http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/archaeology/ Archaeology News. Read about the latest archaelogical finds including Roman coins, Egyptian pyramids and more. Articles and photos. en-us Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:05:01 EDT Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/archaeology/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710092230.htm A British archaeologist has just returned from a period of fieldwork in Iran, working on the first archaeological project in the country to explore the very recent past. The project looks at the effects the Iranian White Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s had on the ancient ‘Landlord Villages’ of the early Islamic period of the country’s history. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710092230.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710092526.htm On July 11, public celebrations will mark the 800th anniversary of the completion of London Bridge. Now, a new study has uncovered a tale of corruption, mismanagement, financial crisis and a property crash that resulted in the downfall of the Old London Bridge -- the capital’s last ‘living bridge’. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710092526.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm Europe's southern-most skeletal remains of a mammoth were unearthed in a moor on the 37°N latitude. This is considerably south of the inhospitable habitat than one usually imagines for mammoths, and for the characteristically dry and cold climate that prevailed during the ice ages in the north of Eurasia. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709120654.htm Where the first Americans came from, when they arrived and how they got here is as lively a debate as ever, only most of the research has focused on dry land excavations. Last summer's pivotal underwater exploration in the Gulf of Mexico yielded evidence of inundated terrestrial sites that may have supported human occupation more than 12,000 years ago, paving the way for another expedition July 23. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709120654.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622103831.htm An artificial underground cave, the largest in Israel, has been exposed in the Jordan Valley in the course of a new survey. Archeologists reckon that this cave was originally a large quarry during the Roman and Byzantine era. Various engravings were uncovered in the cave, including cross markings, and it is assumed that this could have been an early monastery. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622103831.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171544.htm Freshwater fish are an important part of the diet of many peoples around the world, but it has been unclear when fish became an important part of the year-round diet for early humans. A new study shows it may have happened in China as far back as 40,000 years ago. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171544.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630163529.htm People find it very easy to recognize a face, even under very different circumstances. For a computer, on the other hand, it is extremely difficult. Researchers have developed a new analytical technique which enables the computer to better interpret the content of photos and images, but also of data. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630163529.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624111021.htm New investigations have shown that rather than simply being a provincial Roman town, Caistor may represent the development of a major settlement from the Iron Age until the 9th century AD. Crucially, however, the site was ultimately superseded by medieval Norwich and reverted to green fields. This is quite unlike other Roman towns that have the same long occupation sequence which now lie buried beneath the modern towns of Britain and Europe. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624111021.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622200028.htm Thanks to the skills of artists who work on cold case investigations, people have a chance to see what the mummy Meresamun may have looked like in real life. Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622200028.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604124023.htm Researchers have devised a more accurate method of dating ancient human migration -- even when no corroborating archaeological evidence exists. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604124023.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608125103.htm Rushing to salvage fossils from the Panama Canal earthworks, a paleontology intern unearthed a set of fossil teeth. Experts identified the fossil as Anchitherium clarencei, a three-toed browsing horse. Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608125103.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608182543.htm More than 100 feet deep in Lake Huron, on a wide stony ridge that 9,000 years ago was a land bridge, researchers have found the first archeological evidence of human activity preserved beneath the Great Lakes. Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608182543.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608143835.htm A prehistoric complex including two 6,000-year-old tombs representing some of the earliest monuments built in Britain has been discovered by archaeologists. The researchers found the previously undiscovered Neolithic tombs, also known as long barrows, at a site at Damerham, Hampshire. Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608143835.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090527103528.htm Research suggests people today and in future generations should look to the past in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. The dangers of rising sea levels, crop failures and extreme weather were all faced by our ancestors who learnt to adapt and survive in the face of climate change. Fri, 29 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090527103528.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090526202805.htm Anthropologists have recently reported on the analysis of a 4000-year-old skeleton from India bearing evidence of leprosy. This skeleton represents both the earliest archaeological evidence for human infection with Mycobacterium leprae in the world and the first evidence for the disease in prehistoric India. Wed, 27 May 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090526202805.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519214945.htm Scientists have developed a new way of dating archaeological objects -- using fire and water to unlock their "internal clocks." Mon, 25 May 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519214945.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090515084039.htm How will the Netherlands, dominated by water, be affected by future climate change? Dutch researcher Martin van Breukelen hopes to answer that question by analyzing stalagmites from the South American Amazon tributaries in Peru as a way to reconstruct climate changes in the past. Sat, 16 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090515084039.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090513183516.htm For the first time in nearly 500 years, a full-size balsa-wood raft just like those used in pre-Columbian Pacific trade took to the water on Sunday, May 10. Only this time, instead of the Pacific coast between Mexico and Chile where such rafts carried goods between the great civilizations of the Andes and Mesoamerica as long as a millennium ago, the replica raft was floated in the Charles River basin. Fri, 15 May 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090513183516.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090514084126.htm Archaeologist report that the 2008 excavations at Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany recovered a female figurine carved from mammoth ivory from the basal Aurignacian deposit. This figurine, which is the earliest depiction of a human, and one of the oldest known examples of figurative art worldwide, was made at least 35,000 years ago. This discovery radically changes our views of the context and meaning of the earliest Paleolithic art. Thu, 14 May 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090514084126.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090512093635.htm The oldest submerged town in the world is about to give up its secrets -- with the help of equipment that could revolutionize underwater archaeology. The ancient town of Pavlopetri lies in three to four meters of water just off the coast of southern Laconia in Greece. The ruins date from at least 2800 BC through to intact buildings, courtyards, streets, chamber tombs and some thirty-seven cist graves which are thought to belong to the Mycenaean period (c.1680-1180 BC). This Bronze Age phase of Greece provides the historical setting for much Ancient Greek literature and myth, including Homer's Age of Heroes. Wed, 13 May 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090512093635.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505163021.htm Archaeologists have uncovered some of the world's earliest shell ornaments in a limestone cave in Eastern Morocco. The researchers have found 47 examples of Nassarius marine shells, most of them perforated and including examples covered in red ochre, at the Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt. Thu, 07 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505163021.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430092235.htm Archeologists have discovered an exquisite Roman polychrome millefiori dish in East London, U.K. The dish is made up of hundreds of indented glass petals (the term millefiori means simply "a thousand flowers") in an intricate repeated pattern. It was highly fragmented but miraculously held together by nothing more than the earth around it.  Thu, 07 May 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430092235.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429172224.htm For the past two years, a team of Egyptologists, digital modelers, web designers, staff and students has been building a three-dimensional virtual-reality model of the ancient Egyptian religious site known as Karnak, one of the largest temple complexes ever constructed. Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429172224.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428171006.htm A limestone countertop, a practiced eye and Google Earth all played roles in the discovery of a trove of fossils that may shed light on the origins of African wildlife. Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090428171006.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423142541.htm Wild horses were domesticated in the Ponto-Caspian steppe region (today Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania) in the 3rd millennium B.C. Despite the pivotal role horses have played in the history of human societies, the process of their domestication is not well understood. In a new study, scientists have unraveled the mystery of the domestication of the horse. Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423142541.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420085049.htm The ancient Maya civilization used a rare type of clay called “palygorskite” to produce Maya blue. Combining structural, morphological and geochemical methods, researchers have defined the features of palygorskite clay on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. These findings will make it possible to ascertain the origin of the materials used to produce this pigment, which survives both time and chemical and environmental elements. Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420085049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090415162649.htm The discovery of a remarkably well-preserved monumental temple in Turkey -- thought to be constructed during the time of King Solomon in the 10th/9th-centuries BCE -- sheds light on the so-called Dark Age. Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090415162649.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406132604.htm The legend is that the great rulers of Canaan, the ancient land of Israel, were all men. But a recent dig by archaeologists at Tel Beth-Shemesh uncovered possible evidence of a mysterious female ruler. Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406132604.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090407144947.htm Archaeologists have demonstrated that societies during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age had a significantly more varied and complex structure than was previously thought. This power structure was based on social networks rather than on permanently established institutions. Society was organized into small and medium-sized chiefdoms that were typically involved in ongoing struggles for dominance between various powerful families. Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090407144947.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406102600.htm "Foot-shaped" structures have been revealed in the Jordan valley and are among the earliest sites that archeologists believe were built by the ancient people of Israel. The structures are thought to be symbolic of the biblical concept of ownership. Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406102600.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090315155106.htm The Ancient Egyptians cherished their fragrant scents, too, as perfume flacons from this period indicate. In its permanent exhibition, Bonn University's Egyptian Museum has a particularly well preserved example on display. Screening this 3,500-year-old flacon with a computer tomograph, scientists at the university detected the desiccated residues of a fluid, which they now want to submit to further analysis. They might even succeed in reconstructing this scent. Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090315155106.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090311085313.htm Pre-Roman atrium houses exhibited a striking number of similarities as part of a long Italic building tradition. A Dutch researcher has analysed the measurements of primary mansions in Pompeii. As buildings were constructed according to a standard model, the adaptations to that model, required by the economical, practical and social demands of any particular project, provide a lot of information about the social significance of the houses of Pompeii’s elite. Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090311085313.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090316075721.htm A herd of young birdlike dinosaurs met their death on the muddy margins of a lake some 90 million years ago, according to a team of Chinese and American paleontologists that excavated the site in the Gobi Desert in western Inner Mongolia. The sudden death of the herd in a mud trap provides a rare snapshot of social behavior. Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090316075721.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090309210846.htm Researchers are studying the way caves "breathe" to providing new insights into the process by which scientists study paleoclimates. Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090309210846.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090310084846.htm Gevrey-Chambertin, 12 km from Dijon, France, is famous throughout the world for its Burgundy wines. It is now clear that winegrowing in this region goes back to the Gallo-Roman era at the spot known as "Au dessus de Bergis". The archeological dig revealed 316 rectangular pits aligned in 26 rows, interpreted as being the remains of a vineyard from the first century AD. Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090310084846.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090305141627.htm Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known evidence of horses being domesticated by humans. The discovery suggests that horses were both ridden and milked. The findings could point to the very beginnings of horse domestication and the origins of the horse breeds we know today. Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090305141627.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224133206.htm Roman artifacts which are nearly two thousand years old with similarities to ancient remains found at Pompeii in Italy have been examined at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's ISIS neutron source. Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224133206.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090302090642.htm Greek mathematics is considered one of the great intellectual achievements of antiquity. It has been decisive to the academic and cultural development of Western civilization. The three Roman authors Varro, Cicero and Vitruvius were all, in their own way, influenced by Greek knowledge and transferred it to Roman literature. Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090302090642.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090217212305.htm In the Mesozoic Era, 70 million years before birds first conquered the skies, pterosaurs dominated the air with sparrow- to Cessna-sized wingspans. Researchers suspected that these extinct reptiles sustained flight through flapping, based on fossil evidence from the wings, but had little understanding of how pterosaurs met the energetic demands of active flight. Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090217212305.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090214162756.htm Genetic diseases and genetically mixed populations can help researchers understand human diversity and human origins according to a physical anthropologist. Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090214162756.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210161916.htm Employing a web application which promotes the use of computer technology in humanities research and instruction, a new Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts allows users to search for manuscripts according to their author, title, language and archiving institution. Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210161916.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090203173651.htm The first field season is now over at the hut village of the workmen who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. However, the archaeologists working on the excavation have found that they still have a great deal to do. The sun, the wind and tourists have left their mark on the village, originally discovered by Bernard Bruyère in 1935. Sun, 15 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090203173651.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090127160712.htm A bust made of marble depicting a miniature image of a bearded man's head was discovered in excavations in the Walls around Jerusalem National Park. The figurine was used as a suspended weight together with a balance scale. This is probably the only find of its kind from excavations in the country. Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090127160712.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090204085133.htm Two newly described fossil whales -- a pregnant female and a male of the same species -- reveal how primitive whales gave birth and provide new insights into how whales made the transition from land to sea. Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090204085133.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202175200.htm New excavation evidence indicates that Zeus' worship was established on Mt. Lykaion as early as the Late Helladic period, if not before, more than 3,200 years ago. Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202175200.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202140046.htm Over 14,000 years ago during the last Pleistocene Ice Age, when a large part of the European continent was covered in ice and snow, Neanderthals in the region of Gibraltar in the south of the Iberian peninsula were able to survive because of the refugium of plant and animal biodiversity. Today, plant fossil remains discovered in Gorham's Cave confirm this unique diversity and wealth of resources available in this area of the planet. Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202140046.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120144508.htm In a an analysis of the size, shape and asymmetry of the cranium of Homo floresiensis, scientists conclude that the fossil, found in Indonesia in 2003 and known as the "Hobbit," is not human. Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120144508.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108121618.htm The first people to arrive in America traveled as at least two separate groups to arrive in their new home at about the same time, according to new genetic evidence. Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108121618.htm