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June 1999 | |
 Seahenge taken out of the beach
Seahenge is a Bronze Age circle of wooden posts, recently discovered by a local nature warden when the peat dune covering it was swept away in the Norfolk coast (England).
Seahenge is thought to be at least 4,000 years old and would originally have stood on dry ground. Now this site, formed by 55 oak timber posts completely encircling an upturned oak tree, is being taken out of the beach because of the risk of being severely damaged by the sea and visitor pressure.
It is one of the most enthralling archaeological discoveries in our time, said Sir Jocelyn Stevens, Chairman of English Heritage, who are organising the dig. The henge will be lost if it is left where it is because of the continual erosion along this stretch of coast. The first priority is to safeguard it from the ravages of the sea and ensure a proper record of the timbers is made.
The 56 wooden posts will be removed and taken to a laboratory near Peterborough for examination. They will be returned to West Norfolk after the work is complete. The excavation project is difficult because the site is covered by the sea every high tide.
After their removal, the posts will be submerged in water tanks to prevent them from deterioration. Forensic work will include a general examination of the timbers, a study of tool marks, dating of the wood and examination of the activities of prehistoric insects.
David Miles, Chief Archaeologist at English Heritage, said: Lifting, recording and analysing all the timber will transform our knowledge of prehistoric religion and prehistoric sites. The evocative structure, forming a symbolic tree, stands at the boundary of earth, sky and sea. To prehistoric people it probably represented a channel to the gods of the underworld and the heavens.
The removal of Seahenge has met strong local opposition. Inhabitants of the nearby village from Holme-next-the-Sea told they want it left where it is. However, Philip Walker, of English Heritage, says they have consulted widely with other organisations involved, including Norfolk County Council, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, English Nature, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the private owners of the land on which the timber circle was found, who have all agreed that this is the best option for the site.
Sources: BBC News, English Heritage News
Ancient tombs unearthed in Shaanxi (China)
Seventeen tombs dating back to the Xia and Shang dynasties (2,100 B.C.- 1,100 B.C.) have been unearthed at Donglongshan, in Shangzhou City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
Archeologists say that Donglongshan is potentially a massive relic site, covering an area of 200,000 square meters and boasting a large number of tombs.
Earlier excavation work was carried out over an area of 1,000 square meters and the recent work was extended by another 200 square meters. Exhumed from the tombs were bountiful stone and pottery articles along with other cultural relics, a local source said.
Source: CNN News
Earliest known writing found in Pakistan
The first known examples of writing may have been unearthed at an archaeological dig in Pakistan, at a site called Harappa in the region where the great Harappan or Indus civilisation flourished about 4500 years ago.
At the site, originally a small settlement developed by 2600 BC into a major urban centre, so-called 'plant-like' and 'trident-shaped' markings have been found on fragments of pottery dating back 5500 years. The earliest known writing was etched onto jars before and after firing. Experts believe they may have indicated the contents of the jar or be signs associated with a deity.
According to Dr Richard Meadow of Harvard University, the director of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project, these primitive inscriptions found on pottery may pre-date all other known writing. Before the Harappa discovery, the oldest writing might have come from clay tablets found on an Egyptian tomb of a king named Scorpion.
The fragments of pottery found in Pakistan were carbon-dated to 3300-3200 BC. This is about the same time, or slightly earlier, to the primitive writing developed by the Sumerians of the Mesopotamian civilisation around 3100 BC. It's a big question as to if we can call what we have found true writing, told Dr Meadow, but we have found symbols that have similarities to what became Indus script." "One of our research aims is to find more examples of these ancient symbols and follow them as they changed and became a writing system, he added.
One major problem in determining what the symbols mean is that no one understands the Indus language. The Harappan language died out and did not form the basis of other languages. So probably we will never know what the symbols mean, Dr Meadow said.
The Harappan civilisation is unique: their society did not like great differences between social classes or the display of wealth by rulers and they did not leave behind large monuments or rich graves. They appear to be a peaceful people who displayed their art in smaller works of stone. Around 1900 BC Harappa and other urban centres started to decline as people left them to move east to what is now India and the Ganges.
This discovery will add to the debate about the origins of the written word. It probably suggests that writing developed independently in at least three places - Egypt, Mesopotamia and Harappa between 3500 BC and 3100 BC.
Source: BBC News
Mexican archaeologists fight developers
With a real estate development in the works, archaeologists are fighting for a chance to study a site they say could provide clues to the fate of an ancient culture along the Gulf of Mexico.
The site, called El Dorado, is in the 200-acre Mandinga mangrove swamp along the Jamapa River, just 13 miles south of the port of Veracruz.
The Mandinga Swamp Promotion and Construction company had started draining the swamp and parceling it to create a luxury housing project with a marina when the government's National Anthropology and History Institute discovered the plan in November. The institute has been negotiating with the developer over ways to save the site.
A few months before the work started, Annick Daneels, a Belgian archaeologist at Mexico City's National Autonomous University, had completed a study indicating the five-acre El Dorado site was important. Archaeologists say it could hold clues to the fate of the Olmecs, best known for the colossal, mysterious stone heads they carved. They flourished from 1200 BC to 400 BC, then their culture disappeared.
Daneels, who has been working in Mexico for 17 years, estimates El Dorado was inhabited from around 800 BC to AD 1200, and appears to be the only site in the area with such a prolonged period of habitation.
Luis Alberto Lopez Wario, director of the National Anthropology and History Institute's archaeological safeguards department, said he has proposed a five-month study of El Dorado by six noted archaeologists so the agency can determine which areas can be developed and which should be protected as archaeological sites.
Source: Associated Press
Saving a Scottish stone ring
Balgarthno stone circle, a little-known site a few miles to the west of Dundee (Scotland) is under threat of having an Asda superstore built on top of it. This is rather ironic, given that Asda illustrate their policy of Permanently Low Prices Forever by carving the slogan on fake concrete standing stones in their superstore entrances.
The mist rolling in over the stone circle is a wonderful sight says Mrs Wylie, who lives opposite the stones, but the circle has not been well cared for by the council. Every year we have to ring up and ask them to come and cut the grass there.
Balgarthno Stone Circle, also known as Farm of Corn, is a scheduled ancient monument, and measures 6.1m in diameter. The scheduled area has recently been extended to 40 meters around the site. Although this area is protected, it doesn't prevent development nearby, threatening to turn the circle into an unusual feature of a modern shopping development.
An archaeologists, Dr Aubrey Burl, commented: I was interested and disappointed, to hear of the proposed fate of the Balgarthno stone circle in Angus. It is not one of the world's finest megalithic rings but it does deserve better than to become an appendage to a supermarket.
Asda confirmed that they are in discussions with Dundee City Council with regard to developing the site.
Concerned people should write to:
Mike Galloway, Director, Planning Department, Dundee City Council, Tayside House, Crichton Street, Dundee DD1 3RB, Scotland
Paul Lowe, Property Department, Asda Head Office, Asda House, Southbank, Great Wilson Street, Leeds, LS11 5AD, England
Asda Customer relations: paula.higby@asda.co.uk
The future of Miami Circle
The preservation of the Miami Circle, the enigmatic stone formation that harkens back to the Tequesta Indians, got a major boost Tuesday when Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Cabinet made the artifact the top priority under a state land purchasing program.
By adding the 38-foot-diameter circle to the state's Conservation and Recreational Lands program, Bush and the six-member Cabinet voted to purchase the site at its appraised value or at 50 percent of the developer's selling price, whichever option is cheaper.
The county still must come up with millions of dollars from private sources to preserve what county archaeologist Bob Carr says is a historically significant site that could be 2000 years old.
The circle, located on the south bank of the Miami River, is currently in limbo. The county has sued the developer and the city to buy the land and preserve the Circle on site. Developer Michael Baumann and Miami Mayor Joe Carollo want to move the formation, at Baumann's expense, to make way for a huge development project. He argues the significance of the Circle may be exaggerated. He noted that Jerald Milanich, curator of archaeology and chairman of the anthropology department of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, recently suggested the circle may be only 100 years old.
Probably the state will ask Milanich to conduct an in-depth survey of the site before going any further. In the meantime, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas is trying to raise the money needed to buy the circle. It will cost at least $8 million, the amount Baumann said he has spent buying the property and undertaking initial development work.
Source: Miami Herald
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