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explorator 24.48 March 20, 2022
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You can read explorator online at:
https://exploratornews.wordpress.com/
Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis,
John McMahon, Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri, Hernan Astudillo,
Richard Campbell, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Bob Heuman, David Critchley, Karen S. Young,
Richard Miller, Kris Curry, Rick Heli, Richard C. Griffiths, Frank MacKay, Ken Berry,
Don Buck, mata kimasitayo, and Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week
(as always hoping I have left no one out).
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CUT AND PASTE CORRIGENDA
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Last week we mentioned a digital reconstruction of Rome with an erroneous link ... here's what it should have been:
https://aeon.co/videos/walk-like-a-roman-in-this-digital-reconstruction-of-the-ancient-city
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EARLY HOMINIDS
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Not sure where to put this one ... study suggests human communication began with gestures:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-evidence-gestures-human.html
cf:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.0066
... or this one, on why early humans started using hafted tools:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-early-humans-began-adding-tools.html
cf:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2021.0660
More on 500 000 years bp humans recycling flint tools to preserve ancestors' memories:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-collectors-prehistoric-world-recycled-stone.html
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/collectors-in-prehistoric-world.html
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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Five tombs of 'senior officials' from Saqqara dating to the Old Kingdom/First Intermediate Period:
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/463002.aspx
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3540541/five-tombs-senior-statesmen-discovered-egypt
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/03/egypt-unveils-five-ancient-tombs-saqqara-necropolis
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/egypt-unveils-five-ancient-tombs-in-saqqara-necropolis/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/cairo-ap-egypt-mostafa-waziri-hosni-mubarak-b2039575.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-10630615/Egypt-unveils-five-ancient-tombs-Saqqara-necropolis.html
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/archaeologists-discover-five-tombs-egypts-saqqara-necropolis-2022-03-19/
https://apnews.com/article/science-travel-africa-lifestyle-middle-east-addec5ac6891c6f0c41e260887e5f4a8
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypt-displays-recently-discovered-ancient-tombs-in-saqqara/2022/03/19/edc65436-a77b-11ec-8628-3da4fa8f8714_story.html
https://www.wbal.com/article/558573/109/egypts-newly-discovered-ancient-tombs-are-nearly-5000-years-old
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-20/egypt-new-tombs-discovered/100924758
https://www.trtworld.com/life/five-ancient-pharaonic-tombs-in-egypt-s-saqqara-necropolis-unveiled-55646
https://www.dw.com/en/egyptian-archaeologists-discover-five-tombs-at-saqqara/a-61188150
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220319-egypt-unveils-five-ancient-tombs-in-saqqara-necropolis
https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20220319-egypt-unveils-five-ancient-tombs-in-saqqara-necropolis
https://www.iol.co.za/news/egypt-discovers-five-4-000-year-old-ancient-tombs-6003ffdd-80c4-5db3-b662-1e0409393131
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/03/18/five-more-ancient-egyptian-tombs-discovered-in-saqqara/
We're reading agin of plans to give the Great Pyramid the muon scanning treatment:
https://www.livescience.com/scan-great-pyramid-of-giza
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/mysterious-voids-discovered-in-great-pyramid-of-giza-could-lead-to-pharaohs-chamber/news-story/c05537376805706e40dacb208b699a97
Latest CT scans of a mummy to try to link her to some nested coffins:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/egyptian-mummy-reunited-with-intricate-nesting-coffins/
More on the 4000 years bp administrative centre found at Kom Ombo:
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/03/ancient-administrative-center-discovered-egypts-kom-ombo
Feature on Maite Mascort's work at Oxyrhynchus:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-03-19/maite-mascort-codirectora-de-las-excavaciones-en-oxirrinco-la-lengua-de-oro-era-muy-importante-para-una-momia.html
Feature on the Greeks and ancient Egypt:
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/462907.aspx
7000+ years bp stone tools from Iran's Gav-Bast Mountain:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/470928/Stone-tools-discovered-on-top-of-southern-Iranian-mount
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/middleeast/top-stories/stone-tools-discovered-on-top-of-mountain-southern-iranian-mount/ar-AAUXzFi?ocid=BingNewsSearch
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10409-220314-iran-rock-shelter
Some 7th/8th century glazed bricks recovered from a smuggler in Switzerland are going on display in Iran:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/471046/Prehistorical-glazed-bricks-recovered-from-smuggler-in-Switzerland
Archaeologists cut a drainage system to protect a royal bas-relief at Persepolis:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/471006/Archaeologists-carve-special-drainage-to-shield-royal-bas-relief
Feature on the rebirth of archaeology in Iraq:
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/archaeology-in-iraq/
A study of the 'colored skeletons' found at Catal Hoyuk:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-skeletons-atalhyk.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220318110255.htm
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/03/researchers-reveal-the-burial-rituals-of-the-oldest-city-in-the-world/143081
Feature on Nabonidus' antiquarian leanings:
https://www.archaeology.org/issues/463-2203/sidebars/10407-ancient-antiquarians
In case you want a break to play an ancient Mesopotamian board game:
https://gulfnews.com/games/play/word-search-want-to-play-an-ancient-board-game-from-mesopotamia-its-possible-1.1647386440123
More (ipdated?) on that 9000 years bp shrine from the Jordan desert:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-archaeologists-year-old-shrine-jordan.html
Pavement restoration at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre will allow some archaeology to be done:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-701249
https://www.dailysabah.com/life/religion/stone-floor-of-jerusalems-holy-sepulchre-undergoes-extensive-repairs
The 4th millennium BCE 'Lord of the Desert' stele found in a storage room is on display at the Israel Museum:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-701335
cf:
https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/special-display-lord-desert
Purim seems to have occasioned this piece on Ahasuerus being identified as Xerxes I:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-701492
... and a feature on Iranian Jews purchasing the tomb of Queen Esther and Mordechai:
https://www.jns.org/iranian-jews-bought-tomb-of-queen-esther-and-mordechai-israels-national-library-reveals/
Feature on kings and dynasties of ancient Israel:
https://vervetimes.com/ancient-israel-history-of-the-kingdoms-and-dynasties-formed-by-ancient-jewish-people/
Opeddish sort of thing on the problem of politics in Jerusalem archaeology:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jerusalem-archaeology-modernizes-but-runs-into-ancient-problems/
... and one on Israel's 'war' on Palestinian cultural heritage:
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/analysis/israels-archaeological-war-palestinian-cultural-heritage
Feature on osteoarchaeologist Eftymia Nikita's work:
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-the-trailblazing-archaeologist-uncovering-the-stories-of-prehistoric-skeletons-1.10682859
Feature on Murdhi Jalbakh Al-Fahiqi's work finding sites and petroglyphs in Saudi Arabia:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2042571/saudi-arabia
Saudi Arabia is launching a program to get 'the younger generation' interested in archaeology:
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/618234/SAUDI-ARABIA/Culture-Minister-launches-Little-Explorer-archaeological-excavations-initiative
Ongoing concerns for sites in Yemen:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220318-war-and-neglect-endanger-yemen-s-historical-sites
-----
This Week in the Ancient Near East Podcast:
https://thisweekintheancientneareast.podbean.com/
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ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
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The kothon of Motya (Sicily) apparently isn't an artificial harbour but rather is a sacred pool dedicated to Baal:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10619983/Huge-artificial-lake-Sicily-identified-ancient-sacred-pool.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/sacred-pool-researchers-see-reflections-phoenicians-rcna20245
https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/MAGAZINE-monumental-structure-isn-t-phoenician-harbor-it-s-a-sacred-pool-of-baal-1.10679272
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/sacred-pool-ancient-seafarers-phoenicians-largest-mediterranean
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/03/archaeologists-identify-sacred-pool-aligned-with-the-stars/143075
cf:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/sacred-pool-of-baal-a-reinterpretation-of-the-kothon-at-motya/329646E6561765FD30A9D6EC5FD5B6CB
Evidence of women's activities (apparently) from an early Iron Age site outside Thessaloniki:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/03/17/a-womans-scent-in-an-early-iron-age-settlement-outside-thessaloniki/
Overview of the 2021 season at Agios Ioannis/Vretsia:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/2021-investigations-at-site-of-agios.html
The lower part of a statue of Minerva was found at Castro (Italian):
https://www.quotidianodipuglia.it/lecce/castro_ritrovata_parte_inferiore_statua_minerva_scavi_archeologici-6572268.html
https://www.ansa.it/puglia/notizie/2022/03/18/archeologia-trovata-nuova-parte-statua-di-minerva-a-castro_2d4e54d9-edbb-4e38-8aa8-8f9de9bd954e.html
https://www.rainews.it/tgr/puglia/articoli/2022/03/pug-castro-statua-minerva-fcdf0c63-0b59-4b72-b328-f04b99511cb7.html
I think we mentioned this abandoned mausoleum and silver extraction facility found at the Grange Farm site:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-excavation-unearths-year-old-mystery-roman.html
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63597
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/excavation-unearths-1500-year-old.html
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10413-220317-england-roman-silver
A fresco fragment from Pompeii in the Getty might be looted:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/20/getty-museum-fresco-fragment-pompeii-row-looted-artefacts
A pre-Invasion (!) Roman helmet is going on display in Sussex:
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/20003783.roman-helmet-pre-dates-invasion-go-display-sussex/
A follow up to that Pompeii 'intact burial' found a few months ago ... turns out they were deliberately mummified:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63509
Funding to preserve a Roman mosaic found at Colchester:
https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/19987016.roman-mosaic-found-colchester-allocated-50k-funding/
More on the 'Ithaca' program which uses AI to fill in missing bits of Greek inscriptions:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-701716
https://greekherald.com.au/culture/new-research-shows-ai-technology-could-decipher-gaps-ancient-greek-texts/
https://www.inverse.com/science/ai-code-break
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-ai-can-help-historians-decipher-damaged-ancient-greek-texts-180979736/
More on the mosaics revealed at Negrar di Valpolicella (Italian):
https://storiearcheostorie.com/2022/03/14/archeologia-la-villa-romana-di-negrar-di-valpolicella-vr-svela-altri-splendidi-mosaici/
More on the Roman shipwreck found off Mallorca:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63562
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/roman-shipwreck-ses-fontanelles-2086011
More on the mosaic found at London's Southwark:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/roman-mosaic-floor-unearthed-in-london-180979632/
More unpaywalled iterations of the New York Times piece on Pompeii from a couple weeks ago:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/pompeii-tomb-roman-archaeologists-tech-b2035249.html
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/from-snack-bars-to-gender-issues-pompeii-enters-the-instagram-age-20220314-p5a4h1.html
Feature on the find of the Rutland Roman Villa site:
http://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2022/03/rutland-roman-villa-story-of-remarkable.html
Feature on the basilica beneath the Porta Maggiore:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63611
Feature on the Belogradchik Fortress:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/03/the-belogradchik-fortress/143087
Feature on Roman use of sanctions (sort of):
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2281711/sanctions-arent-new-ask-the-romans
A study of peasant life in Roman Spain:
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/946771
Plans for more digging at Falerii Novi (Italian):
https://www.ilmessaggero.it/viterbo/faleri_novi_scavi_archeologici_segreti_british_school-6560862.html
The Kasta tomb at Amphipolis will be opening to the public:
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1179902/amphipolis-tomb-to-open-to-the-public-under-pilot-plan/
https://news.gtp.gr/2022/03/14/amphipolis-kasta-tomb-open-public-under-pilot-plan-2022/
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/17/greeces-amphipolis-tomb-in-central-macedonia-to-open-to-the-public-under-pilot-plan/
https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/greek-news/culture/46703-greece-s-amphipolis-tomb-in-central-macedonia-to-open-to-the-public-under-pilot-plan.html
Reviews of Barry Strauss, *The War that Made the Roman Empire*:
https://octavian.substack.com/p/the-war-that-made-the-west-barry?s=r
Reviews of Mary Beard, *Twelve Caesars*:
https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2022/03/16/mary-beard-twelve-caesars-review-242547
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n06/julian-bell/so-much-for-caligula
Review of Richard Buxton, *The Greek Myths that Shape the Way We Think*:
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-greek-myths-are-always-with-us
Feature on Mary Beard's bursaries:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/mary-beard-classics-nhs-b2036796.html
Feature on Jack Mitchell's rendering of Star Wars as epic poem:
https://www.dal.ca/news/2022/03/16/star-wars-epic-poem-book.html
Feature on Kyle Helms' research into graffiti at Pompeii:
https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/st-olaf-professor-unearths-new-solution-to-pompeii-mystery
Comparing Ukraine and Melos:
https://neoskosmos.com/en/2022/03/15/dialogue/opinion/the-terrible-logic-of-imperialism-might-makes-right/
... in a similar vein:
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/thucydides-can-explain-russias-invasion-ukraine-201237
Feature on the Charioteer of Delphi:
https://nataliavogeikoff.com/2022/03/16/the-charioteer-of-delphi-in-the-clutches-of-ww-ii/
Feature on the Ides of March:
https://daily.jstor.org/beware-the-ides-of-march-wait-what/
Feature on Julius Caesar:
https://www.livescience.com/julius-caesar
Feature on Rome's rise to empire:
https://www.livescience.com/ancient-rome
Feature on female merchants in ancient Rome:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/antiquity-roman-female-merchants
Feature on Plato in Sicily:
https://aeon.co/essays/when-philosopher-met-king-on-platos-italian-voyages
Feature (by Bart Ehrman) on early Christianity:
https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/why-christianity-was-different-from-other-religions-in-ancient-rome/
Feature on Blackness in antiquity:
https://aeon.co/essays/how-does-an-ancient-greek-cup-challenge-anti-black-racism
Feature on the Pantheon:
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/03/the-pantheon-still-the-world-s-largest-reinforced-concrete-dome/
Feature on the theatre at Larissa:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/first-ancient-theatre-of-larissa
Nice feature on the Roman antiquities at the Villa Aurora:
https://antigonejournal.com/2022/03/casino-dell-aurora/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=casino-dell-aurora
Feature on Nashville's Parthenon:
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/nashville-has-a-parthenon-replica-heres-why/
Feature on Heracleion:
https://www.thetravel.com/the-lost-city-of-heracleion-or-thonis/
Feature on the Library of Alexandria:
https://www.livescience.com/rise-and-fall-of-the-great-alexandria-library
... and another:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/16/library-of-alexandria-mankind/
Feature on a somewhat anachronistic bridge in Sparta:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/15/ancient-stone-bridge-spartan/
Feature on the legacy of Aeschylus:
https://thebadgeronline.com/2022/03/the-legacy-of-aeschylus/
Pi Day seems to have spawned features on Archimedes:
https://www.thegazette.com/kids-articles/meet-the-genius-who-first-calculated-pi/
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/15/the-fascinating-history-behind-pi-day/
Feature on women gladiators:
https://www.history.com/news/women-gladiators-ancient-rome
Not sure where to put this comparison of Noah and Odysseus:
https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/history-ideas/2022/03/noah-and-odysseus-exposed/
Latest on the proposal to solve the Parthenon Sculptures argument with 3d scanning:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/15/a-new-era-for-the-restitution-of-the-parthenon-sculptures/
... which the British Museum has denied permission for (which might lead to a lawsuit):
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/920/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/920/pub/920/page/42/article/283614
-----
Roman Archaeology Blog:
http://romanarc.blogspot.com/
Rogueclassicism:
http://rogueclassicism.com/
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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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A study of handprint petroglyphs in Spain suggests many were made by children:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ancient-handprints-cave-walls-spain.html
cf:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440322000322
A project looking for 8000 years bp hunter-gatherer sites on the Cairngorn Plateau:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands-islands/4059839/hunter-gatherer-sites-in-the-cairngorms-to-be-investigated-by-dublin-university/
A study has identified likely burial sites of 65 or so 'Dark Age' British royals:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dark-age-britain-celtic-kings-tombs-b2037073.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/60780597
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/03/new-study-identifies-the-likely-burials-of-up-to-65-british-kings/143071
Brief item on the possible identification of the site of the Battle of Brunanburh:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-merseyside-60742394
14th century burials and a sarcophagus found beneath Notre Dame:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ancient-tombs-unearthed-paris-notre.html
https://www.livescience.com/sarcophagus-found-notre-dame-cathedral
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/15/ancient-tombs-unearthed-beneath-notre-dame
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/15/ancient-tombs-found-notre-dame-remarkable-discovery-builders/
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/911/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/911/pub/911/page/67/article/281625
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/ancient-sarcophagus-found-under-notre-dame-cathedral-paris-2022-03-15/
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220315-ancient-tombs-discovered-at-paris-notre-dame-cathedral-as-restoration-continues
https://www.thedailybeast.com/notre-dame-cathedral-workers-in-paris-discover-ancient-tomb-while-setting-up-scaffolding
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-701702
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/notre-dame-cathedral-ancient-tombs-unearthed/
https://fr.aleteia.org/2022/03/15/les-fragments-dun-jube-decouverts-sous-notre-dame-de-paris/
https://www.latercera.com/que-pasa/noticia/descubren-una-misteriosa-tumba-bajo-la-catedral-de-notre-dame-de-paris/ZU5CEH2C6BA6XA7XITVOUBEEPY/
https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-tombs-and-a-sarcophagus-has-been-unearthed-at-the-notre-dame-cathedral
https://gizmodo.com/workers-discover-700-year-old-lead-coffin-beneath-notre-1848660870
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63589
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/14th-century-lead-sarcophagus-unearthed.html
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10412-220316-paris-notre-dame
Finds from various periods at a development site on Western Quayside, Haverfordwest:
https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/19994016.western-quayside-development-delayed-due-archaeological-dig/
https://www.wales247.co.uk/artefacts-found-on-new-6-3m-haverfordwest-town-centre-development
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/700-year-old-relics-human-23416953
A metal detectorist found an 18th century silver cufflink in Sprotson:
https://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/19986084.treasure-hunter-finds-18th-century-silver-cufflink-sproston/
A9 construction is occasioning a dig near a Jacobite battle site in Scotland:
https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/archaeologists-to-search-near-jacobite-battle-site-at-a9-3612674
The search for the 'lost town' of Ravenser Odd in the Humber estuary:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/14/yorkshires-lost-atlantis-nearly-found-says-hull-professor
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/03/researchers-survey-mouth-of-humber-estuary-to-locate-the-lost-town-of-ravensor-odd/143065
More on the 'world's oldest' mummy in Portugal:
https://www.livescience.com/oldest-human-mummy-found-portugal
More on the 5th/6th cnetury CE Pictish stone find from Scotland:
https://scitechdaily.com/archaeologists-find-one-of-the-most-significant-carved-stone-monuments-ever-uncovered-in-scotland/
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/rare-pictish-symbol-stone-found-near.html
More on the Burton Agnes drum and its conservation:
https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2022/03/university-brings-5000-year-old-sculpture-found-by-lincoln-archaeologists-back-to-life/
More on reindeer hunting points and sites from Norway's melting glaciers:
https://www.livescience.com/melting-glaciers-reveal-weapons-hunting-blinds
Funding for a survey of Gosbecks Archaeological Park in Colchester:
https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/19986939.funding-secured-survey-gosbecks-archaeological-park/
Concerns wind projects threaten Mesolithic sites in Doggerland:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/19/fears-dash-for-wind-power-could-endanger-lost-world-of-doggerland
Trying to get the Herefordshire Hoard back in Herefordshire:
https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/19997228.million-pounds-keep-herefordshire-hoard-county/
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/regional-news/race-against-time-bring-history-6810299
Another feature on Vikings not wearing horned helmets:
https://sciencenorway.no/bronze-age-viking-age/no-the-vikings-didnt-wear-helmets-with-horns/1995364
----------
Archaeology in Europe News:
http://archaeology-in-europe.blogspot.com/
Medievalists.net:
https://www.medievalists.net/category/news/
Viking Archaeology Blog:
http://viking-archaeology-blog.blogspot.com/
============================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
============================================================
12 000 Paleolithic items from the Yeyuan site in Shaanxi:
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2022-03/16/content_78111657.htm
China is celebrating six major finds from 2021:
https://english.news.cn/20220319/3f0c26dffa154c129ff0e0d7a41def9a/c.html
http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0319/c90000-9973431.html
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-03-18/Forum-unveils-six-China-s-major-archaeological-discoveries-in-2021-18v5d5HYFmo/index.html
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/two-sichuan-sites-selected-as-chinas-new-archaeological-discoveries-in-2021-301505824.html
Feature on jade burial suits from China:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/03/the-immortal-armour-of-chinas-jade-burial-suits/143047
Feature on China's Yangshao Culture:
https://english.news.cn/20220315/2767675c03f046c8b802030a8788bbef/c.html
More on 40 000 years bp evidence of ochre use from Xiamabei:
http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0318/c90000-9973395.html
Feature on mermaids in Japanese folklore:
https://theconversation.com/mermaids-in-japan-from-hideous-harbingers-of-violence-to-beautiful-enchantresses-179251
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-mermaids-japan-hideous-harbingers-violence.html
A Bronze Age Tagar culture human bone amulet from Siberia:
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-archaeologists-find-amulet-made-of-human-bone-in-siberia-1.10671553
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63579
A 3500 years bp menhir from Mahbubabad:
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/140322/iron-age-menhir-found-in-mahbubabad-district.html
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/iron-age-memorial-unearthed-in-mahaboobabad/article65222213.ece
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/iron-age-memorial-found-in-neglect/articleshow/90190614.cms
https://telanganatoday.com/telangana-menhir-from-iron-age-discovered-at-ellarigudem
Excavations are getting underway at a Thulukkarpatti site:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/archaeological-excavation-begins-at-thulukkarpatti/article65231676.ece
Using archaeology to study the spread of Buddhism to Telangana:
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2022/mar/14/archaeologists-on-track-ofbuddhist-origins-in-telanganasnirmal-district-2429766.html
Latest on what's happening at the Mes Aynak site:
https://www.buddhistdoor.net/news/afghanistans-mes-aynak-archaeological-site-threatened-as-mining-talks-resume/
============================================================
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
============================================================
Studying food production/agriculture among the Mithaka people:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/15/quarries-trade-and-dark-emu-unearthing-treasures-from-australias-silk-road
Studying early firewood use in Australia's Western Desert:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-20/ancient-campfire-in-western-desert-dated-at-50000-years/100921362
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/earliest-firewood-australia-10632.html
Plenty of 19th century artifacts revealed during a dig in central Christchurch:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/128109352/thousands-of-historical-relics-from-1850s-found-under-city-centre-site
============================================================
NORTH AMERICA
============================================================
Evidence of a human presence in the Yukon some 24 000 years bp:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-were-humans-doing-in-the-yukon-24000-years-ago-180979714/
The (well preserved) 131 years bp wreck of the SS Atlanta was located in Lake Superior:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/well-preserved-131-year-old-shipwreck-found-in-lake-superior-180979737/
More on that 460 years bp hunting bow from Alaska:
https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/hunting-bow-artifact-alaska/
https://www.newsweek.com/500-year-old-hunting-bow-alaska-lake-nps-lake-clark-national-park-preserve-1688255?piano_t=1
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10408-220314-alaska-wooden-bow
More on the identification of the 17th century wreck of the Sparrow Hawk near Cape Cod:
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/mar/13/new-analysis-gives-clues-about-pilgrim-era-wreck/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63570
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/new-analysis-provides-more-clues-about.html
https://www.archaeology.org/10410-220314-massachusetts-shipwreck-timbers
More on that unexploded Civil War shell from a Georgia battlefield:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unexploded-civil-war-shell-unearthed-in-georgia-180979759/
Plans to 'resink' some 18th century shipwrecks found near Alexandria a few years ago:
https://www.alxnow.com/2022/03/17/alexandria-prepares-to-resink-historic-ships/
Searching for unmarked Black burials in Elizabeth City:
https://www.dailyadvance.com/news/local/mapping-the-past-radar-finding-black-gravesites-at-old-oak/article_a3353ea5-7568-5ee7-893f-8f5fb3f4b5cc.html
Feature on the USF field school at Weedon Island Preserve:
https://www.stpetersburg.usf.edu/news/2022/archaeology-weedon-island-students-excavation.aspx
Feature on the search for Native American sites in the Adirondacks:
https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2022/03/native-americans-history-sagamore.html
Feature on George McJunkin:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/a-hidden-figure-in-north-american-archaeology
Feature on Ohio's Serpent Mound:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/archaeology/ohio-serpent-mound.htm
Feature on ships in the US which are designated as landmarks:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/travel/ships-submarines-national-landmarks.html
Feature on Sybil Ludington:
https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/news/article/Sybil-Ludington-Revolutionary-War-heroine-16991660.php
Pondering states' rights in the US Constitution:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/opinion/madison-constitution-states-rights.html
Pondering 'cancel culture' in 1832:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/12/opinion/cancel-culture-tocqueville.html
A judge has ruled New York State illegally took some Mohawk land in the 1800s:
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/45540/20220314/judge-rules-new-york-took-mohawk-land-illegally-in-the-1800s
Ongoing vandalism concerns at sites in Utah:
https://www.ksl.com/article/50370826/utah-governor-historians-seek-to-end-archaeological-vandalism-outdoors
============================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
============================================================
Excavations at the Templo Mayor sit at Tenochtitlan have revealed a pile of starfish intended as ritual offerings:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/03/largest-aztec-temple-was-decorated-with-over-100-starfish/
https://news.yahoo.com/archaeologists-discover-500-old-aztec-044502471.html
https://www.dnaindia.com/world/video-watch-500-year-old-aztec-starfish-altar-discovered-by-archaeologists-2940599
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/03/ritual-starfish-offerings-found-in-the-aztec-templo-mayor-at-tenochtitlan/143058
Remains of a 17th century cemetery from Recife (Brazil):
https://www.laprensalatina.com/discovery-of-17th-century-cemetery-offers-insight-into-brazils-colonial-era/
More on wealth/power 'equality' at Monte Alban:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/16/monte-alban-mexico-zapotec-community-oaxaca
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/ancient-mexican-city-endured-for.html
-----
Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas Breaking News:
http://goo.gl/1VdeA
Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas lecture channels on Youtube:
https://mikeruggerisyoutube.tumblr.com/
Ancient MesoAmerica News:
http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/
============================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
============================================================
A garden statue turns out to be a lost Canova work:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63604
Feature on Trowelblazers and the history of women in archaeology:
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/14/1086498817/a-group-unearths-the-forgotten-history-of-women-in-archaeology
On the history of pasta:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/20/pasta-finds-its-roots-in-ancient-greece-historians-confirm-through-texts/
On ancient knowledge of astronomy:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/children-of-cosmos-what-ancients-knew.html
On recreating Renaissance cosmetics and the like:
https://theconversation.com/remaking-history-how-we-are-recreating-renaissance-beauty-recipes-in-the-modern-chemistry-lab-176461
cf:
https://www.beautifulchemistryproject.com/
Studying how 'metal soaps' contribute to the deterioration of oil paintings:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/03/shining-an-infrared-light-on-how-metal-soaps-threaten-priceless-oil-paintings/
Feature on Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus':
https://christopherpjones.medium.com/botticellis-celebration-of-divine-nudity-e50e69fa73fb
In case you were wondering about the broken 'killing stone' in Japan:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/world/asia/killing-stone-japan.html
Something about letters from Black Americans to their former enslavers:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/03/13/letters-to-enslavers/
Victor Nuovo on Genesis and good and evil:
https://www.addisonindependent.com/2022/03/17/victor-nuovo-good-and-evil-gods-and-humans/
Feature on Kathe Kollwitz's art:
https://www.dw.com/en/never-again-war-k%C3%A4the-kollwitzs-masterpieces/g-61110567
Feature on the first war crimes trial:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/03/14/war-crimes-peter-von-hagenbach/
Feature on art's approach to women's bodies:
https://www.dailyuw.com/opinion/critical_conversations/history-s-grasp-on-womens-bodies/article_20c3714c-a0b1-11ec-819f-8f4af912f3e4.html
Feature on tools and techniques used by archaeologists:
https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.4/scientific-research-how-the-earth-stores-records-of-the-past?fbclid=IwAR0SxjYYDlvIVjvv58dp-6eLmGop3X3eHElC8Oc1AjMBcj_HwYVmwb-hR3c
Feature on projects trying to 'resurrect' extinct animals:
https://elpais.com/ciencia/2022-03-13/resucitar-animales-que-se-extinguieron-en-el-futuro-no-habra-mamuts-sino-mamufantes.html
Feature on the mutiny Magellan had to deal with:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-03-15/el-motin-que-puso-en-peligro-la-vuelta-al-mundo.html
Rethinking witch accusations in various periods of Spanish history:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-03-16/los-falsos-mitos-de-las-brujas-espanolas.html
More on the find of the wreck of the Endurance:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/climate/endurance-shipwreck-shackleton.html
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/shackletons-endurance-found-off.html
============================================================
CURRENT EVENTS:
============================================================
Features on Pi (and Pi Day)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/science/pi-math-geometry-infinity.html
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/15/the-fascinating-history-behind-pi-day/
On media coverage of the Black Death and comparisons made with COVID:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/03/covid-black-death-comparisons-silver-lining.html
On COVID and the future of archaeology:
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/covid-and-the-future-of-archaeology/
Feature on the Greek roots of cities in Ukraine:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/03/13/ancient-greek-roots-names-ukraine-cities/
The Hermitage has withdrawn demands for the return of things they loaned to Italy, apparently:
https://ilglobo.com/en/news/hermitage-withdraws-demands-for-italys-immediate-return-of-artworks-72243/
More on concerns/efforts to save Ukraine's cultural heritage:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/14/ukraine-odessa-russia-war/
https://fr.aleteia.org/2022/03/17/en-images-le-patrimoine-sacre-ukrainien-menace-par-la-guerre/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/15/ukrainian-heritage-under-threat-truth-soviet-era-russia
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2022/mar/17/putin-bombs-ukraine-architectural-marvels-in-pictures
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/russian-invasion-imperils-ukrainian-heritage
Feature on St Gertrude's Day:
https://theconversation.com/forget-patrick-march-17-is-also-st-gertrudes-day-commemorating-the-patron-saint-of-cats-177550
... and a study of where St Patrick was from:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotland-now/small-scottish-town-st-patrick-26492232
... and on St Parick's Day:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/03/17/st-patrick-day-saint/7039195001/
============================================================
ANIMAL AND PLANT DOMESTICATIONS
============================================================
More on geese being domesticated in China some 7000 years bp:
https://english.news.cn/20220316/b630f51c439145668db2035b99c1d3a1/c.html
============================================================
MUSEUM MATTERS
============================================================
Descendants of the Builders:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/113818/%E2%80%98Descendants-of-the-Builders%E2%80%99-temporary-exhibition-launches-in-Sohag-National
Kore 670:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/article-greek-statue-shows-its-true-colours-at-the-rom/
Donatello:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/arts/design/donatello-the-renaissance-florence.html
Cleopatra between Egypt and Italy:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/113813/Egypt%E2%80%99s-Academy-of-Arts-in-Rome-to-host-Cleopatra-between
Rubens 'Baptism of Christ':
https://apnews.com/article/travel-lifestyle-arts-and-entertainment-painting-museums-f3de31402bdbdc1198c33976f4be442d
Trompe l'oeil:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-03-16/siete-siglos-de-trampantojo-el-arte-de-contar-mentiras.html
Biblical Archaeology:
https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-701793
More on the reopening of Iraq's national museum:
http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2022-03-14/detail-ihawpiuq2989310.shtml
Concerns about an Immersive Van Gogh show:
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Albany-bound-Van-Gogh-event-falls-under-BBB-17003634.php
Feature on South Korea's Greek mythology museum:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/03/19/south-korea-greek-mythology-museum/
============================================================
AUCTIONS AND SALES RELATED
============================================================
The Ides of March last week spawned features on an Ides of March coin coming to auction in a few months, apparently:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10615933/Gold-coin-marking-assassination-Julius-Caesar-set-fetch-1-5m-auction.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/caesar-assassination-coin-is-worth-a-mint-nsxr8z85c
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-15/julius-caeser-assassination-coin-may-sell-for-2-million-or-more
https://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2022/03/14/3227-bidders-to-battle-for-ides-of-march-ancient-roman-coin-thought-to
On the price fetched for that medieval gold cross found by a Norwich detectorist:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-60755570
A nice price for a Rubens portrait:
https://apnews.com/article/business-lifestyle-europe-poland-painting-fc532764a17af445c5e9f5f48f6c6c7e
OpEd on museums and 'blood antiquities':
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/14/smithsonian-benin-bronzes-stolen-art-british-museum/
============================================================
ON THE DNA FRONT
============================================================
DNA suggests TB made it to South America via seals:
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/946022
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/03/mystery-how-tuberculosis-got-americas/627088/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10411-220315-south-america-tuberculosis
============================================================
THE TECHY SIDE
============================================================
Latest facial (and full body) reconstruction is of a 4000 years bp woman from Sweden:
https://www.livescience.com/stone-age-woman-reconstruction-sweden
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10414-220318-sweden-neolithic-woman
On using computer predictive models to find hunter-gatherer sites:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ancient-hunter-gatherer-sites.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220317163625.htm
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/946815
============================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
============================================================
Topkapi Palace harem:
https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/topkapi-palaces-harem-set-to-unveil-restored-sections-to-public/news
============================================================
PERFORMANCES AND MUSIC RELATED
============================================================
Pondering what happened to Cesar Franck's symphony:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/arts/music/cesar-franck-symphony.html
============================================================
CRIME BEAT
============================================================
An arrest of antiquities smugglers in Libya:
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/inbrief/security-forces-eastern-libya-arrest-antiquities-smugglers
Again we read of 'Turkish backed factions' conducting illegal excavations in Afrin:
https://www.syriahr.com/en/243417/
Vandalism at the La Sergente Neolithic tomb in Jersey:
https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2022-03-17/historic-site-that-predates-the-pyramids-vandalised-in-jersey
More on the bust of a Jerusalem resident in possession of 1500 years bp 'incantation bowls':
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/israeli-authorities-recover-ancient.html
More on the results of Operation Pandora VI:
https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/crime/ancient-roman-coins-interpol-trafficking
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/03/israeli-authorities-recover-ancient.html
----------
conflict antiquities:
http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/
anonymous swiss collector:
http://www.anonymousswisscollector.com/
Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues:
http://paul-barford.blogspot.ca/
Looting Matters:
http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/
Illicit Cultural Property:
http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/
SAFE:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/blog/
============================================================
REPATRIATION AND RECOVERY
============================================================
This week, we are reading that Turkey is denying that the Siloam inscription would be returned to Israel:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkiye-denies-return-of-inscription-to-israel-found-in-jerusalem/2534822
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/middle-east/turkey/not-so-fast/2022/03/13/
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/turkey-denies-return-of-inscription-to-israel-after-herzog-visit/news
... which gives rise to an OpEd:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-701676
OpEd on repatriation from museums:
https://themedium.ca/stolen-history/
Some stolen Nepalese artifacts found in the Barakat Gallery in London were returned:
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/03/18/stolen-nepalese-temple-artefacts-repatriated-london-gallery
More on the return of a sacred drum from Denmark to the Sami people:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/13/three-centuries-on-a-shamans-precious-rune-drum-returns-home
============================================================
NUMISMATICA
============================================================
Princeton has acquired a major Byzantine coin collection:
https://www.infodocket.com/2022/03/18/princeton-university-library-acquires-the-chris-theodotou-collection-of-byzantine-coins/
Feature on mints:
https://coinweek.com/education/what-is-a-mint/
Feature on ancient Greek coins of Paeonia:
https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/the-ancient-greek-coins-of-paeonia/
Latest e-Sylum:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v25/club_nbs_esylum_v25n11.html
... and the one which should appear later today:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v25/club_nbs_esylum_v25n12.html
------------------------
Coin Week:
http://www.coinweek.com/
============================================================
OBITUARIES
============================================================
David Mayer Gradwohl:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/journalstar/name/david-gradwohl-obituary?id=33625398
Neil Faulkner:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/15/neil-faulkner-obituary
Herbert Benario:
https://classicalstudies.org/scs-news/memoriam-herbert-benario
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/obituaries/rabbi-chaim-kanievsky-dea.html
============================================================
AUDIO/VIDEO NEWS
============================================================
Audio News from Archaeologica:
https://www.archaeologychannel.org/audio-guide/audio-news/3161-audio-news-from-archaeologica-march-6th-2022-through-march-12th-2022
============================================================
GENERAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS BLOGS
============================================================
Archaeology Magazine News Page:
http://www.archaeology.org/news/
About.com Archaeology:
http://archaeology.about.com/
Archaeology Briefs:
http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/
Atlas Obscura:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/
Heritage Daily:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/
Sapiens Archaeology:
https://www.sapiens.org/category/archaeology/
Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:
http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/
============================================================
PODCASTS/VODCASTS
============================================================
Archaeosoup:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Archaeos0up?feature=watch
Archaeology Podcast Network:
http://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/
============================================================
EXPLORATOR is a free weekly newsletter bringing you the latest
news of archaeological finds, historical research and the like.
Various on-line news and magazine sources are scoured for news of
the 'ancient world' (broadly construed: practically anything relating
to archaeology or history up to a century or so ago is fair
game) and every Sunday they are delivered to your mailbox free of
charge!
============================================================
Useful Addresses
============================================================
You can read Explorator online at:
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