Friday, April 09, 2004

Welcome any linkees from A Voyage to Arcturus. He's got a lot of good links on space-related science, and well worth checking out. And speaking of which. . . .

NASA Radar Aids High-Tech Digs

History can be hard to find. A forgotten letter molders in an attic. An ancient temple hides beneath jungle greenery. Even knowing that something is there doesn't necessarily make it easier to find - the classic needle in the haystack.

But locating many archaeological sites isn't just difficult; it is required by law. Federal legislation mandates that all archaeological sites on federal lands be located and evaluated by federal managers, particularly if the sites could be damaged by construction or military maneuvers.

Legislation also specifically protects Native American burial sites on federal lands. However, less than 10 percent of the more than 700-million acres under federal control have been surveyed, according to a recent National Park Service report.


But what about body passing? Myths about the Olympic Games

Many aspects of our Olympic Games have been justified by specious ancient antecedents. Until recently we believed competitors had to be amateurs because we believed ancient Greek Olympians were amateurs. Nonsense. The ancient Olympics had no such rule, and the Greeks did not even have a word for amateur. Ancient Olympic athletes were professionals. The Olympic Truce, while guaranteeing safe passage to athletes and spectators on their way to the Games, did not, contrary to popular belief, stop all wars in Greece: Sparta was fined for attacking Elean territory in 420 B.C., and Arcadians invaded the sanctuary at Olympia in 364. Modern Olympic officials, citing an ancient inscription from Delphi that had been translated "Wine cannot be taken into the stadium," have assumed that ancient athletes abstained from strong drink, setting an example for today's competitors. It now seems the correct translation is "Wine cannot be taken out of the stadium."


Excavation report Archaeology's Interactive Dig

Nubians at Hierakonpolis: Week 4

It is one of those Murphy's Laws of archaeology that the best discoveries will be made in the last days of any field season. With just ten more days to go and a holiday in the middle, the rate of new finds was certainly gearing up to keep pace with that axiom and to keep us on our toes. But as usual in this cemetery, the discoveries occurred where we least expected them.

As we moved south from Tomb 18, the unexpected tomb with its remarkably well-preserved owner, we approached a large crater over three meters (ten feet) in diameter surrounded by a high ring of back dirt, which had been created by illicit digging in recent times. When we plotted this feature on the surface map, we presumed that some remnant of a large tumulus located on what appeared to be the high point of the cemetery had sparked the interest of the looters. Although it would be obviously plundered, we hoped that the back-dirt piles would preserve below them the architectural features of a huge tomb. Of course, as with most everything in this cemetery, we were wrong.


Lost city. . .found Likely medieval village revealed

THE remains of what is thought to be a medieval village have been discovered at the Worthies in Malmesbury.

The ruins were uncovered by accident by Wessex Water, which was surveying the area for a new £1.3m sewerage pipeline.

The firm's project manager, Andy Quinn, stumbled over what he believed was a man-made step during a survey of the slope leading down from the Worthies, near the cricket pitches and towards Gloucester Road.

An investigation by Wiltshire County Council archaeologist, Roy Canham, said the area could reveal the remains of a 12th century village.


Okay, only a lost village.

The steady deterioration of Iraq’s great Nimrud ivories

A cache of Iraq’s greatest and most valuable antiquities is deteriorating in the vaults of the central bank in Baghdad. The Art Newspaper can reveal that the exquisitely carved Nimrud Ivories have been suffering from dampness, following flooding by sewage-contaminated water last April, during the fighting. It is now clear that this has already caused some fragmentation and mould.

Among the ivory treasures dating from the eighth and ninth centuries BC is the famed “Mona Lisa” mask, discovered by Max Mallowan in 1951 in the North-West Palace of the Assyrian kings. He was accompanied by his wife, Agatha Christie, who cleaned the Nimrud Ivories, using face lotion. Other ivories were excavated at the site by Iraqi archaeologists, including some magnificent examples in 1975.


And another lost city Underground City Found Underneath Architect Sinan's House

During restoration of the architect Sinan's house in the town of Kayseri, a Central Anatolian city in Agirnas, an underground city was found.

Approximately 4000 square meters of the city, the age of which cannot be estimated, have been excavated so far. Nuvit Bayar, the Project Director of Guntas, the company responsible for the restoration, says, "We plan to finish this delicate job, which has been going on for two years, by the end of this month."


Three-year dig to uncover Roman past

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have started a three-year dig at Chester's amphitheatre.

It is hoped the ambitious project will allow historians to uncover the city's Roman and Christian past.

It is expected to attract an extra 40,000 visitors a year, bringing in £5m in investment.

The project is being jointly run by the city council and English Heritage.

David Miles, English Heritage's chief archaeologist, said: "This is a site of international importance. We are talking about a large military base here - 8,000 soldiers overpaid and over here. Plus everything you would expect around that kind of settlement, the markets, pubs and clubs, fast food and fast women.


Ancient plucked stringed instruments found in Xinjiang

URUMQI, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Archaeologists say that they have discovered three Konghous, an ancient plucked stringed instruments, during the excavation of the Yanghai Tombs in Shanshan County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"The three unearthed ancient musical instruments are well preserved and intact," said Zhang Yuzhong, deputy director of the local archaeological institute.