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Cemetery dig yields clues 3000 years ago By Ma Lie (China Daily) Updated: 2004-05-28 08:53 XI'AN: A new discovery has created a great stir in Chinese archaeological circles, raising questions that will require further excavations before any kind of definitive answer might be given. Researchers use white lines to mark the boundaries of the cemetery. [newsphoto] After two months of sleuthing, a group of Chinese archaeologists have found what they believe to be a large group of tombs of China's Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) in Qishan County, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. But are these actually tombs of the...

Surprising Discoveries in Silla's Royal Tomb No. 98 (including Greco-Roman artifacts) King Nae-Mool(birth/death: unknown/402 AD) and his queen's royal tomb in Dae-Roong-Won, Kyong-ju, S. Korea was excavated in 1973-75 to yield some truly unexpected findings later. Many artifacts were quite different from those known to be produced in Korea or China. Exotic designs and materials abound. Further research established that these artifacts originated from Central Asia, Black Sea, Caucasus, Persia and Eastern Mediterranean. This is quite far away from the South Eastern tip of Korean Peninsula, where this ancient Kingdom, Silla, located. The last of 5 short videos below shows...

A London accountant has described how Pakistan's disgraced nuclear hero Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan visited the West African state of Mali on three occasions between 1998 and 2000. Abdul Ma'bood Siddiqui accompanied A.Q. Khan on three mystery trips  between 1998 and 2000. Their final destination was Timbuktu, a remote outpost in the desert that has always been a magnet for explorers and adventurers from around the world. The mystery behind the visits has deepened following recent revelations that Khan is also the owner of a small hotel in the town that he has named after Hendrina, his Dutch-born wife and...

GRAVE EXCAVATION GOES ON The excavation of several mass graves in Iraq, holding around 15,000 bodies, is continuing. The graves were discovered last week in the central city of Hilla, site of ancient Babylon, the Iraqi National Congress (INC) said. The bodies are thought to date back to the Shiite uprising that followed the US withdrawal from Iraq in 1991. "In the last week, four sites have been discovered in Al-Hilla city alone, with approximately 15,000 bodies," said Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman of the INC. "Citizens are excavating with great sadness and no assistance, collecting bones. "Mothers and fathers...

Aug. 9, 2002, 10:45AM BONING UP ON HISTORY Skeletal remains may be 11,000 years old By TERRY KLIEWER Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle LAKE JACKSON -- The gummy clay of coastal Texas holds plenty of secrets, but it may have given up one of its oldest when routine excavation near here uncovered prehistoric human bones. alt="remains" vspace="2"> John Everett / Chronicle Archaeologist Robert d'Aigle unearthed bones three years ago in the San Bernard River National Wildlife Refuge in south Brazoria County. He may have found only the third human skeleton in North America that dates back at least 10,000 years. The...

Contact: Pam Kostypkosty@sas.upenn.edu 215-898-4045University of Pennsylvania Archaeologists uncover 3700-year-old 'magical' birth brick in Egypt PHILADELPHIA--University of Pennsylvania Museum archaeologists have discovered a 3700-year-old "magical" birth brick inside the palatial residence of a Middle Kingdom mayor's house just outside Abydos, in southern Egypt. The colorfully decorated mud birth brick--the first ever found--is one of a pair that would have been used to support a woman's feet while squatting during actual childbirth. The birth brick, which measures 14 by 7 inches, was discovered during summer 2001 excavations directed by Dr. Josef Wegner, Associate Curator, Egyptian section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum...