NEW ANCIENT SCOTTISH WRITTEN LANGUAGE IDENTIFIED

Scotland’s Pict society, which existed between 300 and 843, created elaborate rock engravings, known now as Pictish Stones. The engravings, once thought to be a form of art, have recently been identified as a written language.

"We know that the Picts had a spoken language to complement the writing of the symbols, as Bede writes that there are four languages in Britain in this time: British, Pictish, Scottish and English," said Rob Lee, who worked on the report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. "We know that the three other languages were -- and are -- complex spoken languages, so there is every indication that Pictish was also a complex spoken language.”

Lee and his colleagues Phillip Jonathan and Pauline Ziman, of the University of Exeter, studied the engravings using a mathematical process in order to analyze order and direction in each stone. The data was compared with various other written languages, including Egyptian hierolgyphs, Chinese, and Old Norse; the results showed that the Pictish Stones contained characteristics of writing based on a spoken language.

"It is unclear at the moment whether the [other surrounding] imagery, such as the knots, form any part of the communication," Lee said. He also added that what they have discovered so far "does not amount to deciphering” the ancient Pictish writing. "We will have to wait for the discovery of what would be the Pictish equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, which made possible the cracking of the Egyptian hieroglyphic code," he said. "This may or may not ever happen."

[Full Story]

Share

PART OF NERO'S PALACE COLLAPSES IN ROME

A part of the ceiling of Rome’s infamous emperor Nero’s palace collapsed Tuesday as repair work was underway at the site. A section of the garden above the roof consequently fell into the palace. Officials reported no injuries.

Nero’s Golden Palace, or Domus Aurea, was built in the 1^st century AD. It was opened to the public in 1999 and was closed for a year in 2005 due to safety reasons cited by Italy’s culture ministry.

The portion that collapsed was constructed by Trajan as a bath area. Trajan’s gallery is not normally open to the public.

[Full Story]

Share

ARCHAEOLOGISTS RUSH TO EXCAVATE AND PRESERVE ASSYRIAN CITY BEFORE THE SITE IS FLOODED

Archaeologists in southeast Turkey are working diligently to excavate and preserve as much as they can of Tushan, an Assyrian city, before a hydroelectric dam floods the area. Tim Matney, who is leading a team of German, Turkish, and British archaeologists, are scheduled to return to Tushan in early April to continue their work. "This is a pragmatic, conservationist rescue dig," said Matney, who also noted that he now has a “slightly less cumbersome system to work with” in regards to the Turkish bureaucracy.

Matney’s team has uncovered a large mud brick building, several cuneiform tablets in the palace, and countless fragments of pottery, vessels, and animal bones. The construction of the dam has been delayed until 2013, but there is still much work to be done. Nothing remains above ground at the site. It is unclear how much of the area will be flooded, but Matney remains confident that the work will be done regardless.

[Full Story]

Share

RUINS OF EASTERN HAN CITY FOUND IN CHINA

Archaeologists in China have discovered the ruins of a 2,000 year old city dating to the Eastern Han Dynasty. The site is about 18,000 square meters and is located in the Jiangxi province. Part of the city wall is still intact, and a moat was discovered surrounding the entire city.

[Full Story]

Share

NEW METHOD COULD REVOLUTIONIZE DATING OF ANCIENT TREASURES

Scientists on Tuesday announced the development of a new method to determine the age of ancient artifacts that does not require damaging the remains in any way. Previously “off-limits” artifacts may now potentially be dated using the new technique. "This technique stands to revolutionize radiocarbon dating," said Dr. Marvin Rowe, head of the research team. "It expands the possibility for analyzing extensive museum collections that have previously been off limits because of their rarity or intrinsic value and the destructive nature of the current method of radiocarbon dating.”

Carbon dating requires scientists to remove a small sample of the target object, which they then subject to treatment of acids and bases before finally burning the sample in order to analyze the C-14 in the carbon dioxide gas it emits.

[Full Story]

Share

POMPEII SNACK BAR REOPENS TO SERVE ANCIENT ROMAN CUISINE

A thermopolium in Pompeii, preserved under volcanic ash from Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, is being reopened to the public after an extensive excavation and restoration project. A Roman thermopolium is comparable to a modern day fast food restaurant, in that it served ready-to-eat food to customers and was a popular hang-out spot for locals.

300 randomly-selected VIPs were chosen on Sunday to attend an advance opening of the ancient Pompeiian eatery. A snack bar at the thermopolium will be open to tourists to give a taste of Roman café life. The snack bar includes an L-shaped counter and a painting of Mercury and Bacchus facing its customers. The bar, which faces onto the Via dell’Abbondanza, would have been a popular lunch spot for many sections of society at Pompeii.

[Full Story]

Share

ANCIENT PETROGLYPHS AT ARIZONA'S "PICTURE ROCKS" VANDALIZED

Ancient petroglyphs at Picture Rocks, a Hohokam Indian site northwest of Tuscon, have been damaged by vandals over the last three years, the Arizona Star reports.

"People have been seen vandalizing petroglyphs. There has been some damage - defacing of the rocks," said the site’s assistant director, Peter Tran. The damages also include added graffiti and modern drawings meant to resemble the ancient pictures. “The recently added designs and graffiti can be seen from some distance away, which greatly detracts from the overall view and contextual integrity of the prehistoric rock symbols," Tran said. "Vandalism incidents at Picture Rocks and other petroglyph and pictograph sites also cause problems for native peoples, anthropologists and art historians who study rock art and its archaeological context."

Picture Rocks is currently open free to the public. Warning signs have been recently posted threatening prosecution for vandals.

[Full Story]

Share

INGREDIENTS FOR "MAYA BLUE" PIGMENT WIDELY MINED

The ingredients of “Maya Blue," a pigment used by the Classic Maya, may have been widely mined, an archaeologist reports. It was previously suggested that the ingredients were traded within the Yucatán Peninsula, and mined only in Mexico.

Austin State University’s Leslie Cecil , however, has traced the pigment's chief ingredient to the Petén region of Guatemala, a significant location in the cultural heritage of the Maya.

"Geochemical analyses demonstrate that the Ixlu pigment has the traditional Maya Blue structure, but it was manufactured from clays in central Petén, Guatemala," he said. "If Maya Blue was being used in the southern Maya lowlands as it was in the northern Maya lowlands, then it should not seem too shocking that some southern lowland Maya (perhaps ritual specialists) may have learned the technology and specialized knowledge behind the manufacture of Maya Blue."

[Full Story]

TWO LARGE STATUES UNEARTHED IN LUXOR

Two large statues, one of Thoth and another of Amenhotep III standing next to Re-Horakhty, have been discovered in Luxor near Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple. The discovery comes as archaeologists work to reduce underground water around temples in the area in order to help preserve them. Amenhotep III ruled during Egypt’s 18^th dynasty; the statues are approximately 3,400 years old.

[Full Story]

SUDAN'S KUSH CIVILIZATION GRADUALLY YIELDING ITS SECRETS

A team of French, British, and American archaeologists are working to uncover a northern Sudanese civilization, which once controlled the Egyptian pharaoh’s throne. At the same time, the Louvre is working on an upcoming exhibition on a dynasty that ruled the civilization, called Kush, for a millennium. The ancient Kushite capital of Meroe is purported to hold mysteries to rival ancient Egypt, including pyramids and stelae inscribed in an undeciphered language.

The pyramids have been excavated, but there is much left to uncover in regards to the Kushite culture. "We have a chronology, but it's not very precise," said the deputy director antiquities. Claude Rilly, an expert in the ancient Meroitic language, adds, "We know about 50 words in Meroitic, but we need about a thousand of them to understand a language. So we have an enormous amount of work to do.” Rilly also says there are many untouched sites to explore in Sudan, including sites about which we know nothing at all.

The lack of tourism among the Kushite ruins also adds to their appeal, especially for the archaeologists currently working on the site. "There is a magic beauty about these sites that is heightened by the privilege of being able to admire them alone, with the pyramids, the dunes and the sun," said Guillemette Andreu, head of antiquities at Paris' Louvre museum. "It really sets them apart from the Egyptian pyramids, whose beauty is slightly overshadowed by the tourist crowds."

[Full Story]

MASS GRAVE IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND CONFIRMED TO CONTAIN EXECUTED VIKINGS

Fifty bodies discovered in a burial pit last year in Dorset, England, have been identified as executed Vikings. The find dates to between 910 and 1030 AD. Researchers were able to identify the victims as Scandinavian based on isotopes taken from teeth, with one man possibly originating north of the Arctic Circle.

"Any mass grave is a relatively rare find, but to find one on this scale, from this period of history, is extremely unusual and presents an incredible opportunity to learn more about what is happening in Dorset at this time,” said project manager David Score, who is with Oxford Archaeology.

Further tests are planned to hopefully develop an understanding of the diets, lifestyles, and demographic makeup of the Norse warriors.

[Full Story]

NORSE COLONIES IN GREENLAND AND ICELAND EXPERIENCED CLIMATE COOLING

Climatologists have conducted a new study in the North Atlantic using data from mollusk shells. They have succeeded in developing the most precise chronological temperature record for the ancient Norse colonies in Greenland and Iceland. The findings show that the colonists experienced a drop in temperature of 6 degrees Celsius shortly after the colonies were established.

“We’re aware from written documents of the kinds of things that people faced in the North Atlantic over the last 1,000 years,” one of the scientists said. “This is a way to quantify the experiences they had.” Famines described in the old Norse Sagas, dating to establishment of the colonies, have been linked to the drop in temperature.

[Full Story]

GATE DISCOVERED AT TERRACOTTA ARMY TOMB IN CHINA

Archaeologists have discovered a northern gate at the tomb of China's first emperor, famous for his massive terracotta army. The gate, which is the fourth discovered, leads to the tomb's outer city and confirms historical accounts that attest to the tomb possessing four gates.

[Full Story]

TOMBS OF PRIESTESS DYNASTY EXCAVATED IN CRETE

A report was recently released in Archaeology Magazine detailing the discovery last summer of tombs in Crete containing a high priestess of Zeus and three acolytes. Previous findings included cremated remains of other priestesses buried together in pithoi jars. According to the report, all of the women appear related and formed a sort of dynasty in the area for 200 years.

[Full Story]

MAYAN FOUNTAIN DISCOVERED BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN PALENQUE

Archaeologists working at the Mayan urban center of Palenque have discovered a pressurized water system constructed 1,400 years ago. Palenque, located in southern Mexico, flourished in the 7^th century AD. An anthropologist and civil engineer working on the site noted that "The ancient Maya are renowned as great builders, but are rarely regarded as great engineers. Their constructions, though often big and impressive, are generally considered unsophisticated.” However, they point out, "many Maya centers exhibit sophisticated facilities that captured, routed, stored, or otherwise manipulated water for various purposes." An archaeologist from the University of Illinois also notes Palenque’s unique water systems.

[Full Story]

CAT SCANS REVEAL HEART DISEASE IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMIES

American and Egyptian cardiologists have conducted CAT scans on 22 mummies in the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities. The team’s findings show that, contrary to popular belief, heart disease is not just a modern problem. "We can confirm that the disease was present in many [of the mummies]," said one of the team’s researchers. "The findings suggest that we may have to look beyond modern risk factors to fully understand the disease." The oldest mummy with the symptoms dated to 1530 BC.
[Full Story]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE DATES CIVILIZATION IN MALAYSIA AS THE OLDEST IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA

An archaeological site at Sungai Batu has proven that civilization in Malaysia existed much earlier than originally believed. The civilization is the oldest in South-east Asia. The site has yielded evidence of economy, religion, and commerce, and has been dated to 110. A conservation project is currently in the works.

[Full Story]

"VAST" HARAPPAN SETTLEMENT EXCAVATED IN INDIA

A “vast” Harappan settlement has been excavated in India’s Kutch district. It is believed to be about 4,500 years old, and is surrounded by a large mudbrick fortification.


[Full Story]

BOOK ON MAYAN LITERATURE DRAWS SCHOLARLY AND LITERARY PRAISE

Dennis Tedlock's 2000 Years of Mayan Literature has drawn wide acclaim since its recent publication in January. The book explores the growth and evolution of literature in the Mayan world from stone carvings to paper documents. It has been praised for its "highly readable" presentation and its sound scholarly research. Tedlock is a recognized authority on Mayan writing and culture.

[Full Story]

Purchase "2000 Years of Mayan Literature" at Amazon.com

BRONZE BOX CONTAINING 250 HELLENISTIC COINS DISCOVERED IN SYRIA

A local Syrian man discovered a bronze box on his land, which contained approximately 250 Hellenistic coins. The collection is a mixture of silver drachma and tetra-drachma coins, with inscriptions varying from "King Phillip" to "Alexander" to "King Alexander." The coins have been turned over to the Aleppo Department of Archaeology and Museum.

[Full Story]