Cool web site alert www.PalArch.nl
A new online journal based in the Netherlands. The journal officially starts operations on April 3, 2004 but they have several book reviews online now. I have no idea about subscriptions, whether they will be required, etc. Seems to be focused on paleontology, archaeology, and Egyptology. Ought to be very interesting and, especially in the case of Egypt, will highlight aspects of the prehistory of Egypt that is largely unknown in popular culture.
Update: According to the site authors, "Papers, proceedings and related are free to
download as pdf for three months (one issue); after that they can be
obtained through payment."
Hunley update History's Spotlight Shines on Seaman, Civil War Sub
Joseph A. Ridgaway grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore and was an experienced seaman by the time he turned 16. He joined the Confederate Navy in 1863 . When he died aboard the H.L. Hunley, near the end of the Civil War, he was in his late twenties.
He had no children.
He may have had red hair.
No photos of Ridgaway have been found. But details of his life have been pieced together slowly but steadily by researchers since 2000, when archaeological crews in South Carolina pulled the Hunley -- an iron submarine that carried a 17-foot explosive harpoon -- from the bottom of Charleston Harbor.
A Confederate Navy quartermaster and a crewman aboard history's first successful attack submarine, Ridgaway was lost in obscurity for almost 140 years. But gradually, the Talbot County native and his seven fellow crew members -- including at least one from Virginia -- have moved into the limelight for Civil War enthusiasts who yearn to know more about the vessel, which sank while battling the Union blockade of the harbor.
Also for those interested, an excellent book is A History of the Confederate Navy by Raimondo Luraghi.
Archaeological researches on Skopje fortress began
Skopje, March 17 (MIA) - Teams of Museum of Macedonia and Museum of the City of Skopje, in co-ordination of the Skopje Bureau for Protection of Cultural Monuments, began the archaeological researches on site Gradishte hill at Skopje Fortress, where new US Embassy building should be built according to the contract with the Macedonian Government.
"We have started the preparations on Monday, and after 3 days we will start the archaeological researches which will last 30 days aimed at identification of the ground and determination whether it is sterile or is archaeological locality," Jani Antoniev, Director of the Skopje Bureau for Protection of Cultural Monuments, said.
India helps Cambodia restore ancient temple
India is helping Cambodia restore the 12th century sandstone temple of Ta Prohm in the Angkor region.
Ta Prohm, which was consecrated in 1186 and has been home to more than 2,700 monks, was rediscovered in the 19th century.
The chief of the Indian restoration team, KT Narasimhan, is quoted as saying it will take a decade to complete the project.
Researchers say Tiberias basilica may have housed Sanhedrin
Antiquities Authority excavations in Tiberias may have uncovered the site of a structure used by the Sanhedrin, researchers believe. The excavations began in March in the central part of the city and in recent days have moved eastward toward route 90. The main finding in the new excavation area is a basilica structure.
Excavation director Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld from Hebrew University of Jerusalem says the basilica, which was built during the third century C.E., could have been used by the Sanhedrin, which at the time was called Beit Hava'ad. Identical structures, such as one at Beit Sha'arim, were also used for judicial purposes. In Tiberias the site could have also be used for writing the Jerusalem Talmud, researchers believe.
Mixed ashes of man and animal give insight into Bronze Age
A BIRDWATCHER who unearthed the 4000-year-old cremated remains of a young man has given archaeologists fresh insight into the close, superstitious bonds between humans and animals in prehistoric society.
Experts have conducted a detailed analysis of the discovery of a Bronze Age burial urn which contained the remains of a male aged between 25 and 40, found within a boulder shelter at Glennan, Kilmartin, in Argyll.
After his demise, the man had been ritually burned alongside a goat or sheep. Their remains were deliberately mixed, giving evidence of a perceived bond between farmers and their animals which may have been thought to transcend death itself.
4,000 year-old city excavated in Central China
Archaeologists have confirmed that the Dashigu cultural relics of the Xia Dynasty (21 century B.C-16 century B.C.) in the suburb of Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province, date to a large city site of the middle and later Erlitou Culture, part of the Bronze Age from 21 century B.C. to 17 century B.C.
Covering an area of 510,000 square meters, the Dashigu city site lies near Mangshan Mountain and the Yellow River.
"The position of the ancient city is of great strategic importance, so we infer that it may be a military city or capital of a subordinate kingdom of the Xia Dynasty," said Wang Wenhua, a research member with the Zhengzhou cultural relics archaeological research institute.
Archaeologists unearth ancient bamboo relic
Chinese archaeologists have unearthed what is thought to be the oldest bamboo relic in the country, a 7,400-year-old plaited mat, state press said.
The mat was found beneath a woman's skeleton at an archaeological site in the central province of Hunan, Xinhua news agency said.
The mat, which was found in a carbonised state, was interlaced with weft and warp yarn in orderly arranged holes and was dated to the Gaomiao culture in the Neolithic age, the report said.
Egypt unveils restored sarcophagus of Ramses VI
LUXOR, Egypt (AP) -- Egypt on Sunday unveiled the restored sarcophagus of Ramses VI, pieced together from 250 fragments and now on permanent display where it was first interred in the massive tomb of the ancient pharaoh, who ruled about 3,100 years ago.
Chip Vincent, director of the Egypt project at the American Research Center in Cairo, said 10 American, Canadian and Egyptian experts worked for two years on the reconstruction of the sarcophagus, carved in the shape of a mummy from a single block of green conglomerate.
"In the past, visitors to the tomb would only see the broken pieces of the sarcophagus," Vincent said. "Now they have the experience to see the head and the face of the pharaoh."