Archaeology News Online

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

Τhe Acropolis Museum joins forces with the Onassis Foundation, an organization which has been contributing to Culture and Education for 42 years, in a rare and significant partnership. The end result is co-staging in Athens the “εmotions” exhibition, which scored such a huge success at the Onassis Cultural Center, New York. "Emotions" is a narrative exhibition which sheds light on the unseen world of emotions in the personal, social and political life of antiquity. To view the exhibition is to embark on a tumultuous voyage into the soul of Man, whose passions are here expressed through the filter of ancient art. Exhibits from the world's greatest museums tell stories of emotions in ancient Greek art through the gaze of the Acropolis Museum. Many of the exhibits are unique art-works which are on display in Greece for the first time. Many more from Greek museums are basking in the light of international interest for the first time. View of the exhibition ‘εmotions’, co-org

By analyzing the DNA of two prehistoric dogs from Germany, an international research team led by Krishna R. Veeramah, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolution in the College of Arts & Sciences at Stony Brook University, has determined that their genomes were the probable ancestors of modern European dogs. The finding, to be published in Nature Communications , suggests a single domestication event of modern dogs from a population of gray wolves that occurred between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. The 5000 year old Late Neolithic CTC dog skull in the lab before it underwent whole genome sequencing  [Credit: Amelie Scheu] Dogs were the first animal to be domesticated by humans. The oldest dog fossils that can be clearly distinguished from wolves are from the region of what is now Germany from around 15,000 years ago. However, the archaeological record is ambiguous, with claims of ancient domesticated dog bones as far east as Siberia. Recent analysis of genetic data from mode