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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: archaeology

archaeology stories: 62 news summaries

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HERODOTUS WAS RIGHT DEPT

 Vanished Persian Army 
 Turns Up in Sand 

Evidence of 50K doomed soldiers found in Egyptian desert

Nov 17, 09 2:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Italian archaeologists in Egypt claim to have unearthed evidence of a 6th-century BC Persian military folly once thought mythical. Herodotus described an army of 50,000 Persians sent by their emperor, Cambyses, to destroy an oracle that had spoken ill of his ambitions. The army was, according to lore, beset... More »

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Iran • archaeology • Libya • ancient Egypt • archaeologist • ancient history • Persia • sandstorm • army • Herodotus


 Atlantis-like City Mapped 
 Off Greek Coast 

Lost city dates back to the days of Homer

Oct 17, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Marine archaeologists have uncovered a sunken city that may have inspired the myth of Atlantis. Located off the coast of southern Greece, Pavlopetri dates back more than 5,000 years and is thought to have been engulfed by the sea around 1,000 BC, making it the only sunken Greek... More »

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archaeology • Atlantis • Greece • ancient Greece

 'Mini Coliseum' 
 Unearthed Near Rome

Find at Roman Empire port hailed as world wonder

Oct 16, 09 3:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Archaelogists excavating the ancient port that served Rome in the days of the Roman Empire have found the remains of a smaller-scale version of the Coliseum next to an imperial palace. Statues and many other archeological treasures have been found at Portus, which lies a mile from Rome's airport. The... More »

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archaeology • Italy • Roman Empire • Coliseum

 Fossil Find 
 Shakes Up 
 Evolution 
 Timeline 

Ardipithecus ramidus lived in trees and walked upright

Oct 1, 09 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - A primate fossil found in Africa in 1994 predates the famous “Lucy” skeleton by 1 million years and offers clues to human evolution, researchers say. “This is huge,” a paleoanthropologist tells the Washington Post. “This is the biggest discovery really since” Lucy. The researchers believe... More »

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Africa • evolution • archaeology • paleontology • fossil • chimpanzees • Lucy • primates • scientific study • Australopithecus • Ardipithecus ramidus

 Pair's Remains 
 May Date to 
 Trojan War 

Find in ancient Troy could date to 1200 BC

Sep 22, 09 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - In a discovery one professor calls “electrifying,” archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a couple believed to have lived during the Trojan War era in Turkey’s ancient city of Troy, Reuters reports. “If the remains are confirmed to be from 1200 BC it would coincide with... More »

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Turkey • archaeology • history • Trojan • remains • ancient cities • Troy

(Newser) - Dozens of carefully buried human sacrifices have been found in a coastal Inca site in Peru, reports the Telegraph. Most of the dead are teenage girls, and one appears to have been pregnant. The bodies, which still contain skin and hair, all bear signs of knife slashes along the neck.... More »

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archaeology • Peru • Machu Picchu • South America • Spanish • Inca • human sacrifices • archaeologist

Statue of Busty
Woman May Be
World's Oldest

Sexualized carving done 35K years ago: German scientists

May 13, 09 4:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - German scientists have unearthed what may be the world’s oldest statue, a 35,000-year-old ivory carving of a busty woman. The 2.4 inch sculpture with extra-large breasts and an enlarged vulva was found in the same cave as a penis-shaped stone discovered in 2005, and may be an... More »

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fertility • archaeology • Germany • women • art • statue

OPINION

Opening Her Tomb Won't Tell Us Who Cleopatra Was

Even Shakespeare had a hard time improving on her true story

Apr 22, 09 10:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - If the tomb that archaeologists are about to start excavating in Egypt really is Cleopatra’s, what will that really tell us about the legendary queen? Aside from possibly clearing up questions about her heritage and cause of death, probably not much, writes Cleopatra expert Stacy Schiff in the New ... More »

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archaeology • tomb • ancient Egypt • Cleopatra • Marc Antony

 China Finds 
 Vast  New 
 Stretches 
 of Great Wall 

High-tech study finds hundreds of hidden miles

Apr 21, 09 1:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chinese scientists have discovered huge sections of the Great Wall of China that have been concealed by sandstorms over time, reports the BBC. A high-tech study using infrared and GPS technology found that the barrier built to protect against northern invaders is up to 1000 miles longer than experts previously... More »

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China • archaeology • Great Wall of China • Gansu province

Archaeologist: 
Cleopatra, Mark Antony Tomb
Is Close

Artifacts unearthed in Egypt hint at lovers

Apr 19, 09 3:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - An eccentric Egyptian archaeologist believes he knows where Mark Antony and Cleopatra were buried, the AP reports. An excavation team has uncovered a mask fragment with an Antony-style cleft chin, coins bearing Cleopatra’s likeness, and 10 mummies from the same time period in the Toposiris Magna temple, hinting that... More »

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archaeology • Egypt • mummy • tomb • ancient Egypt • Cleopatra • masks • Mark Antony

Skeleton Hints
at Cleopatra's African Heritage

But experts point
out holes in BBC documentary's claim

Mar 16, 09 3:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Egyptian queen Cleopatra may have been of African rather than Greek ancestry, new findings suggest. A BBC archaeological documentary claims to have found the tomb of Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe, in Ephesus, Turkey. Arsinoe, who, according to legend, was killed on orders from her sister, had skull dimensions consistent with... More »

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archaeology • Egypt • Greece • tomb • African • Cleopatra • ancient Greece

 'Vampire' Unearthed in Venice 

Gravediggers took steps to stop corpse feasting on other plague victims

Mar 14, 09 2:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Italian archeologists have discovered evidence of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual in a 16th-century plague pit near Venice, the AP reports. A female skeleton was unearthed with a brick wedged between her jaws, in what experts believe was an attempt by superstitious gravediggers to stop the corpse from eating through its... More »

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archaeology • plague • Northern Italy • superstition • Venice • vampire

 Jewel of Maya Art 
 Unearthed in Guatemala 

Rare panels found in jungle city depict ancient legend of creation

Mar 12, 09 9:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Archaeologists reclaiming the Mayans' biggest city from the Guatemalan jungle have uncovered the oldest known depiction of the ancient civilization's creation myth, reports Reuters. The carvings depict the heroic twins of Maya legend emerging from the underworld surrounded by cosmic monsters. They appear on a pair of 26-foot-long panels at... More »

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archaeology • art • Central America • Mayan • Guatemala • ruins • archaeologist • Maya • El Mirador

Ancient Footprints
Reveal Path to Humanity

Tracks in Kenya are 1.5 million years old

Feb 28, 09 3:12 AM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have unearthed ancient footprints that reveal humanity's ancestors walked with a modern stride as long as 1.5 million years ago, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Researchers believe the tracks—left beside a muddy river bank in Kenya and preserved when the river changed course—belong to human ancestor Homo ... More »

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Kenya • archaeology • fossil • anthropology • Homo erectus • prehistoric

(AP) - A pair of 4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs discovered at Saqqara indicate that the sprawling necropolis south of Cairo is even larger than previously thought, Egypt's top archaeologist said today. "We announce today a major, important discovery at Saqqara, the discovery of two new tombs dating back to 4,300... More »

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archaeology • Cairo • tomb • ancient Egypt

Scientists Find 2,000-Year-Old Brain in Britain

Experts ask if head was severed by sacrifice
or ritual burial

Dec 12, 08 5:28 PM CST
(AP) - British archaeologists have unearthed an ancient skull carrying a startling surprise—an unusually well-preserved brain. Scientists said today that the mass of gray matter was more than 2,000 years old, making it the oldest ever discovered in Britain, the AP reports. One expert unconnected with the find called it... More »

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archaeology • brain • skull • Britain

OPINION

 The 11th Commandment: 
 'Thou Shalt Not Forge' 

Unscrupulous scholars fake history to make a buck

Nov 29, 08 6:06 PM CST
(Newser) - Fraudulent biblical artifacts come a dime a dozen, but reputable archaeologists are turning out to be far less common, Nina Burleigh writes in the Los Angeles Times. The latest example involves an Israeli collector who claimed to have relics from the time of Christ. Declaring the items forgeries, authorities prosecuted... More »

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Israel • archaeology • fraud • Christianity • Judaism • Bible • prosecutors • faithful • Holy Land

 Oldest-Known 
 Nuclear Family 
 Unearthed 

Murdered Stone Age family found buried in group hug

Nov 18, 08 4:57 AM CST
(Newser) - The oldest nuclear family ever discovered has been found in a group hug in a Stone Age burial site, the Independent reports. Genetic testing revealed that the four skeletons buried in each other's arms at the site in Germany were a father, mother, and their two young sons. All had... More »

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archaeology • family • skeleton • nuclear family • Stone Age • neolithic period

 Jesus-Era 
 Bling Dug Up 
 in Jerusalem 

2000-year-old earring discovered

Nov 11, 08 5:34 AM CST
(Newser) - A spectacular gold, pearl, and emerald earring, dating to the time of Jesus, has been discovered in Jerusalem, AP reports. The 2,000-year-old find, close to the Old City walls, is causing a sensation because Roman-era jewelry is rare as the city was ultimately destroyed and what survived was often... More »

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archaeology • Jerusalem • Rome • jewelry • Doron Ben-Ami • Byzantine • Israeli Antiquities Authority

 Traces of the Real 
 Crusoe Unearthed 

Character was based on marooned Scotsman

Nov 1, 08 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - A dig has unearthed remnants of the real-life Robinson Crusoe’s stay on an island west of Chile, the BBC reports. Daniel Defoe’s character is said to have been based on a sailor who was rescued from the island in 1709. Traces of his four-year presence include post-holes from... More »

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archaeology • literature • island • novel

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