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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Archaeology news updates
    Posted: 22-Jun-2012 at 23:38

Bulgarian Archaeologists Stumble Upon Ancient Treasure in Sozopol

Bulgaria: Bulgarian Archaeologists Stumble Upon Ancient Treasure in Sozopol
Pictured: A treasure of 4th century BC Ancient Greek bronze coins was found in a jar in Bulgaria's Sozopol. 

Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a treasure of bronze coins duringexcavations in the Black Sea resort town of Sozopol.

The treasure was found hidden in a small jar, and consists of 225 Ancient Greek bronze coins, explained the leader of the archaeological team, Prof. Krastina Panayotova, as cited by the Focus news agency.

The coins are well-preserved, and were minted in Sozopol in the 4th century; they were found during excavations of a necropolis in the Budzhaka area close to theBlack Sea town, she explained.

"They were not found in a grave, they are not part of a funeral, this is a treasure, a "classical" case of buried treasure. We have never found a buried treasure before. I have been dealing with Apollonia (Sozopol's Ancient Greek name – editor's note) for 25 years, and have never seen anything like this. It is very rare to come across such a find in a necropolis," Prof. Panayotova explained.

She said she knows of one more case in which a vessel with coins was found in anecropolis in Romania but the treasure found in the necropolis near Sozopol is a precedent for Bulgaria.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=140509


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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23-Jun-2012 at 07:22

Mating Turtles Fossilized in the Act

First fossils of copulating vertebrates may solve poisonous paleontology 

mystery.

A fossil of two mating turtles.
The fossilized mating turtles were exposed in part by the males' smaller size.

German scientists have just reported an extraordinary discovery: the first known pairs of mating vertebrate fossils.

And along with the thrill of a fossil first comes another possible breakthrough. The 47-million-year-old turtle remains offer clues to how a prehistoric lake became one of the world’s richest fossil troves.

"Just finding these couples is completely unique worldwide," lead study authorWalter Joyce said. "There are no other vertebrate fossils to be found like this."

The turtle pairs were discovered in Messel Pit, a tropical lake turnedLagerstätten—paleontologist speak for a "really, really, really, spectacular place for fossils," according to Columbia University's Mark Norell.

The prehistoric lake somehow killed scores of animals, then preserved the bodies in volcanic sediment. From those sediments—long since turned to oil shale—nine suspected mating pairs of the Allaeochelys crassesculpta species have been recovered in the last 30 years.

By formally analyzing the fossil pairs for the first time, the study authors were able to determine once and for all that each couple was male-female, in part because males are about 20 percent smaller than females and have longer tails. Perhaps most significantly, the team identified two couples with tails positioned for mating.

(Related: "Gorillas Photographed Mating Face-to-Face—A First.")

Deep Poison

Does the find say anything new about the extinct species?

"Obviously not," said Norell, who wasn't involved in the research. "Turtles have been around a long time, and they [mate] pretty much now like they did then."

But the study does tell us something about how Messel Pit killed so many ancient animals.

For years paleontologists have hotly debated two hypotheses. One says that sudden, occasional upwellings of carbon dioxide poisoned the lakes. Another says toxic bacteria at the surface were to blame.

Among the evidence for the surface-poison hypothesis are fossils of land animals found near the former lake.

Study leader Joyce, of Germany's University of Tübingen, believes those deaths can be attributed simply to natural causes. "Animals die all the time," he said. "I don't think you need to create a whole theory to support the deaths of a few isolated cases in the area."

(Related: "Earliest Swimming Turtle Fossils Found—New Species.")

The mating-turtle fossils, Joyce added, offer the most solid evidence yet for the carbon dioxide hypothesis.

The turtles, he explained, would have initiated sex only in water that was "intact and not poisonous." Then, in Joyce's telling, they would have sunk during the mating process, as many turtles do. After they'd sunk about 30 feet (10 meters), their permeable skin would have taken in the gas, killing the reptiles.

So, case closed?

"This is science," Joyce said with a laugh. "Most of the time you can't technically prove anything ... this is a very, very reasonable guess."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120621-fossils-turtles-mating-joyce-biology-letters-science/



Edited by TheAlaniDragonRising - 23-Jun-2012 at 07:23
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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Jun-2012 at 04:14

Archaeological team searches for path taken by British, allies after 1637 Pequot fort burning

Most local residents are familiar with the massacre and burning of the Pequot Indian fort in 1637 by English forces and their Native American allies.

What is lesser known is that as the surviving 75 British soldiers and 200 allies retreated toward ships on the Thames River, they had to fight off fierce attacks from 300 Pequots and at one point may have burned a smaller Indian village they came across.

Now Kevin McBride, the director of research at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, with help from 20 college students from across the country, is spending the summer in Pequot Woods retracing the steps that Capt. John Mason and his men took during that retreat.

"This is a real window into that time period," McBride said recently as his search team worked deep in the woods off a trail that leads to Mystic Meadow Lane.

So far the team has found musketballs, gun parts, bent arrow points, gun flints, tools, buttons and other artifacts that have helped them map the soldiers' steps. Using metal detectors, team members meticulously examine grids that are 10 meters square before moving on to adjacent areas. They have also been digging test pits, hoping to find evidence of the destroyed village.

"Right where we're standing they were fighting off repeated Pequot attacks," said McBride, whose team uses historic documents and descriptions of the battle to gather clues about where to search.

"I'm not sure whether we're getting good or we're lucky, but I don't care," said McBride, who heads the University of Connecticut's Field School in Battlefield Archaeology. "The challenge is putting yourself into the head of a 17th-century English commander as well as the Pequots."

So far McBride and his team have completed a mile of the search and have two more to go, as the retreat stopped short of the Thames. They plan to continue their work through the fall........

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/c3cdee789b44497cb49f26fd53b13e5c/CT-FEA--Pequot-Fort-Burning



Edited by TheAlaniDragonRising - 25-Jun-2012 at 04:17
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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Jun-2012 at 04:19

Pre-Inca Cinnabar Mine Discovered in Trujillo

The cinnabar used by the Moche to paint tattoos on their skin some 1,600 years ago may have been mined locally, according to recent findings by archaeologist Regulo Franco.

In 2006, Franco and his archaeology team at the El Brujo site on Peru’s north coast discovered the tomb of the Señora de Cao, a young mother who was obviously a ruler, buried around A.D. 400 in 26 layers of fine cloth and flanked by carved spears and clubs as signs of power.  From pots found in the tomb, she is believed to have died after childbirth, possibly from eclampsia.

One of the unique features was that, besides being magnificently decorated in glittering nose rings, crowns and necklaces, her skin was delicately tattooed with drawings of snakes, fish and other figures, which led to her nickname of the Tattooed Lady.

Franco believed the tattoos had been made with cinnabar brought from areas much further south, such as the Andean highlands of Huancavelica.

But his discovery this month of a pre-Inca mine near Trujillo leads him to now believe that the cinnabar or mercury sulfide was obtained locally.

The mine, with malachite crystals and mercury ore and mercury sulfide, is accessible from the western slope of Cerro Portachuelo, within the protected area of Cerro Campana, a hill outside Trujillo considered sacred by the Moche. 

The mine entrance has a first space of some 7 meters before the beginning of a tunnel. The archaeologists have found potsherds and bone fragments that would indicate the mine was used by the Moche. The mine has not been explored further because of the noxious gases. 

http://www.peruviantimes.com/22/pre-inca-cinnabar-mine-discovered-in-trujillo/16097/#more-16097

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  Quote Menumorut Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Jun-2012 at 11:48
Don't know if this can be considered archaeology, but I think is very interesting to see a WW2 intactly preserved discovered only in 1989.



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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120621130645.htm
"...

Genomics and African Queens: Diversity Within Ethiopian Genomes Reveals Imprints of Historical Events

ScienceDaily (June 21, 2012) — Researchers have started to unveil the genetic heritage of Ethiopian populations, who are among the most diverse in the world, and lie at the gateway from Africa. They found that the genomes of some Ethiopian populations bear striking similarities to those of populations in Israel and Syria, a potential genetic legacy of the Queen of Sheba and her companions.

The team detected mixing between some Ethiopians and non-African populations dating to approximately 3,000 years ago. The origin and date of this genomic admixture, along with previous linguistic studies, is consistent with the legend of the Queen of Sheba, who according to the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast book had a child with King Solomon from Israel and is mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur'an.

Ethiopia is situated in the horn of Africa, and has often been regarded as one of the gateways from Africa to the rest of the world. The Ethiopian region itself has the longest fossil record of human history anywhere in the world. Studying population genetics within this diverse region could help us to understand the origin of the first humans.

..."
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  Quote Don Quixote Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 01:30
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628181735.htm
"...Maya Archaeologists Unearth New 2012 Monument With 'End Date' of Dec. 21, 2012 ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012)
Archaeologists working at the site of La Corona in Guatemala have discovered a 1,300-year-old-year Maya text that provides only the second known reference to the so-called "end date" of the Maya calendar, December 21, 2012. The discovery, one of the most significant hieroglyphic finds in decades, was announced June 28 at the National Palace in Guatemala.

"This text talks about ancient political history rather than prophecy," says Marcello A. Canuto, director of Tulane's Middle American Research Institute and co-director of the excavations at La Corona.

Since 2008, Canuto and Tomás Barrientos of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have directed excavations at La Corona, a site previously ravaged by looters.

"Last year, we realized that looters of a particular building had discarded some carved stones because they were too eroded to sell on the antiquities black market," said Barrientos, "so we knew they found something important, but we also thought they might have missed something."..."

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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 11:00

World's Oldest Purse Found—Studded With a Hundred Dog Teeth?

A dog-tooth-covered bag.
Embedded in dirt, dog teeth may have studded an ancient purse, whose textile has disintegrated.

The world's oldest purse may have been found in Germanyand its owner apparently had a sharp sense of Stone Age style.

Excavators at a site near Leipzig (map) uncovered more than a hundred dogteeth arranged close together in a grave dated to between 2,500 and 2,200 B.C.

According to archaeologist Susanne Friederich, the teeth were likely decorations for the outer flap of a handbag.

"Over the years the leather or fabric disappeared, and all that's left is the teeth. They're all pointing in the same direction, so it looks a lot like a modern handbag flap," said Friederich, of the Sachsen-Anhalt State Archaeology and Preservation Office.

(Related: "World's Oldest Leather Shoe Found—Stunningly Preserved.")

The dog teeth were found during excavations of the 250-acre (100-hectare)Profen (map) site, which is slated to become an open-pit coal mine in 2015.

So far the project has uncovered evidence of Stone and Bronze Age settlements, including more than 300 graves, hundreds of stone tools, spear points, ceramic vessels, bone buttons, and an amber necklace.

Thousands of finds from later periods—including the grave of a woman buried with a pound (half a kilogram) of gold jewelry around 50 B.C.—have also turned up.

Even among such a rich haul, the purse is something special, according to Friederich, who managed the excavation project. "It's the first time we can show direct evidence of a bag like this."

(Pictures: the evolution of dogs.)

Fierce Fashion

As rare as the dog-tooth handbag may be, canine teeth are actually fairly common in Stone Age northern and central European burials, Friederich said. (Related: "Buried Dogs Were Divine 'Escorts' for Ancient Americans.")

In fact, the sheer numbers of teeth in graves around the region suggest dogs were as much livestock as pets—the purse flap alone required the teeth of dozens of animals.

In other area Stone Age burials, dog and wolf teeth, as well as mussel shells, have been uncovered in patterns that suggest that corpses were covered with studded blankets, which have long since disintegrated, Friederich said.

More commonly, though, dog teeth are found in hair ornaments and in necklaces, for both women and men.

"It seems to have been very fashionable at the time," said Harald Staueble, senior archaeologist at Germany's Saxon State Archaeology Office.

"Not everyone was buried with such nice things—just the really special graves."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120627-worlds-oldest-purse-dog-teeth-science-handbag-friederich/

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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 11:02

Bulgarian Archaeologists Dig into Medieval Monastery amidst 'Vampire' Finds

Bulgaria: Bulgarian Archaeologists Dig into Medieval Monastery amidst Vampire Finds
Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov poses with newly uncovered walls at the St. Peter and St. Paul Monastery complex in Veliko Tarnovo.

Bulgarian archaeologists have uncovered new finds from a monastery dating back to the 13th century, i.e. the apex of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

The team of archaeologists Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov and Prof. Hitko Vachev, who have been exploring sites at Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, have found a number of artifacts, and have uncovered the walls of a medieval church, which was part of the St. Peter and St. Paul Monastery complex in the Middle Ages. It is more precisely associated with the rule of Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218-1241 AD).

"The walls that we have uncovered date back to the first half of the 13th century. Part of the architectural remains have turned out to be ruined by construction in the past 30 years. We have also found a second wall dating back to the 14-15th century which is a testimony as to how the monastery was transformed. In the western section of the temple we even found evidence of a third renovation from the 18-19th century," Prof. Ovcharov explained, as cited by Darik Radio.

In the yard of the St. Peter and St. Paul Church, which is part of the widermonastery complex, the archaeologists already found 10 funerals, one of them turning out to be that of a man treated against vampirism after his death.

Unlike another medieval "vampire", whose grave was recently found in Sozopol on the Black Sea making global headlines, and whose skeleton has been taken to Bulgaria's National History Museum in Sofia, the "vampire" found in Veliko Tarnovowas reburied by Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov after his bones were cleansed with wine and water.

During the recent excavations of the St. Peter and St. Paul Monastery complex inVeliko Tarnovo, the archaeologists have come across over 100 coins from the 13th and 14th century minted by several Bulgarian tsars from the Second Bulgarian Empire.

Other finds include a gold-coated buckled from the 16th century with an inscription in Arabic that is yet to be translated; a silver earing, and a large amount of pottery.

Speaking on Wednesday, Prof. Ovcharov sought to refute public criticism over his discoveries which stated that "the Veliko Tarnovo Municipality pays archaeologiststo discover vampire funerals".

Ovcharov said his team excavated an area of 2 000 square meters for five years, for the price of BGN 191 000.

In 5 years of exploration of the St. Peter and St. Paul Monastery complex, which was one of the major ones in the Second Bulgarian Empire, the archaeologistshave found over 1 000 coins from various ages, almost 30 golden items, 160 silver items, and 55 intact pieces of pottery.

"Our inventory features a total of 1 500 items. If these antiques are sold on the black market, their combined price will probably be above BGN 130 000," Ovcharov estimated.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=140728
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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 11:05

Bulgarian Archaeologists Find Ancient Thracian Cemetery on Highway Route

Bulgaria: Bulgarian Archaeologists Find Ancient Thracian Cemetery on Highway Route
The excavated site of the Ancient Thracian cemetery near Pernik that will soon become the route of the Struma Highway

Bulgarian archaeologists have uncovered a 2800-year-old cemetery duringexcavations along the route of the future Struma Highway that will link Bulgaria's capital Sofia to the border with Greece.

The discovery was made near the village of DrenPernik District, by archaeologistsfrom the Regional History Museum in the western Bulgarian city of Pernik.

According to the archaeologists, the cemetery preserved the bodies of nobles from Ancient Thrace. The latest finds in a necropolis on the site are dated back to 8-9th century BC.

Artifacts from the ancient cremation urns have led the researchers to believe that a number of those buried near the village of Dren were Ancient Thracian warriors.

"Such incredible sites deserve to be explored for a lot longer, without close deadlines," archaeologist Filip Mihaylov stated, as cited by Standart Daily, referring to the fact that the archaeologists have a week left to complete their work on the site because of the construction schedule of the Struma Highway.

The excavations were delayed for almost six months by a flooding of the area; theexcavations along the route of the Struma Highway have been plagued by a conflict between the archaeologists and the government led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova, with Borisov insulting the archaeologists at one point. The big concern of the government is sticking to the construction schedule because the project is funded with EU money allocated under strict deadlines.

The finds near the village of Dren caused a scandal when local press mistakenly reported that the archaeologists had found the tomb of Ancient Macedonian ruler Phillip II. These reports were quickly disproved by the archaeologists from Pernik.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=140731

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Ancient artifacts found at Phoenix build site

Archeologists said they’ve found ancient artifacts that could date back to before the Hohokams in dirt removed from the downtown Phoenix construction site of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s $93 million headquarters.

In May, shovels hit an archeological jackpot at the site at Sixth Avenue and Madison Street when workers unearthed remnants of graves that local preservation experts said traced back to Arizona’s pioneers who died in the mid- to late-1800s.

The findings were sparse, but coffin handles, wood slivers, and some human remains were discovered, suggesting an incomplete job of moving pioneer remains from the city’s first cemetery to the later-constructed Pioneer and Military Memorial Park, an 1881 editorial in the Phoenix Herald and local experts suggest.

But the grindstones and pottery fragments more recently found have been buried for even longer, possibly as far back as 1,600 years ago, experts said.

Mark Hackbarth, an archeologist with Logan Simpson Design Inc., the firm contracted with the county to examine any archeological finds during construction, said the finds date to the Red Mountain Phase, which predates the Hohokam period.

“They’re called the Red Mountain Phase by archeologists. That’s because there’s no way to archaeologically say that’s a tribe at that time,” Hackbarth told 12 News last week. “They did not have that elaborate of a cultural organization.”

The possibility of an additional Red Mountain Phase archeological site is exciting, said Laurene Montero, city of Phoenix archeologist at the Pueblo Grande Museum, where the grindstones and pottery will eventually find a home, per federal law.

“It’s an early phase we don’t see too much of. There are only a handful of sites we’ve identified that date from roughly 1 to 300 A.D.,” Montero said. “When they find it, it’s pretty interesting.”...........

http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2012/06/27/ancient-artifacts-found-at-phoenix-build-site/

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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 11:10

A Palestinian Village Tries to Protect a Terraced Ancient Wonder of Agriculture

Palestinian farmers in Battir, a West Bank village near Bethlehem, use a Roman-era irrigation system to water their crops.

In this scenic Palestinian village in the West Bank hills near Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, a week is said to last eight days, not seven. That is because Battir’s eight extended families take daily turns watering their crops from the natural springs that feed their ancient agricultural terraces, a practice they say has worked for centuries.

The water flows through a Roman-era irrigation system down into a deep valley where a railway track — a section of the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway built in Ottoman times — roughly marks the 1949 armistice line between the West Bank and Israel. The area is dotted with tombs and ruins upon ruins of bygone civilizations.

When the World Heritage Committee of Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — meets in St. Petersburg, Russia, over the next two weeks, this pastoral area will be thrust into the spotlight at least momentarily as the villagers and conservation experts fight to save what they say is a unique living cultural and historical landscape.

The experts say the Battir terraces are under imminent threat because Israel plans to build a section of its West Bank security barrier right through the valley, parallel to the railway track. They are seeking to have Battir nominated as a World Heritage site on an emergency basis, a move that might persuade Israel to change its plans for the construction.

“The people here constructed their village while always preserving the terraces,” said Hassan Muamer, 27, a civil engineer working for the Battir Landscape Eco-Museum. “It was part of the mentality,” he added. “It is living history.”

But the effort to secure a nomination for Battir has been bogged down by internal Palestinian disagreements, designs and interests. The formal submission of the case was blocked at the last minute on the grounds that it had come too late. Instead, the Palestinian delegation to Unesco is pushing a higher-profile, more political effort to have Bethlehem’s venerated Church of the Nativity and pilgrimage route inscribed on the list of World Heritage sites on an emergency basis.............

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/world/middleeast/palestinian-village-tries-to-protect-landmark.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

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  Quote Don Quixote Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 13:38
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/south-korean-archaeologists-say-theyve-unearthed-east-asias-oldest-farming-site/2012/06/27/gJQAq6465V_story.html
"...SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s archaeological agency says it has unearthed evidence of East Asia’s oldest known farming site.

Archaeologist Cho Mi-soon said Wednesday that the agency has found the remains of a farming field from the Neolithic period on South Korea’s east coast. The site may be up to 5,600 years old. That’s more than 2,000 years older than what is now the second-oldest known site, which also is in South Korea....."


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  Quote Don Quixote Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 13:40
http://news.discovery.com/history/syrian-desert-structures-120626.html
"...An ancient landscape of stone circles, alignments and possible tombs lies out in the Syrian Desert, according to a Royal Ontario Museum archaeologist who has dubbed the mysterious structures "Syria's Stonehenge."

"These enigmatic arrangements are not especially imposing, they are not megaliths or anything like that, but they are very intriguing and clearly deliberately aligned," Robert Mason of Canada's Royal Ontario Museum told Discovery News.

ANALYSIS: Mysterious Building -- Older Than Pyramids?

Uncovered in 2009 near the monastery of Deir Mar Musa (Saint Moses the Abyssinian) some 50 miles north of Damascus, the strange features are likely to remain a desert mystery since the conflict tearing apart the Middle Eastern nation is preventing archaeologists from investigating the site.

Analysis of fragments of stone tools scattered in the area may date the formations to the Neolithic Period or early Bronze Age-- 6,000 to 10,000 years ago...."

Tomb

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Complex Thinking Behind the Bow and Arrow

It may look simple, but it is a highly complex tool: a Bushman’s bow from Botswana.

 University of Tübingen and South African researchers have revealed sophisticated design and technology developed by early humans.

The bow and arrow have long been regarded as a possible indicator of culture in prehistoric times. Bows and arrows appear to have been in use for some 64,000 years, given evidence from South Africa. Until recently, their significance in human cognitive ability was unclear. Now two researchers have been able to decode the conceptual foundations of the bow and arrow. The results of the study, by Miriam Haidle of the Heidelberg Academy's ROCEEH project (sponsored by the Senckenberg Research Institute) and the University of Tübingen and Marlize Lombard of the University of Johannesburg, appear in the latest edition of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

Using archaeological finds and ethnological parallels, the two researchers reconstructed the steps needed to make a bow and arrows. These are complimentary tools -- separate, but developed interdependently. The bow is the controlling element, while the arrows can be used more flexibly and are interchangeable. About 2.5 million years ago, humans first used tools to make other tools then to make tools assembled from different parts to make a unit with particular qualities, such as wooden spears with stone spearheads (ca. 200,000-300,000 years ago.) The bow and arrow and other complementary tool sets made it possible for prehistoric humans to greatly increase the flexibility of their reactions..........

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625064620.htm

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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 13:53

King’s Lynn: Bronze Age burial pot find excites experts

The 2,500-year-old collared burial pot as it was found in a pit on the site of a road being built at Lynn. The find is exciting archaeologists as it is rare to find one intact

AN exciting find of an intact Bronze Age burial urn has been made by a team of archaeological experts working on the site of a new link road under construction at Lynn.

The team had already unearthed Iron Age timber posts beside the route of the road which will take traffic from the A149 Queen Elizabeth Way to Scania Way on the Hardwick Industrial Estate, where the new Sainsbury’s superstore is being built.

Ken Hamilton, Norfolk County Council’s senior historic environment officer, said now a collared urn, believed to contain cremated human remains from about 2,500 years ago, had been found.

The pot, which has a thick rim around it, has been removed from the site for further investigation.

Mr Hamilton said: “It is rare to find these urns complete and this one is quite unusual, so it is an exciting find.

“The inside of it is being excavated in a laboratory, as it was full of soil.

“This soil is being taken out slowly to work out if it was all from one deposition or whether it contained more than one individual’s remains.”

He said that after cremation, human remains would have been put in such pots and buried in small pits.

The discovery means there was almost certainly people living in that area during the Bronze Age and further archaeological exploration of the site is being carried out.

Mr Hamilton said: “This urn will find its way into Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service and a decision will be made on whether to display it in one of the museums.

“The team’s findings will also be published in a report.”

http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/latest-news/king-s-lynn-bronze-age-burial-pot-find-excites-experts-1-3979008

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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Jun-2012 at 13:58

Cow and woman found in Cambridgeshire Anglo-Saxon dig

Archaeologists described the find as "unique in Europe"

Archaeologists excavating an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Cambridgeshire say the discovery of a woman buried with a cow is a "genuinely bizarre" find.

The grave was uncovered in Oakington by students from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Central Lancashire.

At first it was thought the animal skeleton was a horse.

Student Jake Nuttall said: "Male warriors might be buried with horses, but a woman and a cow is new to us."

He added: "We were excited when we thought we had a horse, but realising it was a cow made it even more bizarre."

Co-director of the excavation, Dr Duncan Sayer, from the University of Central Lancashire, said: "Animal burials are extremely rare, anyway.

"There are only 31 horse burials in Britain and they are all with men.

"This is the first animal to be discovered with a woman from this period - the late 5th Century - and it's really interesting that it's a cow, a symbol of economic and domestic wealth and power.

"It's also incredibly early to find any grave of a woman buried with such obvious wealth."

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Grave goods including brooches indicated the woman was of high status

'Unique' burial

The skeleton was found with grave goods including brooches and hundreds of amber and decorated glass beads.

"She also had a complete chatelaine [keychain] set, which is an iron girdle and a symbol of her high status," Dr Sayer said.

"It indicates she had access to the community's wealth.

"She is almost certainly a regional elite - a matriarchal figure buried with the objects that describe her identity to the people who attended her funeral."

Joint director Dr Faye Simpson, from Manchester Metropolitan, said: "A cow is a big thing to give up.

"It's a source of food and something that would have been very expensive to keep, so to sacrifice it would be a big decision.

"They would have wanted to give her something really important to show respect and they wouldn't have done that for just anybody.

"That's why we don't find cows with burials," she said.

Dr Sayer added: "The cow burial is unique in Europe which makes this an incredibly exciting and important find.

"I don't think I'll find anything as significant as this again in my lifetime."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-18580332



Edited by TheAlaniDragonRising - 29-Jun-2012 at 13:59
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  Quote Don Quixote Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-Jul-2012 at 01:49
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/the-lost-sites-of-ancient-cilicia/?mqsc=E3263792
"...

The second of the ancient synagogues proposed by Mark Fairchild is at the Cilician site known only by its modern name, Catioren; the ancient name of the site is unknown. There, on a brush-covered ridge, a worn stone lintel nearly buried in rubble displays a carved menorah as well as a lulav, or palm branch—both iconic Jewish symbols used frequently in ancient synagogues. A nearby Greek inscription offers solid evidence of a Jewish community with a synagogue at the site. Based on the architecture and weathering of the structure, Fairchild dates it to the Hellenistic period. If he is right, it is the earliest known example of a synagogue still standing.

Only professional excavations can offer conclusive proof about the character of the structures at Korykos and Catioren...."

synagogue

Ancient Cilicia’s Jewish population is mentioned several times in literary sources, including the Acts of the Apostles and the writings of Paul in the New Testament. Yet no ancient synagogues have been conclusively identified in this southeastern region of Turkey. Mark Fairchild of Huntington University in Indiana now believes he has found two unexcavated ancient synagogues, including possibly the earliest known in the area of ancient Cilicia.

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  Quote Don Quixote Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-Jul-2012 at 01:52
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n281878
"...Chernomorets. Archaeologists with the team of Associate Professor Dr Ivan Hristov, Deputy Director of the National Museum of History, discovered an underwater residential quarter during the excavations at Cape Akin close to the coastal town of Chernomorets. Bozhidar Dimitrov, Director of the National Museum of History, announced the news exclusively for FOCUS News Agency.
“During the excavations under the Via Pontica government programme at Cape Akin, one of the three capes of the town of Chernomorets, apart from the massive fortified wall with two battle towers at the peninsula itself, archaeologist Dr Ivan Hristov also discovered a continuation of the fortified wall into the sea. The continuation of the wall surrounds a big shoal Southwest of the cape. The fortified wall is preserved to some big height and the team has seen the outlines of a big battle tower of five meters height and three and a half meters width,” Bozhidar Dimitrov explained.
In his words, the archaeologists have already ascertained that this is the early Byzantine fortress Krimna, which was situated there. Due to some circumstances, since the beginning of the WWI until a couple of years ago the fortress was within the area of a military unit and it was impossible for the archaeologists to study it.
“The part of the fortress on dry land covers nearly 40 decares. The fortified wall is bigger even than the one in Sozopol – of around 2.6 metres width. The coins found by the archaeologists prove that the wall was built by Anastasius I in around 513, then reinforced by Justinian I over the next decades and probably the settlement was destroyed during the big Avarian invasion in 583-586,” Dimitrov said further.
According to Bozhidar Dimitrov, the discovery of an underwater residential quarter is not a surprise.
“The discovery of this underwater quarter in one of the coastal towns is so far the sole quarter discovered along the Black Sea coast and it may turn into a wonderful site for cultural and historical tourism under the Via Pontica programme,” Dimitrov remarked....' 
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  Quote TheAlaniDragonRising Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-Jul-2012 at 06:17

The Earliest Known Pottery

A team of scientists led by Dr. Xiaohong Wu of Peking University has recently dated sediment layers containing pottery fragments in Xianrendong Cave in China and found them to be approximately 20,000 years old, predating the earliest known pottery dates by about 2,000 years, and predating the advent of agriculture by about 10,000 years. The finding refutes the long-held view that pottery production coincided with the beginning of agriculture.

Pottery has been considered an important invention in the evolution of human society, as ceramic containers are more effective devices for holding and storing food than other prehistoric human constructs, such as baskets and hide pouches. And unlike other devices used for collecting and storage, pottery was also useful for cooking, an important development in food processing and preparation. Prior to these latest finds, the most ancient pottery, dated to about 18,000 years ago, was also found in China and Japan. The 20,000-year-old fragments date to the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which occurred about 25,000 to 19,000 years ago. Many of these early fragments showed burn or scorch marks, possible evidence of cooking.........

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2012/article/the-earliest-known-pottery




Edited by TheAlaniDragonRising - 01-Jul-2012 at 06:26
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