An independent scientist from Bozeman has documented some astonishingly ancient trees in Yellowstone National Park.
John King has found live juniper trees 1,500 years old in the Mammoth Hot Springs area, and a live limber pine in the Absaroka Range that is an incredible 1,921 years old.
When the limber pine tree sprouted, Christianity was beginning to root in the Middle East.
King is a dendrochronologist, which means he studies tree rings, sifting out patterns of past events and hoping to provide relevant information for today's land managers.
Rare bronze horse, chariot unearthed in SW China
A rare bronze horse and chariot were unearthed in Ziyang, a city in southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to Sichuan Provincial Archaeology Research Institute.
The bronze funeral object is believed to have been built in the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) or even earlier in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), according to preliminary study.
The object was buried in a chamber about nine meters from the ground. Archeologists also found an ancient tomb about ten meters from the ground.
Score one for the good guys Police recover 9,000 stolen artefacts
Police in Rome have put on display an astonishing haul of artefacts they say was plundered from archaeological sites in Italy by a 74-year-old man.
Officers who raided the man's home found 9,000 antiquities stolen over a period of years as well a sophisticated restoration lab, metal detectors and other devices used by amateur archaeologists. Thousands of Etruscan and Roman terracotta vases, polychrome mosaic tiles, pieces of travertine and multi-coloured marble that once adorned Roman villas were recovered. Ancient copper and bronze objects, amphorae, goblets, masks, brooches, votary statuettes and oil lamps were also found. Art experts say it will take months to assess the value of the hoard.
Yeesh. Talk about a mother lode. . . .
Army's Fort Bliss Uncovers Its Prehistoric Past
In a recent find,
Army archeologists have discovered several pueblo and pit-house sites on the
Dona Ana Range at Fort Bliss, Texas believed to date between the 14th and 15th
centuries.
This time frame coincides with the occupation of the area by the Jornada
Mogollon, a branch of the "Mogollon" culture, the prehistoric people who
inhabited much of southern New Mexico, east-central Arizona, northern
Chihuahua, and far western Texas. A large percentage of the Jornada Mogollon
culture is found on Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range.
The Army identified the site last year, but just recently investigated it.
"We scraped back some of the sand and sure enough the pueblo walls started
turning up," said Brian D. Knight, senior Army archeologist speaking about the
find. "The site is pretty spectacular, it's huge. We had never anticipated it
was going to be this nice."
Fight! Fight! Obelisk, new finds unleash debate in Ethiopia
Ato Gebrmedihin, who estimates his age at about 90, remembers when Italy's invading army in 1937 looted this ancient city's 1,700-year-old, intricately carved obelisk, on the orders of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who wanted to mark his brief occupation of Ethiopia.
"Their van kept breaking down as they tried to rush to the airport with our heavy monument," the gray-bearded Gebrmedihin recalled with a chuckle. "But they eventually fixed the truck. Then they took our stele away."
Earlier this year, the 180-ton, 80-foot granite obelisk — a tombstone and monument to ancient rulers — was returned from a square in central Rome and flown in three parts to this northern town. A national holiday was proclaimed.
Upshot: They're starting to deal with the same issues confronting any place where significant archaeological remains are. Balancing the needs of modern people to make a living and the conservation needs of archaeology. It's an odd juxtaposition in this case, since widespread excavation and PR involving the remains in the area could A) Put the place on the map, bring in tourists, etc., contributing capital to the local economy; and B) Raising the profile of artifacts from this time and place. Both of those will, of course, have severe impacts on the stuff itself from destruction due to the consequent development, and from looting once the stuff becomes valuable. It's a nasty cycle. Definitely bears watching.