Stone Pages Archaeo News: November 2003 Archives

November 2003 index:

1 November 2003: Excavation of an ancient trading center in Syria; A Syrian-French archeological team has excavated a new archeological city at Rawda site, 70 KM east of the central Syrian city of Salamieh, dating back to the Early Bronze period...
: Neolithic skeleton discovered in Beijing; Chinese archeologists have claimed discovery of a Neolithic human body that lived about 10,000 years ago in Donghulin Village in Beijing's western outskirts. The human skeleton discovered just over...
: Restoration of the oldest fort in UAE; The Archaeology and Heritage Department of the United of Arab Emirates (UAE) recently started renovating Ouhala Fort, the oldest fort in the emirate, which dates back to 815 BCE. The...
: Discovery of prehistoric bridge recreated online; The thrill of archaeologists’ discovery of the oldest bridge ever found in England can now be relived through a series of web pages. Wessex Archaeology has put up information on...
: The longest archaeological dig in Britain; The longest, narrowest and potentially richest archaeological dig in Britain is to go on worldwide show as an unexpected bonus of the new high-speed Channel tunnel rail link. Hundreds of...
: Winners of the first Highland Archaeology Challenge; The first Highland Archaeology Challenge was issued by the Highland Council’s archaeology unit during the 10th Highland Archaeology Week and Scottish Archaeology Month celebrations. Everyone interested in archaeology in the...
: Hunt for Lost City of Atlantis; One team of experts believes Atlantis lies under the seas west of Gibraltar, while an American researcher believes the Lost City was in Cyprus. The team heading to Gibraltar is...
: Iceman's likely birthplace found; Scientists have pinpointed the likely birthplace of Oetzi the famous Iceman. The ancient hunter probably spent his childhood in what is now the Italian South Tyrol village of Feldthurns. Evidence...
5 November 2003: Documentation of ancient Alaskan hunting grounds; The potential of the Tangle Lakes region of Alaska (USA) as a source of platinum, nickel, copper and other metals has led a state agency to undertake urgent documentation of...
6 November 2003: Bronze Age settlement on Isles of Scilly; Cornwall County Council (England) archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown Bronze Age settlement on the Scilly island of Tresco whilst monitoring the construction of a new playing field. The excavation...
: Airlift restores ancient Cornish barrow; 50 tonnes of headland soil were airlifted onto Trevalgue Head (Porth Island), near Newquay (England), to repair the wear and tear on a Bronze Age barrow. The barrow, one of...
: Where is Mount Sinai?; The idea that Har Karkom might be identified with the biblical Mount Sinai came after four years of surveying of this mountain and thirty years after discovery of rock art...
: Neolithic acoustics; Ongoing research at Neolithic sites around the UK has revealed striking similarities in their acoustical properties. Key examples, both in Ireland, are the huge passage tomb of Newgrange and the...
: TV programme to examine lunar importance of Callanish; A BBC Natural World programme is to investigate the relationship between the standing stones of Callanish (Outer Hebrides, Scotland) and the moon. Coinciding with this weekend's full moon and total...
: The sexually-symbolic landscape of Britain; A new book by an archaeologist from north-east England is set to reveal the sexually-symbolic landscape of Britain. Cathy Tuck, who has worked on the Time Team TV programme, chronicles...
8 November 2003: Ancient sites threatened by clay mines in Georgia; Nine previously unknown ancient archaeological sites, including a complex of 17 mounds, plus villages and workshops, have been found in Georgia (USA), on land owned by Cherokee Brick and Tile...
: Neolithic sites found in Tibet; Archeologists have discovered several sites used by Neolithic nomadic people in Tibet at some 5,000 metres above the sea level. The 13 prehistoric sites, located on the Tanggula Range on...
: Iron Age findings in Pakistan; Antiquities of Iron Age and Achaemenian (553-330 BCE) period have been discovered in an excavation from the Greek city of Bhera (Pakistan). The excavation has been done by Dr M....
: New project for the protection of ancient Chinese tombs; China has launched a massive project designed to protect hundreds of ancient tombs in the Mount Mangshan area of Luoyang city in Henan province. Archaeologists will make thorough surveys and...
: Prehistoric sites being excavated in Hertfordshire; Archaeologists will be digging deep into Hertfordshire's history when further excavation work begins along the bypass route at Baldock near Letchworth (England). Trial trenches dug last winter uncovered a Bronze...
10 November 2003: Stone Age to Bronze Age on ancient Crete; One of the Aegean’s oldest known metal-smelting workshops has been identified at Chrysokamino, on the Gulf of Mirambelou, north eastern Crete (Greece). Pottery sherds date the workshop as far back...
11 November 2003: A Study in Scarlet: Israel cave symbols; The discovery of 71 pieces of red ochre in the oldest section of a burial cave in Israel has prompted researchers to suggest that the symbolic thinking that marked the...
: 6,000 years at Chatsworth; The most comprehensive archaeological survey ever undertaken of the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth Estate in Derbyshire (England) has just been completed, revealing new information about the people who lived in...
12 November 2003: Seed study may reveal early euthanasia; A paleoethnobotanist in Florida, America working on the so-called "Elderberry Woman" believes she may have found evidence of euthanasia. Lee Ann Newsom - an expert in ancient plant remains -...
: Iceman Oetzi finders acknowledged in court; A court in Bolzano, Italy, has recognised a German couple as the official discoverers of the Stone Age iceman known as Oetzi. Helmut and Erika Simon, from Nuremberg, first saw...
13 November 2003: Stone carvings found in Indonesia rainforest; A remote rainforest in Sulawesi (Indonesia) is now at the centre of a study into hundreds of mysterious stone carvings that only a few people have seen. No one knows...
: New clues to climate change occurred 5,200 years ago; The latest expeditions to ice caps in the high, tropical Peruvian Andes Mountains by Ohio State University scientists may shed light on a mysterious global climate change they believe occurred...
14 November 2003: Did meteor shower prompt megalith building?; The building of Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments may have been prompted by "the most massive meteor stream in the inner planetary system," according to researchers in Ireland and Australia....
: Excavation funding sought for Alabama cave; Officials from the Russell Cave National Monument in Jackson County (USA) have asked the US National Park Service for funds for a major archaeological survey of the 330 acre park....
: Olmec bones found in Honduras?; Human bones found in southeastern Honduras may provide the first evidence that the ancient Olmec civilisation extended beyond the ‘Mesoamerican Corridor’ that reaches from Mexico to central Honduras, covering a...
: Human remains at Norfolk hill fort; Fragments of human skull have been unearthed during the excavation of an Iron Age hill fort at Bloodgate Hill, South Creake, in north west Norfolk (England). The site was purchased...
: "Plain of Jars" to be mapped by UNESCO; The United Nations have launched a project to map the location of "secondary burial" jars in northern Laos. The jars are scattered across the north of the country, in particular...
: Neolithic kilns found in China; The largest group of Neolithic kilns found in China so far have been discovered in Guangdong Province. Unearthed in a hillside orchard at Hutoupu of Mianyuan Village, Guangtai Town, Puning...
: 4,000 year-old observatory found in Macedonia; Archaeologists working on the Tatikev Kamen site in north Macedonia have revealed that they believe it was an observatory as well as a ceremonial site. Jovica Stankovski, who discovered the...
15 November 2003: Ancient farmers modified corn genes; In a study that compared the genes of corn cobs recovered in Mexico and the southwestern United States, researchers found that three key genetic variants were systematically enhanced, probably through...
19 November 2003: Native artefacts found at Iroquois; The find of an arrowhead on land intended for the development of a high school’s athletic fields has led to the discovery of more than 300 artefacts to date. Archaeologists...
: Underwater heritage survey launched for South Africa; South Africa’s first ever survey of underwater heritage sites has been launched in Cape Town thanks to a R4.2 million grant from the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund. Established by...
: Relics or oven chips?; A North Yorkshire (England) site “as important as Stonehenge or Avebury” is under threat from farmers who are being urged to plant potatoes for a nearby McCain oven chips factory....
20 November 2003: Drought destroyed ancient Egytptian civilisation; A team of scientists believe they have discovered why the world's first great civilisation, established in Egypt nearly 5000 years ago, crumbled and plunged into a dark age that lasted...
: TV Stars back battle to save ancient sites; Raquel from British TV comedy 'Only Fools and Horses' is helping a group of Oxfordshire (England) villages campaign against plans to extract gravel. Actress Tessa Peake-Jones and her actor husband...
: Climate linked to extinction of Alaskan horses; Researchers found that climate change, rather than hunting, may have triggered the extinction of Alaska's native horses about 12,500 years ago. The cause of the disappearance of about 70 percent...
: Ancient 'astronomical' artifacts from Germany; Not even a foot across, the 5-pound bronze Nebra 'sky disk' is embossed in gold leaf with intricate images of the sun, moon, and 32 stars. In the plate's center...
21 November 2003: Stonehenge and Kilmartin linked by axe carvings; Axe-carvings at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, have been found that are similar to ones on a cist in the Kilmartin valley, Argyll. Although the carvings of a dagger and 14 axes at...
: 5,000 year-old dolmen unearthed in Jordan; Archaeologists excavating a dolmen at Tall al-Umayri, Jordan, believe that it was used as a burial site for 20 individuals. Originally discovered in 1994 by the Madaba Plains Project, several...
: 700,000 year-old axe found in Britain; A man walking his dog along the coast of Norfolk, England, has found a stone axe which could change the human history of Europe by 200,000 years. Mike Chambers has...
22 November 2003: Seahenge will go on show in 2005; A display of part of Seahenge - the remarkable Bronze Age timber circle, which was excavated from the shoreline at Holme, near Hunstanton, in 1999 - forms the focal point...
: Grant awarded to protect Ilkley Moor; The Standing Conference of Southern Pennine Authorities (SCOSPA), a group set up to protect and improve areas such as Ilkley Moor (England), has picked up a grant of £850,000 after...
26 November 2003: Troops trained to guard Iraq sites; Hopes have been raised that the US-led coalition in Iraq is about to take widespread action against the looting of archaeological sites. The coalition is training an Iraqi commander to...
: Second log boat found near Derby; A Bronze Age boat carved from a single oak log has been unearthed in a Derbyshire (England) quarry, only 1km away from the site of a similar discovery five years...
: Japanese rock image a fake; A carved image of a man shooting an arrow, originally dated back to the middle Jomon period, is now thought to be a forgery. The volcanic rock carving was found...
27 November 2003: Bronze Age site unearthed in Ireland; Archaeologists have discovered a Bronze Age settlement and a number of other significant finds on the proposed route of a multi-million euro bypass in County Cork (Republic of Ireland). National...
: Iranians investigate ancient Ziggurat; Iranian archaeologists plan to unearth northwestern corner of the second platform of Sialk Ziggurat to bring to light quality of architecture in the Iron Age, said Sadeq Shahmirzadi, head of...
: Welsh Bronze Age sun disc declared a treasure; An ancient gold disc which was used as an item of adornment at a burial 4,000 years ago has been discovered in Ceredigion (Wales). Experts say the priceless sun disc...
28 November 2003: Further news on looting of Wyoming archaeological site; Last October we covered the ancient site looted in Wyoming, USA. But now additional information is emerging. Although the looting occurred some time between spring and mid-June, limited leads have...