Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Lost city. . .found! Archaeologists find buried Indian artifacts in Elkins

Archaeologists have discovered what they believe is an Indian village abandoned more than 600 years ago on a Randolph County mountain.

U-S Forest Service researchers this summer unearthed a hut used for trash in the Monongahela National Forest. Among the artifacts inside were pottery, charred walnut hulls, scrapers made from stone, and arrowheads.


Cemetery archaeology update Archaeologist to show 'right way' to restore cemeteries

It may be the most unusual series of free workshops to be offered this year: cemetery and gravesite restoration.

But, hey, if you've got a family cemetery that needs repairs or tombs that have tumbled, here's your chance to get tips from an expert.

Archaeologist and conservator Dan Sumner Allen IV, who travels the state fixing grave markers, headstones, monuments and more, is offering the workshops at Greenwood Cemetery in Columbia, which he has spent the past year restoring.


Now, THAT is a good idea.

(well-intentioned) Jerk. Pictograph Vandal Tries to Clean Panel, makes it worse

Whoever vandalized one of Utah's most priceless rock art sites apparently went back to fix it, but only made it worse.

Last week, vandals scrawled "I love you, Wendy" in chalk on the top of the Buckhorn Pictograph Panel in the San Rafael Swell.

Nearby, "Sherrie" is written in charcoal.

Emery County authorities offered a one-thousand dollar reward for information leading to suspects.

Authorities say since then, someone tried to erase the graffiti, but the scrubbing made a bigger mess, damaging some of the site's natural varnish.

An archaeologist and art restoration expert flew in Friday and finished most of the cleanup.


Remains of Anglo-Saxon princess go on show

THE remains of a sixth century princess found in a Lechlade archaeological dig have been placed in a museum.

Because she was buried among jewellery, archaeologists decided to nickname her Mrs Getty. This was a joking reference to the wealthy American oil dynasty.

Mrs Getty's was one of 219 bodies recovered from an Anglo-Saxon burial ground in Butler's Field, Lechlade, in 1985.


Artists' conception of what the princess may have looked like:



Kennewick Man Update Scientists wait to examine Kennewick Man

For a few days last week, the top forensic anthropologists in the United States thought they were finally going to get their chance to study Kennewick Man.

The eight-year legal battle over the 9 300-year-old bones, one of the oldest skeletons found in North America, appeared finished after five northwest Indian tribes decided not to pursue their case to the US supreme court. The tribes claimed that Kennewick Man was an ancestor and should not be desecrated by scientific study.

. . .

But soon after the scientists' apparent victory, a new legal obstacle emerged late last week, this time from the federal government. The US army's engineers corps, which has custody of the skeleton and which sided early on with the tribes, has objected to so many aspects of the scientists' study plan that a new round of litigation is probable, according to Alan Schneider, the scientists' attorney.