They claim the crisis affects us all, but did it influence the funding of archaeological excavations, conservation and research? The BBCreports it does, stating the consequences will be felt as far as property development: “The job losses in archaeology could threaten the start of recovery for the building industry as any site with historic significance has to be excavated before development can begin.“ To get an overview of the effect ‘the credit crunch’ has on archaeology, ACE(Archaeology in Contemporary Europe) has opened a webpage dedicated to ‘Archaeology and the Crisis’: “Major changes in the global economy have affected and will…
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The First Emperor lived quite a ‘full’ life: becoming King at age 13, uniting China, constructing the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors, finding a cure for Death, avoiding being assasinated, waging a few wars, executing people, …and so forth. So congratulations to Ian D.Piirtola, who succeeded at capturing all this ANDthe discovery and excavations of the Qin Shi Huang‘s tomb in a 8 pages short – but quite hilarious – comic. His teachers did not seem to appreciate it that much – he got a C – but we definitely enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing this on Flickr,…
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Early Roman Texts to be Sent Back to Vindolanda Roman soldiers based at Vindolanda, the Roman fort and settlement at the coldest extremity of the Roman Empire, were not so different to modern Britons. While they had a job to do in maintaining order and control of the north western border (along Hadrian’s Wall, although Vindolanda was inhabited before Hadrian built his frontier), they also ensured they weren’t out of pocket for their troubles. Discovered in 1973, the Vindolanda Tablets are wooden message boards dating back to 85 AD. Their messages include an invitation to a birthday party as well…
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The Secrets of Stonehenge: A Time Team Special by Tim Taylor Channel 4 (2009) It’s Britain’s favourite monument and has been attributed to Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings and even visitors from other worlds. But a fascinating new programme by Channel 4’s Time Team claims to reveal the real secrets of Stonehenge for the first time. A Special Team The Secrets of Stonehenge: A Time Team Special is the televised culmination of six years of dedicated work by a huge team of archaeologists. They began digging not only the prehistoric focal point itself but, crucially, the surrounding landscape. The hour-long programme is…
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Description Zahi Hawass escorts President Barack Obama on his historic visit to the pyramids of Giza. On his recent visit to Egypt, President Barack Obama toured the pyramids of Giza, escorted by Zahi Hawass. View footage of the tour, and hear Dr. Hawass’ reaction to this historic event! Related Heritage Experts Zahi Hawass Credits camera – Maggie Bryson, camera & editing – Niccolo Piazza, music – Stephen Benham Transcription It’s a very interesting visit, I think, he’s a wonderful man, he makes jokes all the time. We went down inside the tomb of Kar. His hat was hit in the…
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Chinese archaeologists started the third of a series of excavations at the famous terracotta army site on Saturday, hoping to find more clay figures and unravel some of the mysteries left behind by the “First Emperor“. Archaeologists hope they might find a clay figure that appeared to be “in command” of the huge underground army, said Liu Zhancheng, head of the archeological team under the terracotta museum in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province. Liu and his colleagues are also hoping to ascertain the success of decades of preservation efforts to keep the undiscovered terracotta figures intact and retain their original…
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Think of Stonehenge and it immediately conjures up a number of strong visual images the huge, iconic sarsen stone trilithons, naked hippies at summer solstice, weird druid guys with big hoods and a legendary scene from This Is Spinal Tap. But what did it actually look like in its day? Its widely assumed that Stonehenge once stood as a magnificent ‘complete’ monument, but we need to bear in mind that this cant actually be proved about half of the stones that should be present are missing, and many of the assumed stone sockets have never actually been recorded through excavation.…
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They weren’t asking for the costs of duck houses, moat-cleaning, helicopter landing pad-maintenance or even dry rot-treatment, but Roman officials in Britain made their own inflated expenses claims on the taxpayers’ pound, 2,000 years before The Telegraph newspaper sparked the scandal currently gripping the United Kingdom over MPs’ perceived fleecing of the public purse. A handful of the 400 tablets found in 1973 at Vindolanda – a Roman encampment on Hadrian’s Wall – detail the hundreds of items chiefs at the settlement expected to be reimbursed for. They include exciting things like ears of grain, hobnails for boots, bread, cereals,…
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Lots of us would love to explore the ancient world, but we can’t always travel as much as we’d like. A variety of things – disabilities, lack of money, fear of flying – can get between you and your globetrotting dreams. As you can imagine, while working for Heritage Key Icome across all sorts of content that sets me dreaming about distant lands. There are endless amounts of travel blogs, travel guides, and photoblogs, where people are generous enough to share their experiences in great detail. On Flickr alone there are millions of photos by professionals, amateurs and avid travellers.…
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A Flint Michigan ex-construction worker with too much time on his hands has solved a 5,000 year old conundrum by proving how it was possible for Neolithic man to erect with nowt but his bare hands, gravity and a lot of patience Stonehenge. Well, sort of. The appropriately named Wally Wallington, who apparently has a passion for moving heavy items, is presently building his very own replica of the legendary standing stones in his back yard. Hes doing it using a variety of elementary techniques that he believes prove Stonehenge could have been built in far less time than modern…