Archaeology News Online

In the image of Volterra, Italy’s original Etruscan arch, every detail of the facade was clear — the stone arch and three heads chiseled into the rock that watched from overhead. Footage of 3-D models of the historic site, created from drone photography in Autodesk ReCap  [Credit: Autodesk, Inc. and Volterra-Detroit Foundation] But this wasn’t a photo of Porta all'Arco, the highlight of the medieval walled city’s gateway. It was an expertly produced 3D model of the Tuscan town’s architectural darling from the 4th century B.C., known as one of the last standing Etruscan arches in the world. The photo and the model look strikingly alike, which is exactly the purpose of the expedition. Technology and historical preservation collided as part of the International Reality Capture Workshop — a collaboration between Carnegie-based software company Case Technologies , the Volterra-Detroit Foundation, East Liberty-based Autodesk and the municipality of Volterra itself to document the town’

A fragile river god by Michelangelo has been restored after lying neglected in a basement storeroom below Casa Buonarroti in Florence for some 50 years. Restored model of river god by Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1526-1527, Casa Buonarroti, Florence  [Credit: Academy of Art and Design] The statue, whose bronze coating was removed and deteriorated earthenware structure was restored to its original marble over three years, will soon be displayed in a major Renaissance show at Palazzo Strozzi before finding a home at Florence's Academy of Art and Design . The restoration was led by Rosanna Moradei and took place at Florence's elite restoration workshop, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. It was funded by some 32,000 euros from the not-for-profit foundation Friends of Florence. Source: ANSA [July 14, 2017]

Two Eastern Roman gold coins were found in a 1,500-year-old Chinese tomb in Northwest China's Xian City, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology (SPIA) said on Thursday. The tomb's owner, Lu Chou, died in 548 and the burial artefacts excavated include intact  coloured pottery figurines, camel figures and, most importantly, two gold coins from the  Eastern Roman Empire and a silver coin from Persia [Credit: hsw.cn] Chinese archaeologists believe that one of the gold coins was minted during the reign of Anastasius I who was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 491 to 518. The other gold coin however is a more rare one and bears stylistic similarities to coins minted during the reigns of both Anastasius I and Justinian I, who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 527 to 565. Two Eastern Roman gold coins and silver coin from Persia found in a 1,500-year-old  Chinese tomb in Xian, Shaanxi Province [Credit: China News Service] The Chinese tomb also included a silver coin minted during

Excavation and restoration work has resumed in the ancient city of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey. Monumental centre of Sagalassos: The urban quarter of Upper Agora  [Credit: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism ] A team of 90 people from different countries will work in the excavation area this year and the works will continue for the next three months. A team of five experts from the city’s Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ) will give academic and technological support to the excavation. The head of the excavation team, Professor Jereon Poblome, said the most excavation would be done in the ancient agora area. “Our biggest excavation will take place in the eastern part of the upper agora, as the oldest building of Sagalassos was found there two years ago. As far as we have learned, there was a trade building in this area. This building was constructed in the second century B.C. and is the oldest official building of Sagalassos. Here is a rich place and our building is standing

The Hellenic Institute for the Research of Alexandrian Culture (H.R.I.A.C), directed by archaeologist Kalliopi Papakostas, has discovered ancient buildings and a bridge in the Shalallat Gardens area in Alexandria, Egypt. The Ptolemaic public building, where the carved tunnel has been discovered, was located in 2015  [Credit: ANA/MNA] According to the Athens Macedonia News Agency, excavations in the area have been ongoing for 21 years and archaeologists have now unearthed a long carved tunnel at a depth of 10 metres that sheds new light on the large public building from the Ptolemaic period that was found in 2015. The Ptolemaic public building, where the carved tunnel has been discovered,  was located in 2015 [Credit: ANA/MNA] Though its boundaries have yet to be revealed the building, which is thought to have had an arched ceiling, is of massive proportions. Excavation in the Shallalat Gardens in Alexandria, Egypt   [Credit: ANA/MNA] “This is a very significant discovery, because i

The Marine Aggregate Industry Archaeological Protocol encourages the reporting and recording of maritime archaeological finds discovered by the aggregate industry during dredging works. The discoveries that come to light form a database of maritime archaeological finds that otherwise may have been discarded. The scheme boasts the reporting of 1600 finds since its launch in 2005 ranging from metal artefacts to timber and flints. Arguably the most important collection of flint finds reported through the Protocol were recorded on 13 February 2008 as Hanson_0133. The finds were reported by Hanson Aggregates Marine Ltd, (the licensee) and described as ‘28 x hand axes, mammoth molars, tusk fragments and antlers’, and they were recovered from Area 240, a dredging area situated approximately 11 km east of the Norfolk coast. On further analysis, it was established that 88 flint artefacts were present in the assemblage, classified as 33 hand axes, eight cores, and 47 complete and fragmentary fl

Scientists from UCL have used the UK's synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, to document for the first time the rate of evolution of seed coat thinning, a major marker of crop domestication, from archaeological remains. A slice through image of horsegram seed [Credit: Diamond Light Source] Writing in the journal Scientific Reports , the authors present evidence for seed coat thinning between 2,000 BC and 1,200 BC in the legume horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum), a bean commonly eaten in southern India. By using the high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) technique on Diamond's I13-2 beamline, the researchers were able to measure for the first time the coat thickness throughout the entire seed. "Seed coat thickness is a great indicator of domestication, as thinner coats will mean faster germination of a seed when it is watered," explains Dorian Fuller, co-author on the paper. "But conventional methods of looking at the seed coat require breaking and

A majority of the oldest artefacts in the permanent collection of the Mexican Museum in San Francisco are either forgeries or not up to national museum standards, a new report has determined. A tripod bowl from Costa Rica, 900 C.E.-1200 C.E., is an example of a museum quality artefact pictured at  The Mexican Museum [Credit: Leah Millis, The Chronicle] Only 83 of the 2,000 artefacts in the museum's pre-Hispanic, or pre-Columbian, era collection could be authenticated, the report said. The other 1,917 are considered decorative and will probably be donated to schools or smaller museums. The museum board told the San Francisco Chronicle it was shocked by the results of the $80,000 study conducted as a Smithsonian Institution requirement. The Mexican Museum was founded in 1975 and operated as a community museum until it was accepted as a Smithsonian affiliate in 2012, which raised the bar on the quality of artefacts that can be displayed. A turtle vessel from southern Mexico, A.D. 350

A Dutch court Friday will hear arguments involving ownership of a 1,000-year-old mummified monk in a case brought against a local collector by Chinese villagers who claim their ancestor was stolen. The human-sized sitting Buddha statue called the “Zhanggong Patriarch,” disappeared from a temple in Yangchun  in late 1995 after being worshipped for centuries [Credit: Reuters] The small eastern Chinese village of Yangchun will square off against a Dutch collector, whom they said bought the stolen Buddha statue containing the remains of a monk in Hong Kong in 1996, a lawyer representing the village said. The human-sized sitting Buddha statue, called the "Zhanggong Patriarch," disappeared from a temple in Yangchun in late 1995 after being worshipped for centuries, Jan Holthuis said. "We are going to present our arguments to a judge to explain why the villagers want their statue back," he told AFP. Missing for two decades, the Buddha statue resurfaced when villagers in 20

A joint Greek-American expedition to the Fourni archipelago found eight new shipwrecks, bringing the total number of shipwrecks in the small archipelago to fifty-three. The Fourni Underwater Survey is one of the most exciting projects currently in archaeology. With the identification of 53 shipwrecks and much more coastline and deepwater areas to search, Fourni is among the largest concentrations of ancient shipwrecks in the world. Divers raise a Roman North African amphora for further study and conservation [Credit: Vasilis Mentogianis/ Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities-Hellenic Ministry of Culture/RPM Nautical Foundation] The third season of the Fourni Underwater Survey was conducted during three weeks in June by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities/Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports in cooperation with RPM Nautical Foundation. The research is directed by Dr. George Koutsouflakis from the EUA and Dr. Peter Campbell from RPM Nautical Foundation. An archaeologist systematic ph

Russian archaeologists have discovered a sarcophagus with juvenile remains while digging the Gospitalny burial mound in Crimea, the oldest graves of which date back to the 4th century BC, the golden age of the Bosporan Kingdom, the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Thursday. Excavations at the Gospitalny burial mound in Crimea  [Credit: © Valery Sharifulin/TASS] "Two stone tombs covered by slabs were the oldest burials found under the mound. One grave had been robbed during ancient times, while the other one contained a wooden sarcophagus covered with gypsum ornaments holding a teenager’s skeleton inside. The wooden sarcophagus had been crushed and partly decayed and disintegrated," the report says. Archaeologists found many sports-related items near the buried juvenile: 10 alabastrons - vessels for oil that was used for exercises and competitions, a strigil - a tool for cleansing the athlete’s body by scraping off oil, perspiration and

Metin Eren wasn't satisfied just digging up ancient arrowheads to learn about the past. He wanted to use them for their intended purpose. In this June 1, 2017, photo, Metin Eren, an archaeologist at Kent State University, looks at a newly chipped flake of  obsidian in Kent, Ohio. Eren runs a newly-opened laboratory which makes replicas of ancient arrows, knives,  and pottery to be shot, crushed, and smashed. It's allowing researchers to learn about engineering techniques  of the first native Americans without destroying priceless genuine relics in the process  [Credit: AP/Dake Kang] But shooting and shattering priceless millennia-old tips is out of the question, so instead, the archaeologist chips replicas of the stone-age weapons by hand. "We can break 'em and throw 'em," he says. "Our imagination is the limit." The 34-year-old Kent State University professor specializes in experimental archaeology — re-creating ancient pots, knives and arrows. By t

Early Cornish kings feasted on a diet of oysters, roast pork and fine wine, eating and drinking from bowls imported from Byzantium and glass goblets from Spain, a new dig at Tintagel Castle has suggested. Tintagel is intricately bound up in the legend of King Arthur [Credit: Emily Whitfield-Wicks/English Heritage Trust] Discoveries made by the Cornwall archaeological unit (CAU) support the view that Tintagel was a royal site during the 5th and 6th centuries, with trading links reaching as far as the eastern Mediterranean. Perched on Cornwall’s rugged north coast, Tintagel has for centuries been associated with the legend of King Arthur. Over the past 18 months, its custodian, English Heritage, has been accused of putting too much emphasis on the stories of Arthur and Merlin, rather than focusing on the site’s true, ancient Cornish heritage. The excavations, the first at Tintagel for decades, may help redress the balance. An archaeological dig at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall [Credit: Emi

It had been proposed that vast forests of giant palm trees were cut down by the people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) leaving them among other things without canoes. With no canoes, they could no longer fish so they ate chickens, rats and agricultural crops. New isotopic analyses of bones, soils and plant remains from Rapa Nui, Chile (Easter Island) provide evidence contrary  to the widely-held belief that the ancient civilization recklessly destroyed its environment [Credit: Terry Hunt] However, Rapa Nui is not a tropical paradise with fertile soils so crop productivity decreased. This 'ecocide' hypothesis attributes societal collapse on Rapa Nui to human overexploitation of natural resources. This new study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology challenges that interpretation and instead shows that the ancient population ate roughly equal amounts of seafood and terrestrial resources. Catrine Jarman, lead author of the study and PhD student at the University

Carbon dating has recently confirmed the age of a 3,800-year-old red pottery bird statue, unearthed in central China's Henan Province. A staff member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences shows a pottery bird statue in Xinmi, central China's  Henan Province [Credit: Xinhua/Feng Dapeng] The statue, 16 cm long and 7 cm tall, was painted red with cinnabar, which suggests it may have been an item of worship, according to archaeologists. The item was found at the ruins of the city of Xinzhai, discovered in 1979 and believed to be founded by Qi, king during the Xia Dynasty, as early as 2050 BC. Carbon dating has recently confirmed the age of the 3,800-year-old red pottery bird statue, unearthed at the ruins  of the city of Xinzhai in Henan Province [Credit: Xinhua/Feng Dapeng] Zhao Chunqing, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the statue indicates totemistic bird worshiping in prehistoric China. A large number of pottery utensils and stone tools have been discovered