Archaeology News Online

Peruvian authorities have revealed the reconstructed face of the Lord of Sipan, a pre-Columbian ruler whose remains were discovered in 1987 and hailed as one of the country's most stunning archaeological finds. The Lord of Sipan was likely between the ages of 45 and 55 when he was buried around 250 AD  [Credit: © Peruvian Ministry of Culture/AFP] A full body representation of the ancient ruler, believed to have died around the year 250, was unveiled Thursday at the Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan in the northern city of Chiclayo. Peruvian Culture Minister Salvador del Solar traveled to Chiclayo for the unveiling, which marks the 30th anniversary of the tomb's discovery. The Moche culture ruler's face was reconstructed by anthropologists based on the skull and facial bones of the man's mummy, archaeologist Walter Alva told AFP, speaking by phone from Chiclayo. "The skull was quite damaged by the pressure of the earth and the burial jewels," but the anthropol

An impressively large 2,700-year-old water system was recently exposed at Israel Antiquities Authority excavations near Rosh Ha-Ayin with the help of students majoring in the Education Ministry’s Land of Israel and Archaeology studies. The excavation precedes the construction of a new residential neighborhood initiated by the Ministry of Construction and Housing. Aerial view of the excavation area, with Rosh Ha-Ayin in the background  [Credit: Yitzhak Marmelstein, IAA] According to Gilad Itach, director of excavations for the IAA, “It is difficult not to be impressed by the sight of the immense underground reservoir quarried out so many years ago. In antiquity, rainwater collection and storage was a fundamental necessity. With an annual rainfall of 500 mm, the region’s winter rains would easily have filled the huge reservoir. On its walls, near the entrance, we identified engravings of human figures, crosses, and a vegetal motif that were probably carved by passersby in a later period.

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

An excavation in the Dargecit district of the southeastern region of Turkey, which will soon be left under the reservoir waters of the Ilisu Dam, has revealed crucial information about the North Mesopotamian people’s social life 10 millennia ago, particularly about burial rituals and the ancient belief in life after death. Bodies buried in the fetal position, with their knees pulled up to their stomach, were found in the basements of houses in the site, symbolizing the position of a baby in the womb, according to information provided by Nihat Erdogan, the manager of the Mardin Museum who conducts the excavation of the site. The findings point at belief in rebirth after death, Erdogan told the Dogan News Agency. The decades-old Ilisu Dam project, which was first planned under Southeastern Anatolia Project’s investments in the 1960s, was first tendered in 1997. The potential damage caused by the dam’s construction, which is planned to be finalized this year, has been discussed for a quar

Covered by Tokat's Sulusaray district in the Black Sea region of Turkey, the ancient city of Sebastapolis faces expropriation problems, leading to illegal excavations. Dating back to the first century B. C., the ancient city of Sebastapolis is thought to have been one of the five largest cities  in the Black Sea region about 2,000 years ago. Once visited by Charles Prince of Wales, the site now faces  illegal excavations due to expropriation problems [Credit: AA] Sebastapolis has been looted many times and has seen illegal excavations, as it is located in a town center and excavations to saving the ancient ruins continue with cooperation from Gaziosmanpaşa University (GOÜ) and the Tokat Museum Directorate. An academic from the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Science and Literature at GOÜ and the adviser of Sebastapolis Ancient City Excavation Works, Associate Professor Şengül Dilek Ful, said the excavations are now continuing at the baths section of the city. The baths

Three vehicles have been earthed from the Zheng State No 3 pit in Xinzheng city, Central China's Henan province, after five months' excavation. One of the vehicles included a large carriage for ancient high officials or nobles. Archaeologists excavate the Zheng State No 3 pit in Xinzheng city,  Central China's Henan province, on July 12 [Credit: VCG] The structure of the vehicles unearthed has been clearly outlined after being cleaned by archaeologists, even though each discovery has been buried for more than 2,400 years. The shaft, coach and wheels of the vehicles are easy to recognize, and a horse skull was located nearby. Bronze components in the shape of chopsticks have also been found at the site, which archaeologists believe may have been used to fix the rooves of the vehicles. A 2.5-meter-long, 1.6-meter-wide vehicle unearthed from the pit was uncovered sporting brown colored chips and mat debris at the vehicle's canvas top, and replicates the largest, most luxur