Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Update on Port Angeles project This article doesn't give much more than the previous one (below) but does add this: "According to MacDonald, the state's archaeologists simply hadn't dug deeply enough to find remains before starting the project. . ." That'll teach 'em. We will be eagerly awaiting some sort of report on this. It still seems rather incredible that something of this size hadn't been found in earlier test excavations. If most of the site was covered by later (natural) deposits, that should have been taken into account. But, we are outsiders looking in, so we reserve judgement. We predict this will be a major issue later on.

We still think it should have been beer Archaeologists find remains of Biblical city

Archaeologists have uncovered remains of the Biblical city of Cana where the Bible says Jesus Christ performed his first miracle, turning water into wine, Israel's antiquities authority has said.

The stone remains of buildings, household utensils and a Jewish purification bath were discovered during excavations west of the Israeli village of Kfar Kana, eight kilometres from Nazareth, a statement on Tuesday said.

The ancient settlement, known from both Jewish and Christian tradition, existed for 700 years throughout the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods, the statement added.


More here.

Archaeologists unveil mystery of children buried in Bam Citadel walls

A team of archaeologists solved the puzzle of children’s bodies buried in the walls of the Bam Citadel over the past years, a member of the team announced Tuesday.

“In a thorough study made over the recent months, we found out the bodies date back to the Qajar era and they had been buried in the walls when the citadel was under siege by the gunmen of Nosratoddoleh Farmanfarma.

“Bodies of the adults had been kept in specific places and they were buried out of the citadel after the siege finished,” added Asghar Karimi.


We guess this must mean something. We don't know what.

Dancing tonight, followed by beheadings and cannibalism 7,000 Years of Religious Ritual Is Traced in Mexico

Archaeologists have traced the development of religion in one location over a 7,000-year period, reporting that as an early society changed from foraging to settlement to the formation of an archaic state, religion also evolved to match the changing social structure.

This archaeological record, because of its length and completeness, sheds an unusually clear light on the origins of religion, a universal human behavior but one whose evolutionary and social roots are still not well understood.

The new findings are the fruit of 15 years of excavations in the Oaxaca Valley of southern Mexico that have brought to light a remarkably complete series of structures used for religious purposes. Dr. Joyce Marcus and Dr. Kent V. Flannery, two archaeologists at the University of Michigan, describe their results in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


We linked this earlier, but not to an article with this much detail.

Somewhere. . . . Earliest Depiction of a Rainbow Found?


An ancient bronze disc that looks a bit like a freckled smiley face may show the world's earliest known depiction of a rainbow, according to a report published in the new issue of British Archaeology magazine.

If the rainbow interpretation proves to be correct, the rare image also would be the only known representation of a rainbow from prehistoric Europe.

The round bronze object, called the Sky Disc, was excavated in 1999 at Nebra in central Germany. It was said to have been found at an ancient astronomical observatory site, similar to Stonehenge. While the disc, as most metal objects, cannot be accurately dated, its style and content suggest the Bronze Age.


Women warriors from Amazon fought for Britain's Roman army

THE remains of two Amazon warriors serving with the Roman army in Britain have been discovered in a cemetery that has astonished archaeologists.

Women soldiers were previously unknown in the Roman army in Britain and the find at Brougham in Cumbria will force a reappraisal of their role in 3rd-century society.

The women are thought to have come from the Danube region of Eastern Europe, which was where the Ancient Greeks said the fearsome Amazon warriors could be found.


Artist's conception of what they may have looked like: