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WACO -- Not far from modest suburban homes in the middle of some thick Texas woods lies a secret boneyard.Surrounded by a tall chain-link fence and covered by what looks like a red-and-white circus tent, the site contains the remains of towering monsters. Remains of at least 25 mammoths, signs of a big saber-toothed cat and a long extinct camel have been found at the site.This is the Waco Mammoth Site, a collection of prehistoric fossils embedded in the dirt not far from the Bosque River. The site could be a potent educational resource if it were not off-limits to...

(IsraelNN.com) Top Israeli archaeologists held an emergency press conference on Thursday, warning that a Second Temple courtyard wall is in danger of being destroyed by the Arab excavations there. Members of the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities warned that other artifacts could also be endangered by the unsupervised dig. (IsraelNN.com) Top Israeli archaeologists held an emergency press conference on Thursday, warning that a Second Temple courtyard wall is in danger of being destroyed by the Arab excavations there. Members of the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities warned that other artifacts could also...

Russia dig finds 'tsar's family' 13-year-old Prince Alexei would have been the heir to the throne Russian archaeologists believe they may have found the remains of two children of Russia's last tsar, executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918. DNA tests will be carried out on the bones, thought to be those of Prince Alexei and his elder sister Maria. Archaeologists excavated ground close to the site in Yekaterinburg where the tsar, his wife and their three other daughters were found in 1991. The prosecutor-general is reopening an investigation into the case. Archaeologist Sergei Pogorelov says bullets found at the burial...

Muslim protests as Israel digs at holy site Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem Tuesday February 6, 2007 Guardian Unlimited (UK) Israeli archaeologists say that work at the Dome of the Rock is necessary on safety grounds. Photograph: Yoav Lemmer/AFP Israeli archaeologists began digging up a stone ramp near the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City today, bringing immediate protests from Palestinians and condemnation from the king of Jordan. The work is the first stage in a scheme to build a new, raised walkway up to the site, which is known as the Haram al-Sharif to Muslims and the Temple...

DUBAI DUETS Late Friday, Department of Justice lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel were attempting to determine if former President Bill Clinton had registered as an "Agent of a Foreign Principal." Federal statute requires that anyone -- even a former President -- doing political or public affairs work on behalf of a foreign country, agency or official must register with the Department, and essentially update his status every six months. It was not clear the Clinton had done so. If his status is less clear, here is what we do know: If Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton did not know...

An archaeology crew excavated what its members think is a prehistoric skeleton from the banks of Lake Travis on Sunday. Evidence at the site indicates that the skeleton is between 700 and 2,000 years old, most likely dating back about 1,000 years, members of the excavation crew said. The nearly intact skeleton is being donated to the University of Texas for further study. The skeleton was found Aug. 9 by an Austin man riding a personal watercraft on Lake Travis. David Houston had pulled onto the sloped southern bank, admiring a nearby house, when he saw a jawbone, teeth and...

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DIG UP MORE ICE AGE REMAINS AT CRESWELL CRAGS By Graham Spicer 23/08/2006 Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge containing important evidence of Ice Age life. Photo Creswell Heritage Trust Archaeologists searching for clues about Ice Age artists have completed a major excavation in Nottinghamshire, unearthing more than 1,000 finds. A team from the University of Sheffield and The British Museum conducted the dig in Church Hole cave at Creswell Crags between August 7 and 18 2006, the site of the only British discovery of Ice Age rock art. The rock art discoveries, made in 2003 and 2004, are...

Governor Michael S. Dukakis, whose administration hired Big Dig manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, yesterday attributed problems on the huge construction project to later administrations. Dukakis, the last Democrat to hold the Massachusetts governor's office, told a television interviewer last night that he had urged Governor William F. Weld, a Republican, to ask Frederick P. Salvucci, transportation secretary under Dukakis, "to stay on and run that project for you." "Well, he didn't do that," Dukakis said of Weld on WGBH's "Greater Boston." "So we've had a series of people over there who aren't bad people," Dukakis said, "but they didn't have anywhere...

Field tests by construction workers indicated that bolt-and-epoxy fasteners might not support the multi-ton ceiling panels in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel, but the firm that designed the tunnel persuaded Big Dig officials to use the system anyway, law enforcement officials said yesterday. [...] The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and lead management contractor Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff approved both decisions as the tunnel ceiling was built in 1999. As the connector tunnel ceiling was under construction, Modern Continental Corp. workers expressed concerns after field tests indicated the bolt fixtures were unsound, law enforcement officials said. [...] The workers' concerns were sent to Modern...

Volunteers to dig into Croatan Indian village site again By CATHERINE KOZAK, The Virginian-Pilot © May 28, 2006 The last time the long-dormant Croatan site was investigated, a team of archaeologists unearthed a 16th-century gold ring that may be the most significant archaeological find of early American history. In June, the team, with many of the same members who were there in 1998 when the English nobleman's ring was found, will be back to revive exploration of the ancient capital of the Croatan Indians in Buxton. Organized by The Lost Colony Center for Science and Research , the team of...

MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Residents in Oakland County, Mich., near the site of the search for Jimmy Hoffa are having a little bit of fun with it. Milford Township businesses are selling T-shirts, special salads, and even baked goods. FBI agents looking for Hoffa should check the Milford Baking Co. The bakery has a hot seller with its Jimmy Hoffa cupcakes.

Treasure dig threatens Bosphorus rail link By Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Istanbul The port has been uncovered at the site designated for a railway hub It's been called the project of the century: a mission to connect two continents with a $2.6bn rail-tunnel running deep beneath the Bosphorus Straits. The idea of linking the two sides of Istanbul underwater was first dreamt of by Sultan Abdul Mecit 150 years ago. See how the tunnel will cross the Bosphorus Now that Ottoman dream is finally being realised. But the modern version of that vision has hit a historical stumbling block. Istanbul...

Dig finds long-term use at Hell's Half AcreSite was home to Indians at least 1,200 years ago By The Associated Press CASPER, Wyo. -- A preliminary report on an archaeological dig says Hell's Half Acre, west of Casper, was home to prehistoric American Indians at least 1,200 years ago, and perhaps as long as 8,000 years ago. John Albanese, chairman of the Natrona County Historic Preservation Society, told Natrona County commissioners on Thursday that archaeological evidence shows Indians were hunting bison at Hell's Half Acre between 1,200 and 3,000 years ago, and that some evidence appeared to be much older....

Massachusetts' attorney general is demanding that contractors refund $108 million for poor work on Boston's "Big Dig," which is the biggest public works project in U.S. history and has been plagued by leaks and delays. Attorney General Tom Reilly's office plans to sue Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and other companies if the two sides do not reach an agreement over some 200 complaints of shoddy work in putting a major highway running through downtown Boston underground... Costs for building the 7.8 mile underground roadway through Boston ballooned from under $3 billion to the current $14.6 billion.

An Antiques Authority worker climbing out of one of the recently discovered prison cells in Tiberias. (Yaron Kaminsky) Last update - 02:16 28/11/2005 Ancient prison cells unearthed in Tiberias dig By Eli Ashkenazi A bit of what prisoners suffered in ancient times can be seen as of yesterday at the archaeological dig in the old city of Tiberias. Excavations of the basilica compound in the eastern part of the old city recently unearthed two small chambers believed to have served as holding cells for prisoners awaiting trial. If today's custody conditions at police stations elicit complaints from detainees and defense...

Archaeologists uncovering the horse skeletons found recently during a salvage dig beneath the Armenian monastery in Jaffa. (Nir Kafri) Last update - 02:21 23/11/2005 Archaeologists surprised to discover ancient horse skeletons in Jaffa dig By Yuval Azoulay Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists conducting a salvage dig in the Armenian monastery in Jaffa expected to find artifacts connected to the ancient fortifications of the city. However, a few days ago they were surprised to discover, some 60 centimeters below the monastery floor, no fewer than 10 horse skeletons. Excavation directors Amit Re'em and Martin Peilstoker said yesterday the horses may have...

The public will get a chance tomorrow to weigh in on a proposal to add the Waco Mammoth Site to the national park system. A team of National Park Service officials is kicking off its study of the mammoth park idea with a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Baylor University's Mayborn Museum. Officials with Baylor and the city of Waco are trying to rally community support for the project. “It's important for us to have a good turnout,” said Mayborn director Ellie Caston. “We need to be able to show the team that the community is concerned about...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Owen Williams, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 70th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, carries two artillery shells out of a weapons cache site northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 4, 2005. Williams is from West Plains, Mo. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Wester Days-Long Dig Yields Thousands of Munitions During a traffic stop, two men were questioned about the fuses in their truck;the information they provided led U.S. soldiers to thousands of buried munitions. By U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew Wester 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division TAJI, Iraq, Oct. 17, 2005 — A...

Schröder bows out with a dig at Blair and Bush By Kate Connollyin Berlin (Filed: 13/10/2005) Germany's outgoing chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, took swipes at Britain and America yesterday as he announced that he would not be part of the next government. In a speech to trade unionists in his home town of Hanover, he criticised Tony Blair over his vision for the future of the European Union. Gerhard Schröder yesterday "I say to my British friend that people in Germany, in Europe, do not want complete denationalisation," he said. "They want a state that is not in front of their...

Neolithic agricultural community’s daily life shown in amazing detail in dig at ancient site Well-preserved settlement in Kastoria, northern Greece, dating 7,500 years ago illuminates the characteristics of rural life of the times Remains of buildings (trenches for foundations, poles, wall coating, floorings) in the western section of the excavation. By Iota Sykka - Kathimerini The finds at Avgi in Kastoria are far from common. At a site of 3.5 hectares near the Aghia Triada municipality, a 7,500-year-old rural community has been unearthed. Rare miniature vessels the size of a ring, nine fine impressive stamps, 20 human and animal-shaped idols,...