Queen Arsinoë II Ruled Ancient Egypt as Female Pharaoh

An unique queen's crown with ancient symbols forms the basis for a re-interpretation of historical developments in Egypt in the period following the death of Alexander the Great. A thesis from the University of Gothenburg states that the Queen Arsinoë II ruled ancient Egypt as a female pharaoh, predating Cleopatra by 200 years.

Researchers largely agree on Queen Arsinoë II's importance. She was put on a level with the ancient goddesses Isis and Hathor, and was still respected and honoured 200 years after her death.

Maria Nilsson studied Queen Arsinoë II's historical importance by interpreting her personal crown and its ancient symbols. The crown, which was never been found but depicted on statues and Egyptian reliefs was created with the help of the powerful Egyptian priesthood to symbolise the qualities of the queen.

The source material comes from Egypt and can be used as a basis for understanding the country's political and religious development. At the same time, Nilsson paves the way for future studies of Egyptian crowns as symbols of power and status, and of the development of art in a more general sense.

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5th Millenium B.C tombs found in Syria

Several dolmen tombs dating back to the 5th Millennium BC have been unearthed in several parts of southern Syria such as Ein Zakkar, Tsil, al-Bakkar and Jibilieh to the west of Daraa, in addition to al-Maysara, southeast Daraa.

The word "dolmen" means "stone table" or the "holy cemeteries" which represents the beginning of human architectural art as the findings indicate that man used this kind of tombs for burial 5,000 years ago.

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Britain's oldest brain

Archaeologists from York Archaeological Trust discovered a skull dating back to at least 300 B.C in an area of extensive prehistoric farming landscape of fields, trackways and buildings.

The man had been hanged or strangled, then decapitated, and the head was buried in a small pit. Later the finds officer cleaned the skull’s outer surface which was covered by soil. She felt that something had moved inside the cranium. Peering through the base of the skull, she also spotted an unusual yellow substance.

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Lambayeque civilizations domesticated cats found

The Ventarrón site which belongs to one of the oldest civilizations in the Americas, has given up a lot of amazing discoveries. This latest discovery creates interest about the early animal domestication.

Ignacio Alva, son of famous Peruvian archeologist Walter Alva, has revealed a huge collection of animal bones, mostly felines from the Peruvian Amazon on the other side of the Andes mountains.

The combined group of investigators have concluded that the ancient Lambayeque people were breeding felines at the site. The theory as to why is not at all different from the reason other ancient civilizations, such as in ancient Egypt, kept cats – as a means to control vermin in what was a time of a rapidly expanding and delicate new invention… agriculture.

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Ancient sunken ship unearthed in China

Archeologists inspect a newly excavated sunken ship of ancient China's Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) in Heze of east China's Shandong Province. Archeologists in Shandong announced that they have discovered an ancient sunken ship of the Yuan Dynasty at a building site in Heze. The wooden ship, with 21 meters in length, 5 meters in width and 1.8 meters in height, contains 10 cabins. Some 110 precious antiques and porcelains have also been discovered in and around the ship.

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Significant Archaeological Discovery

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Couple tomb of Northern Song Dynasty discovered

An archaeologist discovered a couple's tomb of the Northern Song Dynasty in Changshan village. More than 20 pieces of unearthed artifacts, such as stone inkstone, pottery, porcelain bowls, Lohan likenesses, silver hairpins, bronze mirrors and bronze coins were found in the tomb.

The archaeologists found that the roof has been damaged and the skeletons and coffins have rotted inside. Later they found that the tomb is a husband and wife couple tomb 3.5 meters in length and 1.2 meters high.

Source: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/

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A 2000 year old female skeleton found with grey hair

A 2,000 year old female skeleton was found from a tomb in the early Western Han dynasty at the construction site of an industrial park in the north of Zhuchengjie.

When exploring the tomb numbered M6, the archaeological team found an intact outer coffin and almost no water had leaked into it. They also found an well-preserved dark brown skeleton inside the inner coffin, with a lot of gray hair still on the skull.

The archaeological team explained that the woman's skeleton and hair were well preserved because she was buried in multiple coffins, with the outer coffin covered by a thick layer of special plaster, and hair is not easily damaged by water.

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3,000 Year Old Musical Instrument found In Vietnam

A 3000 year old stone musical instrument was unearthed by a farmer in Da Kai commune, Duc Linh district, when he dug holes for planting coffee trees.

This music instrument comprises five slabs of black blue stone, which when arranged from small to big formed a trapezoid.

This is a typical character of the ancient lithophones, different from new lithophones or sounding stone slabs.
The instrument has been handed over to the Binh Thuan museum.

Earlier, the Binh Thuan museum in coordination with a Japanese expert also discovered another lithophone at a site only 3km away from the place where the 3,000-year-old one was found.

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Practical archaeology - An introduction

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River Archaeology - A Neolithic Discovery

Archaeologist James Balme is well known for his work and discoveries of ancient artefacts left behind in the soils and rivers that surround us by our ancestors here in Britain. James discovered an ancient settlement in a village close to his home almost 12 years ago where he found evidence dating back over 8000 years of human occupation.

Recently James turned his attentions to serarching a river that has run through the settlement for thousands of years and the results of his new investigations are to say the least stunning with a Roman bronze bracelet and flint tools already recovered.

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First americans - The Kennewick Man

In contrast to the popular belief, the first Americans were not Indians who migrated to America across a land bridge from Asia, the first Americans were the Solutrians, a European people who migrated to the Americas roughly 25,000 years ago.

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World's Largest Pyramid in Lost City of Mirador

Archaeologists have recently discovered the world's largest pyramid by volume under the canopy of the rain forest and buried under dense vegetation. The most interesting thing about this pyramid is that it reveals the significant of the people and their culture.

There are writings inside the Mayan temple depicting the creation story known as the Popul Vuh engraved in a Mayan temple in El Mirador, Guatamala. It was previously thought that the Popul Vuh was influenced by Catholic church after Columbus discovered America. However, these markings appear to pre-date Columbus by more than 1000 years.

Source: youtube

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Ancient Indian Archaeological Discovery

The site of an ancient civilization has been excavated in Sirpur in central India. Six well constructed granaries and various stone and bronze statues, bracelets, casts have been excavated which were used for making gold and silver jewelry.

Sirpur is said to have been an important trade center from which various goods were sent to parts of India and Arab countries. It was also known for iron statues. The goods from here were sent to the southern Indian state of Karnataka, western Gujarat, and eastern Cuttack, to name a few.

The archaeologists hope to find more granaries since only one fourth of the site has been excavated so far.

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Burnt women's face reconstructed

The reconstructed face of a female skeleton found in Iran's Burnt city has been displayed in Rome's National Museum of Oriental Art wearing an artificial eyeball.

This 5,000-year-old skeleton was unveiled during a ceremony attended by the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Hamid Baqaei and Iran's ambassador to Italy Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Hosseini.

ISNA has reported that this women's face reconstructed by a group of Iranian and Italian researchers, is famous for carrying the first prosthesis to have been used by man.

This unique discovery was the result of an archaeological excavation in the Burnt City in 2006, when archaeologists found an artificial eyeball on a 1.82-meter- tall female skeleton, much taller than ordinary women of her time, and dated back to between 2900 and 2800 BCE.

The eyeball had a hemispherical form with a diameter of just over 2.5 cm and was made of a light material. The surface was covered with a thin golden layer, engraved with a central circle to represent the iris.

The eye was held in place with a golden thread, which went through tiny holes drilled on both sides of the eye.

Source: http://www.presstv.ir/

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20,000 years old drilled specimen found

The archeological team from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage discovered two ostrich eggshells dating 20,000 years old with stone-drilled holes at the Xuchang primitive ruins.

These two ostrich eggshells would be the earliest artificially stone-drilled specimens ever found and the best preserved specimens found in China over the age of 10,000 years. These shells show that the primitive craftsmanship had developed to a quite high level even at that time.

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Scientists to extract 500,000 year-old treasures from dead sea

Israeli scientists are drilling the murky depths of the Dead Sea in hopes of finding scientific treasures hidden in 500,000 years worth of mud and sediment.

The lowest place on earth at 1,385 feet below the sea level should answer scientific questions in various fields ranging from geology to archaeology and could lead to new insight into climate change.

Researchers say the core that will be pulled out from 1,640 feet (500 meters) below the seabed could open the door to years of research as every stratum could inspire a new hypothesis.

Ulrich Harms, the German scientist heads the International Continental Drilling Program and he is also a major funder of the project.

The dead sea would be a perfect archive of droughts and floods, of changing climate over a long time span.

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

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Latest discoveries in Chinese Archaeology

This video features some of the most prolific archeological discoveries in China which includes the Tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty and the Sanxingdui.

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Lindow bog man at the British Museum

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Excavations at Kucukcekmece

Everyday Istanbul offers a new find for its inhabitants. Some are of recent origin, while others have been waiting hundreds and thousands of years to be discovered.

The previous artifacts unearthed in the Bathonca excavations, conducted by Şengul Aydıngun are the newest “old” surprises.

While forging ahead with the excavation of the ancient road that was discovered last year, it was determined that Bathonca has a settlement laid out on a grid plan. Also unearthed in the excavation are a grave stela with inscriptions and relief from the Roman period and a fragment of a porphyry column of a type found only in Egypt.

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Prehispanic Ballgame Player Sculpture found by Archaeologists

A Prehispanic sculpture representing a beheaded ballgame player was discovered from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) at El Teul Archaeological Zone by archaeologists.

This finding took place during a research work conducted for the opening to public visit of the ceremonial site in 2012. This quarry dates from 900-1100 of the Common Era and evidence determines that the sculpture was created beheaded to serve as a pedestal for the heads of sacrificed players of the ritual ballgame.

The cylindrical sculpture with a 52 centimeter diameter is 1.97 meters high and weighs nearly a ton, and was located in the southeast area of the Ballgame court. Fragments of a similar sculpture were found in the northern extreme, so it is possible to find a pair of similar sculptures in the western side, still unexplored.

Source: http://www.artdaily.org/

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Chinese Noodle Dinner found buried

During a recent archaeology excavation in a Chinese cemetery Noodles, cakes, porridge, and meat bones were found dating to around 2,500 years ago. The findings suggest that the Chinese may have been among the world's first bakers because these cakes were cooked in an oven-like hearth.

Further research suggests that the ancient Egyptians were also baking bread but this latest discovery indicates that individuals in northern China were skillful bakers who likely learned baking and other more complex cooking techniques much earlier.

With the use of fire and grindstones, large amounts of cereals were consumed and transformed into staple foods.

Source: http://news.discovery.com/

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Ancient African dust caused red soil

American researchers have conducted a mineralogical and chemical analysis to ascertain the origin of "terra rossa" soil in the Mediterranean. The results of the study reveal that mineral dust from the African regions of the Sahara and Sahel, which emit between 600 and 700 tonnes of dust a year, brought about the reddish soil in Mediterranean regions such as Majorca and Sardinia between 12,000 and 25,000 years ago.

The first hint of the relationship between African dust and certain soils in the region of the Mediterranean is their reddish or reddish-brown colour, similar to that of African aerosol filters, caused by their clay content," explained Anna Ávila, co-author of the study and researcher at the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

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Mystery Of 16th century astronomer's death

Astronomer Tycho Brahe discovered some of the mysteries of the universe in the 16th century. Now modern-day scientists are delving into the mystery of his sudden death.

An international team of scientists opened his tomb in the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn near Prague's Old Town Square, where the famous Dane has been buried since 1601.

Brahe's accurate stellar and planetary observations, which helped to lay the foundations of early modern astronomy, are well known and documented but the circumstances surrounding his death at age 54 are murky.

Brahe was born 1546 and in 1601, he was in Prague for the invitation of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II after having a disagreement with the Danish king and leaving his scientific observatory on the island of Hven.

There was a thought that Brahe would have died of a bladder infection. A famous legend said it was a result of his hesitation to break court etiquette during a reception by leaving for a toilet. Kidney disease was another suspected culprit.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/

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Skeletons reveal typhus epidemic from spain

From the dental pulp of skeletons buried in Douai, researchers from CNRS and the Université de la Méditerranée have identified the pathogenic agents responsible for trench fever and typhus. For the first time, this work reveals the presence of typhus in Europe at the start of the 18th century and lends weight to the hypothesis that this disease could have been imported into Europe by Spanish conquistadors returning from the Americas.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

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Stores from second millenium B.C found

The national excavation working at Dubbah Breika Hill at the southern province of Swaida has found three neighboring stores which belong to the second millennium B.C.

Archaeologist Basel Gharz al-Din, the supervisor of the excavation said that the three stores are semicircular and made of basalt stones.

The works of the excavation in the eastern side of the hill showed that the stony bases represent a row, as several antiquities were also found at the site such as jars, plates, pots and metal pieces.

Source: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/

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Archaeologists could identify bodies at dawson

Yukon archaeologists are confident of identifying the three bodies found at the Dawson City excavation last week.

They believe that the remains are those of criminals executed during the Gold Rush, and then buried near the location of the historic North West Mounted Police detachment in Dawson City.

Yukon senior archaeologist Greg Hare said that his team already has a good start because Dawson's executions were well documented.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/

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Tragic Roman secrets in digging For Britain

The most exciting thing about the "Digging For Britain" series is that it shows archaeology related information in action. Instead of just presenting history as a series of accepted facts we're seeing how the interpretation develops, during excavations and careful analysis in the lab.

Excavations include the discovery of the massive hoard of Roman coins in Frome, and the bizarre and chilling evidence of infanticide from the Yewden Roman villa site in Buckinghamshire. Both these discoveries are featured in detail in episode one, Romans. The Yewden Roman Villa site was excavated ages ago - in 1912 - but archaeologist Jill Eyers has been taking a fresh look at the finds from that dig.

She knew there had been numerous infant burials around the site - 97 in total. In fact, infant 'burial' sounds a bit too respectful for what had actually been found - the remains of infants shoved unceremoniously into pits in the ground. Dr Alice Roberts is the presenter of Digging For Britain.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/

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Prehistoric Ilkley Moor carvings to be preserved

Prehistoric carvings on Ilkley Moor are to be preserved with the latest technology for future generations to enjoy and study them. Archaeologists are thinking to create digital 3D models of the carvings fearing that the originals could be eroded away.

As of now the carvings are represented in two dimension but Gavin Edwards an archaeologist said that we have the opportunity to create three-dimensional models so that they can be studied in the future.

The carvings were made in the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age started at the end of the last ice age in about 10,000 BC.

It is thought they were made by some of the first hunter-gatherers to reach what is now Ilkley Moor - an area which now has the highest concentration of Mesolithic sites in the world.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

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Pre historic images on stones

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Russian submarine found at constanta

Russian Submarine SC-213 discovered by divers from Black Sea Wreck Divers near the coast of Constanta, Romania.

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Oldest modern human found in China

A fossil human jawbone discovered in southern China is upsetting conventional notions of when our ancestors migrated out of Africa.

The mandible, unearthed by paleontologists in China's Zhiren Cave in 2007, sports a distinctly modern feature: a prominent chin. But the bone is undeniably 60,000 years older than the next oldest Homo sapiens remains in China, scientists say.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

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Egypt's lost pyramid found buried

The pyramid of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh has been discovered by archaeologists which was buried for generations.

The pyramid is thought to house the tomb of King Menkauhor, who is believed to have ruled in Egypt's 5th dynasty for eight years in the mid-2400s B.C.

Long since reduced to its foundations, the structure was previously known as Number 29 or the "Headless Pyramid." It was mentioned in the mid-19th century by German archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius.

Then it disappeared in the sands of Saqqara, a sprawling royal burial complex near current-day Cairo.

It took Egyptian archaeologists about a year and a half just to remove all the sand above the pyramid.

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Top 10 Archeological Discoveries

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Headless Romans in England

Archaeologists say that the headless skeletons from the English cemetery holds proof that the victims lost their heads a long way from home.

The 80 skeletons were found in burial grounds used by the Romans during the second and third centuries A.D. Almost all are males, and more than half of them had been decapitated, although many were buried with their detached heads.

In a new study of the ancient bones, Gundula Müldner of the University of Reading in the U.K. says the "headless Romans" likely came from as far away as Eastern Europe, and previous evidence of combat scars suggests that the men led violent lives.

"The headless Romans are very different than other people from York. They have come from all over the place. Some of them are quite exotic."

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

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Plaster cast of a Pompeiian volcano victim

The lifelike pose of many victims at Pompeii—seated with face on their hands, crawling, kneeling on a mother's lap—are helping to lead to a new interpretation of how these ancient people died in A.D. 79 eruptions of Italy's Mount Vesuvius.

Until now it's been assumed that most of the victims were asphyxiated by volcanic ash and gas. But the recent study states that most died due to extreme heat, with many casualties shocked into a sort of instant rigor mortis.

Volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo and his colleagues started analyzing the layers of buried volcanic ash, rock and then fed the data into a computer simulation of the Mount Vesuvius eruption.

They concluded that the volcano which was six miles away from Pompeii, produced six different pyroclastic surges—fast-moving, ground-hugging waves of hot, toxic gases and ash.

Most of the hundreds of fatalities occurred during the fourth surge—the first to reach Pompeii—even though that surge was relatively slow and ash-poor.

The fourth surge was too weak to wreck buildings but temperatures outdoors—and indoors—rose up to 300°C [570°F] which was more enough to kill hundreds of people in a fraction of a second.

Because of the extreme heat, "when the pyroclastic surge hit Pompeii, there was no time to suffocate," he said. "The contorted postures are not the effects of a long agony, but of the cadaveric spasm, a consequence of heat shock on corpses."

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Neanderthal Genome Project

Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute joins with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Dave Micklos to discuss about Neanderthal genetics. Dr. Pääbo discusses mating between humans and Neanderthal, the FOXP2 gene and language development, and the possibility of recreating a Neanderthal today.

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Archaeologists reveal brutal Viking massacre

Archaeologists have discovered that Viking skeletons buried beneath Oxford college were the victims of brutal ethnic cleansing 1,000 years ago.

Archaeologists were mystified when they found a mass grave beneath a quadrangle at St John’s College, St Giles, in 2008.

But, after two years of CSI-style detective work, they believe they can pinpoint the exact day in 1002 AD that Danish settlers were rounded up on the streets of Oxford and murdered, before being carted out of the city gates and dumped in a ditch.

Thames Valley Archaeological Services (TVAS) uncovered the archaeology excavations of 34 to 38 young men in March 2008, during excavations for a new college building.

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1000-year-old human skeleton found in western Bulgaria

A human skeleton estimated to be more than 1000 years old was discovered during sewage maintenance work in the western Bulgarian town of Kyustendil.

Archaeologists describe this skeleton as a "medieval Christian gravesite". The skeleton is in a good condition, with folded upper limps and prostrate legs. It was also not damaged by the construction work happening nearby.

Doichin Grozdanov an archaeologist in Kyustendil said that this skeleton is of a mature male and a Christian. Based on the positioning of the skeleton, he also added that this was a typical Christian funeral.

The remains are excavated and taken to a laboratory for an anthropological analysis.

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Around Jerusalem in 60 Seconds

Archaeological excavations conducted some 30 years ago around the Damascus Gate to the Old City revealed remains of a Roman plaza and gate dating back almost 2,000 years, to the time when Jerusalem was still called Aelia Capitolina. The gate, which archaeologists say was built during Caesar Hadrian's reign, consists of three entrances, the easternmost of which remains almost completely intact.

Since the discovery, the square has been converted into a museum devoted to the history of Damascus Gate. Among the items on display are the two guard towers made out of stone that was used in Second-Temple-era buildings. One of them is accessible and to the public and connects to the Ramparts Walk, which takes you around the Old City along the top of the walls.

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Red, yellow and orange pigments detected on stone age homes

London, Oct 31 (IANS) Our ancestors 5,000 years ago brightened up their Stone Age homes by painting the insides, according to new archaeological evidence. They used red, yellow and orange pigments from ground-up minerals and bound it with animal fat and eggs to make their paint.

It is the earliest ever example of man using paint to decorate their properties in Britain, if not in Europe.Until now experts believed that it was the Romans who were the first to introduce paint to decorate houses to Britain 3,000 years later, reports the Daily Mail. Archaeologists made the discovery at the site of a Stone Age settlement on the island of Orkney. A neolithic village consisting of 15 small dwellings was first discovered at Brodgar on Orkney in the 1980s in Britain.

Then last year archaeologists dug up a number of nearby temples that the inhabitants would have worshipped in. Several stones used to form the buildings have now been found to have been painted and decorated by the locals in about 3,000 BC. It is thought this was actually done to enhance important buildings and may have been found in entranceways or areas of the building which had particular significance.

Nick Card of the Orkney Research Centre for archaeology excavations said: 'This is a quite exceptional discovery.' 'We have found seven stones in this ritual centre. Some of them were covered in paint and others appear to have had designs such as chevrons and zig zags painted on.'

'When you think of the neolithic period you think of a grey, monochrome world. But we have suspected that colour was a part of their world.'

Neolithic tomb complex founded by digger

A local man stumbled on the site while using a mechanical digger for landscaping. It appears to contain a central passageway and multiple chambers excavated from rock. There is a large neolithic burial complex nearby called The Tomb of the Eagles where over 300 bodies were found.

"Potentially these skeletons could tell us so much about Neolithic people," said Orkney Islands Council archaeologist Julie Gibson. "Not only in relation to their deaths, but their lives." One end of the tomb was accidentally removed as it was discovered and as a result, the burial site has now been flooded.

Archaeologists are in a race against time to recover its contents before they are damaged or destroyed. "There might also be other material, pottery or organics such as woven grass, buried in there - which cannot last under the circumstances," said Ms Gibson.

The rescue archaeology excavation is being undertaken by archaeologists from Orkney College and is sponsored by Orkney Islands Council and Historic Scotland.

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Egyptian Archaeologists Uncover Sphinx Enclosure Wall

A team of Egyptian archaeologists has uncovered the remains of a 3,400-year-old wall on the Giza plateau that once protected the Sphinx from desert winds, the country’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said.

The two sections of mud-brick wall, which stretch for 132 meters (433 feet) in total, have been dated to the reign of Thutmose IV, the council said in an e-mailed statement. According to ancient Egyptian texts, the pharaoh built the enclosure after the Sphinx appeared to him in a dream complaining that it was being choked by sand.

The team also uncovered a third, older section of wall that is believed to be part of a settlement for priests and officials overseeing the mortuary cult of the pharaoh Khafre, the secretary-general of the council, Zahi Hawass, said, according to the statement.

Egypt’s government is building its own wall around the Giza site to protect the monuments from looters and prevent touts from disturbing visitors. Tourism, which accounts for 12.6 percent of jobs, is one of the country’s main sources of foreign currency and brought in $10.8 billion last year, according to the Tourism Ministry.

Khafre, also known as Chephren, died in about 2532 BC after building the second of the pyramids that dominate the necropolis at Giza. It is commonly believed the statue of the Sphinx was also built during his reign, historians have said.

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Dwarka, India - 12,000 Year Old City of Lord Krishna Found

Dwarka also known as Dwarawati in Sanskrit literature is rated as one of the seven most ancient cities in the country. The legendary city of Dvaraka was the dwelling place of Lord Krishna. It is believed that due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dvaraka has submerged six times and modern day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area. According to Hindu legend the god Krishna built a city which was ultimately destroyed by rising sea levels. Now archaeologists and Indian Navy divers are investigating underwater ruins at Dwarka on India's western coast, said to be Krishna's city. The new efforts, it is hoped, will settle the debate currently raging over the age and authenticity of the site near the Samudranaraya temple. Divers have collected blocks and samples which will now be dated. Traditional Hindu scholars referencing ancient Hindu scriptures believe the location to be very ancient, originally built many thousands of years ago. Such notions are, of course, vehemently rejected by establishment scientists though they are willing to concede that there is evidence indicating an age of as much as 3500 years.

Of course the date when the city was destroyed would be long after the date of its inception, so a definitive maximum date has not been established. The new study is expected to resolve some of the issues. Archaeologists will now use the carbon dating technique to determine the exact age of the ruins. The earlier excavations, that first began about 40 years ago, had only revealed stones, beads, glass and terracotta pieces.

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In Pursuit Of Lost Time

This is a documentary about the shipwreck archaeology excavations along the Agean-Mediterranean coasts and the foundation of Nautical Archaeology in Turkey, after the initial discovery of the shipwrecks by the sponge divers of Bodrum.

The film depicts the passion & adventures of modern underwater archaeologists during 1996 - 1998 including an archaeology excavation directed by Dr. Freiderick M Hocker to the 1100 year old Byzantine shipwreck in Bozburun. We also see historical underwater footage shot in the 1960's.

Virtual Reconstruction of a Seventeenth-Century Portuguese Nau - Audrey Wells

A 3D reconstruction of a seventheenth-century Portuguese 'Nau' based on the archaeological excavations of the "Pepper Wreck," Nossa Senhora dos Martires which wrecked at the mouth of the Tagus River in Portugal carrying a cargo of pepper. This model forms the basis of TAMU Department of Visualization graduate student Audrey Wells' thesis.


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Wendy dredging

LAMP Field School student Wendy Drennon, an archaeology student from FSU, uses the suction dredge to excavate Unit 5, one of 9 units in a meter-wide trench being excavated across an unknown ballast pile offshore St. Augustine, Florida.


The 2009 LAMP Field School was held from June 8 - June 26, and Wendy and several other students elected to stay longer and continue to assist in archaeology excavations. LAMP stands for the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program and is the research arm of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum.


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Living on the Coast Jacques Cousteau Tribute

Cousteau was born on the 11th June 1910. In 1930 he entered the Ecole Navale and graduated as a gunnery officer. After an automobile accident cut short his career in naval aviation, Cousteau indulged his interest in the sea.


In 1950 he founded the French Oceanographic Campaigns (FOC), and leased a ship called Calypso from Thomas Loel Guinness for a symbolic one franc a year. Cousteau refitted the Calypso as a mobile laboratory for field research and as his principal vessel for diving and filming. He also carried out underwater archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean Walt first meet Cousteau when he was involved in promoting the film The Silent World which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956.


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Dor Underwater Excavations 2008

Israel's Channel 2 report on the ongoing underwater archeological excavations at Dor \ Tantura beach in Israel.


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Yenikapı archaeological excavations - Summer 2008

Shot by a tourist, this is a view from the east, looking west from Namık Kemal Cd. over the Yenikapi archaeology excavations. Over 35 shipwrecks have uncovered in the former Theodosian Harbor of Constantinople from the 7th through 11th centuries, including several galleys. Other remains include a Christian Basilica and the oldest occupation yet discovered in Istanbul dating to the Chalcolithic.


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