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Al Goodyear and the Secrets of the Ancient AmericansUSC Professor Discovers 50,000 Year-Old Artifacts in S.C. BY RON AIKEN It was the summer of 1998, and University of South Carolina archaeologist Al Goodyear had a problem on his hands. Fourteen years of digging at an ancient chert quarry outside Allendale had begun to bear fruit: At a site called Big Pine Tree, Goodyear was well on his way to establishing that a substantial Clovis population lived here. If you’ll recall your history lessons from high school, the Clovis people — named such because the first evidence of them was found...

LU lab called on again to check ancient DNA Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Kathryn Reuseh uses a pipette during the first day of the Paleo DNA ancient DNA training program Monday at Lakehead University. A Thunder Bay DNA expert was in New York City on Monday to discuss findings that could help researchers prove that Jesus did marry Mary Magdalene and that they had children. >br> Lakehead University‘s Paleo DNA Laboratory operations supervisor Renee Fratpietro joined English filmmaker Bruce Burgess in the Big Apple to discuss his film “Bloodline”, which follows a three-year investigation led by Burgess and his American...

1,000 Ancient Tombs, Unique Remains Found ColombiaJosé Orozco in Caracas, Venezuela for National Geographic NewsMay 9, 2008 Builders clearing land for a housing project in Colombia have uncovered an ancient burial site containing nearly a thousand tombs linked to two little-known civilizations. The site covers some 12 acres (5 hectares) in the impoverished Usme district in southeast Bogotá (see map) and includes one set of remains that some researchers believe could be a victim of human sacrifice. The possible victim is a young woman who seems to have been buried alive, said Ana Maria Groot, one of the lead anthropologists...

Modern subdivision is home to ancient villageDavid Davis Managing Editor Thursday, May 08, 2008 Upon entering Princeton Hills subdivision off Freewill Road, visitor's see a wide expanse of green space bordered by a circular drive. Large, expensive homes surround the green, grassy mound in an arrangement akin to a prehistoric village. In a sense, that is exactly what the mound represents. It is the five-acre site of the Candies Creek Village Archaeological Preserve owned by the Archaeological Conservancy. It contains the remains of houses, human burials and pit features. Developer Jim Sharp sold the site to the Conservancy in 2001...

Jiroft is the ancient city of Marhashi: U.S. scholarWednesday, May 7, 2008 Tehran Times Culture Desk Jiroft is the ancient city of Marhashi: U.S. scholar TEHRAN -- Piotr Steinkeller, professor of Assyriology in Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Harvard University, believes that the prehistoric site of Jiroft is the lost ancient city of Marhashi. He developed the theory in his paper during the first round of the International Conference on Jiroft Civilization, which was held in Tehran on May 5 and 6. Marhashi, (in earlier sources Warahshe) was a 3rd millennium BC polity situated east of Elam,...

Did Comets Cause Ancient American Extinctions?Anne Casselman for National Geographic NewsMay 6, 2008 Debate has heated up over a controversial theory that suggests huge comet impacts wiped out North America's large mammals nearly 13,000 years ago. The hypothesis, first presented in May 2007, proposes that an onslaught of extraterrestrial bodies caused the mass extinction known as the Younger Dryas event and triggered a period of climatic cooling. The theory has been debated widely since it was introduced, but it drew new scrutiny in March at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. Stuart...

45-Foot Ancient Canoe Stuck In The Muck Of Weedon Island Tampa Bay Online updated 3:10 p.m. CT, Mon., May. 5, 2008 By KEITH MORELLI of The Tampa Tribune ST. PETERSBURG - Stuck somewhere in the muck of Weedon Island is a significant piece of history. A 45-foot canoe, buried for more than a thousand years and used by a long-dead culture of Native Americans, worked its way to the surface, and now authorities are trying to figure out how best to preserve it. The vessel is carved out of a single pine tree, and archaeologists say it was used to...

Buried Dogs Were Divine "Escorts" for Ancient AmericansAnne Casselman for National Geographic NewsApril 23, 2008 Hundreds of prehistoric dogs found buried throughout the southwestern United States show that canines played a key role in the spiritual beliefs of ancient Americans, new research suggests. Throughout the region, dogs have been found buried with jewelry, alongside adults and children, carefully stacked in groups, or in positions that relate to important structures, said Dody Fugate, an assistant curator at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Fugate has conducted an ongoing survey of known dog burials in the...

Exhibit Shows Ancient Links Between Persia and Korea Cultural exchange between Korea and Persia goes back more than a thousand years. Some historians say through the Silk Road, Muslim traders put the name, Shilla, Korea's ancient dynasty, on the world map. To open a window into this intriguing past, the National Museum of Korea is hosting an exhibit of Persian artifacts. "Glory of Persia" showcases the history of Persia over a span of twelve centuries when it was one of the world's biggest empires. Shilla-period artifacts such as pottery and daggers show Persian influences in the form of artistic techniques...

Synchrotron light unveils oil in ancient Buddhist paintings from Bamiyan A cross-section of the sample, where the different layers are visible. Credit: National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (Japan) The world was in shock when in 2001 the Talibans destroyed two ancient colossal Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind those statues, there are caves decorated with precious paintings from 5th to 9th century A.D. The caves also suffered from Taliban destruction, as well as from a severe natural environment, but today they have become the source of a major discovery. Scientists have proved, thanks to experiments...

How deep should we look for evidence of first Americans? By Bill Young Three sites in Texas have been discovered and at least partially excavated in the past 15 years yielding evidence of at least one culture older than Clovis. Most of the Clovis sites have been firmly dated to around 12,500 to 13,000 years ago. Not only did these Clovis sites yield projectile points of the very distinct Clovis type, the sites also yielded true blades and very large well- made thin preforms diagnostic of only the Clovis people. The archeologists who have worked at some of these Clovis...

Ancient Imbalances Sent Earth's Continents "Wandering" Anne Minard for National Geographic NewsApril 7, 2008 A new study lends weight to the controversial theory that Earth became massively imbalanced in the distant past, sending its tectonic plates on a mad dash to even things out. Bernhard Steinberger and Trond Torsvik, of the Geological Survey of Norway, analyzed rock samples dating back 320 million years to hunt for clues in Earth's magnetic field about the history of plate motions. The researchers found evidence of a steady northward continental motion and, during certain time intervals, clockwise and counterclockwise rotations. That pattern matches the...

Ancient DNA: reconstruction of the biological history of Aldaieta necropolis A research team from the Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology & Animal Physiology in the Faculty of Science and Technology at the Leioa campus of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), and led by Ms Concepción de la Rúa, has reconstructed the history of the evolution of human population and answered questions about history, using DNA extracted from skeleton remains. Knowing the history of past populations and answering unresolved questions about them is highly interesting, more so when the information is obtained from the extraction of genetic material from...

3,000-year-old ivory carving depicts whaling scene From ANI London, April 1: Archaeologists working in the Russian Arctic have unearthed a remarkably detailed 3,000-year-old ivory carving that depicts groups of hunters engaged in whaling, which pushes back direct evidence for whaling by about 1,000 years. According to a report in Nature News, the ancient picture implies that northern hunters may have been killing whales 3,000 years ago and commemorating their bravery with pictures carved in ivory. Among the picture which depicts hunters sticking harpoons into whales, the site also yielded heavy stone blades that had been broken as if by some...

Study shows life was tough for ancient Egyptians By Alaa Shahine Fri Mar 28, 10:12 AM ETReuters Photo: The Giza pyramids in a file photo. New evidence of a sick, deprived population working... CAIRO (Reuters) - New evidence of a sick, deprived population working under harsh conditions contradicts earlier images of wealth and abundance from the art records of the ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna, a study has found. Tell el-Amarna was briefly the capital of ancient Egypt during the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten, who abandoned most of Egypt's old gods in favor of the Aten sun disk...

Ancient weapons dug up in India By Amitabha Bhattasali BBC News, Calcutta Stone age weapons are not usually found in such an old soil layer Archaeologists in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal have discovered small weapons made of stone which are around 15,000-20,000 years old. The artefacts - dating to the Stone Age - were found during excavations in Murshidabad district, near Bangladesh. Archaeologists say the find is potentially significant as it suggests man's presence in the area dates back much earlier than previously believed. Finds such as this on the floodplains of the River Ganges are very...

Floating A Big Idea: Ancient Use Of Rafts To Transport Goods DemonstratedMIT students built a small-scale replica of an ancient oceangoing sailing raft to study its seaworthiness and handling. (Credit: Donna Coveney/MIT) ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2008) — Oceangoing sailing rafts plied the waters of the equatorial Pacific long before Europeans arrived in the Americas, and carried tradegoods for thousands of miles all the way from modern-day Chile to western Mexico, according to new findings by MIT researchers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Details of how the ancient trading system worked more than 1,000 years ago were reconstructed...

Ancient Global Dimming Linked to Volcanic Eruption Ker Than for National Geographic NewsMarch 19, 2008 A "dry fog" that muted the sun's rays in A.D. 536 and plunged half the world into a famine-inducing chill was triggered by the eruption of a supervolcano, a new study says. The cause of the sixth-century global dimming has long been a matter of debate, but a team of international researchers recently discovered acidic sulphate molecules, which are signs of an eruption, in Greenland ice. This is the first physical evidence for the A.D. 536 event, which according to ancient texts from Mesoamerica, Europe,...

Ancient Rome's Earliest Temple Reconstructed Sara Goudarzi for National Geographic NewsMarch 14, 2008 Experts have digitally reconstructed Rome's earliest major temple, the Temple of Apollo, built by the first Roman emperor, Augustus. The temple dates to 28 B.C., and its ruins stand adjacent to the emperor's imperial palaces on the city's famous Palatine Hill. Until now the original design of the temple had not been well understood, partly due to the ruins' poor state of preservation. Also, previous efforts to model the temple had been based on outdated historical assessments rather than on the ruins themselves. Stephan Zink, a graduate...

Ancient Architectural Acoustic Resonance Patterns and Regional Brain Activity Authors: Cook, Ian A.; Pajot, Sarah K.; Leuchter, Andrew F.Source: Time and Mind, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2008 , pp. 95-104(10)Publisher: Berg Publishers Abstract: Previous archaeoacoustic investigations of prehistoric, megalithic structures have identified acoustic resonances at frequencies of 95-120 Hz, particularly near 110-12 Hz, all representing pitches in the human vocal range. These chambers may have served as centers for social or spiritual events, and the resonances of the chamber cavities might have been intended to support human ritual chanting. We evaluated the possibility that tones at these frequencies might...

Ancient Bones of Small Humans Discovered in Palau John Roach for National Geographic MagazineMarch 10, 2008 Thousands of human bones belonging to numerous individuals have been discovered in the Pacific island nation of Palau. Some of the bones are ancient and indicate inhabitants of particularly small size, scientists announced today. The remains are between 900 and 2,900 years old and align with Homo sapiens, according to a paper on the discovery. However, the older bones are tiny and exhibit several traits considered primitive, or archaic, for the human lineage. "They weren't very typical, very small in fact," said Lee Berger,...

Ancient grave markers found at the cathedral Archaeologist Dr Jackie Hall with a rare find of Anglo-Saxon grave markers discovered during repairs to a wall in the cathedral precincts.(8PF0228118) Picture: PAUL FRANKS EIGHT Anglo-Saxon grave markers belonging to ordinary folk have been uncovered in Peterborough Cathedral's grounds during restoration work. Workers at the site, who are repairing ancient stone walls in the precincts, alerted the cathedral's archaeologist to the find, which was discovered in the same wall as a medieval fireplace. Archaeologist Dr Jackie Hall analysed the pieces, and discovered they were 11th century grave markings which are believed to...

Remote Ontario Lake Reveals Mysterious Ancient StructureWhile divers were conducting a unique submarine project in MacDonald Lake at the Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve, they encountered an ancient stone structure revealing proof of life from Central Ontario ancestors. Haliburton, Ontario (PRWEB) March 5, 2008 -- While divers were conducting a unique submarine project in MacDonald Lake at the Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve, they encountered an ancient stone structure revealing proof of life from Central Ontario ancestors. The history of Eastern Canada is generally viewed in two stages: 1st - recent history, measured in decades and centuries, involving...

Ancient tomb found on Greek island By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS Associated Press WriterA partly demolished, 3,000-year-old tomb recently discovered on the western Greek island of Lefkada is seen in this undated hand out photo released by Greek Culture Ministry on Wednesday, March 5, 2008. Archaeologists said the beehive-shaped tomb, which contained several human skeletons and grave offerings, was the first major Mycenaean-era monument to be found on the island.ATHENS, Greece --Road construction on the western Greek island of Lefkada has uncovered and partially destroyed an important tomb with artifacts dating back more than 3,000 years, officials said on Wednesday. The find...

Contact: Amir Gilat agilat@univ.haifa.ac.il 972-482-40092 University of Haifa Evidence of commerce between ancient Israel and China Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries - during the time of the Crusades –ceramic vessels reached Acre from: Mediterranean regions, the Levant, Europe, North Africa, and even China – reveals new research, which examined trade of ceramic vessels, conducted at the University of Haifa. This research, conducted by Dr. Edna Stern under the direction of Prof. Michal Artzy and Dr. Adrian Boasz, examined pottery found during excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority of Crusader period Acre and pottery found in shipwrecks around the...

ARCHAEOLOGISTS TO DRILL IN BEXLEY FOR EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT OCCUPATION By 24 Hour Museum Staff 29/02/2008 An illustration of Homo neanderthalensis at Swanscombe, Kent, one of the sites investigated in the AHOB project. © Natural History Museum Archaeologists from Durham University will be returning to a London borough site where a 19th century historian once found flint tools and animal bones. This time, however, the latest sonic drilling equipment will be used to take samples from the earth, for the ongoing Ancient Human Occupation of Britain II project (AHOB). Initial drillings were carried out at Holmscroft Open Space in September...

Drained lake holds record of ancient Alaska By Ned RozellFebruary 27, 2008 Not too long ago, a lake sprung a leak in the high country of the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains. The lake drained away, as glacier-dammed lakes often do, but this lake was a bit different, and seems to be telling a story about a warmer Alaska. The lake, known as Iceberg Lake to people in McCarthy, about 50 airmails to the north, had been part of the landscape for as long as people could remember. Pinched by glacial ice, the three-mile-long, one-mile-wide lake on the northern boundary of the...

Indecipherable Ancient Books Found in Chongqing The Epoch Times Feb 24, 2008 Mysterious ancient books found in Chongqing. For the past two years no one has been able to read them. (Epoch Times screen shot taken from 21 cn.com) The Tujia have been known as an ethnic minority with its own spoken language but without a written language. Yet a succession of ancient books in the same written language have been found in the Youyang Tujia habitation straddling the borders of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou Province, and Chongqing City. For the past two years none have been able to read the...

Anthropologists from Wheaton College (Illinois) and The Field Museum have discovered how the ancient Maya produced an unusual and widely studied blue pigment that was used in offerings, pottery, murals and other contexts across Mesoamerica from about A.D. 300 to 1500. First identified in 1931, this blue pigment (known as Maya Blue) has puzzled archaeologists, chemists and material scientists for years because of its unusual chemical stability, composition and persistent color in one of the world’s harshest climates. The anthropologists solved another old mystery, namely the presence of a 14-foot layer of blue precipitate found at the bottom of the...

Ancient 'Out Of Africa' Migration Left Stamp On European Genetic DiversityScientists compared more than 10,000 sequenced genes from 15 African-Americans and 20 European-Americans. The results suggest that European populations have proportionately more harmful variations, though it is unclear what effects these variations actually may have on the overall health of Europeans. (Credit: iStockphoto) ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2008) — Human migration from Africa to Europe more than 30,000 years ago appears to have left a mark on the genes of Europeans today. A Cornell-led study, reported in the Feb. 21 issue of the journal Nature, compared more than 10,000 sequenced genes...

How Ancient Trade Changed the WorldBy Heather Whipps, Special to LiveScience posted: 18 February 2008 09:24 am ET You've got the gold I need for my necklace and I've got the silk you need for your robe. What to do? Nowadays, if you need something, you go to the closest mall, shell out a few bucks and head home. Thousands of years ago, the process wasn't nearly as simple. If you or someone in your town didn't grow it, herd it or make it, you needed to abandon that desire or else travel for it, sometimes over great distances. For...

Ancient Town 'Sevtopolis', Submerged on a Lake Bottom to be Reconstructed Updated on: 18.02.2008, 18:33 Published on: 18.02.2008, 14:52 Author: Kristalina Ilieva Association ‘Preserve the Bulgarian' starts action for the realizing of ‘Sevtopolis' project. At first the organizators will collect subscription list throughout the whole country, the projects author and major architect Jeko Tilev announced. Sevtopolis or the City of Tracian King Sevt III is capital of the Odyisian state in the end of IV - beginning of III century before Christ. It was found and observed in 1948 - 1954 by the construction works of Koprinka dam like and...

Ancient Iron Ore Mine Discovered in Peruvian Andes Kelly Hearn in Buenos Aires, Argentina for National Geographic NewsFebruary 11, 2008 A 2,000-year-old mine has been discovered high in mountains in Peru. The find offers proof that an ancient people in the Andes mined hematite iron ore centuries before the Inca Empire, archaeologists say. The mine was used to tap a vein of hematite, or ochre—the first such mine found in South America that predates the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, experts note. The discovery, reported by a U.S. archaeologist, was made in southern Peru in the region once inhabited by the...

Cistern found to have been ancient tomb Studies at Limestone Heritage, the museum/park which traces the use of stone in Malta, have confirmed that a bell-shaped cistern in the Siggiewi quarry where the museum is located, is an ancient tomb of Punic or Roman origin. The studies were conducted by Dr Nicholas Vella, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the Department of Classics and Archaeology of the University of Malta. Entrance into the tomb is now through one of its two burial chambers but in antiquity the tomb was reached from the fields above, down a deep shaft. In later years,...

Ancient bones may hold key By Emily Pykett Ancient human remains held in Portsmouth's museum archives are set to be DNA-tested for signs of tuberculosis. Skeletons which have been dug up in the city during developments, some dating back to the Bronze Age, will now form a vital part of new research into TB. Academics from Durham and Manchester universities have asked permission to remove bits of bone and teeth to analyse as part of their research project into how tuberculosis evolved through the ages. The remains of two ancient city dwellers, one which is known to have suffered TB...

The History of medicine in ancient Persia Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:18:00 By Hedieh Ghavidel, Press TV, Tehran The history of medicine in Iran is as old and as rich as its civilization. In the Avesta, science and medicine rise above class, ethnicity, nationality, race, gender and religion. Some of the earliest practices of ancient Iranian medicine have been documented in the Avesta and other Zoroastrian religious texts. During the Achaemenid era (559-330 BCE), the 21 books of Avesta encompassing 815 chapters were an encyclopedia of science consisting of medicine, astronomy, law, social science, philosophy, general knowledge, logic and biology....

Ancient Mass Sacrifice, Riches Discovered in China Tomb Kevin Holden Platt in Beijing, China for National Geographic NewsJanuary 29, 2008 A 2,500-year-old tomb containing nearly four dozen victims of human sacrifice has been excavated in eastern China, yielding a treasure trove of precious artifacts and new insights into ritual customs during the era of Confucius, archaeologists say. The tomb was discovered in January 2007 after police caught looters plundering the site in the province of Jiangxi (see map), said Xu Changqing, who heads the excavation team. Among the most impressive artifacts found in the tomb is a black, gold, and...

Ancient city in Çorum Monday, January 28, 2008ÇORUM - Doğan News Agency Remnants of an ancient city from the Byzantine period have been found during surface excavations carried out in the Anatolian city of Çorum. The location of the ancient city Avkat has been determined to be within the borders of the Beyözü village in the Mecitözü district. Excavation works will start this year, said Mehmet Demir, an official from the Ankara Ethnography Museum. A team of 32 scientists from the United States, Britain, Italy and Switzerland and led by the Byzantine Empire expert, Professor John Haldon, carried out a...

Ancient bones found at UCSDBy Tanya Sierra UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJanuary 27, 2008 Locked away in a museum safe near Escondido are perhaps the oldest skeletal remains found in the Western Hemisphere. More than 30 years after the relics were unearthed during a classroom archaeological dig at UC San Diego, the county's Kumeyaay tribes are fighting to reclaim the bones that anthropologists estimate are nearly 10,000 years old. OVERVIEWBackground: What may be the oldest skeletal remains found in the Western Hemisphere were discovered during a classroom archaeological dig on UCSD property in 1976. Kumeyaay Indians are trying to have the relics...

Japan team finds ancient Cambodian water siteTuesday, Jan. 22, 2008 SNAY VILLAGE, Cambodia (Kyodo) Japanese archaeologists said Monday they have found a man-made water channel in northwest Cambodia used for rituals as far back as the first century. The archaeologists said they discovered sacred mounds or altars at the ruins in Snay village in Banteay Meanchey Province under a two-year project that began last January. "Before, it was said that Khmer civilization started from the seventh to ninth century AD, but based on our research here, Khmer civilization went back to the first century AD," said Yoshinori Yasuda, a professor...

Unknown persons destroy ancient bronze coffin discovered recently [17 January 2008] IBB, Jan. 17 (Saba) - Unknown persons devastated early morning on Thursday an ancient bronze coffin and stole another one completely were in an archaeological location in al-Asibia area in Dhefar valley of Ibb province. The director general of Antiques and Cultural Properties Protection in the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums Hesham al-Thawr held the director general of the security office in the al-Saddah district responsible for destroying the location and disinterring the bronze coffin. Al-Thawr said that the security official has ordered the military patrols, which have...

Study of Ancient Farmers DNA Challenges European Origins Thursday, November 10, 2005 WASHINGTON — A study of DNA from ancient farmers in Europe shows sharp differences from that of modern Europeans — results that are likely to add fuel to the debate over European origins. Researchers led by Wolfgang Haak of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, argue that their finding supports the belief that modern residents of central Europe descended from Stone Age hunter-gatherers who were present 40,000 years ago, and not the early farmers who arrived thousands of years later. But other anthropologists questioned that conclusion, arguing that...

Ancient "Lost City" Discovered in Peru, Official Claims Kelly Hearn for National Geographic NewsJanuary 16, 2008 Ruins recently discovered in southern Peru could be the ancient "lost city" of Paititi, according to claims that are drawing serious but cautious response from experts. The presumptive lost city, described in written records as a stone settlement adorned with gold statues, has long been a grail for explorers—as well as a lure for local tourism businesses. A commonly cited legend claims that Paititi was built by the Inca hero Inkarri, who founded the city of Cusco before retreating into the jungle after Spanish...

Plowing the Ancient Seas: Iceberg scours found off South Carolina Sid Perkins Recent sonar surveys off the southeastern coast of the United States have detected dozens of broad furrows on the seafloor—trenches that were carved by icebergs during the last ice age, researchers suggest. FLOW REVERSAL. Currents driving the icebergs that scoured channels in the seafloor off South Carolina at the height of the last ice age ran almost exactly opposite to today's prevailing currents. Channel shown in inset is about 100 meters wide. Hill, et al. The channels, roughly parallel to the coast, are between 10 and 100 meters...

Ancient Cave Bears Were As Omnivorous As Modern BearsFemale cave bear skull from the Pestera cu Oase. Studies of the bones and teeth of cave bears, and especially the nitrogen isotopes in their bone protein, have concluded that they were largely vegetarian. (Credit: Academia Romana / Erik Trinkaus) ScienceDaily (Jan. 9, 2008) — Rather than being gentle giants, new research reveals that Pleistocene cave bears ate both plants and animals and competed for food with the other contemporary large carnivores of the time: hyaenas, lions, wolves, and our own human ancestors. Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) have long fascinated paleontologists and...

Ancient petroglyphs lie amidst suburban sprawl By BRANDON LOOMIS Salt Lake Tribune 2007-12-24 00:00:00 ST. GEORGE, Utah -- An ancient 40-ton jungle gym of sorts, the massive burnt umber boulder anchors a neighborhood park and beckons suburban kids to clamber over its mysterious Anasazi etchings. And climb aboard they do, sometimes even attempting to scratch their own marks before the adults run them off, neighbors say. Archaeologists typically warn against even smudging natural skin oils on the chiseled drawings or the rock's natural mineral glaze so they won't slowly melt away. "I've climbed on it," acknowledged Melissa Cornwall, whose in-laws...

Skeleton find points to ancient murder Science writer | December 21, 2007 A BURNT skeleton found beneath a bus shelter in northern Sydney is proof of murder - 4000 years ago. The victim, a tall, well-built man in his mid-30s, was set on by spear-wielding attackers, who then set his body alight and left it unburied on the crest of a sand dune. Peter Veth, an archeologist with the National Centre of Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, said: "This is the first example of death by spearing from Australia. The find is highly significant for Australian...

Contact: Dr. Paul Nicholson NicholsonPT@cardiff.ac.co.uk 44-292-087-4582 Cardiff University Ancient Egyptian glassmaking recreated 3000-year-old furnace rebuilt by archaeologist The reconstructed kiln built by Dr. Paul Nicholson of Cardiff University and Dr. Caroline Jackson of Sheffield University. A team led by a Cardiff University archaeologist has reconstructed a 3,000-year-old glass furnace, showing that Ancient Egyptian glassmaking methods were much more advanced than previously thought. Dr Paul Nicholson, of the University’s School of History and Archaeology, is leader of an Egypt Exploration Society team working on the earliest fully excavated glassmaking site in the world. The site, at Amarna, on the banks of...

Ancient Toolkit Gives Glimpse of Prehistoric Life Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Toolkit Contents Dec. 13, 2007 -- Before the end of the last ice age, a hunter-gatherer left a bag of tools near the wall of a roundhouse residence, where archaeologists have now found the collection 14,000 years later. The tool set -- one of the most complete and well preserved of its kind -- provides an intriguing glimpse of the daily life of a prehistoric hunter-gatherer. The contents, as described to Discovery News by Phillip Edwards, a senior lecturer in the Archaeology Program at Melbourne's La Trobe University, show...

Ancient stone circle found in Skåne Published: 9 Dec 07 10:57 CET Ancient remains including a 3,000 year-old stone circle and presumed place of sacrifice have been discovered near Vitemölla on Österlen in the far south of Sweden. The site extends over two hectares and is older and bigger than the region's celebrated Ale's Stones. The site, presumed to date from the bronze age, is reported to be probably the largest stone circle in the whole of northern Europe. The find was made by Bob G Lind, a private researcher and archeoastronomer, reports Kvällsposten. Lind has named the stone circle...