Malcolm Bell III, an archaeology professor at the University of Virginia, was walking through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York one spring day in 1987 when his eye caught a display of two small silver horns, dated to the third century B.C.
As chief archaeologist at an excavation at Morgantina, site of an ancient Greek colony in eastern Sicily, Bell had heard whispered reports that two such horns had been looted from the site in the early 1980s. "They had to be the same," he recalled in an interview on Dec. 1. "I just put two and two together."
Seventeen years later, his hunch has been proved right. The Metropolitan Museum has offered to return 15 pieces of Hellenistic silver, including the horns, to Italy, where government officials for years have charged that the set was stolen.
A good outcome for one of these disputes for a change.
But then there's this.
Greek ship update Ancient Greek Merchant Ship Found
Photographs taken by an undersea robot are providing the first public glimpse of a wrecked ancient Greek merchant ship loaded with olive oil and wine that probably capsized in a sudden gust of wind off the coast of the island of Chios in the fourth century B.C.
The images represent a breakthrough in underwater technology since the exploration of the Titanic; the robot photographer in this case was fully autonomous, according to a recent MIT press release.
Scientists program the robot, called "SeaBED," with missions that can be changed via an acoustic modem once the robot is launched.
It's got more detail than the earlier story, and some pictures.
Also see here.
Huh? Italy's iceman a sterile outcast?
New DNA analysis shows that a 5,000-year-old mummy found frozen in the Italian Alps may have been sterile -- a hypothesis that would support the theory that he may have been a social outcast, officials said Friday.
Franco Rollo, an anthropologist and ancient DNA specialist, also determined that the man's genetic makeup belonged to one of the eight basic groups of DNA occurring in Europe, although his particular DNA belonged to a subgroup that has been identified for the first time, officials said.
No very detailed (or long) so it's impossible to tell just where this conclusion came from. Seems a ittle weird, but maybe once more info becomes available it will make sense.
Remote sensing update A Modern Survey of Ancient Ruins
Laser surveying instruments (e.g., terrestrial light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and high-density survey (HDS) instruments) are increasingly becoming valued tools for geospatial professionals. They can quickly provide a dense set of 3-D data points that can be used to characterize buildings, engineering features and areas.
. . .
This feature discusses the use of an Optech ILRIS 3-D scanner in a challenging situation, a high-density survey of Machu Picchu, the famous Peruvian archaeological site. In summer 2005, with National Science Foundation support, researchers conducted an initial HDS at two World Heritage sites, Tiwanaku, Bolivia, and Machu Picchu, Peru, but this article discusses only the work at Machu Picchu.
Moderately technical article on aser range scanning. For anyone unfamiliar with the technique, this provides a good overview.
Bronze Age man's burial site unearthed
Human remains dating back almost 4,000 years have been uncovered on Rathlin Island off the County Antrim coast.
Senior archaeologists are investigating the remains of a man who could have been buried in the Bronze Age.
The skeleton was found in a crouched foetal-like position, which would indicate a cist burial in about 2000 BC.
The body was accompanied by a food vessel. The remains were uncovered on Monday on the north coast, close to Rathlin Island's only pub, during work.