Archaeology in Europe

Asian skeleton found in ruins suggests Roman Empire larger than thought

2010-02-08T18:57:00.001+01:00

Archeologists have discovered the 2,000-year-old skeleton of an Asian man in an ancient cemetery in Italy, suggesting that the Roman Empire's reach was far more extensive than previously thought.

Although the Romans are known to have traded for silk and exotic spices with China, it was thought that most of the commerce was conducted through intermediaries along the Silk Route and that no Chinese or other Asians entered the empire itself.

But that orthodoxy will now have to be re-examined after a team of Canadian archaeologists conducted DNA analysis on the man's bones and found that he came from East Asia.

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Water pump uncovered in the grounds of Walton Gardens

2010-02-08T18:55:00.000+01:00

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered a water pump - possibly unique - in the grounds of Walton Gardens.

Members of Priestley Field Archaeology Group (PFAG) carried out a three-year excavation on behalf of Warrington Borough Council, which owns the land.

This was after a gardener discovered the chamber in 2000 while digging a flowerbed, which caused a large hole to appear that gave way to an underground room containing a large cast iron wheel and a cylindrical tank.

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'Stonehenge? It's more like a city garden'

2010-02-08T13:58:00.000+01:00

Design watchdog hits out at plans for £20m visitor centre at megalithic jewel in England's cultural crown

Its footpaths are "tortuous", the roof likely to "channel wind and rain" and its myriad columns – meant to evoke a forest – are incongruous with the vast landscape surrounding it.

So says the government's design watchdog over plans for a controversial £20m visitor centre at Stonehenge, the megalithic jewel in England's cultural crown. CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, has criticised the design of the proposed centre, claiming the futuristic building by Denton Corker Marshall does little to enhance the 5,000-year-old standing stones which attract more than 800,000 visitors each year.

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Scholar examines reports of solar eclipses in the Middle Ages

2010-02-08T13:57:00.001+01:00

Hundreds of solar eclipses were recorded by medieval chroniclers, offering historians of astronomy with some vital information about how people in the Middle Ages reacted to this phenomenon.

The latest research into this subject has just been published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy. In his article, "Investigation of Medieval European Records of Solar Eclipses," F. Richard Stephenson states he wants to provide "an intriguing insight into the effects of solar eclipses over a wide range of magnitudes on largely untrained and unsuspecting observers."

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£20m Stonehenge visitor centre criticised by Government design watchdog

2010-02-08T13:55:00.001+01:00

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) believes the centre's "twee paths" are "more appropriate for an urban garden" and its "delicate roof" is unsuitable for the wind and rain that sweeps across the majestic Wiltshire plains where the stones stand.

Although the plans, by Australian architecture firm Denton Corker Marshall, have been approved by Wiltshire county council planners and are backed by local architects on the Wiltshire Design Forum, CABE said the "architectural approach" was wrong.

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North Pennines ancient buildings to be protected

2010-02-08T13:52:00.001+01:00

Work has begun to protect four ancient monuments in the North Pennines which have suffered centuries of bad weather.

They are Whitesyke and Bentyfield lead mines in Cumbria, Shildon engine house and Ninebanks Tower in Northumberland and Muggleswick Grange, County Durham.

All are currently included on English Heritage's At Risk Register.

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Ben Hur in Colchester? Race is on to save UK's only Roman chariot racetrack

2010-02-08T13:51:00.000+01:00

When the white handkerchief dropped, the Ben Hurs of Colchester would have set off down Circular Road North, past the banked tiers of seats, turning left at Napier Road, their iron tyres gouging a deep rut in the track,and back up past St John's gatehouse towards the water-spouting dolphin marking the end of the first lap.

Colchester, it seems, was the Formula One track of Roman Britain, with the only chariot racing circus ever found on the island, and the first found in northern Europe for 20 years. Now modern residents have less than a month to raise the money to save a unique monument and create a visitor centre to reveal the site's history.

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Bog woman given a face

2010-02-08T13:47:00.000+01:00

A 2000-year-old body found in a northeastern Jutland bog has received a makeover – coroner style The female known as the Auning Woman, found in a northeastern Jutland bog 1886, and housed at the Museum for Culture and History in...

The female known as the Auning Woman, found in a northeastern Jutland bog 1886, and housed at the Museum for Culture and History in Randers, has finally got a face.

Reasonably well-preserved when she popped up from the bog, the woman’s 2000-year-old skull was broken into several pieces.

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Book your place at 'Portable Antiquities: Archaeology, Collecting, Metal Detecting' Conference

2010-02-06T15:30:00.001+01:00

Registration is now open for the ‘Portable Antiquities: Archaeology, Collecting, Metal Detecting’ conference on 13th and 14th March 2010. This event is co-organised by the CBA and Newcastle University’s International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, and takes place at Newcastle University and the Great North Museum: Hancock.

The papers at this conference offer perspectives from a range of different interest groups, look at recent research, present case studies from around the UK and beyond, and ultimately offer views about what the future may hold for portable antiquities management. Much debate is anticipated at this timely event.

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Darwin descended from Cro-Magnon man

2010-02-06T15:23:00.001+01:00

The father of evolution Charles Darwin was a direct descendant of the Cro-Magnon people, whose entry into Europe 30,000 years ago heralded the demise of Neanderthals, scientists revealed in Australia Thursday.

Darwin, who hypothesised that all humans evolved from common ancestors in his seminal 1859 work "On the Origin of Species", came from Haplogroup R1b, one of the most common European male lineages, said genealogist Spencer Wells.

"Men belonging to Haplogroup R1b are direct descendants of the Cro-Magnon people who, beginning 30,000 years ago, dominated the human expansion into Europe and heralded the demise of the Neanderthal species," Wells said.

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Stonehenge Road Closure

2010-02-06T15:20:00.000+01:00

Support the proposed closure of the A344 road to motor traffic at Stonehenge!

Wiltshire County Council has advertised the proposed closure to motor vehicles of the A344 in the vicinity of Stonehenge. This will allow the road to be returned to grassland and has been a long-term goal for all those - including the CBA - who have campaigned to see improvements to the landscape setting of the Stones. Cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders will still have access and the former road line will link the Stones and the new visitor centre at Airman’s Corner.

Removing motorised traffic from the environment immediately around Stonehenge will be a huge improvement and allow its enjoyment in a more dignified and open setting. However, there are others who think the cars, lorries and motorbikes should still have the right to use the road as a short cut and to access the Byways along it.

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Olympics will 'damage Greenwich's heritage features'

2010-02-05T18:47:00.001+01:00

Campaigners trying to stop 2012 Olympic equestrian events in Greenwich Park claim organisers have admitted it could damage "heritage features".

The campaign group No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events claim London 2012 admits in its planning application that such damage could be caused.

London 2012 has denied this and added anything of archaeological significance at the site would be protected.

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World's oldest monastery restored

2010-02-05T18:45:00.000+01:00

Egypt has completed the restoration of reputedly the world's oldest Christian monastery, called Saint Anthony's.

The monastery is believed to be 1,600 years old. The government-sponsored restoration project cost over $14m (£8.9m) and took more than eight years.

The monastery is a popular site for Coptic Christian pilgrims.

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Ancient tooth enamel defects linked with premature death

2010-02-05T16:28:00.000+01:00

A study reveals ancient human teeth showing evidence that stressful events during early development are linked to shorter lifespans.

Anthropologist George Armelagos led a systematic review of defects in teeth enamel and early mortality.

He said: ‘Prehistoric remains are providing strong, physical evidence that people who acquired tooth enamel defects while in the womb or early childhood tended to die earlier.

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Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle: archaeologist

2010-02-05T12:05:00.000+01:00

Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle was a Danish archaeologist who helped to transform Britain’s approach to ecclesiastical archaeology in a career excavating important Early Christian sites in England.

Rumours went round the archaeological world in 1964 of the arrival at the huge excavations in Winchester of a dynamic pipe-smoking young Danish woman who was imposing new standards of rigour on an already exemplary project.

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A view fit for a king

2010-02-05T11:56:00.000+01:00

EXPERTS have reconstructed a window from the reign of King Henry VIII to form the centrepiece of a £6 million exhibition.

A window from the Royal Tudor Palace of King Henry VIII has been recreated on the site of his famous palace on the exact day Henry died, 463 years ago on 28 January, 1547.

The window, reconstructed from stonework excavated on the site of Tudor Palace, is one of the unique exhibits in Discover Greenwich at The Old Royal Naval College, a new permanent exhibition exploring the history of the area, due to open on March 23.

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Viking treasure found in Shenstone

2010-02-05T11:55:00.001+01:00

AN ANCIENT silver ingot dating back more than 1,000 years has been discovered by a treasure hunter in Shenstone, it was revealed this week.

The artefact, measuring almost three inches (70mm) in length, was found at an undisclosed location in Shenstone parish in March last year.

Experts at the British Museum have now examined the find and disclosed that it is Viking in origin and contains around 95 per cent silver.

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More treasure found near Tamworth

2010-02-05T11:54:00.000+01:00

A MEDIAEVAL 'silver link' dating back 600 years has been discovered by a treasure hunter near Tamworth, a treasure trove inquest heard this week.

The precious artefact, said to be 15th Century and silver gilt, was found at an undisclosed location in Harlaston back in August.

And because of its antiquity and precious nature it was officially declared as treasure on Monday.

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Skeleton uncovered at Roman dig in Sleaford

2010-02-05T11:52:00.000+01:00

Roman artefacts and a complete 1,700-year-old human skeleton have been uncovered by workers preparing a building site in Lincolnshire.

The skeleton was found at The Hoplands, in Sleaford, where North Kesteven District Council is building housing.

The remains, pottery and animal bones will now be moved to Lincoln where they will be cleaned and assessed by archaeologists.

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Stonehenge's secret: archaeologist uncovers evidence of encircling hedges

2010-02-05T11:50:00.000+01:00

The Monty Python knights who craved a shrubbery were not so far off the historical mark: archaeologists have uncovered startling evidence of The Great Stonehenge Hedge.

Inevitably dubbed Stonehedge, the evidence from a new survey of the Stonehenge landscape suggests that 4,000 years ago the world's most famous prehistoric monument was surrounded by two circular hedges, planted on low concentric banks. The best guess of the archaeologists from English Heritage, who carried out the first detailed survey of the landscape of the monument since the Ordnance Survey maps of 1919, is that the hedges could have served as screens keeping even more secret from the crowd the ceremonies carried out by the elite allowed inside the stone circle.

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Vikings and Death

2010-02-05T11:49:00.001+01:00

In the Viking Age people were buried in many different sort of places. Did the ancient Scandinavians chose a particular place for burial or were the burial sites randomly selected? Had the choice anything to do with ideas of the afterlife?

The seasons first Tuesday Talk at The Museum of Archaeology has an exciting topic! Archaeologist Eva Thäte will talk about vikings and death, Tuesday 9 February at 0630 pm.   – Viking Age burial rites are very diverse as were people’s choices of places for burial grounds. In the Late Iron Age (AD 500-1000), people in Scandinavia buried their deceased on high ground, in ancient burial mounds, in houses, close to water sites and near roads or boundaries, says Eva Thäte.

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Egil Skallagrimsson Keeps his Head

2010-02-05T11:47:00.001+01:00

Violent feuding, cunning witchcraft and poetic resolution make for a thrilling comedy drama commissioned for this February's JORVIK Viking Festival.

Egil Skallagrimsson Keeps his Head is a first theatrical commission for York Archaeological Trust to mark its anniversary JORVIK Viking Festival. The new comedy drama has been written and will be performed by award winning North Country Theatre on 17th and 18th February as part of the week's celebratory Viking Festival.

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Tributes paid to cathedral archaeologist

2010-02-05T11:45:00.001+01:00

A HIGHLY-respected archaeologist behind a key 1960s dig at Winchester Cathedral has died, age 68.

Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle – wife of Martin Biddle – uncovered remains of the Old Minister, the Anglo-Saxon cathedral demolished by the Normans.

Her team also found evidence of the church of Cenwalh of Wessex and St Alphege, the original burial place of St Swithun in 862.

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Anger at Southampton medieval site proposals

2010-02-05T11:43:00.001+01:00

Proposals to sell off land in a historic part of Southampton have attracted anger among some groups.

The city council wants to develop Lower High Street with flats and businesses which it claims would pay for future preservation of medieval wine vaults.

But campaigners have argued that precious and well-used open space would be lost.

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Bronze brooch rises from the ashes

2010-02-05T11:39:00.001+01:00

A 1,400-YEAR-OLD brooch dating from the early Christian period has been discovered in the remnants of a turf fire in a range in north Kerry.

It is believed the brooch fastened the cloak of a clergyman and was dropped, probably on a forest road which later became bog. It ended up in a sod of turf in the range of Sheila and Pat Joe Edgeworth at Martara, Ballylongford, near the Shannon estuary. Lands alongside the Shannon are chequered with early Christian ruins and holy wells.

The bronze brooch was found shortly before Christmas by Ms Edgeworth when she was cleaning out her range.

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