Showing posts with label archaeological excavations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label archaeological excavations. Show all posts

Monday, October 21, 2013

Archaeologists Discover Last Neanderthals

Archaeologists have finished an important discover on a promontory to assist illustrate the home of the last Neanderthals in northwest Europe.
An archaeological excavate at Le Cotte de St Brelade in Brelade, Jersey, unearthed items which divulge the existence of Stone Age hunters at the bluff, The Register reported.
"In terms of the volume of residue, archaeological prosperity and deepness of time, there is nil else like it known in the British Isles," said Dr Matt Pope of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, a research leader.
"Given that we consideration these deposits had been detached completely by earlier researchers, ruling that so much still leftovers is as thrilling as discovering a new site."
The site, which is off the coast of Normandy, France, has exposed more Neanderthal stone tools than the rest of the British Isles simultaneously. It holds the only known late caveman remains in Northwest Europe and an imminent into the early relatives of early human beings.
The archaeologists dated sediments at the cave site using a technique called optically enthused luminesce, which events the last time sand grains were uncovered to sunlight.
Dr Pope said the results showed that part of the succession of sediments dates between 100,000 and 47,000 years old, representing that Neanderthal teeth which were exposed at the site in 1910 were younger than earlier thought, and "doubtless belonged to one of the last Neanderthals to live in the region".

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Thursday, October 3, 2013

International Archaeology Day – October 19

International Archaeology Day 2013 has outshined 300 events! The Archaeological Institute of America's IAD 2013 will be detained October 19 and renowned during the month of October by above 150 collaborating organizations.
For the first year as International Archaeology Day about a dozen countries will also contribute. In the United States only, organizations from 45 states plus Washington, D.C. are hosting more than hundreds of events during the month of October to celebrate archaeology. Events held across Canada include those in the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Other countries supporting IAD are Australia, Belize, Cambodia, Egypt, Ecuador, Germany, Iran, Jordan, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
There is a wide sort of events offered such as lectures, practical activities, workshops, conferences and symposia, demonstrations, and exhibitions. Such a mixture of events allows all and sundry to find an event that fits their interests.
Explorers and nature-lovers should try the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology canoe trip on the Congaree River. During the tour, participants can learn about Paleo-Indian, colonial, and Civil War heritage in the area. A similar trip will be held in Massachusetts for New Englanders. For those interested in getting the scoop on ongoing excavations, the Archaeological Society of Athens is hosting a lecture in Vancouver explaining the past 10 years of archaeology done at the Petsas House in Mycenae.
The Traveling Museum of Oregon Prehistory will fascinate participants who enjoy demonstrations of prehistoric technologies and exhibitions of artifacts spanning 14,000 years. For money enthusiasts and those interested in workshops,"Archaeology of Money" will be hosted in Germany. At the international workshop, participants will discuss Eurasian money from prehistory to 20th century ethnographies. Pioneer Days and Indian Ways in Colorado is great for all ages, and will have learning stations on Pioneers and the Ute Indians, including an excavation station!
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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Countryside Modifies At Popular Forest

Some big modifies are occurrence at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest. They valor still be a little creepy to some lovers of the past belongings. Keepers of the earlier president's residence say a true narration fawn can only feel anticipation about the new plans, nevertheless.
With the range of boxwoods vanished from the abut sod; some say the change in view makes the centuries old home virtually unrecognizable. And staff members even disclose, it is a bit unattractive right now. Finally, while, they hope to turn it into a beautiful example of living history.
It all started with a mystery of historic proportions: Who actually planted Poplar Forest's iconic boxwoods? "There's always been a debate about whether they were truly part of the Jefferson design or not," said Jeffery Nichols, President and CEO of Poplar Forest.
Jack Gary and his group of archaeologists solved the mystery with science. "Throughout the excavations we strong-minded that the boxwood bushes that were here were not part of that scenery. They were planted probably in the 1850s," said Jack Gary, Director of Archaeology and Landscapes at Poplar Forest.
Jack and Jeff made history, by making the shrubs history, but it wasn't easy. "Removing such a long-standing visual effect of the house was difficult," said Nichols. Changes that big had to be OK'd by Poplar Forest Staff, an advisory board, and the Garden Club of Virginia. After they got the green light to get rid of the greens, Gary and his team started deeper excavations.
"It's through the archaeology that we find the exact locations, exact sizes. So then we match up the archaeology and Jefferson's records and we come up with a very accurate plan for what it would have looked like," said Gary. "We're not just removing these and leaving it open with a field of stumps here. Rather we're going to be restoring it back to Jefferson's vision," said Gary.
"In the end it's going to be absolutely the right decision and the only one we could make to move forward here at Poplar Forest," said Nichols. Jack Gary says they will be excavating until the end of this year. Then they'll start testing the samples they've collected.
After that, they'll take all that information and make maps of what the property used to look like, then use the maps to re-landscape the property as close as possible to Jefferson's original design.


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Treasure near Temple Mount

Archaeologists have made what they're describing as a historic find at the foot of Jerusalem's Temple Mount gold coins and jewelry that hearken back 1,400 years.
"This happens only once in a lifetime," said the lead digger, Eilat Mazar, with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in NBC.
Among the discoveries: a 4-inch-wide medallion etched with a seven-branched menorah, a ram's horn and a Torah scroll; 36 coins; and a variety of gold and silver jewelry, including large gold earrings and a gold-plated silver hexagonal prism.
"The 36 gold coins can be dated to the reigns of different Byzantine emperors, ranging from the middle of the fourth century CE to the early century CE," said Lior Sandberg, a coin specialist with the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology, in NBC.
The pieces were discovered just feet from the southern wall of the Temple Mount, one of the world's most sacred holy sites that are claimed by three different religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
The archaeologist team made the find this spring and set to work to remove the treasures. They announced the discovery this week at a press conference near the site.

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Friday, September 6, 2013

Archaeological proof proposes King Solomon's excavation subsists

Archaeologists performing excavations in the south of Israel say they've exposed copper mines old-fashioned to the days of King Solomon.
Copper mines formerly thinking to have been built by early Egyptians in the 13th century B.C. really instigated three centuries later through the control of the legendary King Solomon, they said.
Intellectual study and investigation of materials found in the area -- the Timna Valley in Israel's Aravah Desert -- advocate the mines were operated by the Edomites, a semi-nomadic ethnic amalgamation mentioned in the Bible as warring regularly with Israel, a liberate from the American Friends of Tel Aviv University reported Tuesday.
"The mines are definitely from the period of King Solomon," Tel Aviv archaeology Professor Erez Ben-Yosef said. "They may help us understand the local society, which would have been invisible to us otherwise."
Excavation revealed a massive smelting camp containing the remnants of hundreds of furnaces and layers of copper slag, the waste created during the smelting process.
Cooperation among thousands of people would have been required to operate the mines in the middle of the desert, the researchers said.
"In Timna Valley, we unearthed a society with undoubtedly significant development, organization, and power," Ben-Yosef said. "And yet because the people were living in tents, they would have been transparent to us as archaeologists if they had been engaged in an industry other than mining and smelting, which is very visible archaeologically."

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Friday, August 23, 2013

Oldest Bog Body established with Skin undamaged

Archaeologists have discovered the remnants of a 4,000-year-old man conserved in an Irish peat bog, staining the oldest European body ever established with skin still unbroken.
The chilly, sodden circumstances of Northern European bogs create low-oxygen, extremely sour environments ideal for body continuation. As an effect, hundreds of "bog bodies" dating reverse thousands of years have been revealed in the state, but many have withered down to habitually skeletons and lean to be quicker to 2,000 years old.


An occupant of middle Ireland's County Laois came diagonally the fresh-looking "Cashel Man" -- named for the bog he was found in -- while milling for peat moss, which is used for a range of ranch purposes, together with animal-bedding and meadow taming.
"All that was visible to start with was a pair of legs below the knees, and a torso," Eamonn Kelly, an archaeologist at the National Museum and lead excavator of the project, wrote in the report. "The body appeared to be naked. Later, it was possible to work out that the torso had been damaged by the milling machine, which also removed the head, neck and left arm."
The team intended the age of the body using radiometric carbon dating, in which the steady decompose rate of radioactive carbon-14 is used to approximate age based on outstanding levels of carbon-14 in the quiet tissues. Amazed to locate the body was generally 4,000 years old, the team dated the peat over and under the body to prove the results, and came up with about the same age.
The researchers also originated cuts down the man's back that looked like ax wounds. They naked axes capable of producing such wounds within the vicinity of the site.
Given this indication of cruelty, the team completed that the young man had been killed in a sacrament forfeit, a observe generally well-known in later eras, but not well acknowledged in the Early Bronze Age of 2000 B.C., about the time this bog body would've lived.
"All the indications are that the human ruins from Cashel Bog tell of the fate of a young king who, through folly or misadventure, was deemed to have failed to appease the goddess on whose benevolence his people depended, and who paid the ultimate price," Kelly wrote.

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Monday, August 12, 2013

Startling Maya Statue Exposed From Obscured Pyramid

Maya archaeologist's statement a startling detection, a fresh-looking stucco statue exterior a covered tomb portrays the estimating of a Maya ruler.
Guatemalan relic officials proclaimed the breakthrough of the stucco frieze, some 30 feet long and 6 feet tall, discovered on the in the interior of a pyramid at the Maya city site of Holmul.
"It is one of the most tremendous things I have ever seen," says archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli of the Holmul Archaeological Project. "The conservation is magnificent as it was very vigilantly crammed with grime earlier than they in progress building over it."
The frieze was on one side of a staircase crypt that was inside a pyramid built by the later rulers of the site. Tinted red, with particulars in blue, yellow and green, it depicts three men wearing bird headdresses and jade jewels seated cross-legged over the head of heap strength. It is likely a representation of the crowning of a new ruler at the site around the year 590, according to Estrada-Belli, whose team's efforts were supported by the National Geographic Society/Waitt Grants Program. "We did not have the details of the ceremonies to fix a new king as we have here, until now," he says.
At Holmul, a dedication offers the frieze to an influential king in the nearby Snake kingdom, named "Ajwosaj Chan K'inich," who claims to have restored Holmul's rulers and gods to their equitable place in the ceremony it depicts. Fundamentally Holmul had switched sides alongside Tikal, the one-time pre-eminent power of the region, some 25 miles southwest of the site.
Dug into a stairway, the tomb within the exposed building yielded the skeleton of a man, his front teeth drilled and filled with jade beads, bounded by pots depicting the nine gods of the Maya gangland as well as other icons."He was certainly a member of the ruling class," Estrada-Belli says.
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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Prehistoric Marsupials Exposed In Australian Vestige Pasture

Numerous earlier strange species of marsupials have been discovered in Australia. Researchers made discovers through the dig of a location near Queensland. So far they've dug up almost 4,000 lb. of rock and fossils for investigation.
Many of the fossils emerge to symbolize vanished and undocumented species of pouched kangaroo- and wallaby-like marsupials, as well a new species of bat.A more absolute portrayal of the species will approach jointly as the researchers study and piece together personage fossil finds.
The fossils probable fashioned about 13 to 5 million years ago as Australia transitioned from a balmy, steamy weather to baked recent surroundings. The era is basically mislaid from the relic proof.
"This was a serious era through which the extensive, fertile, prehistoric rainforests of Australia quickly gave way to progressively drier circumstances," dig leader Mike Archer, said in a declaration. "At least some of these new drops may help to fill out that critical 13-[million]-to-5-million-year-old space."
He added: "We expect that the new finds will soon be chased by many more, adding appreciably to our sympathetic about how Australia distorted from an Amazon-like world to the dry continent we see today."
Several relics exposed at the Australian site last month are previously demanding scientists' appreciative of marsupial fruition. That includes the unearthing of a 55 million-year-old ankle bone from a mouse-sized marsupial formerly consideration to have only lived in South America.
And a tooth fossil found at the site is analogous to teeth from a destroyed species from North and South America.
The conclusions confront an ancient hypothesis that marsupials traveled to the Australian region over a land viaduct in a single enormous migration occasion.

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Monday, July 29, 2013

English Ship Discovered In MD

Archaeologists functioning with Maryland's Historic St. Mary's City museum suppose they have exposed the remains of an English ship 10 feet below the St. Mary's River.
The museum proclaimed Thursday that archaeologist Scott Tucker and a team of helper divers found the leftovers this summer. They exposed a grave load of smoothed cobble pebbles in an oval-shaped area more than 50 feet long.
Tucker says the stones are exclusive and not emblematic of Maryland. They would have been used as counterweight to offer weight and solidity to the ship. Tucker says the stones may have come from the North Devon seashore of England.
Archaeologists also found a formed wooden splinter that may have been part of the ship's bilge pump. But no timbers from the ship's constitution have been revealed.
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Sunday, July 14, 2013

2,000-Year Old Pyramid Originated In Mexico

The National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, announced the detection of 30 pre-Columbian funerals and a pyramid in an ancient completion in eastern Mexico that could be up to 2,000 years old.
The momentous placed in the town of Jaltipan, Veracruz State, were convoyed by contributions, animal leftovers and fossils. Also originated was a brick formation with characteristics comparable to one at the Mayan site of Comalcalco in Tabasco, INAH said in a communique.
Beginning hypotheses point out it could have been a refuge where people of the region buried their dead, or perhaps a kind of market or a center of government where different cultures combined. Its use could date back to 700 A.D.
Research leader Alfredo Delgado said the unearthing occurred in the course of production work being done in the area. Among the objects found and detached for future study were emerald beads, mirrors and figurines of Teotihuacan, Mayan, Nahua and Popoluca origin, and from the Remojadas culture that thrived in central Veracruz.
"Analyses will facilitate us to see whether this site was multicultural, as is indicated by materials found, or whether the populations were all of the similar hereditary type. "This find has great value not only for the number of skeletons found, but also for the fossils that have appeared, and which at some time were brought from the central part of the country, since in this region that are no remains of this kind," the archaeologist said.
Very large bones and teeth were found that could be from early camelids and dwarf rhinos, fossilized shark's teeth most positively of the Megalodon type - vanished for more than 10,000 years - and of the tiger shark that still swims the seas.
The discovery of the pyramid, which is 12 meters (39 feet) high, 60 meters (197 feet) deep and 25 meters (82 feet) wide, on a nearby hill, is mainly important because this is the first time a stone constitution has been exposed in southern Veracruz.

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Monday, July 8, 2013

Medieval tower and paintings exposed by Polish archaeologists in Sudan

Flawlessly conserved part of medieval enrichment scheme and paintings in the church from the 9th century has been exposed by Polish archaeologists in Old Dongola, Sudan.
Dongola Citadel is situated on the encouraged rock on the depository of the Nile. It was bounded by buttresses built in the late fifth and sixth centuries. "Towers in Dongola were huge structures built of dried bricks and crushed stonework blocks. They were built at regular distances of 32-35 meters" - told PAP head of the mission, Prof. Wlodzimierz Godlewski.
In order to reach the tower, archaeologists had to wade from side to side the bits and pieces of the seventeenth century house built on the tower crown. The tower and buttresses was dated to the turn of fifth and sixth centuries. Its exterior, brick cladding has been added in the fifteenth/sixteenth century. Desert sand quickly covered unused fortifications. Its parts were used as residential house walls.
Another important finding of the Polish mission in Dongola are paintings located in the church adjacent to the king Joannes palace (sixth century). It is a big central basilica, measuring 25 x 15 meters, with walls and circular pillars in the southern and eastern parts preserved to a height of more than 4 m.
"Last season, slowly, as the conservation progressed, we have been uncovering the interior of the building. On the walls, as well as pillars and pilasters, appear more paintings on plaster made of lime" - said Prof. Godlewski.
Plaster surface is severely damaged and requires constant conservation during the excavations. However, the quality of the paintings - according to experts - is noteworthy. They depict Christ, Mary, saints, angels and archangels. Works of painting are accompanied by Greek inscriptions, but also Old Nubian texts, probably added later. According to the researchers, the church was built probably in the ninth century. Then, the city flourished as never before and never after.
Dongola was the capital of the Christian Makuria until the fall in the fourteenth century. The kingdom stretched from the northern area of today's southern Sudan to Egypt. Polish archaeologists have been conducting excavations here for many years in various research projects. Excavations were initiated by Prof. Kazimierz Michalowski - the founder of the Polish school of Mediterranean archeology.
Prof. Wlodzimierz Godlewski's team primarily explores architectural complexes around the so-called Citadel. The work is carried out in cooperation of the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, Department of Archaeology of Egypt and Nubia, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw and the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums in Sudan. In the last season, research was carried out intermittently from November 2012 to February 2013.

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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Pyramid Destroyed In Lima

Archaeologists' censure two building companies for demolishing part of ancient pyramid in the Lima district of San Martin de Porres.
The pyramid El Paraiso, situated near the river Chillon, is one of the oldest structures built in the Americas, made up of 12 pyramids and layering over 64 hectares.
Archaeologist Frederic Engel said in a report that El Paraiso could have held between 1500 and 3000 residents and vital over 100,000 tons of rock to build, which was taken from the hills adjoining the arrangement, and was likely used for spiritual and service purposes. Proof shows the society living there was from the Late Pre-Ceramic Age.
In spite of its apparent significance to Peruvian culture, this pyramid was bang down and later burned by several clandestine groups that entered the site on Saturday.
Archaeologist Marco Guillen Hugo was in charge of the research and excavation of this site and reported to El Comercio that he had reason to believe two private building companies, Company Promotora Provelanz E.I.R.L and Alisol S.A.C Ambas, were last the obliteration.
"This isn't the first time they have tried to take over this land," Guillen told the daily. "They say they are the owners, even though this land is untouchable."
The Ministry of Culture has said that although the companies claim to own the land, it is actually under state control.
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Monday, June 24, 2013

Presentation On Ancient City Of Neikaia In Western Museum

Pieces of limestone and glass, lamps, bronze coins and related objects discovered during the excavations at Izmir's ancient city of Neikaia are being displayed at the Odemis Museum.
A variety of chronological artifacts such as medical substance, coins and ceramic objects found in the Neikaia ancient city in the Odemis region of Izmir are being exhibited at the Odemis Museum.

There have been many chronological objects found at the site of the 2,300 year-old ancient city of Neikaia such as medical materials, coins, architectural and stoneware material. The ancient city is 10 kilometers away from Odemis, among the Turkonu and Kurucuova villages. The ancient city has an significance of being a healthiness center of the time and also being linked to the Ephesus with the name Nikopolis in the sixth century B.C. The findings could not be promoted in the best way before, due to the fact that the city was in a hilly area. Prof. Dr. Veli Sevin, an ancient era historian and archeologist, has written a 96-page book about the ancient city, entitled "Naikaia, a Forgotten Ancient City." The showing being held at the Odemis Museum aims to make the city, which started to be known about through the book, known all around the country.

Artifacts at exhibit

The exhibition is displaying three pieces of marble, nine glass pieces, four kerosene lamps made from baked soil and 16 bowls made from the soil, 1 mirror, a bronze bone medical material and a few bronze coins.

Among the guests attending the opening of the exhibition late last week were archeology department academic Prof. Dr. Serap Yaylali, the manager of the Odemis Yildiz Town Records Museum Prof. Dr. Engin Berber, the manager of the Odemis Museum Sevda Cetin, editorial office manager of the district Mahmut Yeniay, the Director of Education of the district Cevdet Unlu, art historian Prof. Dr. Necla Sevin, Food and Agriculture District Manager of Odemis Ibrahim Altintas and Odemis Culture and Social Projects Manager Ufuk Kiziler.

The manager of the Odemis Museum Sevda Cetin said that they had started the themed exhibitions with the Neikaia Ancient City and that these would maintain in order to commence the other beauties of the city.

The art historian Prof. Dr. Necla Sevin emphasized the importance of Neikaia in history and added, "One of the most important specialties of Neikaia is that it was a health center at that time. There is much evidence of this in the findings. Ancient documents are talking about this area. The richest mercury sources of the world are in this area. These mine pits have been used since the ancient times. The importance of these mines is that they have been used in varied areas.

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

Ancient Rock Art Maps Astrophysical Faith

Part of rock art spot the Appalachian Mountains and explore by University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States, anthropology professor Jan Simek finds every etching is deliberately located to expose a astrophysical puzzle.

Newly, the discoveries of ancient rock art have befallen more frequent. With these discoveries comes a solo giant one all these depiction and engravings map the ancient common stellar world.
The researchers projected that rock art altered the natural scene to replicate a three-dimensional world vital to the religion of the ancient Mississippian era.
"Our findings offer a window into what Native American societies were like opening more than 6,000 years ago," said Simek. "They tell us that the ancient peoples in the Cumberland Plateau, a section of the Appalachian Mountains, used the quite unique upland surroundings to map their intangible world onto the natural world in which they lived."
"The astrophysical divisions of the world were mapped onto the substantial site using the relief of the Cumberland Plateau as a topographic canvas," said Simek.
The "upper world" integrated extraterrestrial bodies and climate forces incarnate in mythic characters that exerted pressures on the human circumstances. Frequently open-air art sites situated in high elevations touched by the sun and stars characteristic these images. Many of the images are haggard in the color red, which was connected with life.
The "middle world" symbolized the natural world. A combination of open air and cave art sites hug the middle of the upland and feature images of people, plants and animals of frequently material character.
The "lower world" was distinguished by darkness and danger, and was connected with death, alteration and rebirth. The art sites, mainly found in caves, quality ghost characters, paranormal serpents and dogs that accompanied dead humans on the path of souls. The accumulation of creatures such as birds and fish that could cross the three layers represents the belief that the precincts were porous. Many of these images are depicted in the color black, which was connected with death.
"This encrusted world was a stage for a variety of actors that integrated heroes, monsters and creatures that could cross between the levels," Simek said.
Simek said the scale of the exposing is most remarkable, noting the Cumberland Plateau was a holy setting, spanning hundreds of miles, in which personage sites were only parts of a greater conceptual whole.
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Monday, June 10, 2013

Bone Tumor Originate In Neanderthal Strut


For the first time, a bone tumor has been originated in a Neanderthal strut bone dated before 120,000 years ago. The strut was improved at a place lock to Krapina in present-day Croatia.
The tumor is a form of cancer called fibrous dysplasia, predates earlier proof of such by more than 100,000 years. Earlier to this, the initial known bone cancers were distinguished in samples about 1,000-4,000 years old. Fibrous dysplasia in modern-day humans occurs more usually than other bone tumors, but teaches author David Frayer of the University of Kansas says that the proof for cancer about never shows up in the human fossil proof. This may be partially due to the reality that the fossil proof accounts for a relatively small example of human species or human intimates.
Even so, Frayer says, "This case shows that Neanderthals, existing in a clean atmosphere, were vulnerable to the same kind of cancer as living humans."
Also, scientists have recommended from earlier explore that Neanderthals had standard life spans that were probable half those of modern humans in urbanized countries, and were uncovered to different ecological factors. The revise terminates, "Given these factors, cases of neoplastic disease are exceptional in early human populations. In opposition to this condition, the recognition of a more than 120,000-year-old Neanderthal strut with a bone tumor is astonishing, and presents insights into the nature and history of the union of humans to neoplastic disease."

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Monday, June 3, 2013

Oldest Torah Scroll-Italy


The University of Bologna in Italy has originated what it says might be the oldest absolute scroll of Judaism's most significant text, the Torah.
The scroll was in the university library but had been mislabeled, a professor at the university says. It was formerly thought the scroll was no more than a few hundred years old.
Though, after carbon dating tests, the university has said the text may have been printed more than 850 years ago.
The university's Professor of Hebrew Mauro Perani says this would make it the oldest complete text of the Torah known to exist, and an object of strange worth.
The university says that in 1889 one of its librarians, Leonello Modona, had examined the scroll and dated it to the 17th Century.
However, when Prof Perani recently re-examined the scroll, he grasped the script used was that of the oriental Babylonian convention, importance that the scroll must be tremendously old.
Another reason for the dating is that the text has many features prohibited in later copies under rules laid down by the scholar Maimonides in the 12th Century, the university says.

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Archaeology Award-Greenlee


Diana Greenlee, Poverty Point Station Archaeologist and accessory connect professor in the School of Sciences at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, established the state's highest archaeology award.
She was named the Archaeologist of the Year at the Louisiana Culture Awards Ceremony in Baton Rouge.
"Dr. Greenlee is a well-respected professional in her field and has worked industriously to appreciate the archaeology of Poverty Point and create it available to visitors," said Eric Pani, vice president for academic dealings at ULM. "Her effort to have the site named to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage List underscores the significance Poverty Point has in our human history. We are very conceited that she is a member of our illustrious power and applaud her on this award."
Greenlee has been the Poverty Point Archaeologist since 2006, supervision the archaeological investigate at the site.
"I feel really privileged to have received this award," said Greenlee. "Developing Poverty Point's World Heritage recommendation was a long and demanding project and it's good to be renowned for that. In truth, it actually was a team effort. A lot of people, including several from the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development, the Office of State Parks, and the University of Louisiana at Monroe, contributed to the scheme. It is a opportunity to work at such a extraordinary archaeological site and with such a group of committed people."
Gary Stringer, ULM professor emeritus, designated Greenlee for the award.
"Although the awards are annual, some awards, such as Archaeologist of the Year, are only given when a person has established terrific activities and allegiance in that area," he said. "This year, the Archaeologist of the Year was awarded, and it went to Dr. Diana Greenlee "I was enormously satisfied she was given the well-deserved nobility."
Greenlee received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, and has taught at ULM for more than six years.
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Spectacular 1500-Year-old Mosaic

The most surprising reimbursement from extending Israel's north-south expressway has been riches of archaeological inventions, the newest being a fabulous mosaic from the 4th-6th centuries.
Excavations on the route of a new expressway north of Be'er Sheva have exposed a fabulous 1,500-year-old mosaic in the field of a kibbutz, providing vacationers for those with an extensive Shavuot festival to view the newest detection.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Cross-Israel Highway Company, which functions "Kvish 6, or Highway 6," is opening the dig free of Charge on Thursday morning until noon, when schools and man Yom Ha'atzmaut government offices are blocked as an extra day off following Shavuot. The Jewish holiday, also known as Pentecost, is renowned only one day in Israel but two days exterior the country.
The colorful dating to the Byzantine period among the 4th and 6th centuries was uncovered in new weeks in the fields of Kibbutz Bet Kama, situated about 15 miles north of Be'er Sheva and 50 miles south of Tel Aviv.
During the Byzantine period Jewish and Christian settlements in the region were located next to each other. A synagogue and ritual bath were uncovered in two nearby olden Jewish communities.
Before road builders can start getting ready to pave the extension of the highway from north of Beit Kama to a junction only 10 miles north of Be'er Sheva, excavations are carried out to determine if there are historical treasures underground. The archaeological site covers 1.5 acres on kibbutz farmland.
Several astounding finds already have been declared by the IAA, but the mosaic is one of the most spectacular of its kind in the country.
The main building at the site was a large hall 12 meters long by 8.5 meters wide and its ceiling was apparently covered with roof tiles. The hall's impressive opening and the breathtaking mosaic that adorns its floor suggest that the structure was a public building.
The well-preserved mosaic is decorated with geometric patterns and its corners are enhanced with amphorae - jars used to transport wine - a pair of peacocks, and a pair of doves pecking at grapes on a tendril. These are common designs that are known from this period; however, what makes this mosaic unique is the large number of motifs that were incorporated in one carpet.
Pools and a system of channels and pipes between them used to convey water were discovered in front of the building. Steps were exposed in one of the pools and its walls were treated with colored plaster, known as fresco.
Archaeologists in the Antiquities Authority are still trying to determine the purpose of the impressive public building and the pools whose construction required considerable economic resources.
The site seems to have consisted of a large estate that included church, residential buildings and storerooms, a large cistern, a public building and pools surrounded by farmland. Presumably one of the structures served as an inn for travelers who visited the place.
For more interesting topics related to archaeology, visit archaeology excavations.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Two millenia old Aizanoi rousing Istanbul bourse


The proud bearer of the title of the world's first stock replace, the ancient city of Aizanoi in Kutahya has become a source of inspiration in the promotions for the Istanbul Stock Exchange, which newly became Borsa Istanbul
Turkey's newly formed Borsa Istanbul (BIST) might be experiencing a period of effervescence as it bursts onto the world financial scene, but its roots go back much further than its immediate forerunner, the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB). The inspiration for the bourse goes all the way back to antiquity and the world's ";oldest stock exchange," Aizanoi in present-day Kutahya.

Aizanoi, which is located in the inner Aegean province's Cavdarhisar district, is now being used in the promotions for BIST, a recent amalgamation of the IMKB and the Istanbul Gold Exchange.

Archaeologists working at the site in 1971 discovered inscriptions indicating the existence of a stock exchange during the Roman era. According to the inscriptions, a slave's price was equal to a donkey, while a horse was worth three slaves.

Notably, a round-shaped structure dating back to the second century A.D. contains a copy of a paper from Emperor Diocletian that was written in 301 A.D. that outlined regulations on sales prices for goods in the market. Because of the document, many have claimed that Aizanoi possessed the world's first stock market in its Macellum building.

The head of the Aizanoi excavations, Pamukkale University Assistant Professor Elif Ozer, said the world's first stock exchange was one of the most important structures in the ancient city. She said the round structures and inscriptions in the Macellum area, known as the stock exchange building, had become a current issue during works for BIST and had drawn the attention of brokers, bankers and investors.
Dating back to 3,000 BC
Aizanoi is 57 kilometers away from the provincial center of Kutahya and is known as the second Ephesus thanks to its 20,000-person-capacity amphitheater, 13,500-person-capacity stadium, a bath, a street with pillars, a necropolis and the world's first stock exchange.

The name ";Aizanoi" comes from the mythological hero ";Azan," while the city is believed to date back to 3000 B.C. During the Hellenistic era, Aizanoi was seized by the Pergamon Kingdom and Bithynia from time to time. The city later fell under Roman rule but gradually declined in importance in the early Byzantine era.

German archaeologists had been conducting excavations in the ancient city since 1970, but the dig was transferred to the control of Denizli's Pamukkale University in 2011.

For more interesting topics related to archaeology, visit archaeology excavations.