Archaeology News Online

An investigation by an architectural researcher from Kumamoto University, Japan has revealed the high possibility that a wooden stage existed in the theatre of the ancient Greek City of Messene during the Greek Classical period (ca. 369 BC). The evolution from the rustic, open theatres of ancient Greece to the magnificent theaters of the Roman times clearly demonstrates the passion that the people had for the theatre. Theatre of Ancient Messene [Credit: © Oleg Znamenskiy/Shutterstock] The ancestor of modern theatre architecture is the theatre of ancient Greece and Rome. The simple and open ancient Greek theatre (around 323 BC -- 31 BC) was composed of a circular orchestra, a stage, and bowl-shaped seating area for the audience. In the Roman times (31 BC -), the stage grew higher and was decorated with marble column pillars which eventually evolved to splendid, closed theatres with integrated audience seating. The development of this theatre construction was thought to involve a change

Greek and Italian archaeologists are collaborating on a program to preserve an ancient villa at the bottom of the sea of Ancient Epidaurus. The underwater conservation activities are part of a pilot training program for the conservation of marine archaeological remains, organized and executed in cooperation between the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and the Italian Archaeological School in Athens. The BLUEMED program is a European project and involves Cyprus, Croatia, Italy and Spain. For the first time this year, the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities will be involved in the program that started with theory (July 3-4, 2017) relating to methods for the on-site conservation of marine archaeological sites, to address bio-degradation and degradation problems and to document, restore and maintain the Underwater Cultural Heritage artefacts in the Italian Archaeological School. The project is to conserve a section of a sunken Roman villa in the Ancient Epidaurus sea. On site practicing t

A team of 15 archaeologists and 20 volunteers has worked at the Arenal de la Virgen and Casa Corona archaeological sites in Villena (Alicante, Spain). This fieldwork campaign represents a first excavation phase and have provided relevant data for the research that is being carried out in the scope of the European research project PALEODEM, on climatic and demographic changes developed from the IPHES (Institut Català de Paleoecología Humana i Evolució Social). At both sites, the excavation has yielded evidences of human occupations during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, between 9,000 and 5,000 years ago. Excavation at Casa Corona [Credit: IPHES] This first excavation phase included in this project began on 1 March and ended on 30 June, taken place during 4 months of uninterrupted fiekdwork on these sites. Hearths, small stone-pavings and post-holes have been documented among the  habitat structures. In the Arenal de la Virgen, abundant remains of lithic industry, land snails and

During five weeks in May and June 2017, a Swedish team, headed by Professor Peter M. Fischer from the University of Gothenburg, carried out excavations at the Late Cypriot harbour city of Hala Sultan Tekke. The team consisted of 28 students and specialists. Amongst the latter were those trained in osteology, botany, conservation, and Aegean and Near Eastern ceramics. Late Minoan II/IIIA1 complete piriform jar of medium size  [Credit: Dept. of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus] Hypothetical estimations of the size of the city vary between roughly 25 and 50 hectares. A large-scale geophysical survey was planned for June 2017 which is expected to provide more information about the actual size of the city. In 2017, two areas were of specific interest to the general research objectives of this long-term project: City Quarter 1 (CQ1) and Area A. CQ1 is one of three city quarters which have been discovered by geophysical prospecting and partly exposed by the expedition since 2010. The others ar

The copper from Ötzi’s axe comes from Southern Tuscany. In September 2016, Professor Gilberto Artioli from the University of Padua had already announced this when presenting his first research findings on the occasion of the Bolzano Mummy Congress which had been jointly organised by the Eurac Institute for Mummies and the Iceman and the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology to commemorate the 25th anniversary of finding Ötzi’s remains. The copper axe of the Iceman [Credit: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology] Finding out about the origin of the copper was a complete surprise, as up till now archaeologists had assumed that the copper used in the Alpine region came from Alpine deposits or the Balkan region. What has not yet been ascertained is whether the Iceman acquired the copper from Tuscany as raw material or as a ready-made blade. Artioli’s publication furthermore establishes links to coeval metallurgical activity in Tuscany. Future research projects aim to retrace trading routes

New rooms have been discovered in the domus (house) of Empress St. Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, in the bowels of the basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome, officials said Friday. Restoration work carried out in the Domus of the Empress Helena [Credit: Repubblica] "These are nothing less than the living quarters of Helen's court ladies," said superintendent Francesco Prosperetti. "We have shed more light on the main entrance into the domus and better established the divisions between the various rooms," said archaeologist Anna De Santis. Restoration work carried out in the Domus of the Empress Helena [Credit: Repubblica] The Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme or Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in the Esquilino district of Rome. According to tradition, the basilica was consecrated circa 325 to house the relics of the Passion of Christ, including parts of th

A treasure of gold and silver ancient Roman coins has been found at a mining site in Huelva, southern Spain. The coins as the were found at the site [Credit: Atalaya Mining] The discovery is of "incalculable value and a milestone in the archaeology of this mining area," according to the archaeologists from Atalaya Mining, the company running the mine who found it.  The discovery was reported by local newspaper Huelva Informacion . The 40 or 50 coins found, which date from the 2nd century AD, according to a report in La Informacion , are said to be from the era of Nero and Trajan. "It is a discovery of great beauty that comes to contribute data to our knowledge of RioTinto, that was the great mine of the Roman Empire," Luis Iglesias, director of archaeology at Atalaya Mining, told El Pais . Experts believe the owner of the coins would have been an influential resident of the ancient Roman settlement of Orium. The coins were found bunched together because they would p

There has been damage to monuments and archaeological sites on Kos as a result of the strong earthquake that shook the island in the early hours of Friday morning, a team of archaeological service experts sent by the culture ministry reported. The inspection revealed damage to sites around the town, the castle and the Ottoman mosques, the team said, announcing that preliminary protection measures will be taken and the monuments restored after due study. "For this purpose, a Central Service team from the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments Restoration directorate will go to Kos on Saturday and Monday in order to assess the situation and finalise the actions [that will be taken]," a culture ministry announcement said. The tremor also caused the movement and damage of exhibits, especially pottery, at the island's archaeological museum and this will be temporarily closed until the damage is restored, the ministry said, along with the Casa Romana monument on the island. For

Spanish archaeologists excavating a Visigoth necropolis in Sena, in the northeastern province of Huesca, have uncovered what they say is a burial site dating to the 10th century BCE and that was part of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture. An urn that revealed the existence of the cemetery dating back more than 2,000 years [Credit: EFE] Two urns and a lid were discovered in the graveyard. Hugo Chautón, the archaeologist overseeing the excavation, says Urnfield culture spread from central Europe into northeastern Spain around 1,000 years BCE. The name comes from the Urnfield culture’s custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns, which were then buried. “This culture represents the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron,” said Chautón, “and provides valuable information about burial practices, particularly the move from burying the dead to cremating them.” Archaeologists work on the Visigoth burial site in Sena (Huesca) [Credit: EFE] The team has been excavating a V

No site in the world has been continually excavated for so long as Pompeii, the city that lay buried after being destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted, until its accidental discovery over 1,700 years later. Project Director Rebecca Benefiel uses an iPad to take a photograph of a drawing in Herculaneum  [Credit: Ancient Graffiti Project] Not far away lies Herculaneum; buried in the same eruption, it is less well known among tourists but just as much of a treasure trove for archaeologists and historians. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the cities are well preserved. The eruption may have wiped out their inhabitants, but it also ensured that they were kept alive in historical memory, thanks to the metres of ash that shielded the ruins and remains from the elements. Historians have therefore had access to details which in other cities they can only guess at. This is particularly true in Herculaneum, which was buried by volcanic ash from the ground up rather than being buried

Without the proper context, the sight of a staircase leading down into a great hole in the ground might not look like much. But this hole is part of an archaeological dig that has uncovered an enormous building dating back 2,500 years, part of the famed Tartessos culture. The find was made in the western Spanish region of Extremadura, a rural land renowned for its cork oak plantations, its scorching summers, and for being the birthplace of conquistadors. The Tartessian staircase found in Turuñuelo de Guareña (Badajoz) [Credit: S. Burgos/ C. Martinez] In the fifth century before the Christian era, there was a massive two-story building standing here, in the demarcation of Las Vegas del Guadiana, in Badajoz province. The building – the first surviving one of its kind from that era to be discovered – had a monumental staircase rising two-and-a-half meters. And it was made with materials and techniques that researchers thought had not been in use in the Western Mediterranean until much lat

New buildings have come to light during excavation and restoration works conducted from May 30 to July 7, 2017 at the Sanctuary of Apollo on the uninhabited Greek island of Despotiko (Mantra site), on the west of Antiparos. View of the excavation at Despotiko [Credit: Ministry of Culture] The results of this excavation season are being considered extremely important for the topography of the sanctuary. Among this year’s  findings, the fragment of a marble Kore figurine, dating back to the early Archaic period, part of the block with the foot of an archaic Kouros and a fragment of the leg of a Kouros stand out. Systematic excavations at Despotiko have begun in 1997 and have brought to light one of the most significant archaeological sites of the Cyclades. The excavations are headed by archaeologist of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades Yannis Kouragios. As in previous years, the 2017 dig was carried out thanks to kind financial support. ​ Pottery fragments [Credit: Ministry of Cult

Twentieth-century Spanish novelist Azorín once described Ávila as “the most 16th-century of all Spanish cities,” generously endowed as it is with churches and palaces. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it will now continue to live up to this boast in the 21st century by pioneering a European project called Smart Heritage City, aimed at monitoring this and other historical cities. Ávila is leading an EU project that uses technology to monitor potential damage to its famous walls  [Credit: Juan Luis Menendez Valderrey] As many as 226 sensors are being installed along the city wall, around the cathedral and on important buildings and streets. These devices, more than half of which are already in action, pick up a huge amount of data concerning humidity, temperature, light, cracks, insects and traffic vibration. “New technology has to be applied to the conservation of monuments because they are very delicate,” says Rosa Ruiz, archaeologist and head of Ávila’s Heritage Department. T