China on a major project to restore Daming Palace – the 1,100 year-old ruling centre of the Tang Dynasty in modern Xi’an (formerly the Tang capital, Chang’an) – and around it build an expansive National Relics Park. The project was officially launched in October of last year, and is hoped to be completed by October 2010. Daming Palace was established in 634 AD, in the eight year of the reign of Emperor Taizong. It was the largest of three major palaces in Chang’an, and the political hub of the empire for 240 years, until the Tang…
-
Work is ongoing in China on a major project to restore Daming Palace the 1,100 year-old ruling centre of the Tang Dynasty in modern Xian (formerly the Tang capital, Changan) and around it build an expansive National Relics Park. The project was officially launched in October of last year, and is hoped to be completed by October 2010. Daming Palace was established in 634 AD, in the eight year of the reign of Emperor Taizong. It was the largest of three major palaces in Changan, and the political hub of the empire for 240 years, until the Tang moved their…
-
A possible connection has been established between the tiny, 5,000-year-old carved figurine discovered last month at Links of Noltland on Orkney and a lintel stone found on the nearby remote islet Holm of Papa Westray. Archaeologists identified a potential correlation between the distinctive heavy, curved eyebrows and dotted eyes on the so-called Orkney Venus which is thought to be Scotlands earliest representation of the human face and markings that theyd earlier seen etched into the lintel rock, which lies inside a large chambered Neolithic burial cairn. Mike Brooks, of the Historic Scotland photographic unit, was dispatched to Holm of Papa…
-
A mass ancient cemetery, seven rooms large and revealing a number of human bodies, has been discovered dug into rocks near the city of Tartus in western Syria, archaeologists from the Syrian Department of Antiquities have reported. One of the rooms contained a large basalt sarcophagus, with a human face engraved on it. Other small items located have included vessels, two small golden pieces and a clay lamp. The sarcophagus is a large, human-shaped basin with a lid and a protruding shelf all around the edges (see here for a picture of it). Details of the face such as sunken…
-
A hat-trick of victories have been won around the world this week in the global fight against the theft and sale of archaeological artefacts a multi-million dollar international industry. The arrest of three men in Bulgaria in connection with their possession of a number of precious Roman coins and other items is particularly heartening, since it offers some sign that the tide might be turning in the struggle against a black-market industry that has been destroying the countrys rich ancient heritage. In the US on Wednesday, the former head of Long Island Universitys Hillwood Museum Barry Stern, was arrested and…
-
We all get a bit ticked off when someone else uses our favourite coffee mug. But for the Jews in ancient Jerusalem, keeping their best cups sacred was apparently a matter of the gravest importance. A stone drinking receptacle dating from around the time of Jesus Christ, found recently on historic Mount Zion, has shed light on strict religious ritual when it came to mugs in Biblical times. It bears tens lines of strange script scratched into its side, which while not yet deciphered are nevertheless believed to indicate that the cup wasnt to be casually used by just anybody.…
-
Not a week after we flagged up the archaeological site of Birne as the place to visit during Scottish Archaeology Month, its been announced that the remains of another Iron Age roundhouse have been discovered there. Archaeologists have speculated that the erstwhile multi-storey structure these days reduced to just a hard floor and rotting timber beams may once been the very centre of what was a Celtic power base in the north east of Scotland some 2,000 years ago. 20 roundhouses have been found at Birnie so far five in the last year alone. But this one, located at Dykeside…
-
Tiny flax fibres aged 34,000 years old the earliest examples of their type ever seen have been discovered by archaeologists in a cave in the Caucasus mountains of the Republic of Georgia. Theyre so tiny theyre not visible to the naked eye the team responsible for the find, from Harvard University, only spotted the minute artefacts while examining clay samples from the cave under a microscope. The flax was probably used to make linen or thread, and was collected raw from the wild, rather than being farmed. It could have been put to all sorts of uses from making warm…
-
Got a metal detector? Into archaeology? Lost your, ahem, manhood? Then the Manhood Search and Recovery Society is for you a newly-formed body promoting conscientious metal detecting in the West Sussex area of England, as well as the important role it can play in archaeology and, with it, local history. In the long term, the society aims to swell its ranks to the point where it can assistant in major archaeological digs. Responsible metal detectorists play a big part in our understanding of the region and our place, organisation founder Steve Lawrence told the Midhurst and Petworth Observer. Our first…