Limited posting today because our regular computer may have a bad power supply. We're on a backup one, but much of our wire service feed is unavailable.

Yum yum! Archaeologists unearth taste of ancient Rome

Sauces made from fermented fish entrails. A quiche-like pastry shell filled with bay leaves and ricotta cheese. For dessert, peaches with aromatic cumin and honey.

Those tastes may not be for everyone's palate, but the specialties of ancient Pompeii were revived for a month recently at the site of the ruins by a research project intended to give new insights into how the Romans lived.

Fish heads entrails, fish heads entrails,
Roly poly fish heads entrails,
Fish heads entrails, fish heads entrails,
Eat them up, yum

Archaeologists uncover grave of ancient Bulgarian ruler

Bulgarian archaeologists said Tuesday that they uncovered the grave of a nobleman with valuable relics, the BTA news agency reported.

The grave complex, near Shumen in the east of the country, dating from eight or ninth century, contained the body of one of the first Bulgarian rulers from the period of cans.

A golden earring with glass ornaments was singled out as the most spectacular find so far, along with bronze and ceramic relics.

That's the whole thing.

Laser unlocks abbey's secrets

LASER technology is being used to create revolutionary 3-D images to safeguard the future of a 900-year-old abbey in North Yorkshire.
Laser blueprints of Rievaulx Abbey are recording vital details of the ancient ruins near Helmsley.
The scans were showcased last week to English Heritage, which is working with Glasgow-based specialists, Archaeoptics, to investigate the use of scanning technology on large monuments like Rievaulx Abbey.

It is the first time the laser technology has been used on a priory in England, and it involves comparing images taken over a period of time to check for structural deterioration.

"Bring out your dead!" Battle over raising the dead

A developer, funeral home officials and relatives of three dozen long-dead people gathered at a Henry County cemetery last year, watching solemnly as a single casket was lowered into the ground.

That casket held tombstones and soil removed from the deceased's original resting place, a 19th-century cemetery eight miles away.

Now, some county officials are saying the developer didn't follow state law in moving the headstones and dirt from the old graveyard. One county commissioner wants the tombstones moved back. And an archaeologist suspects that remains — minus the tombstones — might have been left behind.

This kind of issue will no doubt become more common as development proceeds apace. We've posted before on a distinct sub-branch of archaeology that deals exclusively with the removal of old graves. We can imagine this being a very time-consuming (and therefore expensive) procedure. Seems terribly interesting though.