===========================================================
explorator 26.17 August 13, 2023
===========================================================
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,
Richard Miller, Kris Curry, Rick Heli, Richard C. Griffiths, Frank MacKay, Caroline Tully,
Don Buck, mata kimasitayo, and Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week
(as always hoping I have left no one out).

... a slow week
============================================================
EARLY HOMINIDS
============================================================
Study suggests homo erectus was in Europe for a while, then around 1.1 million years bp 'left' because of the cold for a few hundred thousand years:when they were replaced:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-massive-north-atlantic-cooling-event.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230810141044.htm
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/997982
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66331558
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/august/ancient-ice-age-could-have-caused-first-europeans-go-extinct.html
https://www.reuters.com/science/frigid-apocalypse-doomed-early-humans-europe-2023-08-10/
https://scitechdaily.com/europes-ancient-freeze-new-study-reveals-ancient-cooling-wiped-out-early-humans/

Climate is also being studied as a factor in 'early human inbreeding':

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-climate-drivers-early-human-interbreeding.html

A bone from the Grotte du Renne cave in France is leading to speculation about an unknown lineage of homo sapiens:

https://arkeonews.net/anthropologists-discovered-a-bone-in-the-grotte-du-renne-cave-in-france-that-could-indicate-the-presence-of-a-previously-unknown-lineage-of-homo-sapiens/

All the speculation attached to homo naledi over the past while:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/human-evolution-timeline-archaeology-homo-sapiens-b2391333.html

A 40 000 years bp bracelet from the Denisova Cave:

https://medium.com/@ParanormalActivityBlog/archaeologists-have-discovered-a-40-000-year-old-bracelet-in-siberia-62f833b78811

More on the 'unusual' 300 000 years bp jaw found in China:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-china-human-lineage.html
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/strange-300000-year-old-jawbone-unearthed-in-china-may-come-from-vanished-human-lineage
https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/world/300-000-year-old-skull-found-in-china-unlike-any-early-human-seen-before-1.6502239
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/10/asia/ancient-skull-china-human-evolution-intl-scli-scn/index.html
https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/ryjn4f0j3
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/an-ancient-skull-could-prompt-the-founding-of-a-new-human-species
https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-skull-found-in-china-is-unlike-any-human-seen-before
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11631-230808-china-hominin-skull

cf: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248423000908
============================================================
AFRICA
============================================================
Feature on the petroglyphs in Tassili N’Ajjer National Park (Algeria):

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/algeria-rock-art-prehistoric-sahara-petroglyphs
============================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
============================================================
More on the 2300 years bp shipwreck off El Alamein:

https://www.egyptindependent.com/photos-archaeologists-discover-remains-of-2300-old-sunken-ship-in-alamein/
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/126127/Ministry-of-Tourism-Antiquities-Announces-The-Discovery-Of-An-Archaeological
https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/world/article278091472.html
https://egyptianstreets.com/2023/08/07/egypts-coastal-waters-reveals-ancient-shipwreck-and-relics/
https://www.newsweek.com/2000-year-old-shipwreck-wine-jugs-discovered-egypt-1818950

Feature on Abu Simbel:

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/nightlife/abu-simbel-rediscovered/102695422

Feature on three Egyptian pharaohs:

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/3-of-the-most-important-pharaohs-of-ancient-egypt

Feature on Ancient Egyptian religion:

https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-egypt/ancient-egyptian-religion-everything-you-wanted-to-know-podcast-joyce-tyldesley/

Feature on what Cleopatra looked like:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/what-did-cleopatra-egypts-last-pharaoh-really-look-like

Hyping an impending excavation at Iran's Sepahbod-Khorshid Cave, which has 'ancient architectural elements':

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/487747/Archaeologists-to-try-hands-at-cave-bearing-ancient-architectural

Feature on Palaeolithic petroglyphs in Bawa Yawan:

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/487791/Tracing-human-history-Iran-s-Bawa-Yawan-yields-remarkable-Palaeolithic

Feature on the recreation of a 3200 years bp Mesopotamian perfume:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/06/3200-year-old-mesopotamian-perfume-recreated/

Feature on 'ceremonial standards' in Mesopotamian art:

https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2023/08/ceremonial-standards-early-mesopotamia

A 3800 years bp cuneiform tablet find from the Accana mound in Hatay:

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230811-3800-year-old-cuneiform-clay-tablet-found-in-turkiye/
https://arkeonews.net/3800-years-old-akkadian-cuneiform-tablet-found-in-turkeys-hatay/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68035

Excavations at Cavustepe Castle suggest the Urartian people built it with potential earthquakes in mind:

https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/studies-in-turkiyes-ancient-castle-shed-light-on-urartian-seismic-precautions/news

A study of the differences between men's and women's jaws in the Middle Ages near the Kortik Tepe mound:

https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/middle-ages-skeletons-in-turkiye-show-jawbone-differences-by-gender/news

A roundup of archaeology finds in Turkey over the month of July:

https://turkisharchaeonews.net/article/july-2023-turkish-archaeology

Overview of the Hirbet Atarus (Iron Age) site in Jordan:

https://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/%E2%80%98no-parallel-region%E2%80%99-central-jordan-iron-age-site-%E2%80%94-canadian-archaeologist

ACOR will be working in Jordan to restore some heritage sites:

https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-109/News/Antiquities-department-and-ACOR-sign-agreements-to-restore-heritage-sites-30210

A Roman military amphitheatre from Megiddo:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/roman-training-ground/

Overview of the recent finds at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/round-the-clock-excavations-at-church-of-holy-sepulchre-yield-historical-treasures/

More on the 2500 years bp 'anti-evil-eye' disk found on an Israel beach:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/diver-finds-2500-year-old-disc-used-by-ancient-mariners-to-ward-off-the-evil-eye/

More on the 1500 years bp 'magical mirror' from the Usha site:

https://www.newsweek.com/magical-mirror-protect-against-evil-eye-discovered-1817940
https://arkeonews.net/high-school-student-discovered-a-1500-year-old-ancient-magical-mirror/
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/magic-mirror-to-ward-off-evil-found-at-ancient-usha/148183

More on suggestions of ancient necromancy from Teomim Cave near Jerusalem:

https://bigthink.com/the-past/necromancy-jerusalem-cave/

Interview with Jodi Magness on her work at Huqoq:

https://www.wunc.org/arts-culture/2023-08-11/unc-archaeologist-dig-ancient-jewish-synagogue-biblical

-----
This Week in the Ancient Near East Podcast:

https://thisweekintheancientneareast.podbean.com/

============================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
============================================================
A 5th century (or later) cache of figurines and the like from the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/11/votive-offering-figurines-valley-temples-italy/
https://arkeonews.net/rich-votive-deposit-discovered-in-the-valley-of-the-temples-of-agrigento/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68003
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/votive-offering-of-figurines-found-at-the-valley-of-the-temples/148206
https://www.archaeology.org/news/11677-230811-sicily-temple-cache

A 2400 years bp prytaneion site in Albania with a large number of drinking vessels:

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article277864038.html
https://www.archaeology.org/news/11629-230807-albania-illyrian-drinking

Remains of a Roman bathing complex (date?) from Cologne:

https://www.newsweek.com/archaeologists-find-ancient-roman-luxury-baths-underfloor-heating-1818046
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ancient-roman-bath-complex-found-cologne-neumark-1234676943/

Remains of a possible Roman bridge in the mud of the river Wye near Chepstow:

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/23712539.roman-bridge-chepstow-river-wye-mud---diggers-await-dates/

Excavations at a Roman bathing complex in Merida have revealed an iron grate which would have covered a window:

https://www.newsweek.com/archaeologists-make-exceptional-discovery-ancient-roman-changing-rooms-1819169
https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-have-discovered-another-exceptional-find-in-merida/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68019

A possible Roman villa near the site of a future police station in Cambridge:

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/history/large-villa-complex-could-uncovered-27460327

A study has used LiDAR to identify a Roman road network that spanned Devon and Cornwall:

https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences/roman-road-network-spanning-the-south-west-identified-in-new-research/
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-roman-road-network-spanning-south.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230807121922.htm
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/roman-devon-exeter-university-of-exeter-england-b2388780.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c16ey7ryd38o
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/roman-road-cornwall-devon-uk-university-exeter-8jz7xwz7v
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/1422/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/1422/pub/1422/page/39/article/NaN
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/hidden-roman-road-network-uncovered-8659791
https://www.sci.news/archaeology/roman-era-road-network-south-west-britain-12162.html
https://arkeonews.net/roman-road-network-spanning-the-south-west-of-england-identified-in-new-research/
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/archaeologists-identify-roman-road-network/148177
https://www.archaeology.org/news/11633-230808-england-roman-roads

cf: https://journal.caa-international.org/articles/10.5334/jcaa.109

Hyping an upcoming dig at a possible Roman site in Norfolk:

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/caistor-2023

Fireworks led to a fire at the Baños de la Reina site in Calpe (Spain):

https://www.newsweek.com/roman-ruins-spain-fireworks-damage-fire-1818264

Arguing over holding concerts in the Circus Maximus:

https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2023/08/09/row-erupts-over-holding-concerts-at-circus-maximus_c99cee17-3e6d-493b-9fde-1238b39adb2a.html

An overview of some of the recent finds from Pompeii:

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/08/09/from-ancient-pizzas-to-snake-shrines-take-a-look-around-this-recently-excavated-home-in-po

More on the remains of Nero's theatre near the Vatican:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ruins-of-neros-theater-discovered-near-vatican1/

More on the 2000 years bp Roman domus from Melite (Malta):

https://arkeonews.net/usf-team-discovers-2000-year-old-roman-house-during-excavation-in-malta/

More on the 3rd/4th century CE Roman shipwreck found by Serbian coal miners:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/ancient-roman-boat-from-empires-frontier-unearthed-in-serbian-coal-mine
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ancient-roman-ship-uncovered-miners-serbia-1234676308/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/coal-miners-discover-ancient-boat-serbia-180982679/

More on the Medusa mosaic found at Merida:

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/07/archaeologists-uncover-roman-mosaic-depicting-medusa/148089

More on the Roman gemstone from an excavation dive near Venice:

https://arkeonews.net/precious-roman-gem-engraved-with-mythological-figure-discovered-in-italian-lagoon/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/11630-230807-italy-roman-gemstone

Interview with Tom Holland on Pax:

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/pax-rome-golden-age-tom-holland/102707492

Review of Robin Lane Fox, *Homer and His Iliad*:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-illiterate-poet-who-produced-the-worlds-greatest-epic/

OpEd questioning recent portrayals of Spartans:

https://thefederalist.com/2023/08/11/is-this-sparta-revisionists-get-the-legendary-warriors-all-wrong/

Feature on Vesuvius and Stabiae:

https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-08-08/the-calm-before-the-storm-how-vesuvius-deceived-the-inhabitants-of-stabiae-romes-little-pompeii.html

Feature on astrology and imperial legitimacy in Rome:

https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/astrology-imperial-legitimacy-rome/

Feature on Roman libraries:

https://aeon.co/essays/romes-libraries-were-shrines-to-knowledge-and-imperial-power

Feature on the military decorations of Spurius Ligustinus:

https://www.historynet.com/spurius-ligustinus-decorated-roman-soldier/

Feature on the diet of gladiators:

https://arkeonews.net/gladiators-were-mostly-vegetarians-and-they-were-fatter-than-you-may-think/

Feature on Alexander IV:

https://www.thecollector.com/son-alexander-the-great/

Feature on Sappho:

https://www.thecollector.com/who-was-sappho-of-lesbos/

Feature on Delphi:

https://www.thecollector.com/delphi-site-history/

Feature on the Heraia:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/11/when-greek-women-staged-their-own-olympic-games-heraean-games/

Feature on a Greek amulet from the time of the Antonine plague in London:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/09/greek-roman-era-london-amulet-plague/

Feature on ancient Greek messengers:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/10/ancient-greek-messengers/

Feature on who built the Parthenon:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/09/acropolis-parthenon-built-slaves/

-----
Roman Archaeology Blog:

http://romanarc.blogspot.com/

Rogueclassicism:

http://rogueclassicism.com/
============================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
============================================================
A 36 200 years bp carving from Grotte des Gorges:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-39897-7

The missing body of a 35 000 years bp figurine from the Hohle Fels cave has been found but they're not sure what the animal is:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/missing-body-of-ice-age-animal-carving-finally-found-but-nobody-knows-what-the-animal-is
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11632-230808-germany-ivory-animal

8000 years bp evidence of a 'stilt village' in Albania's Lake Ohrid:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-archaeologists-uncover-europe-oldest-stilt.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oldest-lakeside-village-europe-lake-ohrid-albania-treasure-trove/
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-754475
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/08/11/ohrid-history-mystery-archaeologists-dive-into-an-albanian-lake-to-study-neolithic-homes
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/archaeologists-uncover-europes-oldest-stilt-village-185414
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230811-archaeologists-uncover-europe-s-oldest-stilt-village-1
https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-uncover-europes-oldest-lakeside-stilt-village-behind-a-fortress-of-defensive-spikes/

A study of the Middle Neolithic circular enclosure of Goseck:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-sacred-astronomical-observatory-middle-neolithic.html

4000 years bp skeletons of a pair of (possibly sacrificial) red deer found during water work in Navenby:

https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/ancient-sacrificial-offering-found-by-workers-9325407/

A skeleton found in Alderney last May is 2500 years bp:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crgl0lr71z2o

A metal detectorist in Anglesey came across a hoard of Iron Age gold coins:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-66471319
https://www.northwaleschronicle.co.uk/news/23714068.iron-age-treasure-found-anglesey-first-wales/
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/11/metal-detectorists-make-first-discovery-of-iron-age-coins-in-wales

An Anglo-Saxon burial site from near Donington:

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/history/anglo-saxon-burial-site-22-8660318

A Viking burial site at Bicker Fen:

https://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/anglo-saxon-burial-site-uncovered-by-archaeologists-9325527/

The third dig at an 8th century monastery site in Cookham is underway:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-66450684
https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/23713665.cemetery-old-street-uncovered-archaeologists-dig-cookham/

Archaeologists are excavating the 13th century Augustinian monastery of Himmelpforte:

https://aleteia.org/2023/08/09/archaeologists-uncover-forgotten-medieval-german-monastery/

Remains of a possible 14th century synagogue from Wroclaw:

https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/08/08/remains-of-medieval-synagogue-thought-to-be-one-of-largest-in-region-discovered-in-poland/

Remains of the town of Wartsberg, destroyed in the 14th century (Poland) have been located:

https://scienceinpoland.pl/en/news/news%2C97703%2Carchaeologists-discover-treasure-14th-century-coins-pompeii-warmia.html
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11667-230809-poland-medieval-town

A burial of a possible 15th century countess from near the Binnenhof in the Hague:

https://www.newsweek.com/skeleton-15th-century-senate-building-1819086

A possible 500 years bp well from next to a Grantham car park:

https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/well-dating-back-hundreds-of-years-found-next-to-car-park-9324735/

Assorted 15th/16th century small finds from the Tallinna Reaaldool dig:

https://news.err.ee/1609054715/tallinna-reaalkool-archaeological-dig-unearths-rare-and-interesting-finds

Restoration work at Naples' state arcive revealed an unknown 16th century chapel:

https://aleteia.org/2023/08/08/a-16th-century-chapel-was-found-beneath-a-wall-in-naples/

A 17th century 'Vampire' child burial from Poland:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/in-a-grave-for-the-damned-the-bones-of-a-vampire-child
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/vampire-child-poland-necropolis-unearthed-b2391298.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12381177/Vampire-child-corpse-discovered-Polish-cemetery-triangular-padlock-attached-ankles-prevent-returning-dead.html
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-754511
https://www.sciencealert.com/tragic-case-of-vampire-child-unearthed-in-17th-century-necropolis
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/67988
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/child-found-buried-face-down-with-anti-vampire-triangular-padlock/148171

A detectorist in Sudbury came across a Celtic stater and an Edward III quarter noble:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-66386477

Finds from a wide range of dates from a 'dig' in Worcestershire:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/over-19000-jaw-dropping-hidden-27506498

A report on an aerial image survey of Southdowns archaeological sites:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-66439576

Repairs to Tamworth Castle are almost complete:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-66441113

Graffiti damage to the Anchor Church site has been repaired:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-66466893

More on the 16 000 years bp cave entrancefind in Germany:

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article278030548.html

More on the 2800 years bp meteoric iron arrowhead from Switzerland:

https://www.sci.news/archaeology/meteoritic-iron-arrowhead-12173.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-3000-year-old-arrowhead-was-made-from-a-meteorite-180982691/

More on the re-identification of a skeleton from the Isles of Scilly as a woman:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12379335/Iron-Age-artefact-reveals-women-fought-warriors.html
https://www.themarysue.com/another-ancient-warrior-turns-out-to-be-a-woman/

Feature on the identity of a high-statues 2850 BCE burial in Spain:

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0g543bb/mystery-of-high-status-ancient-spanish-tomb-solved

More on the find of Exeter Cathedral's medieval crypt and other finds:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-900-year-old-english-cathedrals-hidden-medieval-crypt-180982648/?

A follow-up to that dolphin burial mentioned last week:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-dolphin-skeleton-buried-by-victorian-artist-758b2tgmc

Feature on Viking funerals:

https://www.grunge.com/1358814/what-viking-funerals-were-like/

Feature on the Viking diet:

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0ftsnlg/what-did-the-vikings-eat-

Northumberland had eight 'treasure finds' last year:

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-treasure-inquests-held-2022-27497679

Plans to digitize the finds of the Swedish mission in Cyprus:

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/news/local/findings-of-swedish-archaeological-mission-in-cyprus-to-be-digitalised/

Kents Cavern in Devon has been sold to a hotel company:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-66437236

A Victorian steamship wreck near Sutton Hoo has been given official protection:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-66427777

A curious heritage destruction story (Crooked House pub):

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/12/people-are-sick-of-having-our-heritage-knocked-down-how-the-crooked-house-saga-became-a-state-of-the-nation-story

A project to recreate the Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon ship is underway:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-66475720
----------
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
============================================================
Plenty of petroglyphs from various Dynasty periods from a cave in Zhejiang:

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-08-10/Ancient-cliffside-stone-carvings-unveiled-in-Zhejiang--1m9xI0aHVT2/index.html

Suggestion there might be traps in Qin's tomb:

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-archeologists-afraid-open-tomb-chinas-first-emperor-2023-8
https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/tomb-of-chinas-first-emperor-holds-deadly-traps-ancient-secrets-2417393-2023-08-07

Feature on what we're learning about the ancient port of Shuomen from recent archaeological finds:

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202308/10/WS64d4402ca31035260b81b527.html

More on the giant panda remains from royal burial in Xi'an dating to the Western Han Dynasty:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/09/panda-skeleton-tomb-ancient-china/
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3230141/chinese-archaeologists-find-first-complete-panda-burial-2000-year-old-han-dynasty-tomb
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/giant-panda-found-in-pit-sacrificed-to-emperor-wen-of-han/148200

More on 3700 years bp use of coal in China:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-systematic-coal-fuel-source-bronze.html
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11669-230809-china-coal-bronze

More on evidence of curry in southeast Asia some 2000 years bp:

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/curry-hit-southeast-asia-2-000-years-ago-and-hit-hard

Feature on the settlement of the Tibetan plateau:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2386570-how-prehistoric-people-settled-one-of-earths-most-extreme-places/

A quartz crystal 'weighing unit' from Keeladi:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/weighing-unit-made-of-crystal-quartz-found-in-keeladi/article67170994.ece
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/new-find-at-tamil-nadus-keeladi-archaeologists-discover-crystal-quartz-weighing-unit-8885051/

Assorted finds, including a brick water canal (Sangam-era?) from Porpanaikottai:

https://m.timesofindia.com/city/trichy/more-brick-structures-found-at-porpanaikottai/articleshow/102666288.cms
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/more-brick-structures-unearthed-at-porpanaikottai/article67184202.ece
https://www.dtnext.in/news/tamilnadu/archaeologists-find-brick-water-canal-in-porpanaikottai-729474

2600 years bp Sargat culture jewelry from a pair of mounds in Siberia:

https://www.newsweek.com/jewellery-rare-unlooted-siberian-grave-1818482

A Bronze Age pyramid structure from Kazakhstan:

https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/world/article278062057.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article278062057.html
https://www.newsweek.com/bronze-age-pyramid-ties-ancient-horse-cult-discovered-1818983
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/step-pyramid-horse-cult-found-kazakhstan-1234676919/
https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/10/bronze-age-pyramidal-structure-eurasian-steppe/
https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-have-discovered-a-large-sized-4000-year-old-steppe-pyramid-of-the-bronze-age-in-kazakhstan/
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/archaeologists-uncover-bronze-age-pyramidal-structure-in-the-eurasian-steppe/148190
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11678-230811-kazakhstan-stone-pyramid

============================================================
NORTH AMERICA
============================================================
Hyping funding for an underwater survey of Revolutionary War-era shipwrecks in the York River:

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/history/york-river-archaeology-grant/291-bf506ddd-dfc1-4055-9c00-6f97149c400d

A study refuting another study claiming that a 4th century CE cosmic event led to the decline of Hopewell culture:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-archaeologists-refute-comet-destroyed-hopewell.html
https://www.thecouriertimes.com/news/ball-state-archaeologist-leads-team-to-refute-claims-that-a-comet-destroyed-hopewell-culture/article_cbb96f79-360b-5e83-8cce-6a3c49a1a97b.html
https://www.bsu.edu/news/press-center/archives/2023/08/ball-state-archaeologist-leads-researchers-to-refute-claims-that-comet-destroyed-hopewell-culture

cf: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-39866-0

Pondering the abandonment of Cahokia:

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-mysterious-lost-city-of-cahokia-was-abandoned-but-why

Musqueam finds have paused some construction at the Vancouver airport:

https://globalnews.ca/news/9887004/construction-paused-yvr-musqueam-artifacts/
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-airport-construction-halted-after-potential-indigenous-artifacts-found-1.6512860

Overview of a dig at a Wsanec nation site in Cordova Bay:

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/07/first-nation-village-archaeological-dig-british-columbia

Overview of finds from a dig at the Old Bezanson townsite near Grande Prairie:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/archaeologists-unearth-clues-about-life-in-an-alberta-boom-town-from-the-early-1900s-1.6928239

More on that Kentucky Civil War-era coin hoard:

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/800-vintage-coins-kentucky-2337331

A grant for more research into the Battlefield of Ridgefield site:

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/battle-of-ridgefield-skeletons-research-grant-18279607.php?src=nthplocal

Review of Sarah Newman, *Unmasking Waste*:

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/archaeologist-talks-trash

Feature on the evidence for the earliest evidence of a human presence in the Americas:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/whats-the-earliest-evidence-of-humans-in-the-americas
============================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
============================================================
An extensive 1300 years bp settlement site from Mexico's Guerrero state:

https://www.newsweek.com/lost-1300-year-old-town-altars-ballgame-courts-discovered-1818018

Suggestion that a 'stilt village' in the Amazon may have had a 'celestial layout':

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/11/stilt-village-amazon-pleiades-star-cluster-layout

More on the excavation of a 1500 years bp Teotihuacan site in Mexico City:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/lost-1500-year-old-teotihuacan-village-discovered-in-the-heart-of-mexico-city
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/teotihuacan-village-mexico-city-intl-scli-scn/index.html
https://www.walb.com/gallery/2023/08/12/photos-archaeologists-discover-year-old-teotihuacan-village-mexico/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68012
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11668-230809-mexico-teotihuacan-village

Feature on the Kuluba site (Maya) in the Yucatan:

https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2023/08/kuluba-a-new-archaeological-zone-in-yucatan/
-----
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
============================================================
Katherine Parr's prayerbook has gone on display:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-66463558

Feature on collecting antiquities 'the right way':

https://robbreport.com/shelter/art-collectibles/how-to-collect-antiquities-1234865819/

Magdalene College is digitizing a number of manuscripts associated with Samuel Pepys:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66405733

Archaeologists are seeking protection for a wooly mammoth site in the Cotswolds:

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/archaeologists-call-for-protection-of-site-containing-mammoths-1234676439/

The British Museum has reached a settlement with that poetry translator they failed to credit:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-translator-yilin-wang-british-museum-settlement-1.6930786
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/yilin-wang-translator-british-museum-settlement-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/british-museum-reaches-settlement-translator-whose-work-was-used-permi-rcna98999
https://hyperallergic.com/838168/museum-settles-with-translator-whose-work-was-used-without-permission/
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/british-museum-reaches-settlement-apologizes-canadian-poetry-translator-yilin-wang-1234676467/
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/08/british-museum-settles-case-with-translator-after-using-work-without-permission-credit-or-payment

Marking the 850th birthday of the Leaning Tower of Pisa:

https://www.euronews.com/video/2023/08/10/the-leaning-tower-of-pisa-celebrates-its-850th-birthday

Feature on 30 lost burials archaeologists would like to find:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/lost-burials-archaeologists-are-still-searching-for

Feature on 'The Octagon House':

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/books/review/octagon-house-irvington-orson-fowler.html

Feature on the Jacuzzi family:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/style/the-frothy-saga-of-the-jacuzzi-family.html

On the origins of the swastika:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/what-are-the-origins-of-the-nazi-swastika

Latest study trying to diagnose Vlad the Impaler:

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/study-suggests-vlad-the-impaler-suffered-from-hemolacria-crying-tears-of-blood/148223

On what pots say (and don't say) about people:

https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/pots-are-people/

Pondering humans' fascination with the past:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-books/2023/08/10/why-humans-have-always-been-fascinated-with-their-ancient-past/

More on Camden's 'uncensored' history of Elizabeth I's reign:

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/67980

More on women taking part in hunting:

https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-753954

Review of Kenneth W Harl, *Empires of the Steppes*:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/10/empires-of-the-steppes-by-kenneth-w-harl-review-a-nomadic-route-to-civilisation
============================================================
CURRENT EVENTS:
============================================================
Russia has damaged over 760 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine:

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-has-damaged-destroyed-over-1-100-cultural-sites-in-ukraine-since-feb-24-2/
============================================================
ANIMAL AND PLANT DOMESTICATIONS
============================================================
Using DNA to find the African origin of cattle in the Americas:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-ancient-dna-reveals-early-african.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230808110950.htm
https://www.archaeology.org/news/11676-230810-america-colony-cattle

cf: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-39518-3

============================================================
PHILOSOPHERS AND MATTERS PHILOSOPHICAL
============================================================
Feature on Plotinus:

https://www.thecollector.com/plotinus-neoplatonist-metaphysics/
============================================================
MUSEUM MATTERS
============================================================
Laborers of the Tell en-Nasbeh Excavations:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/exhibit-digs-up-forgotten-laborers-behind-british-mandates-archaeological-exploits/

Ancient Lives:

https://art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/exhibitions/ancient-lives/

Tracing Freud on the Acropolis:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/aug/06/tracing-freud-on-the-acropolis-freud-museum-london-review-freuds-big-fat-greek-guilt-complex

Xlendi is now home to a deepwater archaeological park:

https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/124393/worlds_first_deep_water_archaeological_park_at_xlendi_opens_for_divers
https://arkeonews.net/worlds-first-deepwater-archaeological-park-inaugurated-off-xlendi-malta/

Repairs are in store for the Scarborough Rotunda Museum:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-66410858

A Roman coin hoard acquired by the Dorset Museum has gone on display:

https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/dorset/news/roman-coins-display-dorset-museum/

Aftermath of the Denver Art Museum's cutting of ties with Emma Bunker:

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/07/denver-art-museum-cut-ties-emma-bunker-cambodian-loot-douglas-latchford

Hyping the opening of the Greco-Roman Museum in Egypt:

https://www.egyptindependent.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-opening-of-the-greco-roman-museum-in-egypt/

70 percent of the 'major artifacts' are in place at the GEM:

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/506376.aspx

Changes at the Barnes Foundation:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/arts/design/barnes-foundation-loan-painting-decision.html

The Chrysler Museum in Virginia will be returning a 'Wounded Indian' statue to Boston:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/arts/design/wounded-indian-chrysler-museum-boston.html

More than 800 items from some Canadian national museums have gone missing:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canadian-museum-of-history-missing-items/
https://www.timescolonist.com/national-news/audit-finds-800-items-missing-from-canadian-history-museum-no-plan-to-deal-with-it-7391463
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-five-missing-artifacts-flagged-by-auditor-found-by-canadian-museum-of/

============================================================
AUCTIONS AND SALES RELATED
============================================================
A suffragette card game found in a Leicestershire cupboard is coming to auction:

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/67996

High hopes for an Edward VIII coin coming to auction:

https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/23716317.rare-edward-viii-coin-predicted-fetch-200k-auction/
https://artdaily.cc/news/160191/Rare-Edward-VIII-coin-that-was-never-issued-expected-to-fetch-up-to--pound-200-000-at-Noonans

A major collection of 16th century books is coming to Sotheby's:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/11/16th-century-texts-worth-25m-dollars-up-for-auction-t-kimball-brooker-sothebys

cf: https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/bibliotheca-brookeriana-the-t-kimball-brooker-library-of-renaissance-books-and-bindings

============================================================
ON THE DNA FRONT
============================================================
Not sure if we mentioned this genetic family tree for some Neolithic people in France:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/largest-ever-genetic-family-tree-reconstructed-for-neolithic-people-in-france-using-ancient-dna
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-a-stone-age-community-women-moved-while-men-stayed-with-family/

A study of genetic-related thinks with some 'stone age' Central and Eastern European populations:

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-links-early-europeans-cultural-genetic.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230809130654.htm
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/08/study-establishes-connection-between-the-cultural-and-genetic-evolution-of-early-europeans/148195

More on the genomic study of Holocene shell mound builders in Brazil:

https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/h1yn2jyh3

============================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
============================================================
Verona:

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/aug/13/verona-italy-opera-city

Monemvasia:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/06/monemvasia-greece-castle-town/

This week's 'tourist behaving badly' piece involves a tourist carving a heart and initials into the Leaning Tower of Pisa:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/leaning-tower-of-pisa-850-years-birthday/index.html
https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/italy-tourist-carves-love-heart-leaning-tower-of-pisa.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/132716061/as-leaning-tower-of-pisa-celebrates-its-850th-birthday-one-tourist-is-caught-redhanded-defacing-the-italian-landmark

============================================================
PERFORMANCES AND MUSIC RELATED
============================================================
Review of Patrick Humphries, *Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood*:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/13/cleopatra-at-60-new-book-reveals-stunning-profligacy-of-infamous-hollywood-epic

Bard Music Festival coverage:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/arts/music/bard-music-festival-ralph-vaughan-williams.html

Mostly Mozart:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/arts/music/mostly-mozart-jonathon-heyward.html

============================================================
CRIME BEAT
============================================================
Feature on the mafia's role in antiquities smuggling:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sicilian-crime-boss-reveals-the-mafia-s-role-in-the-illicit-antiques-trade-pgz6jlsbc

An Israeli arrested in Antalya over a possibly stolen ancient bell:

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-753903

Police in Iran recovered some looted Islamic-era pottery:

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/487658/Centuries-old-glazed-pottery-recovered-by-police

Feature on past looting of artifacts in Cambodia:

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501338036/footprint-of-stolen-cambodian-treasure/

... and Australian museums may have more than 100 looted Cambodian antiquities:

https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/17910-australian-museums-may-hold-more-than-100-looted-cambodian-antiquities

Suggestion that blockchain could help stop antiquities smuggling:

https://www.egyptindependent.com/how-blockchain-technology-can-help-stop-antiquities-smuggling/
----------
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
============================================================
The US returned 42 items to Italy:

https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-announces-return-of-42-antiquities-to-the-people-of-italy/
https://www.barrons.com/news/new-york-returns-over-40-stolen-antiquities-to-italy-3171ba96
https://www.rte.ie/news/us/2023/0809/1398807-new-york-antiquities/
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/new-york-returns-over-40-stolen-antiquities-to-italy-185362

... not sure if the 42 are part of the 266 reported elsewhere being returned to Italy from the US:

https://www.reuters.com/world/italy-repatriates-looted-ancient-artefacts-us-2023-08-11/
https://apnews.com/article/antiquities-italy-returned-symes-medici-white-e3c4da4b674ef788c86d9a776fcbbd51
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66486926
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-13/italy-repatriates-looted-ancient-artefacts-from-the-us/102723792
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/artifacts-seized-from-ny-storage-unit-among-hundreds-returned-to-italy-this-week/4584652/
https://wacotrib.com/news/nation-world/crime-courts/italy-gets-back-266-antiquities-from-new-york-seizures-and-houston-museum/article_26e7cd71-e98f-579f-a413-9a097a07def3.html
https://fortune.com/2023/08/11/italian-antiquities-tomb-raiders-returned-private-art-dealers/

Australia returned a trio of statues to Cambodia:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/national-gallery-australia-returns-statues-cambodia-180982682/

Feature on efforts to track down stolen Thai antiquities:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/Art-crime-investigators-close-in-on-stolen-Thai-antiquities

Feature on the repatriation efforts of Nepal, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/arts/design/restitution-nepal-indonesia-democratic-republic-of-congo-cameroon.html

Report on repatriation successes (and more anticipated) for Indian artifacts:

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/no-confidence-motion-defeated-in-lok-sabha-2643093
https://www.ptinews.com/news/national/324-antiquities-brought-back-to-india-from-2003-2023-govt/627876.html
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/31-antiquities-stolen-in-the-last-decade-27-still-missing-govt-in-parliament-8881849/

700 items loaned to the Victoria and Albert Museum from India a century ago have yet to be returned:

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/aug/07/about-700-asi-antiquities-lent-to-london-museum-a-century-ago-yet-to-return-2602787.html

============================================================
NUMISMATICA
============================================================
Latest e-Sylum:

http://www.coinbooks.org/v26/club_nbs_esylum_v26n32.html

... and the one which should appear later today:

http://www.coinbooks.org/v26/club_nbs_esylum_v26n33.html

------------------------

Coin Week:

http://www.coinweek.com/

============================================================
AUDIO/VIDEO NEWS
============================================================
Audio News from Archaeologica:

https://www.archaeologychannel.org/audio-guide/audio-news/3304-audio-news-from-archaeologica-july-30th-through-august-5th-2023
============================================================
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:

https://exploratornews.wordpress.com/

Past issues of Explorator are also available on the web via our
groups.io page:

https://groups.io/g/explorator

To subscribe to Explorator, send a blank email message to:

explorator...@groups.io

To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to:

Unsubscribe: explorator+...@groups.io

To send a 'heads up' to the editor or contact him for other
reasons:

roguecl...@gmail.com
===========================================================
Explorator is Copyright (c) 2023 David Meadows. Feel free to
distribute these listings via email to your pals, students,
teachers, etc., but please include this copyright notice. These
links are not to be posted to any website by any means (whether
by direct posting or snagging from a usenet group or some other
email source) without my express written permission. I think it
is only right that I be made aware of public fora which are
making use of content gathered in Explorator. Thanks!
===========================================================