Archaeology News Online

A total of 59 artefacts were seized last week in Varamin, Tehran Province, during a police raid, a local cultural heritage official said. "The artefacts date back to the 3rd millennium BC," Sahab Pouzaki, the head of the Varamin office of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said during a press conference on Thursday, Mehr News Agency reported. "Preliminary studies show 29 relics trace their roots back to Mesopotamian civilizations in southwestern Iran but more research is required," he said. The haul includes everyday objects, statues, jewelries and beads bearing writings. Pazouki said the objects are particularly valuable because very few artefacts belonging to Mesopotamian civilizations have been found in southwestern Iran. Mespotamia (Ancient Greek for the land between rivers) was an ancient region located between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, comprising most of modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, eastern parts of Syria, southeastern Turke

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

An international team of scientists digging in a sea cave in Indonesia has discovered the world's most pristine record of tsunamis, a 5,000-year-old sedimentary snapshot that reveals for the first time how little is known about when earthquakes trigger massive waves. Researchers stand in the trench of a sea cave [Credit: Earth Observatory of Singapore] "The devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caught millions of coastal residents and the scientific community off-guard," says co-author Benjamin Horton, a professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "Our geological record from a cave illustrates that we still cannot predict when the next earthquake will happen." "Tsunamis are not evenly spaced through time," says Charles Rubin, the study's lead author and a professor at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, part of Nanyang Technological University. "Our findings present a worrying picture of high

It is a classic chase scene in modern cinematic history. The image of a rampant Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) chasing Jeff Goldblum as he sits injured in the back of a 4x4 vehicle in Stephen Spielberg’s original film adaptation of Jurassic Park. But could a T. rex actually move that fast, or even run at all? Illustration shows a Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur hunting an Ornithomimus dinosaur. The T. rex was among the largest  carnivorous dinosaurs, but was not a swift runner [Credit: © Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Corbis] New research from the University of Manchester says the sheer size and weight of T. rex means it couldn’t move at high speed, as its leg-bones would have buckled under its own weight load. The research, published by journal PeerJ , looks extensively into the gait and biomechanics of the world’s most famous Dinosaur and, using the latest high performance computing technology from N8 High Performance Computing (HPC), has created a new simulation model to test its findin

A Roman sarcophagus has been found, excavated, and lifted from its ancient grave at a site on Harper Road. It is being moved to the Museum of London, where its contents will be exhumed. Archaeologists prepare to lift the lid of Roman sarcophagus found in Southwark, London  [Credit: Lauren Hurley/PA Wire] This is an exceptional find for London, where only two similar late Roman sarcophagi have been discovered in their original place of burial in recent years: one from St Martin-in-the Fields near Trafalgar Square (2006) and one from Spitalfields in 1999. The excavation, which began in January this year, revealed a large robber trench around the coffin and found that the lid had been moved, suggesting that the coffin was discovered and robbed in the past. However, it is possible that only the precious items were removed, and the less valuable artefacts, such as the body itself, still remain within the stone sarcophagus. An archaeologist peers under the lid of Roman sarcophagus [Credit: L

An 800-year-old Orthodox church in Turkey’s Muğla province is poised to fall into ruin due to its delayed restoration and neglect. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the necessary permits for restoration of a small, dilapidated monastery and church situated in on Kameriye Island in Marmaris in 2013. The proposed project for the restoration was approved, but restoration has yet to begin. Mehmet Baysal, chairman of the Marmaris Chamber of Commerce, said there were adequate resources when the project was approved but that they did not have the authority to use them since the funds belonged to the Union of Municipalities. According to Baysal, due to problems in allocation of funds between different municipalities, the issue was taken to court and is still awaiting a decision. According to Turkish media, the Marmaris Trade Center (MTO) launched a project in 2010 to open the church for faith and marriage tourism after restoration. The project to convert Kameriye Island was approve

A perfectly-preserved mummy of an adult bound in copper plates from head to toe has been dug up in Russia’s Far North, alongside the mummy of a “tiny” baby. The discoveries could shed unique light on medieval burial and medical practices. A cocoon with a mummy of an adult was covered with copper plates head to toe [Credit: Alexander Gusev] The remains were found near Zeleny Yar archaeological site in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, which was discovered in 1997, and has since been the source of dozens of rare finds. "This year's field season has been highly successful. We've opened 10 graves, five of which were never looted in ancient times. For a memorial like Zeleny Yar this is unusual,"said Aleksandr Gusev, a researcher from the Scientific Center for the Study of the Arctic (SCSA), who led the expedition. The two preserved mummies were wrapped in birch bark and thick fabric. The adult, of a height of about 170cm (5ft 6in), was covered in copper plates from head