Stonehenge may have a history spanning almost 5,000 years, but the last century has been one of its most poignant and fascinating, seeing it restored from its former dilapidated state into one of Britain’s officially most loved tourist sites. An Auspicious Start Before 1901 Stonehenge was in a bad way. Many of the huge stones had sunk out of position; some had fallen over; and much of the land around the monument had been excavated beyond recognition. Seemingly every scholar who wanted to make a name for himself would visit Stonehenge for some reason or another. Even Charles Darwin commented…
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Attribution: pjink11 Delphi Greece Key Dates The earliest finds in the area of Delphi date to the Neolithic period (4000 BC). Traces of occupation are rare and fragmentary until the eighth century BC. The first temples were built in the late seventh century BC, and in the sixth and fourth centuries BC the Delphic oracle was at its peak. In the third century BC, the sanctuary was conquered by the Aetolians, and then in turn by the Romans in 191 BC. In the Byzantine age, the Slavs destroyed the precinct in 394 BC. By the seventh century AD, a new…
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Attribution: Parmino il Gioppino Samos Greece Key Dates The first, small-scale excavation of Heraion site was conducted by the doctor and botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in 1702. In 1879, Paul Girard discovered the statue of Hera of Cheramyes; this is now in the Louvre. In 1902 and 1903, the sanctuary was excavated by the Archaeological Society of Athens. In 1910, it was further investigated on behalf of the Koenigliche Museen of Berlin but work was interrupted by World War I. Systematic excavations were begun in 1925 by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, but interrupted by World War II.…
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Attribution: Schumata Mykines Greece Key Dates Most of the buildings were built between 1350 – 1200 BC, in the Bronze Age. The site was abandoned around 1100 BC. The Lion Gate was cleared in 1837. The site was first excavated in 1874. Subsequent digs were carried out between 1884 and 1957. The Mycenae Comittee was created in 1999. Key People Homer was inspired by the site to record several of his epics. Pausanias mapped the area in the second century. K. Pittakis cleared the Lion Gate in 1841. Heinrich Shliemann began the first excavation of the site in 1876. The…
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Google Maps do not display latitude and longitude values, but there is an easy & quick trick to get these numbers. This technique will provide the latitude and longitude coordinates of the center of the map displayed by Google Maps. Looking up an address in Google Maps will center the map on that address if it was found. If you wish to navigate your Google Map later, refocus the center of your map on the exact point you want the geolocation information for, by double clicking that area of the map. When the location you want is in the center…
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Shes an enduring symbol of feminine beauty, and one of the most iconic and replicated images of ancient Egypt. But is Queen Nefertitis bust discovered in the ruins of Amarna by Ludwig Borchardt in 1912 actually a fake? Apparently so, according to leading Swiss art historian Henri Stierlin. He claims that the painted limestone and plaster sculpture is not the original, carved in the workshop of the Egyptian artist Thutmose 3,400 years ago, but actually a copy, created a century back by an artist commissioned by Borchardt. The historian alleges that when the copy went on display in December 1912,…
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Egypt hasn’t always been controlled from Cairo – in fact the city only took on its capital city mantle in 969 AD. The ancient Egyptian empire went through over a dozen capital cities in its history, the most notable being Memphis, Thebes, Amarna and Alexandria. But how did power shift between these bustling ancient hubs? And what was life like as a resident of an ancient Egyptian capital? A Divided Land Before the empire was united in 3118 BC, it consisted of two separate kingdoms: Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt consisted of the valley regions of the south, taking…
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Attribution: Peter Mattock Donore Ireland Key Dates Newgrange was built between 3300 and 2900 BC, and was a focus of ceremonial activity throughout the Neolithic period. New monuments were progressively added to the site – timber circles were built and a free-standing circle of stones was erected to circle the mound. It wasn’t until the 17th century that Newgrange was discovered. Excavation and restoration took place 1962-1975 under the supervision of the University of Cork Archaeology Department’s Professor Michael J O’Kelly, the first person to witness the winter solstice from within the mound. During the excavation, the remains of five…
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I’ve always been a fan of Bert and Ernie, but – wrongfully – assumed I’m a bit to old to enjoy them now.But apparently we still share the same interest: Bert and Ernie visit Egypt and explore an ancient pyramid.Which pyramid isn’t mentioned – I’m sure it’s one they did not discover yet – but it surely holds some interesting artefacts, replicas, of course.The best?Two Egyptian statues, very much alike to Bert and Ernie, with talking and dancing skills.Enjoy! ‘Rubber Ducky, you’re the one. You make bath time lots of fun Rubber Ducky, I’m awfully fond of you. Rubber Ducky,…
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In Need of a Protection Racket? Ostia Antica is like any other town – it has streets, shops, houses. Even a theatre and a fire station. The crucial difference is that no one has lived here for almost two millennia. Many of the buildings have lost their roofs, and protection from the elements is minimal – which means there is little to halt the gradual process of dilapidation that has been going on in Ostia for many centuries. Two-thousand-year old mosaics are exposed to the elements while the ruins of ancient shops and cellars are at risk of flooding. It’s…