Visitors to the Torry Battery in Aberdeen were given a guided tour of the site to watch archaeologists in action at a free open day on Saturday.
The work is part of an overall project to record, protect and interpret the monument, which was originally built between 1859 and 1861.
The open day included tours of the site, a talk on its history and an opportunity to see the excavation in progress.
Yawn. More looting in Iraq Archaeologists mourn plunder of Iraq's treasures
DHAHIR, Iraq (Reuters) - It's low-tech and bloodless but it is a crime which is slowly robbing humanity of the roots of its own existence.
Across southern Iraq, often in the dead of night, tomb raiders and temple thieves are systematically looting ancient treasures that have lain undiscovered for thousands of years.
Using spades and working by the light of makeshift petrol lamps, armed gangs are digging into the shifting sands at the edges of the Euphrates river plain to spirit away priceless artefacts buried with the Sumerian dynasties 5,000 years ago.
Before archaeologists can properly identify and excavate the sites, scattered across the river valley south of Babylon, the looters have already torn apart ancient temples, palaces and tombs that hold clues to the foundations of civilisation.
Looting is certainly a problem in Iraq, but it's a problem everywhere. This quote is particularly bizarre: "With more funding and training, he says, a stop could be put to the thieving." I'm sure countries like Egypt and Thailand and Cambodia, etc., would certainly like to know how to do this. You can slow it down, but you can't stop it unless you have guards stationed at every site in the country and guards to watch the guards.
Related story here.
Jewish remains give clues on crucifixion
Not much is known about Yehohanan Ben Hagkol, whose name in English means John, son of Hagkol. The name was carved in ancient Hebrew letters on an ossuary containing his bones in a tomb north of Jerusalem's Old City in 1968.
At the time of his death he was between 24 and 28 years old, stood around five feet seven inches tall (170 cm) and was in excellent health -- until he was hoisted on to a cross some time between AD 50 and 70.
"He could have been a thief, he could have been a rebel. To his nation he may have been a hero," said archaeologist Vassilios Tzaferias, who discovered Ben Hagkol's remains during the excavation of an ancient Jewish family tomb.