Archaeologists Find Human Bones, Possible Burial Site in Alice
Archaeologists have found human bones at the site of the new multi-use complex being built in Alice, and project leaders believe they may have found an ancient burial ground.
The bones were found April 3 by archeologists who were doing a survey of the location. They have since been removed from the location and are being protected by an archeologist. The archeologist said he does not know how old the bones are, and he doesn’t even know how old the site is.
Video at the link. Actually, it’s not all that big of a deal, but I had to use that title.
Digging Into Hartland’s Past: Archaeologists Detail Cemetery Findings
A team of archaeologists hired by the president of VTel to exhume a cemetery located on his 173-acre estate have unearthed fragments of Upper Valley history nearly two centuries old, but not without dredging up some new questions too.
The relocation of the cemetery, which occupied land purchased by VTel CEO and President Michel Guite, stirred up resistance from residents and led to a three-year legal battle over the rights of descendents to access the burial plot.
The case went all the way to the state Supreme Court, which sided with Guite in late 2011. Jerome King, a Hanover resident who has since died and whose family owned the property for 33 years, sued to prevent the unearthing of the cemetery where the ashes of his cremated parents were laid to rest.
Now this seems to me to be what conservation archaeology ought to be all about. The landowner paid to have the work done properly (despite some controversy), the archaeologists got a good amount of information out of it, and involved the public in the results. Good on them.
Archaeologists make last ditch attempt to rescue remains of pre-historic tombs in RAK
Hundreds of lorries will rattle down the new Ras Al Khaimah truck road that is expected to open next year, but there will be no clue that they are thundering over the remains of 4,000-year-old tombs.
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Archaeologists are in the final days of a three-month rescue excavation of the Qarn Al Harf tombs built by prehistoric date farmers.
Four megalithic, communal tombs are being excavated by archaeologists from the University of Durham in the UK and the Ras Al Khaimah Antiquities Department, ordered by the Ruler of RAK, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr.
Three tombs will be destroyed by the 32-kilometre RAK Ring Road that will bypass the city to connect the quarries and factories of the north coast with the 311 motorway.
That’s too bad, I wonder why they couldn’t reroute the road slightly to miss the tombs. Not much data, although they say the women only had a life expectancy (that’s an assumption on the measurement) of 25 vs. 35 for the men.
Archaeologists on front lines of protecting ancient culture in turbulent regions
J. Mark Kenoyer stands on a windswept peak in Logar Province in eastern Afghanistan, his head wrapped in a traditional scarf against the harsh sun.
As he chats in a mixture of Urdu and Pashto with an Afghan archaeologist, it’s easy to see why documentarian Brent Huffman wanted the University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of anthropology to appear in his upcoming film about Mes Aynak, a 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery.
Huffman needed someone who could articulate what will be lost when a new copper mine destroys this archaeological treasure. Kenoyer, at home in the region and with the culture, was his man.
May have met Kenoyer once when I visited Madison. A friend of mine went to Harappa with him one season, which is a pretty amazing site. I think it’s great that he’s been working the same place for so many years, although these days I question whether we have any business excavating anything that’s not under imminent threat.
Alexandria archaeologists dig up possible slaughterhouse
Archaeologists are poring over a massive, brick-lined hole not far from Jefferson-Houston School, containing what might be the most interesting — and surprising — find in recent memory.
Local historians believe the uncovered structure likely is all that remains of the 19th-century equivalent of a slaughterhouse. They made the discovery as Alexandria City Public Schools prepares to break ground on a new Jefferson-Houston building.
Almost didn’t link this because it doesn’t really have much about what was actually found. OTOH, it seems like they’re being given enough time to do a reasonable excavation of it, so I thought it deserved highlighting.
Admittedly, when I saw the headline I immediately was drooling over ancient Egyptian (or Roman) butchery practices. . . . .
Archaeological Crusade: US Tries to Save Ancient Treasures
The fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones has long enthralled movie audiences, taking on assorted villains in quests to find mythical treasures, with some limited help from the government.
Minus any bullwhips, the real-life U.S. State Department works with other federal departments in a journey to protect important archaeological sites and ancient treasures in the face of conflict, according to professional archaeologists Morag Kersel and Christina Luke in their new book “U.S. Cultural Diplomacy and Archaeology: Soft Power, Hard Heritage” (Routledge, 2012).
I worked with Morag at the ARCE FIeld School at Memphis in 1996, I believe. Small world.
Archaeologists find more bones along downtown rail route
Archaeologists for the city’s rail transit project unearthed another set of human remains Sunday as they worked on one of two remaining trenches in the proposed downtown corridor.
The bones were discovered near the federal building on Pohukaina Street close to where other remains were earlier found.
Work on the trench halted as archaeologists reported the finding to the State Historic Preservation Division.
Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu of the Oahu Island Burial Council said initial indications were that the remains were a child’s, likely from pre-Western contact times.
Lots of work going on for this project. I worked with a geologist last year who spent several months working on it.
Archaeologists to dig before construction of Redskins training camp
Before the Redskins can start working on a new practice facility in Richmond, archaeologists will take the field first.
They are searching the plot of land behind the Science Museum of Virginia where they will hold training camp later this year.
There’s really little of much import in the story (or the video) but the thought of finding Indian artifacts. . . . . .
Archaeologists race against time to complete excavation
ARCHAEOLOGISTS racing against the clock to excavate an ancient settlement in Co Fermanagh before a road is built on top of it have been granted more time to complete the dig.
Work on the Drumclay crannog in Enniskillen was due to wind up at the end of December to allow the completion of a link road but environment minister Alex Attwood has granted a further three-month extension.
With experts having already credited the site with rewriting the history of early Christian and medieval Ulster, Mr Attwood said: “The excavation is a once in a century opportunity.”
A rescue excavation that is, apparently, being given enough time to do it well.
Archaeologist, 72, who kept headless native American mummies in his back garden after looting graves and tried to pay for hit on rival with OPALS dies in prison
A former insurance agent and amateur archaeologist convicted of looting ancient Indian graves in the Nevada desert and later offering $10,000 in opals for a hit man to kill a former business partner has died in prison.
The Department of Corrections confirmed on Thursday that Jack Lee Harelson, 72, of Grants Pass, died on Dec. 14 in the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. The agency said he died of natural causes in the prison infirmary. His death was first reported by the Grants Pass Daily Courier.
When he was arrested in 1995, authorities said they found the headless mummified remains of two children wrapped in garbage bags and buried unceremoniously in Harelson’s garden.
Sadly, while he makes a good point regarding the usefulness of amateurs in locating sites and materials, the rest of the story rather undermines even that meager contribution. Would have been nice if they’d put quotes around “archaeologist” though.
