Serving up old news since A.D. 2004
{ Monthly Archives }
Surprise discovery after dig into past
PREHISTORIC Cambridge may have been a far bigger settlement than previously thought.
A new book published by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) suggests that population density in the prehistoric and Roman eras may have been higher than earlier research had claimed.
Turkish expert rebuilds faces for ancient skulls
The skull of a man from ancient times has had his face restored after 1,200 years. The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review was able to enter the Forensic Medicine Institution in Istanbul’s Yenibosna district by special permission from the Ministry of Justice to witness a facial reconstruction procedure conducted under the guidance of Sadi Çağdır, a medical forensic expert. One of dozens of skulls from cases in the laboratory, with its broken tooth and its smiling face attracted the most attention.
No picture of it though.
The figurine was used as a suspended weight together with a balance scale. This is probably the only find of its kind from excavations in the country.
A figurine (bust) made of marble depicting a miniature image of a bearded man’s head was discovered in the excavations that the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting in the area of the Givati car park in the City of David, in the Walls around Jerusalem National Park.
New data, published today, disproves the recent theory that a large comet exploded over North America 12,900 years ago, causing a shock wave that travelled at hundreds of kilometres per hour and triggering continent-wide wildfires.
Dr Sandy Harrison from the University of Bristol and colleagues tested the theory by examining charcoal and pollen records to assess how fire regimes in North America changed between 15 and 10,000 years ago, a time of large and rapid climate changes.
Their results provide no evidence for continental-scale fires, but support the fact that the increase in large-scale wildfires in all regions of the world during the past decade is related to an increase in global warming.
A recent (?) archaeological mystery: The Scary Iron Head:
The thing I had stepped on was shaped like a tiny mountain of metal. I started uncovering it with my hands. As I dug, I found what looked like a mouth, an eye socket, and another. For some reason I will never know, there was a large, iron head buried in the yard! I never would have seen it had I not actually stepped right on it.
I’m guessing bad art. I’d certainly bury it out in the yard if I ever got something like it.
Matter of fact, I did get something like it, albeit not scary. A few years ago someone gave me a sculpture in what seems like iron. It’s like a weird fossil fish against a background. Weighs a ton as well.
I suppose I ought to bury it in the back yard and see what happens in 50 years.
Not like I figure I’ll even be here in 50 years to find out.
(HT Amaxen at TPW)
Michigan Boy Scout earns all 121 merit badges
An 18-year-old from Lincoln Park is being honored for earning all of the Boy Scouts’ 121 merit badges.
Andrew Schigelone says he was 12 when he set out to earn all possible merit badges before turning 18.
He tells the Detroit Free Press he “wasn’t too serious about it” until racking up 35 badges over three years at a camp in Metamora and realizing the goal was possible.
I confess that I too, was a Boy Scout, and a lousy one at that. Never made it past Tenderfoot and that took me like 5 years or something. I just liked the campouts and goofing off in the woods.
Gold rush: The battle over sunken treasure
Shipwrecks! Treasure! Gold, gold, gold! The hallmarks of treasure-hunting are the stuff of adventure stories, more than fun enough to make archaeologists, who are mounting increasing complaints against the pillaging of sunken ships, seem like wet blankets.
But more is at stake than just a few loose doubloons, they say. “The big picture is that a fair amount of humanity’s past we don’t know, and it’s important we don’t let it become lost forever,” says maritime archaeologist James Delgado, head of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
Doesn’t really break any new ground.
Area mystery mounds delight archaeologists
Locked away and hidden from the nearby town of Longview, largely undisturbed for a thousand years, is an ancient and mysterious place that guards the secrets of a vanished people.
It is a sacred place. It is a wide, grassy clearing set in the middle of a forest.
Detectives Experience Forensic Archaeology Training
Forensic Archaeology combines osteology (scientific study of bones) and human remains with archaeological techniques to recover vital evidence in critical death investigations. Forensic Archaeology is relatively new to the criminal justice system and provides techniques for excavating and recovering buried human remains, personal effects, weapons, stolen goods, and other potential evidence of crimes.
Dr. Henry M. Miller is the Director of Research at Historic St. Mary’s City. He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Michigan State University. Dr. Miller leads a team of archaeologists and historians in exploring and interpreting the 17th century capital of Maryland. He developed the new exhibit at the St. Johns site and is leading the design team for the soon to be completed Chapel exhibit. Dr. Miller specializes in the analysis of animal bones recovered from archaeological sites.
I’m actually rather surprised that forensic archy isn’t more of a subdiscipline.
Site older than Moenjodaro found in Sukkur
An archaeological site, about 5,500 years old, has been found in Lakhian Jo Daro near Goth Nihal Khoso in the district of Sukkur.
The find is said to be of the era of Kot Diji.
A team of 22 archaeologists headed by the chairman of Shah Abdul Latif University’s archaeology department and Lakhian Jo Daro project director Ghulam Mustafa Shar found some semi-precious and precious stones and utensils made of clay, copper and other metals during excavation on Thursday. The remains are said to be older than those of Moenjodaro.
Mr Shar told Dawn that remains of a ‘faience’ mirror factory had been found at the project’s second block. It was believed to be of the era of mirror factories of Italy which dates back to some 9,000 years.
