Archaeologists have discovered six Pagan Saxon skeletons dating back over 1,000 years on a housing development site just a few miles from Stonehenge.
The discoveries, which also include round barrows dating back to the Bronze Age 4,000 years ago, were unearthed at a redundant brownfield development site in Amesbury, Wiltshire, which is also famous for the Amesbury Archer – an early Bronze Age man found buried among arrowheads.
The remains are thought to be those of adolescent to mature males and females. Five skeletons were arrayed around a small circular ditch, with the grave of a sixth skeleton in the centre. Two lots of beads, a shale bracelet and other grave goods were also found, which suggest the findings are Pagan. Read more.
Uncovering the secrets of the deep off Skerries 35 years ago helped launch the career of a maritime archaeologist – and brought him closer to the secrets of Henry VIII’s flagship war vessel, Mary Rose.
Christopher Dobbs worked on the wreck of the Kennemerland while studying at Cambridge University in 1978 – artefacts from which are now displayed proudly at the Shetland Museum.
From there he became one of the diving salvage team to help raise the Mary Rose in 1982.
He will speak of his experiences at a meeting of the UK Maritime Heritage Forum tomorrow evening, and promises to give a tantalising insight into what it’s like uncovering the secrets of the deep. Read more.
BELIZE CITY – The penalty for the near-total destruction of one of the biggest Mayan pyramids in Belize — which the government called “unforgivable” and left archaeologists speechless — may leave conservationists speechless: just $5,000.
Police have launched an investigation and anyone found responsible could face five to 10 years in imprison, a fine of about $5,000 or both.
To avoid the fee, fingers are frantically pointing in the Caribbean country, with the owner of De’ Mar’s Stone Co., the road-building company that has been blamed for the incident, saying the landowner gave him permission to extract the material. Read more.
Pockets of water trapped in rocks from a Canadian mine are over a billion years old, and the water could contain life forms that can survive independently from the sun, scientists said this week.
The ancient water was collected from boreholes at Timmins Mine beneath Ontario, Canada, at a depth of about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers).
“When these rocks formed, this part of Canada was the ocean floor,” said study co-author Barbara Sherwood Lollar, an Earth scientist at Canada’s University of Toronto.
“When we go down [into the mine] with students, we like to say imagine you’re walking on the seafloor 2.6 billion years ago.”
Working with U.K. colleagues Chris Ballentine and Greg Holland, Sherwood Lollar and her team found that the water was rich in dissolved gases such as hydrogen and methane, which could provide energy for microbes like those found around hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean. Read more.
Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins, AP reported.
Danish National Museum spokesman Jens Christian Moesgaard says the coins have a distinctive cross motif attributed to Norse King Harald Bluetooth, who is believed to have brought Christianity to Norway and Denmark.
Sixteen-year-old Michael Stokbro Larsen found the coins and other items with a metal detector in a field in northern Denmark.
Stokbro Larsen, who often explores with his detector, said he is often laughed at because friends find him “a bit nerdy.”
Moesgaard said Thursday, May 16 that it was the first time since 1939 that so many Viking-era coins have been found, calling them “another important piece in the puzzle” of history. (source)
Archaeologists have been huddled along Highway 101 north of Novato for the past month sifting the dirt for clues about how humans survived hundreds of years ago.
Arrowheads, parts of grinding bowls, stone tools and shells are some of what was uncovered at the Coast Miwok site established along the bay waters, which provided fertile ground to sustain an austere existence.
“It’s a major site,” said Nick Tipon, a member of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Sacred Sites Committee, who monitored the dig that ended Thursday. “For us it is interesting to learn more about our past and our ancestors.”
The work is being done because Caltrans will soon pave a frontage road over the site as part of the Novato Narrows widening project. Read more.
The peak period for baby-making sex in ancient Egypt was in July and August, when the weather was at its hottest.
Researchers made this discovery at a cemetery in the Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt whose burials date back around 1,800 years. The oasis is located about 450 miles (720 kilometers) southwest of Cairo. The people buried in the cemetery lived in the ancient town of Kellis, with a population of at least several thousand. These people lived at a time when the Roman Empire controlled Egypt, when Christianity was spreading but also when traditional Egyptian religious beliefs were still strong.
So far, researchers have uncovered 765 graves, including the remains of 124 individuals that date to between 18 weeks and 45 weeks after conception. The excellent preservation let researchers date the age of the remains at death. Read more.
Cairo, May 16 (EFE).- Archaeologists found the 1,400-year-old remains of a Nubian soldier in Aswan, a city in southern Egypt, Minister of State for Antiquities Ahmed Eisa said.
The soldier’s remains were discovered in a field that dates to the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Age near the border of Egypt and Nubia.
The find shows that conflicts broke out periodically along the frontier between Egypt and Nubia, a region that covered parts of southern Egypt and northern Sudan.
The soldier’s remains are in good condition and he appeared to be between 25 and 35 at the time of his death, the ministry said, adding that he was stabbed just under the chest.
The body was buried with stones from a border wall that apparently collapsed during the fighting. (source)
