David Lawrence Brown II has been named the state's top archaeologist, a post that will require him to review reports on proposed development projects across the state for their effect on archaeological or historic sites.
The position, which falls under the state Historic Preservation Division, has been vacant since Sara Collins resigned at the end of January. Brown will report to Melanie Chinen, division administrator.
Brown most recently has been employed as a senior archaeologist at the local office of Garcia and Associates, a natural and cultural resources consulting firm that has offices on the Mainland and in Kailua.
Israeli archaeologists unveil Byzantine mosaic, table
Israeli archaeologists on Monday unveiled a Byzantine mosaic that had been buried under sand dunes for 50 years, along with a newly discovered, highly rare table dating from the same era.
The so-called mosaic "carpet" measuring 16 meters (53 feet) by 14.5 meters, was uncovered in the Israeli coastal resort of Caesarea and has been dated by archaeologists to the fifth and sixth centuries.
Bordered by a frieze of running animals, including lions, panthers, wild boars, antelope, elephant, dog and bull, interspersed with fruit trees, remains of the floor were first found during military exercises in 1950.
More here. With a picture!
Fight! Fight! Propriety and History Clash in Argentina
Their facial features are clear, and their muscles are firm. The blood remains frozen in their veins, and the vivid clothes they wore the day they died remain intact.
The three Incan children -- believed to be victims of a mountaintop sacrifice about 500 years ago -- are among the best-preserved mummies ever found, and Argentine officials hope to put them on display this fall in a museum in this city in the far north.
But not everyone is looking forward to the public unveiling of human remains that look anything but ancient. Members of an Argentine indigenous organization are trying to legally block the display, saying it dishonors their "little brothers and sisters." Rival museum officials in Buenos Aires dismiss the exhibit as morbid. And the explorer who discovered the bodies six years ago worries that a rushed showing could permanently damage them.
Tough choice. You could return them to the mountain but they wouldn't last long (looters and souvenir hunters). Displaying really fresh-looking bodies does seem a bit morbid as well. And it would be nice to have them around for further study eventually. Above all, we (humanity) have a responsibility to preserve them as well as they've been preserved beforfe we found them.
Restoration of Erie Canal terminus underway
- Archaeologists recovered stone tools, pottery and a host of other artifacts dating back centuries as work resumed on the long-delayed restoration of the western end of the Erie Canal.
The $46.3 million project was sent back to the drawing board in October 2000 after preservationists sued Empire State Development over initial plans. Gov. George Pataki then called for a redesign with more emphasis on the canal's heritage.
"The Erie Canal is one of the most important historic sites, it's the big story of Buffalo, and in the end I think we did the right thing," said Scot Fisher, one of the preservationists who helped change the direction of the project.
[insert government joke here] A Congress, Buried in Turkey's Sand
Alexander the Great was here, and so was Saint Paul, on his way to Ephesus.
Centuries later, the drafters of the American Constitution took the ancient Lycian League, which was based here, as an early example - in fact, it was history's earliest example - of the form of republican government they envisaged as well.
The Lycian League was mentioned twice in the Federalist Papers, once by Alexander Hamilton, once by James Madison, so it could safely be said that it entered into the history of the formation of the United States.
Diggers discover ancient artefacts
AN archaeological dig in Cookham may have already stumbled upon artefacts dating as far back as the Roman period.
The finds were discovered at the site of the Marlow Archaeological Society's MAS Cookham excavation project.
The project, which is taking place on the paddock of Holy Trinity Church, Cookham, found what archaeologists believe to be an early solid structure underground, possibly a road, wall, or even building foundations.
Neanderthal update Were Modern Humans Neighbors to Neanderthals?
Dating of Modern-Style Artifacts in Famed Neanderthal Cave in France Refuels Debate About Possible Coexistence
Sometime between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthals abruptly disappeared after a run of perhaps 200 millennia in the Near East, west Asia and, most notably, in the ice age caves of Europe. On that score, there is no dispute.
How this happened, and why, is another matter. For years, paleontologists have argued about whether anatomically modern humans invading from the east either wiped out the Neanderthals or out-innovated them; or, alternatively, whether Neanderthals and the invaders simply interbred to create today's Homo sapiens .