Stone Pages Archaeo News: September 2011 Archives

September 2011 index:

1 September 2011: Ancient wild horses help unlock past; An international team of researchers has used ancient DNA to produce compelling evidence that the lack of genetic diversity in modern stallions is the result of the domestication process. The...
: Archaeologists move in at ancient Scottish Highland site; An archaeological dig has got underway at Fortingall, near Aberfeldy, one of the earliest places of Christian worship in Highland Perthshire (Scotland). Breadalbane Heritage Society has joined forces with Archaeologist...
: Evidence of early horse domestication in Arabia; Saudi officials say archaeologists have begun excavating a site that suggests horses were domesticated 9,000 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula, 4,000 years earlier than previously thought. The vice-president of...
: Maltese megalithic sites enjoying upgrade; Heritage Malta's Tarxien Temples is currently undergoing embellishment and conservation, as part of a project including works on three sites: Tarxien Temples (Tarxien), Ggantija Archeological Park (Xagħra, Gozo) and St...
3 September 2011: Is the world's oldest profession actually a chef?; Research into Homo Erectus, the ancestor of our modern day Homo Sapiens, has shown that cooked food played a major part in our evolution and, in particular, brain growth. Homo...
: Prehistoric interbreeding may have improved our immune system; A team led by Stanford University School of Medicine in California, USA, has recently carried out a study which suggests that some inter breeding amongst our prehistoric ancestors may have...
4 September 2011: Iron Age fort excavation under way in Somerset; The Ham Hill Iron Age hill fort site, in Somerset (England), spreads over 80 hectares - making it the largest in Britain and dwarfing better-known sites from the same period...
: Bronze Age excavation begins in Cornwall; A 10-day excavation project at a Bronze Age site near Lanyon in Cornwall (England) has begun. Previous excavations have revealed Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age artefacts, said archaeologist, Dr...
: Tomb found at Stonehenge quarry site; The tomb for the original builders of Stonehenge could have been unearthed by an excavation at a site in Wales. The Carn Menyn site in the Preseli Hills is where...
6 September 2011: Horses and chariots found in a Chinese tomb; The perfectly preserved remains of five chariots and 12 horses - believed to be at least 3,000 years old - have been found in the Chinese city of Luoyang. The...
: Dig to find connection between pillar and prehistoric cairn; Archaeologists are launching a new dig to try to unearth the secrets of a 9th Century stone monument on a prehistoric mound in Wales. Bangor and Chester university experts will...
7 September 2011: 5000-year-old arrowhead unearthed in Scotland; Archaeologists on the site of the Kilwinning mediaeval abbey in Scotland believe the flint leaf arrowhead dates from the early Neolithic, circa 3500 BCE. Tom Rees, of Rathmell Archaeology, said:...
: Prehistoric bones returned to Canadian First Nation; The ancient remains of 142 members of a First Nation have been repatriated in a grave in British Columbia, decades after being dug up by archaeologists. Members of the Heiltsuk...
8 September 2011: 4,600-year-old 'pub' discovered in Shetland?; Experts believe that 4600 years ago natives may have been enjoying a pie and pint at Jarlshof in Shetland (Scotland). They say the layout of the stone settlement near Sumburgh...
: The best preserved painting found at Catalhoyuk; A team of archaeologists are excavating a 9,000-year-old Neolithic village at Catalhoyuk (Turkey) and recently they found a painting on a wall with deep reds and reddish oranges thought to...
9 September 2011: The first advanced stone tool?; Whilst the first stone tools to have been found so far are recorded to be the 'Oldowan Tools' (named after the gorge in Tanzania where they were first found), dating...
: Early link between Picts & Romans found in Scotland; A team of archaeologists, known as the Strathern Environs and Royal Forteviot (SERF) project, have uncovered findings which could re-write early Scottish history. The team comprises archaeologists and students from...
10 September 2011: Big dig at Native American mound-builders site; The Mississippians whose pottery and building styles identify them as a single cultural group, lived in or near the Mississippi Valley (USA) more than 1,000 years ago. They erected complex...
: Human ancestors interbred with related species; Analysis suggests genetic mixing occurred in Africa around 35,000 years ago. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, up to 2 percent of...
: 8,500-year-old remains unearthed in Turkish city; Researchers conducting excavations in Yesilova Hoyugu, the oldest known area of human settlement in Izmir (Turkey), have announced the discovery of fingerprints more than eight millennia old belonging to residents...
14 September 2011: Ancient stone anchors may rewrite history of Black Sea sailing; Massive ancient stone anchors were found by divers participating in an archaeological expedition near the southern Bulgarian Black Sea town of Sozopol. The expedition, led by deputy director of Bulgaria's...
: Prehistoric skirt discovered in Armenian cave; Archaeologists studying the Areni 1 Cave in Armenia's Vayots Dzor region announced that they had found parts of a woman's multicoloured straw dress that they believe was made around 5,900...
15 September 2011: Archaeologists unearth significant find in Colorado; The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area in Colorado (USA) contains a number of prehistoric sites that have excited Bureau of Land Management (BLM) archaeologists Glade Hadden and Carol Patterson. One...
: Prehistoric clay disks found in Alaska; Four decorated clay disks have been discovered at a site in Alaska (USA), apparently the first artefacts of their type discovered in the state. The disks were found during a...
16 September 2011: Rare artifacts document Colorado's prehistory; In 2008 a landowner in Boulder, Colorado (USA), called Patrick Mahaffy, hired a contractor to landscape part of his land and dig out a pond. The contractor stopped digging when...
: 6,000-year-old Romeo and Juliet; In 2007 a team of archaeologists, led by Elena Maria Menotti, were excavating in a village called Valdaro, near Mantua in northern Italy, when they discovered the skeletons of two...
: Bluestone Henge; A new digital reconstruction of the monument discovered by the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2009 suggests that the ring of stone sockets found at the southern end of The Avenue...
17 September 2011: Mysterious Mideast geoglyphs number in the thousands; They stretch from Syria to Saudi Arabia, can be seen from the air but not the ground, and are virtually unknown to the public. Referred to by archaeologists as 'wheels,'...
19 September 2011: Neolithic finds at Welsh quarry; Fragments of Neolithic pottery and an ancient arrowhead represent the best finds yet from a dig at a quarry near Wrexham Wales), say archaeologists. The discovery of the remains of...
: Dig for clues of early life in Idaho; For thousands of years nomadic tribes made regular trips to Big Southern Butte in Idaho (USA) to mine its deep deposits of obsidian - a black volcanic glass that forms...
20 September 2011: 9000-year-old multiple burial uncovered in Corsica; The exceptional discovery of burials about 9,000 years old - probably containing the oldest human remains ever found in Corsica (France) - will allow a better understanding of the history...
: Stone with 1,200 prehistoric engravings uncovered in Portugal; Recent archaeological investigations in northern Portugal have uncovered a number of prehistoric sites and artefacts, including rock art and engravings at Laje da Churra in the Serra de Santa Luzia...
: Ancient human skulls mounted on stakes found on Swedish lake; Several human skulls found mounted on wooden stakes have been uncovered from a Stone Age lake bed in central Sweden in what is believed to be the first discovery of...
23 September 2011: An early understanding of tides - Part 2; Back on August 2011 we commented on some findings from South Africa which showed that early Homo Sapiens had developed knowledge of tides, to enable him to harvest brown mussels...
: 'The Girl from the Lozoya Valley'; There is a very famous archaeological site, near Madrid in Spain, known as the Calvero de la Higuerra site in Pinilla del Valle. Excavations have been carried out there for...
: High resolution 3D Stonehenge model unveiled; A detailed survey of every stone that makes up Stonehenge using the latest technology, including a new scanner that has never before been used on a heritage project in Britain,...
24 September 2011: Aboriginal Australians descended from African migration; A 90-year-old tuft of hair has yielded the first complete genome of an Aboriginal Australian, a young man who lived in southwest Australia. He, and perhaps all Aboriginal Australians, the...
: New look for Ggantija temples; The Ggantija Temples are the most popular heritage site in Malta, and a lot of work has gone into restoring their structural integrity. The site now offers an enhanced visitor...
: Standing Stone in Derbyshire may be a seasonal sundial; A standing stone at the popular tourist site Gardom's Edge in the Derbyshire Peak District (England) may in fact be a 4,000 year old seasonal sundial, experts suggest. Academics in...
25 September 2011: Excavation of islands around Britain to establish Neolithic origins; Archaeologists at the University of Liverpool are investigating three island groups around Britain to further understanding of why, in approximately 4,000 BCE, humans changed from hunting and gathering to agriculture....
: Asia was settled in multiple waves of migration; A international team of researchers studying DNA patterns from modern and archaic humans has uncovered new clues about the movement and intermixing of populations in Asia more than 40,000 years...
28 September 2011: Bronze Age finds under Llangollen's Pillar; Remains dating back to the Bronze Age have been uncovered by archaeologists excavating a 9th Century monument: the Pillar of Eliseg near Llangollen, Denbighshire (Wales). Possible cremated remains and prehistoric...
: New discoveries at Trefael Stone; The second excavation season at Trefael Stone in South West Wales has just finished and the results are very interesting. Last year a team of archaeologists, led by Dr George...
29 September 2011: Rock art found in Ireland could date back to Bronze Age; A rock bearing what is believed to be a rare piece of art dating back to the Bronze Age has been discovered on an outcrop alongside a medieval pilgrim route...
: Prehistoric settlement discovered in Turkey; Associate Professor Rüstem Aslan, head of Troy excavations, announced that a prehistoric settlement has been found in the Dardanelles - the narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea...
30 September 2011: Secrets of the Jordanian wetlands exposed; Archaeologists and conservationists are fighting a vital battle to preserve what could be the most important archaeological sites in Jordan. The area in question is known as the Asraq Oasis....
: Ancient site in Wyoming may have had year-round residents; Archaeologists in Jackson Hole (Wyoming, USA), have been racing against time to complete excavations before a highway widening programme is undertaken. The excavations, lead by the Wyoming state archaeologists office,...
: Volunteers needed to collapse a replica broch; The Caithness Archaeological Trust (CAT) is currently in the process of reconstructing a full sized broch, in Spittal Quarry (Caithness, Scotland). The idea is to construct the broch and then...